Using Botkeeper from its Early Days at Kinnami Software, a Seed-Stage Startup

Botkeeper absolves Kinnami from the drudgery and hassle of book keeping. Basically, all I have to do is ensure the receipts are there, and then all book keeping is handled. This makes filing the annual tax returns less painful as Botkeeper already has all the information the accounting firm needs to create the tax return. At Kinnam, we do not have nor want large teams of people to handle administration. Outsourcing book keeping to Botkeeper is a great way to solve part of that problem.

Pros

The best thing about Botkeeper's software is that it is invisible in the sense that it doesn't dictate how you should use it to collect information that it needs, and so it's very easy to fit into your workflow. Historically, Botkeeper had its own Dropbox-style integration, and now it is switching to Google Drive. This means that providing receipts and other information is as simple as putting the digital scan of a receipt into the Google Drive folder. Or if you prefer, you can upload files by hand using the portal. Secondly, their portal provides nice views that show the state of your company's finances.

Cons

Botkeeper is a young company, and so growing pains are painful. The system has undergone several major changes during the 2 years that I've been using it, and those transitions were not completely smooth. However, to date, all problems were successfully resolved and the team really worked to address them, and those problems were rare.

Botkeeper

Right now I'm only testing the Botkeeper team on my most important client. They have consistently performed (or outperformed) whenever I had feedback for them. This bodes well for the future when I expect to add at least 5-10 more clients in the future!

Pros

I just hung out the shingle on my new CPA firm, and I want to use a strategic partner like Botkeeper to help me scale. So I love that I can white label the platform while having a dedicated team of accountants assigned to my clients.

Cons

I feel like their portal still has room for improvement even after their recent upgrade. One of the worst problems was the difficulty editing the dashboards for your own needs. That was one of the improvements on this last rollout.

Mediocre platform; mediocre product; mediocre results

Pros

It's ok-ish if you don't know anything about bookkeeping and you're on a super super tight budget

Cons

Response times were slow Struggled to get anyone to answer basic questions about my SLA, bill, contract, etc. Regular errors on the GL

Saved me money

I love the management reports and up to date books the most. Also, they respond quickly with anything I need, they are capable with even the most complicated unrecognized revenue reporting, fast, responsive, and nice in their communications. My business is a corporation, and botkeeper has saved us a lot of money.

Pros

I liked their flexibility in working with my Quick Books online - my super complicated - incorporation with employees - setup! I saved over $2000 per month in accounting costs by switching to botkeeper. I'm hoping they don't raise their prices. They are super fast, and able to handle my business accounting which has "unrecognized revenue" calculations to do each month, and everything is in GAAP format "ACCRUAL" based because I was setup to take on investors and sell common stock from an equity crowdfunding fundraise. I would say I love their MANAGEMENT REPORTS! I love being able to look and see everything in one report and I also love that my books are reconciled and up to date nearly daily - so every time I look it is valid data - SO HELPFUL! Also - they take the time to teach me how to do things on my own if I am confused about anything. My old super expensive accountants never did that and they were super slow and it was always a point of pain for me. Botkeeper does everything I don't want to do - and they do it fast and accurately.

Cons

I have no complaints, because they are fast and accurate, and responsive for all of my accounting needs. They are highly capable of even the most complicated bookkeeping - I didn't think they would take on my books but have surpassed my expectations.

Came onto a team using BotKeeper

Overall, I do like it. I need to test if I can ask for transactions from a specific date to another specific date, but it is easier for me to use the Xenbot ledger and track it to my general ledger once per month than me having to remember to enter all expenses at the time its received. I would recommend it to another user.

Pros

As a new user to a program already using BotKeeper, I was intrigued by how it worked. I love the fact that I can simply email Xenbot and ask the status of my budget as a whole, or elements of my budget. Thus far I have been able to drop the Xenbot a note and I would have a ledger in my inbox not but 24-hours later. Their staff support is pretty awesome, too. As a new user, I did a call with their support staff early on to learn more about specific questions I had and use cases. The person I spoke with was pretty helpful and was very responsive to the feedback I had about the ledger from a user perspective.

Cons

It is a tad restrictive as a user and not the owner. For instance, I go very granular on my budget but the master budget is more broader in terms of categorization. With the master account being more broad, I cannot get my budget more granular, so I take the details from Xenbot and translate them over in my own spreadsheet. Granted, that may not be a use case for all users but as a new member to the team responsible for the department budget, I need to know where all of our funds go to make for a better budgeting process in the future. Also, it would be nice if the email ledger allowed you to dial-down to specific transactions. For instance, I can tell what is a vendor payment or a monthly payment as it matches spot on. But, if I have multiple payments (say for an event) all bucketed into the event, I can only see the total number and not the charges that make up that total.

