Botkeeper vs. Sentient Solutions for Accounting
This page will help you understand the differences between Botkeeper and Sentient Solutions. Both solutions help automate your accounting process but differ on a variety of factors. Botkeeper, an automated bookkeeping solution purpose-built for accounting firms, vs Sentient Solutions which manages and automates the mundane, resource-intensive, and repeatable operational tasks to help accountants and CPA firms improve scale and reduce operating costs with process automation. Explore below to see how they compare. Ready to see the power of Botkeeper? Click below to book a live presentation.
Overview
Succeed in bookkeeping with our unmatched accuracy
A true automation-based bookkeeping platform will help you operate your end-to-end bookkeeping programs with accuracy. Botkeeper and Sentient Solutions offer comparable—but not identical — solutions. By comparing the two solutions, you will be able to determine which is the best for your firm.
Bookkeeping Services
As a firm owner, the demands of your bookkeeping services can be labor-intensive. Many firms look for opportunities to create streamlined bookkeeping processes and services to alleviate the burden on their staff. As you evaluate potential solutions, you’re looking to deliver accurate, efficient, secure, and ultimately scalable services to your clients.
For optimal results, your firm may need a solution that offers an integrated set of tools to not only deliver seamless bookkeeping but also a positive ROI.
Sentient Solutions applies AI and automation technology, coupled with accounting experts to support bookkeeping, audit, and tax operations. They do this to ensure that your books remain compliant, error-free, and updated at all times.
Botkeeper’s approach is slightly different. We are built on the notion that optimal accounting automation can be achieved by applying a combination of people and technology working together. Botkeeper is able to fully automate your bookkeeping department with what we call human-assisted AI. Using machine learning, artificial intelligence, and robotic process automation in conjunction with the expertise of senior accountants who step in as needed, we augment the manual and time-consuming tasks, creating lightning-fast and hyper-efficient bookkeeping (data entry, reconciliations, classifications, etc.). This results in allowing us to achieve 99.7% accuracy and provide you a team of support, so human error or turnover never affects you or your clients. You can benefit from avoiding increases in headcount and overhead costs, seeing and trusting the health of company results due to noticeably less manual human error, and getting superior reporting and real-time, 24/7 data entry.
Technology & Features
As accounting technology continues to disrupt the industry, some firms may not prioritize implementing accounting technology solutions. But in truth accounting technology can affect every area of a firm including your firm's competitive edge and employees’ day-to-day work. Picking the right solution could be critical to your firm's longevity. There are many different types of solutions available, but there are many factors involved to consider—machine learning, artificial intelligence, robotic process automation (RPA), security, and ease of use. All of these factors can help you increase your firm's revenues and potentially decrease expenses. It’s important to have a solution that supports your needs in today’s fast-paced environment and continues to adapt as your firm and client base grows.
Sentient Solutions leverages process automation and artificial intelligence as part of its solution that enables firms to produce error-free, scalable, and top-quality results consistently.
Botkeeper takes it a step further by using a combination of machines and trained (human) accountants working together in perfect harmony. You will have a trained accounting staff dedicated to reviewing the machine’s suggestions when/if it is unsure. This allows for fewer errors and higher accuracy.
With Botkeeper's Partner Platform, you have the ability to onboard and manage all of your clients through a custom portal. Stay up to date on what is happening in all of your clients' with a clickable activity feed, communicate directly with the Botkeeper accountants on what they need from you, and receive direct access to any open conversations you’re having within the tool.
Your clients receive a central platform to connect their financial and non-financial accounts, ensuring that their data is automated, compiled, and organized. This ensures fast, accurate, seamless bookkeeping each month, while getting the personal touch, top-notch advisory services only your firm can provide.
Support and Success
“Customer is King” is an old, but relevant adage that applies to firms looking to implement new automated accounting solutions. Whichever solution you end up choosing, having great customer service can make or break implementing a good solution for your firm. You should look for solutions that enable fluid, real-time conversations to help customers through technological challenges as they arise. You want to make sure you and your staff have a team you can rely on from onboarding on that offers multiple means of contacting them including email, chat, and direct message.
Sentient Solutions builds a team of experts tailored to your firm’s specific needs. A typical base team consists of a Partner or Director, Client Services Manager, and one to two experienced staff members. Sentient Solutions also provides FAQs and a contact form for its customers.
All Botkeeper packages include a talented and experienced Account Manager. Their role is intended to help empower accounting firms and assist them through periods of change.
Account Managers are unique to Botkeeper, adding another valuable element to the human-assisted automation we’re so proud to deliver to accounting firms. This team of experienced accounting professionals (even CPAs!) manages the relationships with accounting firms of all sizes, including some of the largest and most innovative firms out there. They offer a broad technical and product knowledge to help accounting firms scale. Their whole end game is to ensure impeccable service and insightful guidance on how to get the most out of Botkeeper’s products and services.
MEASURE ROI
Measure the performance of your bookkeeping when you integrate an automated solution, and see what your firm is able to achieve.
Sentient Solutions offers a scalable offshore accounting team, that operates as an extension of your accounting team, to provide you with the technologies, efficiencies, and scale that you need.
As your firm grows, so does Botkeeper’s ability to support you. No additional training and hiring is required as you bring on more clients and expand your service offerings. No additional costs are added if the work takes longer than anticipated because we don’t charge an hourly rate. Botkeeper’s Scoping Tool and operation guides allow for seamless scaling by your firm.
Cost of Ownership
When considering automation, there are many costs associated that your firm should have on their radar. Many solutions have packages, platform, implementation, and ongoing maintenance costs associated. You should also consider whether the automation solution's pricing is dependent on the amount of work conducted by a user or on some other basis.
Sentient Solutions charges a fixed rate per month that is customized as per the team structure that your firm wishes to set up. They claim they can enable significant margin growth with greater than 50% cost savings.
While Botkeeper's pricing packages are customizable and flexible allowing your firm to leverage economies of scale as it grows. Our pricing model is not based on an hourly charge but is rather meant for accounting firms to choose what their needs are based on a combination of their client's gross expenses, how often they need services, and the services they need from Botkeeper— but we offer the same white-glove service regardless of your package. The Starter package starts at $55/per month and scales up based on total expenses and unique needs.
We know that businesses change over time, and we want to make sure we provide pricing to reflect that. We have a toolset that allows you to estimate your costs with Botkeeper, and we also have a Botkeeper specialist to walk through your needs with you and help determine the best-fit bookkeeping services. The Botkeeper pricing structure is built to grow with your firm, offering a fully customizable option, and supporting you for the same cost during ebbs and flows.
Botkeeper is much more than just software.
Choosing a bookkeeping automation provider is a crucial decision, so it's important to consider not only the software but the support and resources you'll receive, as well. We at Botkeeper are invested in your success.
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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.
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Support Is Available For Your Entire Team — Anytime you have a question, reach out and we'll answer. Our support team is happy to help, whether it's a question about our software or advice on how to best tackle bookkeeping tasks.
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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.
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.
