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KPilot vs Productive

KPilot vs Productive. Margin based on your books and payroll.

Productive estimates project margin from timesheets and costs you enter. KPilot builds margin from QuickBooks and payroll, from each project up to the company.

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KPilot and Productive
CapabilityKPilotProductive
Reads QuickBooks actuals backYesInvoices, payments, credit memos and customers as they change, plus expense totals per accountNoPayments come back only for invoices it exported
Cost of a personYesFrom pay: salary, allowances and employer charges per contract, prorated by day, plus overhead per hourPartialSalary divided by hours, with no employer taxes or benefits
Overhead allocationYesThree-tier step-down; booked expenses replace the plan once the month is bookedPartialTop tier only: one formula, rent typed by hand
P&L by department and companyYesFrom one project to the group, with eliminationsNo
Why margin movedYesComputed every day, by business driverPartialAn AI summary
Versions and change trailYesDaily versions, saved versions, and who changed whatNot found
Cash forecastYesForecast, scenarios and reconciliationNo
Hourly billing and rate cardsYesTime and materials per man-hour or per man-day, at each client’s rates; invoices planned from the staffed effortYes
Public APIPartialLeads API todayYesPlus MCP
Security certificationNoNot certified yet. Separate database per customer, passkeys, access by department, audit trailYesSOC 2
Source: each vendor’s public documentation, October 2026.
01Loaded costKnow what each hour costs02Group P&LOne P&L from project to group03Margin 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.
02Group P&L

One P&L from project to group

The same P&L for a project, a client, a department, a company and the whole group, with intercompany eliminations, built from QuickBooks.

  • Activity, client, department, company, group
  • Eliminations between companies
  • Invoiced and cash views
Explore project profitability
P&LLive
Scope By companyInvoicedFiscal year 2026
Mesabrook Advisory LLCMesabrook Nearshore S. de R.L. de C.V.EliminationsGroup
Revenue$7,860,000$1,420,000−$960,000$8,320,000
Direct costs$5,140,000$890,000−$960,000$5,070,000
Gross margin$2,720,000$530,000–$3,250,000
Overhead$1,610,000$240,000–$1,850,000
Operating income$1,110,000$290,000–$1,400,000
Margin %14.1%20.4%–16.8%
Home currency USD. Mesabrook Nearshore converted from MXN at each month’s rate; its staff lent to Mesabrook Advisory eliminated.
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
  • The buyer is the founder, CFO or COO
  • QuickBooks is the source of truth
  • You want company and department margin, explained
  • Most of your people only log time: they cost $8 a month each
Productive fits better when
  • Operations wants one tool for projects and resourcing
  • SOC 2 or a public API is required
  • You want a self-serve trial with no setup call

Questions to ask in your evaluation

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

  1. 01

    Who types in rent and software costs every month, and how do they reconcile with QuickBooks?

  2. 02

    When your bookkeeper issues a credit memo in QuickBooks, how does it reach client margin?

  3. 03

    Show me last month’s company P&L by department, and what explains a 3-point drop.

  4. 04

    Which plan includes overhead, forecasting and several companies, quoted for your headcount with contractors?

Included in GrowthFrom $599 a month for up to 10 full users. Team members $8 each.
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Questions

Productive already does profitability.

Partly: its numbers come from timesheets and typed costs, overhead is in the top tier only, and its QuickBooks link pushes data out. KPilot reads QuickBooks back and costs every hour from pay.

They have SOC 2 and a free trial.

True. KPilot is not certified yet. It sets you up on your own data, at one price per firm.

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 Productive on your own QuickBooks data.

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