Excellent quality and price

My go-to accounting solution based on quality vs pricing.

Pros

Efficiency and accuracy of accounting. Accountants and bots are very responsive.

Cons

Onboarding time but that issue seems to be resolved.

Let the experts handle it for you.

Bookkeeping used to be our biggest headache as a company. We thought we could handle it ourselves but quickly learned that is a dangerous proposition come tax season. Now that we have been up and running for almost two years, we can confidently say our business has been transformed because we are now able to focus on what matters, our clients.

Pros

Once we had botkeeper on board and up to speed, it was a set it and forget it experience. We had an incredibly dedicated account manager (CSR) who was committed to taking what was a giant mess of our books and streamlining the process for us so we could do what we do best: design.

Cons

Onboarding was tough but not because of botkeeper but because the process of getting someone up to speed about your business is always time consuming.

Amazing Bookkeeper

Pros

Very attentive to detail. Always responds. Very easy to use. Staff is very friendly and willing to go out of their way to help you however they can.

Cons

Their client portal is a little lacking technology upgrades but still works pretty well.

With ease

Overall, the company is pleased with the service.

Pros

The software is easy to navigate helping to make my role more manageable.

Cons

Having to wait for a response from our botkeeper can be an inconvenience but not terrible.

Great Accounting

Less time approving payments, payments not falling through the cracks.

Pros

This is making our accounting much more streamlined, less time manually approving payments.

Cons

I have not found any cons so far, we have only used the "up" service for a few months.

G&N Input for botkeeper

I have all payment electronic and by check on spreadsheets which I love. I can print or write out the checks. This has saved a lot of time for botkeeper as well as they do not have to send sub category sheets all the time because it is on the spreadsheet with description of what the check was for. I love how fast they respond to questions and I love the fact that they were willing to share these features with me to make my job easier.

Pros

I like the accuracy and availability to access our books.

Cons

I do not like the new all over the place one drive searches. I liked all of my botkeeper on one page. I feel all over the place now. I have a shared spread sheet on one page, the portal on another and the check printing on another. So for me switching to one drive from the one page of botkeeper is going to take time for me to get used to it. I like the portal page before when you open up with passwords and all information on front page. I understand it will make it easier for botkeeper but it necessarily isn't as easy for us. I find you can't print the management report off the portal because you need to scroll down to access everything on the page. If you print you will not get all the information.

Thrilled with botkeeper

We've been working with botkeeper for about 15 months and couldn't recommend them highly enough!

Pros

- Responsive - They have a very quick response time for questions/issues/reports/etc. - Customizable - We're developing our systems and engagement with botkeeper as our needs evolve. They're more than bookkeepers, they're thought partners as well. - Convenient - The day to day like processing invoices and sending payments is a breeze. We used to do a lot manually and hardcopy, but with botkeeper we can use email, the app, and the online portal, depending on what's fastest and easiest for us.

Cons

The things I haven't liked, I've worked with botkeeper to change and improve, so I don't have a good answer to this...

Smart Bookkeeper Solutions Worked for Us

Pros

I have answers only an email away at all hours. What is not to like about that. Instead of relying on a bookkeeper that worked part-time for us, I now feel like we have a full-time bookkeeper on staff without any of the hassle.

Cons

Took some "training" to get them onboard on complex accounting set ups, but once learned, it has been smooth.

On the ball.....

LOVE working with botkeeper. The team is ready for all my questions​ and extremely cognizant of completing everything in a timely manner. Botkeeper makes my life so much easier.

Pros

The ease of use and the fact botkeeper works well with all my other accounting services i.e. Quickbooks, Gusto etc...Botkeeper, handles my EOY tax filings which allows me to work more efficiently.

Cons

The only con is the fact I wish botkeeper could handle direct deposits in Russia as I tend to use this method a lot.

Great, Responsive Customer Service!

Would recommend 100%. Botkeeper allows me to continue to develop business without hiring in house support.

Pros

I have been with Botkeeper for over a year now; the bookkeepers are friendly and very helpful. Always happy to talk through upcoming projects/issues with me.

Cons

The AI sometimes has bugs, but nothing that isn't quickly fixed and updated.

Easy Book Keeping

BotKeeper has been great. Its been like having a fulltime bookkeeper. They are responsive to emails and requests.

Pros

I like the people behind the software. The software uploads my transactions every night and the people behind the software ask questions to make sure everything is categorized. They enter bills, cleanup mistakes and have the knowledge to do it.

