For accountants and bookkeepers
Every client’s books. One login. One clear picture.
Your clients are small business owners, often with more than one business and a personal financial life tangled through all of them. RealBooks was built for exactly those clients, and the firm portal was built for you: free, with every client one click away.
Free for verified accountants and bookkeepers. No client minimum to start.
The firm portal
Built for the accountant, not bolted on for one.
Most small business software treats you as a guest in the client’s account. In RealBooks, the firm portal is a first-class home: your roster, your queues, your view across every set of books you touch.
Every client, one login
A roster of every client you serve. Open any client’s books in one click, no shared passwords, no juggling logins.
Dual-basis ledgers, always
Cash and accrual views of the same general ledger, side by side, on every client. No conversions, no second set of books at year end.
An audit trail you can stand behind
The general ledger is the system of record. Every entry traces to its source, and posted history cannot be silently rewritten. When you sign off on a client’s books, the books hold.
Forecasts that make you the advisor
Cash flow forecasts and runway timelines on every client. Walk into the monthly call with what happens next, not just what already happened.
Review and approval queuesThis fall
Client-entered transactions wait in a queue for your review before they post. Catch the miscategorized owner draw before it becomes a December surprise.
Roster-wide Books Health ScoreThis fall
One screen that shows which clients are reconciled and current, and which ones are drifting, so you spend your week where it matters.
Batch journal entriesThis fall
Month-end adjustments across the roster without opening ten browser tabs.
Client onboarding flowsThis fall
Send a new client a guided setup: bank connections, chart of accounts, opening balances, all shaped by you before they type a number.
The Comms Center
One inbox for every client. No more inbox archaeology.
Client conversations live inside RealBooks, attached to the books they are about. Ask for a statement, answer a payroll question, chase a receipt: it all happens in one place, not scattered across email, text, and three voicemails.
- Every firm gets it. Client messaging is included in the free firm portal.
- CRPs get more. Broadcast to every client at once, send from a library of accountant-built templates, and receive marketplace leads as new conversations, right here.
Clients
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What it costs you
Free portal. Free books, once you have earned them.
The firm portal
Free
Client roster, one-click switching, dual-basis views, and the Comms Center. Free for every verified accountant and bookkeeper, from day one.
Your firm’s own books
Earn them
Bring three paying clients onto RealBooks and your own firm’s books are free for as long as they stay active. Until then, standard pricing applies.
Certify as a CRP
Skip the line
Certification waives the threshold: your firm’s books are free immediately, and the marketplace starts sending clients your way.
Your clients pay $59.99 per month for their first business and $29.99 per month for each additional business, on one subscription. For clients who own several businesses, that math usually closes the deal for you.
Certified RealBooks Professional
The certification that sends clients to you.
CRP is more than a badge. It is the only door into the CRP Marketplace, where business owners search for help, and it comes with the tools and training to run a modern practice on RealBooks. Training is led by practicing accountants, not product tours.
The marketplace listing
Only CRPs appear on the CRP Marketplace. When a business owner clicks Find a CRP, they are choosing from certified professionals and no one else.
Leads in your inbox
A client who finds you on the marketplace lands directly in your Comms Center as a new conversation. New business arrives where you already work.
Broadcast messaging
One message to every client at once. 1099 deadlines, statement requests, tax season kickoff: written once, delivered everywhere, with read receipts.
A template library that thinks like an accountant
Document requests, month-end close checklists, tax prep kickoffs: built from the real workflows of practicing accountants, ready to send.
Free books for your firm
Certification waives the three-client threshold. Your own firm’s books are free from the day you certify.
Priority support and early access
A faster line to our team, and new features in your hands before general release, so you are already fluent when your clients ask.
The CRP Marketplace
Where business owners go to find you.
Every RealBooks customer sees a Find a CRP button. It opens a directory of certified professionals, filterable by specialty and state, and only certified professionals. Your tile carries your photo, your location, and the industries you know best.
And one rule protects you: businesses already connected to a firm never see the button. The marketplace exists to bring you new clients, not to shop the ones you have.
Browse the marketplaceIllustrative profiles. Real tiles come from real CRPs.
Questions accountants ask
The fine print, in plain language.
- What does the firm portal cost?
- Nothing. Verified accountants and bookkeepers get the RealBooks firm portal free: the client roster, one-click switching between client books, and the Comms Center. Your clients subscribe to RealBooks the same way any business does.
- Do I have to pay for my own firm’s books?
- Only until you earn them. Bring three paying clients onto RealBooks and your own firm’s books are free for as long as those clients stay active. Become a Certified RealBooks Professional and your books are free immediately, no client threshold.
- What is a Certified RealBooks Professional (CRP)?
- CRP is our certification for accountants and bookkeepers who know RealBooks inside and out. Certified professionals are the only ones listed on the CRP Marketplace, where business owners search for help by specialty and location, and leads land directly in your Comms Center inbox.
- Do I have to become a CRP to use RealBooks with clients?
- No. The firm portal, client messaging, and every client-facing feature work without certification. CRP adds the layer on top: the marketplace listing, inbound leads, broadcast messaging, the template library, priority support, early access to new features, and free books for your own firm.
- How do you verify that I’m an accountant?
- CPAs are verified against their state board of accountancy and Enrolled Agents against the IRS roster, usually within a day. Experienced bookkeepers without a license are welcome too: we review your practice (website, EIN, existing certifications) by hand. Full verification is required before a marketplace listing goes live, because business owners trust that directory.
- Will the marketplace show my clients other accountants?
- No. The Find a CRP button only appears to businesses that have no firm connected to their books. The moment a client is linked to you, the button disappears for them. The marketplace is a source of new clients, never a threat to your existing ones.
- How much does RealBooks cost my clients?
- $59.99 per month for their first business and $29.99 per month for each additional business, all on one subscription. Owners of multiple businesses stop paying full price per company file, which is usually the moment they agree to switch.
Your clients are already tired of their books.
Open your firm portal, bring them somewhere better, and let the marketplace bring the next ones to you.