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Botkeeper vs. Ceterus

We've compiled a few key differences between two automated accounting solutions: Botkeeper and Ceterus. Choosing the right automated bookkeeping solution is critical, and we want you to have the best information possible to do so. Ready to see the power of Botkeeper? Click below to book a live presentation. 

 

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Overview

DON’T SETTLE FOR INCOMPLETE PLATFORMS.

A true automation-based bookkeeping platform will help you operate your end-to-end bookkeeping programs. While many bookkeeping solutions are available today to help streamline specific bookkeeping tasks, not all solutions are built comprehensively. This page will help you understand the differences between Botkeeper and Ceterus, so you can decide which bookkeeping solution is best for your firm.

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HERE’S AN OVERVIEW OF BOTKEEPER AND KEEPER.

Botkeeper

Botkeeper offers firms the ability to choose the right approach for each of their clients: tech-only gives firms total control over the Botkeeper platform (automated transaction categorization, exception surfacing, task and project management, and much more), while tech plus add-on services provides your firm with dedicated, professional accountants who can both run your Botkeeper platform and offer much more according to the service plan chosen. In short, Botkeeper delivers a full-suite bookkeeping and pre-accounting solution to accounting firms and their clients.

The powerful combination of our proprietary AI and machine learning with skilled accountants makes for a complete, end-to-end solution.

Ceterus

Ceterus provides automated bookkeeping and benchmarked reporting solutions for multi-unit franchisees and small business entrepreneurs—it's not intended for accounting firms. Combining proprietary technology with professional accounting services, Ceterus streamlines financial management. Its flagship platform, Ceterus Edge, automates QuickBooks Online entries and aggregates financial data for peer-benchmarked reporting. In addition to bookkeeping, Ceterus offers tax preparation, financial reporting, and compliance assistance, serving industries like quick-service restaurants, fitness centers, wellness, and home services.

 

Bookkeeping Services

Automating the time-consuming and laborious aspects of bookkeeping is where Botkeeper shines. While Ceterus automates categorization, Botkeeper employs machine learning and custom models so its accuracy improves over time. It continuously monitors what's coming into your clients' QBO or Xero instances, surfacing exceptions automatically. Ceterus can't offer a real-time automated review, and it doesn't work with Xero.

Both Ceterus and Botkeeper offer service packages, but Botkeeper's are add-on services packages—you can get just our award-winning, industry-leading automated bookkeeping solution as a tech-only offering for just $69/month per client.

Ceterus doesn't offer that. You're locked in to one of their full service packages—likely because they don't really cater to accounting firms.

 

 

Technology & Features

Finding the right automated accounting solution for all your bookkeeping needs can become the foundation of your practice and the differentiator you need to grow. As a result, it’s important to seek out technology and features that fit your firm, staff, AND client base. This is why we’ve made Botkeeper with our accounting partner firms in mind — we can grow and adapt our platform to your organization’s wants and needs, offering unsurpassed value for your clients.

Ceterus' Edge app is a proprietary cloud technology for automated bookkeeping. The system automates entries into QuickBooks Online, and aggregates financial data to provide peer-benchmarked reporting.  It's not available without a service package, and none of the tech is aimed at accounting firms, a fact they seem proud of—as they say themselves, "Built for business people – not nerdy accountants." 

Botkeeper leverages proprietary machine learning technology to handle labor-intensive bookkeeping tasks by processing and categorizing transactions at an incredibly high accuracy level. This goes FAR beyond static rules—our global models are continuously refining, while your client's specific model improves with each transaction successfully coded or updated. This is smart tech that adapts.

As an end-to-end bookkeeping solution, Botkeeper integrates with QBO and Xero, auto-categorizing and matching transactions, surfacing exceptions, automatically reconciling bank and credit card accounts and recording of principal/interest loan splits. It also offers centralized communication, task and project management, secure password management, and a close tracker that helps you see at a glance how closing is proceeding.

Interacting with your team and even your clients is made simple with Activity Hub, a central space for all comments made anywhere across the platform, while Client & User Management helps you control access and permissions, customize your portal with your logo and favicon, and more. Botkeeper's Documents feature incorporates a secure portal for document storage, exchange, and review—it even includes version tracking and a customizable folder structure. And all of it is super-secure, with 256-bit encryption that's SOC 2 Type 2 accredited.

 

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Average accuracy on transaction categorized by Botkeeper

Number of new clients you can bring on daily with Botkeeper

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Average time saved by clients with Botkeeper

 

Training & Support

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When your firm streamlines its bookkeeping with Botkeeper, your support and training needs will be unique.

To accommodate all needs cases, Botkeeper offers different service tiers. While everyone gets in-app step-by-step guides, access to our comprehensive Knowledge Base, live chat, monthly group training  webinars and access to Botkeeper University (our vibrant user community), we also offer additional options:

Our Enhanced Onboarding & Support tier adds our four-week Essentials training course, a quarterly strategy consultation, and an assigned client success associate. This plan is included when adding 11-50 entities, but it available for a one-time fee if you are adding fewer than 11.

Choose Premium Onboarding & Support to add your own outreach concierge and everything in the Enhanced plan. This plan is included when adding 51 or more entities, but it available for a one-time fee if you are adding fewer than 51.

