Sign inStart free trial
Project profitabilityMargin GuardSales and quotingPeople and capacityDelivery and timeInvoicing and cash flowWorkflows and approvalsSecurity and accessOrkestra
Consulting firmsIT servicesDigital agenciesFounders and CEOsFinance teamsDelivery leadsCustomer stories
Product tourUser guideWhat’s newBlogCompareAboutContact sales
Integrations
Pricing
Sign inStart free trial
KPilot vs NetSuite

KPilot vs NetSuite. Accurate margins without replacing QuickBooks.

NetSuite offers a department P&L once you configure and maintain it. KPilot gives firms on QuickBooks the cost of every hour, overhead allocation and margin analysis.

Start free trial Book a demo
KPilot and NetSuite
CapabilityKPilotNetSuite
What it isA management layer on top of QuickBooks OnlineA new general ledger that replaces QuickBooks
P&L by department and companyYesFrom one project to the group, with eliminationsYesDepartment, class, location, subsidiary; consolidation with OneWorld
Cost of a personYesFrom pay: salary, allowances and employer charges per contract, prorated by day, plus overhead per hourPartialLabor rates entered by hand, or taken from its US payroll
Overhead allocationYesThree-tier step-down; booked expenses replace the plan once the month is bookedPartialAllocation schedules in an add-on, posted as journals
Why margin movedYesComputed every day, by business driverPartialFlux analysis explains account balance changes
Revenue recognition, WIPNoNot yet: revenue on invoice date todayYesPercent complete; ASC 606
Security certificationNoNot certified yet. Separate database per customer, passkeys, access by department, audit trailYesSOC 1, SOC 2, ISO 27001
Source: each vendor’s public documentation, October 2026.
01Loaded costKnow what each hour costs02OverheadInclude overhead in client margin03Margin analysisSee why margin changed

What KPilot adds

Three things KPilot calculates for you, shown on Mesabrook, our demo company.

01Loaded cost

Know what each hour costs

Hannah’s hour costs $88.67: her $108,000 salary and employer taxes, divided by the hours she can work, plus her team’s share of overhead. KPilot updates it when her contract changes.

  • Salaried, hourly or contractor (1099)
  • Employer charges with their yearly ceilings
  • Gusto payroll for closed months
Read how KPilot costs an hour
Hannah GoldsteinSenior Consultant · Austin, TXSalaried exempt
Annual base salary (gross)$108,000
Social Security, employer 6.2% up to $176,100$6,696
Medicare, employer 1.45%$1,566
Federal unemployment (FUTA) 0.6% of the first $7,000$42
Texas unemployment (SUTA) 2.7% of the first $9,000$243
Loaded pay$116,547
÷ Productive hours 220 working days, minus 15 days off1,640 h
Cost per productive hour$71.07
+ Overhead share Transformation & Change, November$17.60
Loaded cost per hour$0.00
Tue, Nov 3 · Lone Star · 7.5 h × $88.67$665.03
Employer charges from Mesabrook Advisory’s company template.
02Overhead

Include overhead in client margin

KPilot spreads general and support costs across the teams that bill, by revenue, labor cost, headcount or capacity. Booked QuickBooks expenses replace the plan once the month closes.

  • G&A, support and delivery teams
  • Spread by revenue, labor, headcount or capacity
  • QuickBooks expenses replace the plan
Read how overhead allocation works
Cost centres$143,000 spread
Mesabrook Advisory LLC · NovemberBooked in QuickBooks through October
G&ASpread by revenueOffice, 600 Congress Ave$21,500Software$11,200Insurance$3,800Leadership$26,500Total$63,000
OverheadSupport teams, spread by direct laborFinance & Accounting$24,800People & Talent$18,600Internal IT & Systems$14,200Business Development$22,400Total$80,000
Delivery teamsStrategy & Digital Advisory3,080 h of delivery$54,300$17.63 an hourTransformation & Change2,483 h of delivery$43,700$17.60 an hourPlatform Engineering & Ops2,412 h of delivery$45,000$18.66 an hour
Booked expenses replace the plan once a month is booked. A key that cannot be computed shows an error, never zero.
03Margin analysis

See why margin changed

Compare today with yesterday, a month end or your budget. KPilot breaks the change down by staffing, deals, planned invoicing, late invoicing, budgets and actuals.

  • Daily and saved versions
  • Tiles that add up to the change
  • Who changed what, and when
Read how the margin bridge works
P&LLive
Mesabrook Advisory LLCInvoicedCompared with
Full-year operating margin14.1%against 14.2% on Yesterday−0.1 pts
Where the move comes from
Team and staffing−$4,800
Late invoicing−$2,400
Actuals+$600
Change in operating income−$6,600
Full-year operating margin14.1%against 15.6% on Oct 31−1.5 pts
Where the move comes from
Team and staffing−$61,400
Deals+$38,500
Planned invoicing−$47,600
Late invoicing−$31,200
Budgets+$18,600
Actuals−$34,900
Change in operating income−$118,000
Full-year operating margin14.1%against 17.5% on Budget, saved Jan 5−3.4 pts
Where the move comes from
Team and staffing−$142,000
Deals+$64,000
Planned invoicing−$88,500
Late invoicing−$52,300
Budgets+$31,500
Actuals−$80,000
Change in operating income−$267,300
Pick a version: the bridge splits the move by driver, and the tiles add up exactly to the change.

Which tool fits your firm

Each tool is a better fit for some firms. Here is how to tell.

Choose KPilot when
  • 1 to 3 US companies on QuickBooks Online
  • Leaders want client, project and team margin with actual payroll cost
  • No budget or time for a months-long ERP project
NetSuite fits better when
  • You need ASC 606 and audited multi-currency consolidation
  • You are moving off QuickBooks anyway
  • SOC 2 is required

Questions to ask in your evaluation

Ask every vendor, including us, to show the answer on your own data.

  1. 01

    Which decision is stuck: closing the books, or knowing which clients and teams make money and why?

  2. 02

    Where does people cost come from today, and who keeps the cost rates?

  3. 03

    How many companies and currencies, and does an auditor need ASC 606?

  4. 04

    What year-one budget and go-live date are approved?

Included in GrowthFrom $599 a month for up to 10 full users. Team members $8 each.
Start free trial See pricing

Questions

NetSuite does department and subsidiary P&L.

True. If the ledger is the problem, NetSuite is a good fit. If you need accurate project margins, it needs hand-kept labor rates or its own payroll, plus add-ons.

Does KPilot replace our accounting?

No. KPilot sits on top of QuickBooks Online and reads it back. Your books stay where they are.

Where do these comparisons come from?

From each vendor’s public documentation, help center and pricing pages, as of October 2026. KPilot’s column comes from the product itself.

Can we try KPilot on our own data?

Yes. Start the 14-day trial, or book a demo and we set it up on your QuickBooks company.

Works with the rest of KPilot

Project profitabilityWhat every engagement earnsMargin GuardThe work you haven’t billedCompare KPilotAgainst BigTime, Kantata, NetSuite and more

See your margin by client and team.

Try KPilot next to NetSuite on your own QuickBooks data.

Start your free trial Book a demo