In-Depth Analysis

FinancePal Review 2024

Advertiser Disclosure
Written By
Julija A.
Updated
August 14, 2023
Some or all of the products/services listed on this page are from our affiliate partners from which we receive commissions. This, however, does not influence the evaluations in our reviews. Learn more by reading our Advertiser Disclosure.

Everyone wishes they had a pal to turn to when trying to figure out complex financial procedures. That’s why Finance Pal offers a one-stop-shop for all your bookkeeping, accounting, and payroll needs. The company provides dedicated online support for small business owners and entrepreneurs, enabling them to run their businesses more efficiently. Read our review to find out more.

Pricing
Customized

Tax preparation: Yes

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Fortunly Rating

Fortunly's Rating: Our editorial team determines the rating based on a set of evaluation criteria developed for each product and service category.

Pricing plans
Custom, Basic, Plus
Mobile App
Yes
Tax preparation
Yes
Years in business
11
Customized service
Yes
Customer support
Phone, online form, live chat
pros thumb up Strengths
  • All-in-one bookkeeping and accounting solution
  • Dedicated support
  • Experienced tax professionals
  • Online payroll service
  • A wide range of additional business services
  • Free mobile app
pros thumb up Weaknesses
  • Price is available on request
  • Limited number of third-party integrations

FinancePal Overview

Founded in 2015, FinancePal is a Chicago-based online provider that offers various types of financial services, including bookkeeping, accounting, tax preparation, and payroll. It was founded by Jacob Dayan and Nick Charveron, co-owners of the nationwide tax services company Community Tax.

After a few years of offering IRS resolutions, the duo realized that small business owners need someone to help them manage challenging bookkeeping and accounting tasks. Enter FinancePal, a unique solution for handling business finance.

FinancePal is best known for offering customizable and, more importantly, affordable bookkeeping services. As such, it’s not surprising that thousands of small American businesses and startups rely on FinancePal’s services to record and organize their business transactions, calculate taxes, and get easily-readable financial statements.

FinancePal also assigns clients with a dedicated financial team of certified public accountants and tax practitioners. That means you’ll be working strictly with people who are familiar with your business, individual needs, and finances. This type of virtual support costs less than hiring your own full-time accountant while guaranteeing the financial health of your business.

How FinancePal Compares to Other Online Bookkeeping Services

FinancePal Logo
FinancePal
Customized pricing:

Yes

Full bookkeeping services:

Yes

Bench Logo
Bench
Customized pricing:

No

Full bookkeeping services:

Yes

Bookkeeper.com Logo
Bookkeeper.com
Customized pricing:

No

Full bookkeeping services:

Yes

FinancePal Services

This is the kind of pal that helps you beat stress by providing you with a comprehensive set of solutions. We kick off this section of our Finance Pal review with the company’s primary services – bookkeeping and accounting.

Bookkeeping and Accounting

If you are a business owner, you know how exhausting and time-consuming bookkeeping can be. It involves everything from tracking your financial records to making sure you avoid errors that can lead to surplus inventory or financial shortfalls. In other words, it isn’t just about the long hours that you’ll spend working to get your books up to date. You also need to have a great deal of professional expertise in this field to avoid costly mistakes.

With the FinancePal dedicated team of experts, you’ll get support from professional US-based bookkeepers and accountants who address all your concerns and help you plan. Instead of collecting documents at your home or office, FinancePal will help you centralize them and give you access to the online platform to access them any time you want. On top of that, you’ll be able to see your documents from your mobile phone and use an e-signature to complete your daily tasks quickly.

FinancePal’s main selling point is the team of experts who actually understand how your business works. You can communicate directly with the accountant to get financial advice.

Below is a list of tasks that are handled by the FinancePal bookkeeping and accounting services team:

  • Recording your transactions
  • Preparing balance sheet
  • Preparing income statement
  • Working on tax preparation
  • Direct communication and financial advice to help your business grow

FinancePal Sales Tax

Many business owners agree that figuring out tax requirements and tax preparation are some of the hardest parts of their job. Therefore, most of them prefer outsourcing this task or occasionally employing the services of a professional accountant to help them file their taxes.

Finance Pal offers tax preparation and consulting services for a fraction of the rate that you pay to a full-time accountant. You’ll work directly with the Community Tax team that includes tax attorneys and other professionals in this field. They’ll make sure you understand your local and state tax obligations while helping you file to ensure you’re in compliance.

Online FinancePal reviews from satisfied customers serve as further proof of the company’s effective tax consulting service, which involves organizing records of business transactions for both eCommerce and retail taxes.

Regardless of whether you’re selling products or services, you need to abide by tax laws in individual states and know if the tax is being assumed by you or the buyer. And if your business transcends state lines, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with tax obligations. That’s when you can turn to the company’s knowledgeable tax professional for support.

FinancePal Payroll Service

Another useful service that this company offers is dedicated online payroll support. FinancePal experts can handle all tasks related to payroll so you can focus on other aspects of your business.

Depending on the business you run and its size, FinancePal will offer you customizable payroll support, allowing you and your employees to access an online payroll dashboard. You’ll get access to experienced financial professionals who calculate, file, and pay taxes on your behalf. FinancePal features also include automated data collection that ensures fast payroll processing.

