FAQs

At Zeni, we have three different plans for our AI Bookkeeping: Starter, Growth, and Enterprise.

• For pre-revenue companies, you are likely to fit in the Starter Plan.*
• For revenue-generating companies, you are likely to fit in the Growth Plan Or Enterprise Plan.*

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*Pricing is based on bookkeeping complexity, monthly expenses, and annual revenue.

QuickBooks Online Plus. Please note that this software is required to sync with Zeni’s Dashboard.

You must use Quickbooks Online (QBO) Plus. If you do not currently utilize this software, we will work with you to migrate your data from your current accounting software over to QBO Plus.

Currently, our services are available only to U.S.-based entities. We're committed to expanding globally and hope to serve businesses outside the U.S. in the future.

Zeni supports multi-entity businesses. Each business or location would need its own Zeni subscription at whatever level is right for that business.

Zeni’s powerful AI automates audits of large datasets in seconds and provides accurate, timely financial reporting. It helps you identify patterns in financial data for deep insights missed by humans, and enhances compliance with regulatory standards.

Key areas our AI automates bookkeeping:

1. Automated Data Posting: Automatically capture and enter financial data from various sources such as receipts, invoices, and bank statements into Zeni’s accounting system. This reduces manual effort and minimizes errors.
2. Transaction & Vendor Categorization: AI algorithms categorize vendors and transactions based on transaction details, which helps in organizing financial data accurately and efficiently.
3. Automated Journal Entries: Post Journal Entries using AI, ensuring accurate categorization, real-time posting, and compliance with accounting standards.
4. Bank & Account Reconciliation: Zeni’s AI performs bank reconciliations by matching transactions in the business’s bank accounts with those recorded in the accounting softwares. This ensures that the financial records are accurate and up-to-date at all times.
5. Predictive Insights: AI predictive insights analyze historical data trends. This helps businesses anticipate future financial scenarios and plan accordingly.

Zeni Bill Pay uses AI I to auto-fill invoice information, store vendor details, and classify accounting entries, significantly reducing manual data entry and errors.

Zeni Bill Pay is available at no extra cost to your existing subscription, including $0 ACH fees.

Yes, it supports payments to both domestic and international vendors efficiently.

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You can set up a multi-level approval process tailored to your company's needs, automating approvals based on specific parameters and invoice due dates.

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Zeni utilizes AI to automate the reimbursement process, reducing manual data entry and minimizing errors, with the ability to issue same-day ACH payouts.

Zeni supports 160 currencies.

There is no limit to the number of reports a user can submit.

You can set up a multi-level approval process tailored to your company's needs, automating approvals based on specific parameters and invoice due dates.

No, Zeni is not currently GDPR compliant, but it will be soon. We are actively working towards full compliance to ensure the privacy and security of your data.

Qualifying for a business checking account is a relatively simple process. You’ll typically need to prove that you own the business and that you have money to deposit into the account. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule.

For example, if you have another business checking account that’s overdrawn, you may have a hard time qualifying for a new one. It may be best to bring your original account back to good standing before you apply.

Financial regulations require Zeni to collect both identity and company details to verify your business. 

Identity:‍

For identity details, you will need to provide DOB, Address, Email, Phone, Company Role, Ownership, SSN.

Company:

For company details, you will need to provide Company Name, Address, Website, Industry, Type Of Incorporation, Tax ID, Certificate Of Incorporation, EIN Document.

You are able to open unlimited checking accounts. Create as many checking accounts needed for your business.

Interest is compounded daily and credited monthly to your Business Checking Account. Interest is calculated using the daily balance method. This method applies a daily periodic rate to the principal and interest that has accrued in the deposit account each day. This means that the interest from your account is calculated every day on a 365-day year/ 366-day for leap years.

Zeni Checking Accounts are FDIC Insured up to $3M* through our partner banks and use of sweep networks. You can learn more about FDIC insurance here.

The Zeni Finance Concierge is fully-staffed Monday through Friday, 9:00 am to 6:00 pm PST. We aim to complete requests within two hours, or will otherwise respond with an anticipated timeline for completion.

We spend as much time as needed to get the job done. We do not charge clients on an hourly basis, so all of the time spent servicing your business — human, or otherwise — is included in the flat monthly subscription fee.

The Zeni Finance Team is made up of Accountants, Chartered Accountants (CA) Certified Public Accountants (CPA), Tax Advisors and Chief Financial Officers (CFO) with a collective 100+ years of experience. Beyond their respective degrees and years of experience, each Zeni Finance Expert has completed certifications for the core accounting and financial services used at Zeni (Quickbooks Online, Bill.com, Expensify, etc.).

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Learn more about the team here. 