Cons

I havent found a con yet. This product and service is solid.

Wonderful tool!

Pros

Automating certain accounting functions to eliminate manual processes

Cons

Can't think of any cons; the tool is great and the people at botkeeper are amazing

Personal Customer Service

Pros

Botkeeper is very organized and easy to use. You are provided with a personal contact that is there with you every step of the way. Everyone at Botkeeper is very responsive and helps you get any question answered.

Cons

It is not 100% hands off. The software still requires attention.

Terrific Bookkeeping Option at a Reasonable Price

Pros

I like the individual care given to us by our multiple account managers. As an Ecommerce company, I also like how automated everything is and how everything is primarily electronic.

Cons

There definitely can be a ramp up period in the beginning where lots of your time will be spent explaining how your business works, what accounts you use, etc. Not necessarily a knock on botkeeper though since I think this is a universal thing.

Great solutiono for our bookkeeping

Overall a great company and team.

Pros

It is a team managing our accounts instead of just one person.

Cons

There is a lot of back and forth to accomplish day to day bills and ongoing projects.

Working with Botkeeper

Pros

Convenient service. Cost effective solution vs having to have a full time bookkeeper employed. It's very easy to contact your "bot" via email if you have questions or changes need made. The new portal connected to google drive is very nice.

Cons

I can't really think of any cons. They are pleasant to work with and take the burden of accounting tasks off of my plate.

A great option for non-profits without an accounting firm behind them

We are getting great customer service. We are saving money. We have reduced the amount of work the volunteer treasurer has to do.

Pros

Customer support during the onboarding process. Take a photo of your receipt, email it to them, and within four hours, they have recorded it for you. Takes the worry out of overburdening volunteer treasurer Reassurance that our financials are in order

Cons

There were a lot of glitches with the onboarding, but they resolved every one of them in a reasonable amount of time. Some of the glitches weren't their fault.

Botkeeper Review

Easiest way to manage accounting, bills, expenses, etc... Was very easy to do all remotely and not needing to have a bookkeeper in office every week.

Pros

Was a simple way to manage and track all company financials.

Cons

Would like a better and simpler dashboard. My business was simple in accounting nature however would have been easier to see on a simple dashboard.

Automate Your Bookkeeping

Pros

It helps you save time and let you focus on doing the stuff that drives your business. For example, it can help send invoices to the customer and email them reminders when it comes due

Cons

It is difficult to get started and connect the accounting integration. The plugins are also currently extremely limited since this software is still new. Recommend reaching out to their team to get started

BotKeeper does the job well enough so I don't have to do it myself, but it still has a way to go

I think they are on track to be a good service. The idea that a bot is doing anything innovative and life changing is not apparent at all. It still seems to me that they have a U.S. based CPA overseeing bookkeeping workers employed overseas.

Pros

The price was decent and the issues that needed to be corrected were laid out relatively easily for me with screenshots sent to my email.

Cons

They have a dashboard function that projects future earnings and other customizations that I requested, but it was a hassle to log in to. I ended up not using it at all but instead kept relying on their updates on my Quickbooks profile.

Helpful but not the complete package

it's a good fit for our small company but as our needs get more complex we will most likely grow out of it.

Pros

response time is getting faster and faster

Cons

we still have to do a lot of leg work in house

Great Value Bookkeeping Service

Botkeeper enabled our business to move away from a traditional bookkeeping service, getting more accurate books for less money every month.

Pros

The combination of automated features and human touch. Great Dashboards and automated reporting. Excellent support and advice from the professional accounting team.

Cons

Response time on support inquiries is sometimes overnight.

Botkeeper Review

N/A

Pros

It's not the software it's the service of customer service representative, its fantastic!

Cons

Onboarding / Best Practices etc would be great

Great alternative to traditional bookkeeping

Pros

Customer service is fast and attentive. They spend time figuring out answers to all my questions. Changes are made quickly and with great communication.

Cons

I don't use their backend features at all. I just use Quickbooks Online.

Botkeepr Review

Pros

Freeing bandwidth through automated processes and the quick email response time.

Cons

There will always be a steeper learning curve for new processes, since the Botkeeper system is administered outside of company's regular operation.

Time & Money Saver

Pros

Beats the cost of hiring an accountant, also love the artificial mixed with the human intelligence

Cons

Can be difficult to navigate at times, but there's always someone to call for help

Botkeeper

Pros

I really value having a team available to do my bookkeeping that is experienced and willing to adapt to the (unusual) way I do things.

Cons

I don't use the software that often, which is a testament to botkeeper.

Good Service with kinks

Pros

There is always availability of personnel and bots do a decent job.

