We trial the software solo bookkeepers and small firms rely on — by running identical sample books through each one. No employer to please, no vendor relationships to protect, and every verdict earned on the same data.
162
Transactions per trial
5
Planted traps
32
Checklist points
$0
From vendors, ever
— The Trap Report —
Five errors planted in every test ledger · what each tool caught, from our published trials
| QuickBooks | Xero | FreshBooks | |
|---|---|---|---|
| i. The duplicate charge | missed | missed | caught ✓ |
| ii. The mid-month refund | suggested wrong | missed | no netting |
| iii. The unguessable vendor | mangled the clue | left honest ✓ | flagged it ✓ |
| iv. The foreign-currency charge | fee snagged | booked cleanly ✓ | booked cleanly ✓ |
| v. The two-week feed gap | signaled, vaguely | invisible | no check |
Fig. 1. From our published trials — the test dataset is public; run the books yourself.
Head-to-head
We ran the Alder Row quarter, 80 transactions and seven planted traps, through Stessa Essentials and Baselane Core without connecting a bank to either. Stessa scored 22/32, Baselane 16/32. Both got the Schedule E right where the rows were tagged; neither flagged the duplicate charge.
Final score — 32-point checklist
Stessa
22
Baselane
16
Last verified Oct 29, 2026
Methodology
Before the first landlord review, the dataset. One three-unit landlord, one quarter, 80 transactions, seven planted traps, and a 32-point checklist. Download it and run it before we publish a score.
Last verified Oct 26, 2026
Tool review
Three identical reminders on the right days, then a greyed-out button that says follow up manually. The firm side is the highest-scoring review loop on our onboarding checklist. The client side cannot ask a question.
Last verified Oct 8, 2026