Contractor finance options
Level vs Decimal
Decimal describes bookkeeping, tax, bill pay, payroll support and advisory, including home-services and multi-location businesses. It is not limited to data entry. The useful comparison is the engagement owner, delivery model and operating detail each quote includes.
Compare Level and Decimal accounting services, including current advisory scope, delivery ownership and field-to-ledger contractor reporting.
How Level and Decimal compare
Side-by-side on the dimensions that actually matter for contractors.
| Capability | Level | Decimal |
|---|---|---|
| Published service scope | Bookkeeping plus finance and operating work according to tier. | Bookkeeping, tax, bill pay, expenses, invoicing, payroll support and advisory. |
| Industry fit | Level's primary contractor research and operating focus is trades; it also serves other service businesses. | Names home services, multi-location businesses, SaaS and other industries. |
| Delivery ownership | Assigned Level roles and responsibilities defined in the engagement. | Decimal franchise materials describe local firm relationships supported by centralized delivery and an operating system; establish which model applies to your proposal. |
| Job profitability | Job records mapped to accounting projects or classes, with payroll, materials and subcontractor costs checked against the same period; implementation depends on the available exports and permissions. | Ask the assigned team to demonstrate the job and accounting reports included in its proposed service, rather than infer capability from the industry label. |
| Research | Level Index research covers 2,242 contractors and $13.25B of job revenue. Each metric has its own sample and definition; it is not a count of Level clients or matched peers for every business. | Reviewed service descriptions do not establish the definition or population of external benchmarks used in your engagement. |
| Pricing | Bookkeeping from $500/month for monthly books and reconciliations. Scale $1,500-$5,000/month; Platform custom. Forecasting, advisory and operating work follow the signed scope. | A fixed monthly service proposal; the reviewed current pages do not establish a universal starting price. |
| Tax preparation | Level prepares returns through a CPA partner only when included in the signed scope; otherwise Level coordinates with your CPA. Coordination is not return preparation or filing. | Tax is a stated service category; specify the returns, preparer and advisory work in the proposal. |
Use Level if you are
- You want a scoped operating review built around technician labor, job costs and collection timing.
- Your FSM and ledger disagree and you need that bridge included in the engagement.
- You want research applied only when the benchmark definition matches your metric.
Use Decimal if you are
- You want Decimal bookkeeping, payment, tax and advisory services in one scoped proposal.
- You value a local firm relationship and want to assess the centralized delivery support described by its franchise model.
- Your home-services or multi-location needs match the service scope offered by the proposed team.
Name the owner on each side of the handoff
Ask who gathers missing records, reviews the close and answers a disputed accounting treatment. Where local relationship management and central delivery are split, write down the escalation path. This is a responsibility check, not evidence that the model creates errors.
An industry label is not a job-cost report
For a home-services trial, choose a completed job that was invoiced after the service date. Reconcile revenue and labor to a stated accounting period before interpreting the margin. A technician completion status alone does not establish final billing.
Use the right benchmark denominator
A service-agreement metric, a quote-line metric and whole-company gross margin are different populations. A benchmark can inform a review only after its cost definition and sample match the question. Agreement pull-through is additional non-agreement revenue divided by annual agreement revenue, not a share of customers or visits.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Decimal a CFO service?
Decimal advertises advisory in addition to bookkeeping and other accounting services. The current pages reviewed do not establish a single universal CFO package. At Level, forecasting and advisory are agreed Scale or Platform work; Bookkeeping covers monthly books and reconciliations.
Can I use both?
Possibly, if responsibilities are complementary. You can scope Level operating analysis around an existing bookkeeping provider. Avoid duplicating reconciliations and specify which team owns corrections to the ledger.
How does Level use AI?
AI assists repetitive classification, source collection and review preparation. People remain responsible for judgment and approved accounting actions. Automation output is not itself evidence of a complete or accurate closed period.
Sources and scope
Vendor capabilities and prices on this page are vendor-published descriptions reviewed October 7, 2026, not independently tested performance. Plan terms can change. Level deliverables follow the signed engagement; a listed software page does not establish an implemented connector.
- Decimal services and industries
Current accounting, advisory and industry positioning.
- Decimal franchise delivery model
Local firm relationship and centralized delivery model; applicability must be established for the proposed engagement.
- Level pricing
Current Level tiers and starting prices.
- Level Index methodology and benchmarks
Research universe, metric-specific samples and definitions.
Other comparisons
Simple pricing
Three tiers, one ladder.
$500+/mo
Bookkeeping
The clean data layer: monthly books, reconciliations, and organized financials AI can work with.
$1,500-$5,000/mo
Scale
The full AI operating layer: custom agents, weekly actions, and benchmarks to grow margin per hour.
Custom
Platform / Multi-Office
Multi-branch benchmarking and scorecards for PE-backed and multi-location groups.
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