Cons

There are glitches and sometimes there are issues with reporting data to and from the Bot Team.

Botkeeper has been very helpful and solved a real need

Pros

The people I have worked with have been very responsive, knowledgeable and helpful

Cons

Price seems 10-20% too high for what it is

Awesome software with tremendous value

I love the idea of botkeeper and was grateful once it was up and running for my business.

Pros

-Saves a ton of time -Works efficiently and seamlessly once set up -Prevents my anxiety by always providing me an up to date assessment of my business, peace of mind.

Cons

- The free on boarding process seemed to take some time, there was a technical issue I had wasn't caught by the automated team. -Once I got customer services involved everything was resolved and the benefits rolled in.

Works Well for small group.

Contact is good.

Pros

Automated process works well.

Cons

Nothing. More expensive than originally advertised.

bugs

pretty poor. i think you have a lot of bugs to work out.

Pros

Looks great - clearly you've spent most of your time on the look of the site.

Cons

you've changed the URL, changed where you've put info, downloading PDFs or data always gets rejected with error messages, Chrome sometimes works, and IE sometimes works. The "click here" to download docs is gone... No hyperlinks in any email messages to go direct to the CORRECT website to u/d or answer questions...thats enough.

Botkeeper Review

Pros

Ease of software program. No other issues

Cons

Have no issues to report using this service

Botkeeper for a landlord/rehabber

This definitely satisfies my need for a bookkeeper and at a reasonable price.

Pros

The fact that I can just email receipts and business docs to them is great.

Cons

Set up was a bit more laborious that I thought it would be and some things literally get lost in translation causing multiple emails covering the same issue. I think I'd like to see a more regularly scheduled meeting with them at least at the beginning.

Great team behind a time-saving product

I'm new, and haven't gotten through onboarding yet. But, I've met several members of the team in person, longtime users of the tool, and interacted with customer service online, and I've been impressed every step of the way.

Pros

- Innovative - Saves time bookkeeping - Helpful customer service team

Cons

There's a bit of an onboarding process that isn't exactly quick. It is worth it though, and it makes sense that a bot trained to your specific business requires a little upfront setup.

Botkeeper

Pros

It aggregates everything together to make it easier to view a holistic financial picture.

Cons

The onboarding experience was pretty bad and takes a long time. it feels like the product itself is so seperated from the onboarding that you don't know if you're done or not with onboarding. The accounts kept getting unsynced and I have no idea how to re-sync. it doesn't seem secure to keep sending my login credentials to a 3rd party company when I have millions of dollars in the bank account. This needs to be solved/optimized.

Makes my life easier!

We do not have a full time finance team, so using botkeeper has allowed us to spend more time running our business and not worrying about the day to day of accounting / bookkeeping.

Pros

I love that Botkeeper takes the routine things from my workflow and makes it so I don't have to think about them.

Cons

The initial onboarding required a little bit of work, but once it was working, it's great.

Great Idea needs some time

Overall it has been a learning curve and growth experience for us as a company and learning this system; while botkeeper grows as well.

Pros

Botkeeper is growing and reformatting their value for their customers. They show promise of growth.

Cons

Change to not having a designated bookkeeper, inconsistent communication with one person.

Botkeeper is Great

Pros

Wonderful idea. Wonderful customer service. Very attentive

Cons

Take a bit of time to get everything rolling, especially when transferring data. But that is to be expected.

Good Offering but Customer Service Didn't Follow Up

This would've been a great opportunity to reduce costs.

Pros

It had a great cost offering and seemed to have good potential.

Cons

I didn't get a chance to fully use the software.

Great service

Pros

Does the things i don't want to do such as reviewing expenses that are the same.

Cons

Hard to navigate the software, there are too many components to discern.

Great Company

Pros

They make paying bills and tracking expenses extremely easy and user friendly!

Cons

Nothing! They are fantastic! I would highly recommend

Botkeeper - Motif

Botkeeper has allowed us to quickly setup a new entity in all areas of accounting, invoice processing, payments and payroll. The use of Botkeeper has saved us time and money as we have not needed to bring additional resources on board.

Pros

Botkeeper is easy to use and the dashboard is very helpful.

Cons

Not robust enough for complex accounting

Haven’t used it but great ppl

Informed smart people and live accountants

Pros

Haven’t used it yet but great people& Service!

Cons

Nothing yet need to get the trial software

Bot keeper review

Been a great experience and process to work with Bot keeper

Pros

Simple, easy, and effective. None of us are accountants, so it’s great to have easy help to keep our books up to date.

Cons

Sometimes the bot system has mixups, but nothing major and we’ve been able to resolve every time.