Software spend review for bookkeeping and CAS firms

The client asks where software money went

For many bookkeeping and CAS firms, the honest answer is a manual pass through the general ledger, a spreadsheet that is stale by next month, and no clean artifact to leave behind.

Card platforms catch what hits their card, and sometimes their own bill-pay rails. They miss a lot of what still shows up in QuickBooks Online or Xero: ACH, checks, annual invoices, and direct debits. That gap is why a software spend review belongs in the firm’s advisory toolkit, not only in a client’s IT stack.

You already hold the books. The review should use that access, produce a branded leave-behind, and stay billable without asking the client to adopt another app.

Built for the firm that already holds the books

ShadowLedger is for:

• Bookkeeping and CAS firms.
• Outsourced bookkeeping practices.
• Intuit ProAdvisors and Xero advisors running client books.

It is not a single-company IT procurement tool, and it is not a seat-usage product. A ledger records what was paid, not who logged in.

One company auditing its own books is a different page: ShadowLedger for companies. A PE, portfolio, or referral motion under someone else’s brand is a different product shape: ShadowLedger vs SpendHound.

How it works

Add clients

Each client gets its own workspace. Active clients are what Firm billing counts. Archive a client and it comes off the bill.

Give the engine the ledger

Start from a transactions CSV. When you want ongoing re-scans, connect QuickBooks Online or Xero with the accountant access you already hold.

Hand over the report

Findings under your logo, prepared by your firm, prepared for the client. PDF or a revocable share link.

Keep the client out of another login

They do not need a ShadowLedger account for you to deliver the review.

QuickBooks Online and Xero are the only connectors. Google Workspace is not open yet.

Intuit has no read-only accounting scope, so for QuickBooks Online our code only issues read and query calls and never writes. For Xero we ask only for read-only scopes.

Before you connect a live file, confirm your engagement letter covers sharing client data with a third-party tool. How we handle data: security and the DPA.

What’s in a software spend review

A firm-grade review is a ranked list of vendors, what each costs, cadence, payment rail, and why it was flagged. It is not a commentary on how the books were kept.

Typical finding types are product capabilities, not guaranteed savings on every client:

• Possible duplicate vendors. Two tools doing the same job, billed side by side.
• Charges that repeat. A charge that repeats after a newer one replaced it.
• Amounts that changed. Vendors that raised the amount.
• Renewals you can see from the charges. Projected from charge cadence. Contract end and notice period when you add them.
• Card-blind rails. ACH, checks, direct debits, and annual invoices that never touch a corporate card feed.

The report can also surface recurring spend in named families (insurance, telecom, utilities, memberships, and merchant or processor fees) in their own section. That is useful when a client barely uses software and still has recurring vendors.

The demo is a made-up company. Dollar figures there are fictional, not client results. The audit does not report unused seats or unused logins. If that is the question, this is the wrong product.

Paths: free CSV audit or Firm trial

These are two different commitments. The free CSV audit is proof on one company export. The Firm plan’s minimum stays 4 clients ($60 a month) at the first charge.

Pricing (Firm list)

• $15 per active client per month.
• 4-client minimum, $60 a month.
• Archive a client and it comes off the bill.
• Above about 25 clients, ask about volume pricing. No volume rate is listed here.

The Firm trial is 14 days, and a card is required. The first charge is when the trial ends, for the clients you have then, with the minimum.

What this is not

• Not unused-seat or unused-login reclaim. A ledger records what was paid, not who logged in.
• Not a substitute for SOC 2. We do not have SOC 2. See security and the DPA.
• Not a card-only spend dashboard for one company.
• Not Google Workspace (not open yet).
• Not named customers, logos, testimonials, or an average savings figure. Sample dollars are fictional, not a client result.
• Not SpendHound-style company or PE-portfolio SaaS management under another brand’s tenancy. See the comparison.

FAQ

Next step

1. Want proof first? Free CSV audit, no card.
2. Ready for the book? Firm trial, 14 days, card required.

Product home · Sample on a fictional company · Company shape vs firm shape