Ceterus offers phone- and email-based support in addition to their clients' dedicated accountant. They also offer an online help center.

 

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Security

As a firm, you want to ensure that your clients' personal and financial information is held in the strictest confidence. Before choosing a solution, ask about the level of security employed and whether the vendor's security standards are in line with those of your industry.

Botkeeper’s automated bookkeeping solution takes security seriously, with industry-standard SOC 2 Type 2 accreditation, two-factor authentication, and 256-bit encryption for data at rest and data in transit.

SOC 2 Type 2 accreditation means:

  • Botkeeper has the required data security controls in place to protect customer data against unauthorized access.

  • Botkeeper can detect anomalies and security incidents across its entire ecosystem.

  • In addition to preventing risk situations, Botkeeper can quickly repair damage and restore functionality in the event of infrastructure or system failures.

  • Botkeeper’s security controls are both correctly designed AND function as intended.

Botkeeper’s SOC 2 Type 2 accreditation is granted by an industry best, reputable independent third party, and Botkeeper renews the report annually with continuous testings. That means any information shared with Botkeeper is protected to the highest current standards, and you can rest easy knowing your data is in good hands.

Botkeeper does not collect any personal information about you unless you voluntarily provide it to us, and it does not sell, rent, or lease your personal information to third parties without your consent. Your personal information is secured from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure, using the following methods for this purpose: SSL Protocol; Two Factor Authentication; and Database Encryption.

Botkeeper is also a member of the Financial Data Exchange (FDX), a nonprofit dedicated to unifying the financial industry around a common, interoperable, royalty-free standard for secure and convenient consumer and business access to their financial data.

Ceterus employs encryption and monitors access, but makes no mention of any specific certifications for security practices.

 

MEASURE ROI

Measure the performance of your bookkeeping when you integrate an automated solution, and see what your firm is able to achieve.

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While ROI isn’t directly mentioned, Ceterus focuses its return primarily on the franchisee-specific expertise it offers, along with the time savings of not needing to attend to financials yourself or hire staff to do it.

Botkeeper goes a bit farther. Our solution allows you to automate bookkeeping and pre-accounting procedures so you can dedicate more time and resources to your client base. Built-in collaboration via task and project management as well as centralized communication cuts down on emails, texts, or prolonged water cooler conversations. And while our investigations have shown time savings for firms at or in excess of 50% for bookkeeping activities, we've even included a module called Transaction Insights that allows you to see the savings for yourself.

 

Cost of Ownership

The cost of ownership is a way for you to assess the long-term value of an automated accounting solution to your firm. While the cost of the package is certainly a key component to keep in mind, it’s not the only cost that you should take into account.

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Ceterus has a tech+service only model that starts at $499/month. Two additional packages with increasingly more options come in at $649/month and $849/month.

Botkeeper’s pricing for our Infinite (tech-only) package is $69/entity/month, and that includes everything the platform can do. Looking for even more? Add services to bring professional accountants into the fold for those clients with even more complex needs.

 

SCALABILITY

As the bookkeeping decision-maker, you probably think about your business every day (probably multiple times a day). Finding a bookkeeping solution that works for you today is as important as finding a solution that continues to work for you in the future. Will the solution you pick today be able to grow as you and your clients grow?

Ceterus is designed to scale and provide comprehensive support for businesses with multiple locations.

Botkeeper supports small, medium, or large accounting firms — we’re talking to all of you! By both managing AND reviewing the books, Botkeeper saves enormous amounts of time allowing firms of all sizes to scale endlessly. Need to add more clients? We can take it. You'll save precious time all along the process, not just at the end.

Botkeeper is much more than just software.

Choosing a bookkeeping automation provider is a crucial decision. Considerations such as ease of use, security, features, and more are top of mind, Botkeeper isn't only thinking in terms of selling software.

  • Free Training & Education — Botkeeper resources are available to help you and your entire team learn best practices and successfully execute tactics that grow your business. Take a look at the dozens of resources available, and get started today.

  • Firm-first mentality — Botkeeper doesn't compete with firms. Our platform isn't available to businesses directly, because we support the accounting profession and understand the expertise required to do the job right.

  • Deployment — When you start using Botkeeper, you'll have a dedicated team to help you get started with the software, and technical setup tasks, and execute your first successful dive into the tool. 

    Learn more about Botkeeper Deployment here.

We've built the Botkeeper Platform to be easy for Accounting Professionals and their clients to use. That's why we're happy to share reviews of everyday professionals using Botkeeper to grow better, just like you. Click below to request a demo.

 

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Resources

The beauty of Botkeeper is its ability to scale and adapt to our growing business. After using Botkeeper for only 6 months, we’ve been able to save 30 hours per week on transaction categorizing, 5 hours per week of reconciling deposits, and 10 hours per month on reconciling revenue for just one of our clients! With bookkeeping running seamlessly with Botkeeper, I’m able to focus my time on reviewing output and making recommendations to my clients.
TM2 Tiffany Miller
Tiffany Miller
Tm2

Grow your business like a team twice your size.

Bring your team, tools, and data together to drive high-impact efficiency in your bookkeeping department- in less time.

 

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