Median vs Kruze Consulting
Two good options for very different buyers. Kruze is the premium CPA firm for heavily venture-backed C-corps. Median is the AI-native firm for startups that want books updated daily and a price they can read off the page before they book a call.
| Median | Kruze Consulting | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | AI-native firm that keeps its own ledger | Established CPA firm, founded 2012 |
| How often books are touched | Updated every business day | Monthly |
| Pricing model | Flat fee, banded by annual revenue | Complexity-based quote |
| Starting price | $200 / mo under $250K revenue | Bookkeeping from ~$650 / mo |
| Accounting basis | Cash or accrual | Accrual, GAAP-oriented |
| Dedicated accountant | Yes, on every account | Yes |
| AI assistant access | Read-only MCP server for Claude | Not offered |
| Built for | Software and services startups, pre-seed to Series B | Funded Delaware C-corps, pre-seed to Series C |
Public pricing and terms as of June 2026. Models differ, so figures are not directly comparable. Confirm current details with each provider.
Where Kruze wins
Kruze is a genuine, established CPA firm with deep roots in the venture market, and for a heavily funded C-corp that is real value. If you want a firm that has seen hundreds of priced rounds, produces board-ready GAAP financials, and can sit next to your investors, Kruze has earned that reputation.
It also does things Median does not. A few are worth naming plainly so you can weigh them.
- 409A valuations, handled in-house, which Median does not offer.
- A deep VC network and warm introductions that come from a decade in the market.
- A clear path onto NetSuite as you grow into a larger finance stack.
- A long, established track record specifically with venture-backed C-corps.
Where Median wins
Median is built for founders who want their books current, not closed three weeks after the month ends, and who would rather know the price before the call than wait for a quote sized to their complexity.
- Books categorized and posted every business day instead of once a month, so cash and burn stay close to current.
- A published flat fee set by your annual revenue, $200 a month under $250K and $500 from $250K to $1M, with seats and reports included, instead of a quote sized to your complexity.
- A read-only MCP server, so an assistant like Claude can answer questions straight from your live books.
- A fit for bootstrapped and profitable companies too, not only funded C-corps.
How each one is built
Kruze is a people-first firm that works inside QuickBooks Online and moves growth-stage clients to NetSuite. Its strength is human expertise applied to your books on a monthly cadence, which is why its pricing reflects the staff time your complexity requires.
Median is AI-native. Software does the high-volume categorization and posting every business day, a dedicated accountant reviews the exceptions and owns the result, and the ledger Median keeps is the system of record rather than a file touched once a month. That is what makes current books, real-time answers, and AI access practical at a startup price.
Pricing compared
Kruze publishes bookkeeping starting around $650 per month, with a higher "founder timesaver" range and custom premium pricing; full-service finance with tax, R&D, and CFO support commonly runs into the thousands per month by stage. The model is complexity-based, so the real number comes from a quote.
Median publishes a flat monthly fee set by annual revenue: $200 a month under $250K and $500 a month from $250K to $1M, with reports, scenarios, daily bookkeeping and every seat included, and no setup fee. Above $1M the price is scoped on a call. Tax filing is an add-on from $1,499 per year and R&D credit work is $5,000 flat under a $50,000 estimated credit and 10 percent of the credit at $50,000 and above. The band is set by revenue rather than by complexity, so at the early and growth stages the number is on the page and it is typically a fraction of a premium firm. Competitor figures are current as of June 2026 and the two are not apples to apples, since they price on different axes.
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