Zeni is a full-service platform, where everything is managed by our in-house team of certified accounting experts. Entries into Quickbooks are made by a blend of human financial experts in collaboration with our AI-powered technology platform to deliver 100% accurate books.

Rather than having to juggle different contacts for different requests, the Zeni Finance Concierge serves as a single point of contact to reach your dedicated team of Zeni Finance Experts (bookkeepers, CA/CPAs, CFOs, Tax Advisors). Customers can email their dedicated <company>@zeni.ai email address with questions or requests, or request a call with our finance team at any point in time.

A fractional CFO (sometimes called an outsourced CFO or virtual CFO) is a financial professional who provides CFO services on a part-time or project basis. Think of them as freelance finance specialists who contract with your business and offer similar services to a regular CFO without long-term, full-time, often expensive commitments.

A fractional CFO is a professional who works part-time or project-based for your business and gets paid per project or hours worked. This also means that fractional CFOs can choose to work for multiple clients simultaneously. However, fractional CFOs have often worked with various businesses and can bring a fresh perspective to your financial operations.

On the other hand, a full-time CFO is a professional who works for your business full-time and is available to work on your financial matters exclusively – this is one of the main advantages. Full-time CFOs are also paid an annual salary for their services and are eligible for company benefits. However, a full-time CFO salary averages $300,000 - $500,000 per year, which most early-stage startups can’t afford.

Yes, hiring a Fractional CFO who specializes in SaaS can be highly beneficial. They bring industry-specific expertise in financial metrics, business models, and growth strategies unique to SaaS, such as MRR, churn rate, and CAC. This expertise helps in scaling efficiently, managing cash flow, and securing funding.

Zeni is an all-in-one finance and accounting platform for startups that offers fractional CFO services. The main benefit of using Zeni’s fractional CFOs is that everything is in one place. Everyone has the information in one place and can communicate without messaging between companies.

Yes! This is included as part of our CFO Plan. Learn more about our plans and pricing here.

Yes. If you are not generating revenue, but are spending money, there are valuable carryover losses that you can accumulate to use to offset a portion of any taxable income in the future. You may also miss out on some valuable elections if you do not file timely, including the R&D payroll tax offset, which could put money back in your pocket NOW!

Yes. C-Corp, S-Corp, LLC.

Yes. Zeni handles US foreign reporting. That means the reports that are required to be filed with your US tax return if you have any foreign shareholders or foreign subsidiaries, as well as, foreign bank accounts.

Sales tax reporting is one of our add-on services at Zeni. Once you have determined what your sales tax requirements are, we can take care of the monthly, quarterly or annual reporting.

Yes. We have a team of experts that will maximize your R&D Tax Credit and determine if you are eligible to elect to offset your employer payroll tax liability currently. This could result in significant savings to you.

Employee Onboarding & Termination

•  Coordinate full-time and contract hires on and off of your payroll system, including DnB registration

•  Respond to employee inquiries via payroll@zeni.ai channel

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Payroll System Management

•  Submit payroll

•  Assist in workers' compensation audit

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Compliance against all states and jurisdictions

•  Register business in new states and jurisdictions - $250 per state registration

•  Respond to state and local agency's requests for information and report contractors per state requirements

•  Handling payments outside of the payroll provider

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Our Payroll team will advise and coordinate the setup of new payroll software (as needed); submit payroll, respond to employee inquiries, workers' compensation audit management, and more.

We coordinate full-time and contract hires on and off of your payroll system, including DnB registration.

Zeni’s Payroll Manager support is available for U.S.-based employees and contractors only.

We register your business as an employer in new states and jurisdictions, respond to state and local agency's requests for information and report contractors per state requirements.

Start to finish, the Zeni onboarding process takes about 30 minutes to complete via a Zoom video call. We'll request you share your screen and then walk you through the various points of read-only account access required to get Zeni up and running (e.g. Quickbooks online, banks, credit cards, payroll provider, payment processor, etc.).

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Once we have access to your accounts and make any recommended updates to your chart of accounts, your Zeni Dashboard will be activated — typically within one week of joining Zeni. Your Zeni Finance Concierge email is set-up prior to onboarding and ready for use immediately.

1. Login credentials: Ensure you have login credentials with the necessary access levels (normally admin-level or higher) to invite new users for each account. Our Onboarding Specialist will walk you through various tech stacks and secure view-only access to your accounts.

2. Subscribed to QBO Plus: Please make sure you have subscribed to the appropriate QuickBooks level (QBO Plus)

3. Important Documents: Please ensure that you have your EIN and Incorporation documents readily available for the onboarding call. Our onboarding team will provide access to Zeni's secure Google Drive, where you can upload these documents to activate Zeni Bill Pay and Zeni Reimbursement.