Here are a few other FinancePal payroll services for small businesses and startups:

  • Creating schedules and invoices
  • Analyzing your accounts
  • Identifying tax saving opportunities

Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable Services

FinancePal makes it easier to pay bills and get paid. This is true whether you need assistance with organizing and tracking payments for your suppliers or help in collecting payments from your clients. Thanks to the FinancePal online dashboard, you can automate payments and streamline communication with your customers. You can connect FinancePal’s online dashboard with your in-house accounting software, like Quickbooks, and update your records every time you receive invoices.

FinancePal Additional Services

If FinancePal already seems like the right solution for your small business, wait till you hear what else this company has to offer. Although it’s best known for providing virtual bookkeeping and accounting services, FinancePal can also help you with the business formation process.

Unlike many other Finance Pal alternatives, the company offers an all-in-one solution for entrepreneurs who just entered the market. Whether you need assistance in choosing the right type of business entity, acquiring an Employer Identification Number, or identifying the contracts you need to draft, FinancePal can act as a useful asset.

Aside from the entity formation service, the company also offers tax preparation services for small businesses, accounting services for real estate, and catch-up bookkeeping assistance.

FinancePal Integrations

When choosing an online bookkeeping and accounting service, many business owners want to be sure that it can integrate with their in-house software products.

Luckily, there is no shortage of FinancePal reviews from satisfied customers that applaud the straightforward software integration and the relative ease with which they connected to the dashboard.

Below is the selection of industry-leading software products that integrate with FinancePal:

  • Bookkeeping and accounting: Quickbooks
  • Scheduling and time tracking software: TSheets
  • Payroll and HR software: ADP
  • Tax preparing and payroll software: Gusto
  • Data management software: HubdocBill.com

If your business data is stored on software that’s not on this list, you can contact FinancePal’s customer service team and try to figure out a way to connect the records to the company’s online dashboard.

FinancePal Pricing Plans

The company doesn’t display pricing plans on its website. But that’s not a downside. It simply believes in tailoring each plan to your industry and unique business needs. The advantage of the Finance Pal approach is that you can choose and pay only for the services that you actually need.

Getting a quote from FinancePal is straightforward. Simply access the company’s site and click on “Get Your Custom Quote,” which you’ll find in several places on the screen. The second option is to call the FinancePal customer support team on (877) 561-2014 and tell them what you need.

When creating a custom plan, FinancePal asks for your business details, including the business type, size, and other basic information. You then need to select any of the aforementioned services (bookkeeping, accounting, tax planning, etc.) that you wish to use.

To give you some insight about the costs, we contacted FinancePal for a quote. The basic bookkeeping and accounting service, including dedicated manager support, monthly financial statements, and a mobile receipt tracker, will set you back $205 per month. If you need the tax consulting service, FinancePal will cost you $280 per month. The service includes small business tax filing and preparation and tax advice for sales taxes.

Regardless of the service you choose, you’ll get free mobile access to the company’s mobile apps for Android and iOS devices. Integration with your bookkeeping and accounting software is also part of the deal. Moreover, the company guarantees privacy, meaning that all the information about your business transactions, your accounts, and your clients is completely safe.

FinancePal Mobile Apps

Although you can access FinancePal’s dashboard directly from the browser, the company offers mobile apps for Android and iOS users. It’s easy to install on your mobile phone, allowing you faster access to your records wherever you are. The app has all features and tools that you have on your desktop, so it’s a great asset for managers and business owners who travel a lot.

FinancePal vs. Bench

For the purpose of our review, we checked how FinancePal stacks up against similar companies. Bench is one of its main competitors. Both companies offer virtual bookkeeping and accounting services, but Bench is available only for cash-based businesses.

Like FinancePal, Bench provides financial reports and manages your general ledger, but this company doesn’t offer tax and payroll services. While FinancePal offers customizable pricing plans, Bench has the same pricing scheme for all clients.

FinancePal integrates with Quickbooks, the industry-leading software for bookkeeping, which gives you complete access to documentation. Bench, however, uses a proprietary software, which means less visibility.

Overall, we found FinancePal’s service more comprehensive and suitable for small businesses. Its customized pricing plans are also a more affordable option for businesses that need specific types of support.

How to Get in Touch With FinancePal?

Our FinancePal review wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the company’s support team. We had a great experience with their agents when inquiring about quotes. FinancePal offers different channels, including phone and live chat.

Is This Service Ideal For You?

Finance Pal’s licensed bookkeepers and tax professionals will help you eliminate all your daily challenges. By getting access to a dedicated team and reliable tech-based services, you can rest assured that your unique business needs are going to be analyzed and addressed.

Small businesses with less complex business books benefit the most from this company, but it’s also a good option for some medium-sized businesses. Here is the list of industries that can benefit from the FinancePal company:

  • Real estate
  • Online shops and eCommerce
  • Startups
  • Construction
  • Restaurants and bars
  • Agriculture

FAQ

What is FinancePal?

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FinancePal is a virtual bookkeeping, accounting, and tax prep service for small businesses and startups. It’s a subsidiary of Community Tax, the industry-leading tax consulting company. 

Which services does FinancePal offer?

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FinancePal offers a wide range of services, including bookkeeping, accounting, payroll, and tax preparation. Additionally, you can opt for entity formation support or real estate accounting service. 

How to contact Finance Pal support?

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You can contact Finance Pal via phone (877) 561-2014 or live chat or fill an online form on the company’s site.