Two Different Approaches to Bank Statement Processing
AutoEntry and Dext both target accounting firms and bookkeepers, but they take fundamentally different approaches to pricing and workflow design. Understanding these differences is critical when choosing a platform that will scale with your practice.
AutoEntry's credit-based model charges per document processed, while Dext's per-client structure assumes consistent high-volume relationships. Both integrate with major accounting software, but neither offers the unlimited processing model that modern firms need during tax season or rapid growth periods.
This comparison examines how each platform handles bank statement conversion, categorization accuracy, batch processing limits, and total cost of ownership for accounting practices managing multiple clients.
AutoEntry: Pay-Per-Document Credit System
AutoEntry starts at $12/month and uses a flexible credit-based system where you pay for what you process. For bank statements specifically, the platform charges 3 credits per page—significantly higher than receipt processing due to the extraction complexity.
The platform's key technical advantage is its bespoke digital extraction for ePDFs (electronic PDF bank statements) that doesn't require OCR processing. This speeds up extraction for digitally-generated statements compared to scanned documents, though it doesn't eliminate the per-page cost.
AutoEntry includes a "fast-coding" feature that lets you categorize bank statement transactions to nominal accounts and payees before exporting to Excel/CSV or directly to accounting packages. This pre-export categorization reduces cleanup work in your accounting software.
The credit model provides cost transparency at low volumes—you know exactly what each statement costs. However, firms processing 50+ statements monthly find the per-page charges add up quickly, especially during month-end close or tax season when volumes spike.
Dext: Per-Client Pricing with AI Categorization
Dext takes a different approach with per-client pricing starting at $24-$31.50/month, requiring a minimum of 10 clients for firm accounts. The platform processes over 320 million financial documents annually and claims 99.9% data extraction accuracy across receipts, invoices, and bank statements.
Where Dext differentiates itself is AI-powered category suggestions that learn from your posting patterns. The platform can connect to live bank feeds for real-time transaction access and provides intelligent recommendations for categories, descriptions, and payment methods based on transaction history.
Dext's supplier rules and smart splits allow you to automate how transactions are categorized and posted, reducing manual intervention. For firms with consistent high-volume clients, this automation can save significant time compared to manual categorization in AutoEntry's fast-coding interface.
The challenge with Dext's model is the 10-client minimum doesn't fit all practice structures. Firms with 20 small clients who send occasional statements pay the same as those with 10 high-volume clients sending weekly statements—creating an inefficient cost structure for certain practice types.
Pricing Reality: When Each Model Makes Sense
AutoEntry appears cheaper at first glance ($12/month vs $24-$31.50/month), but the credit-per-page model reverses this advantage at scale. Processing 50 bank statements monthly at 3 credits per page with 5 pages average means 750 credits—far exceeding base plan allocations.
Dext's per-client model works when you have predictable, high-volume clients. If each of your 10 clients sends 10+ pages of bank statements monthly, the flat client fee becomes economical. But firms serving 30 smaller clients with sporadic statement processing overpay significantly.
Both models create "usage anxiety"—you're constantly calculating whether to process a document based on cost rather than client need. This friction slows workflows and creates manual gatekeeping that wouldn't exist with unlimited processing.
Tax season amplifies this problem. When you need to process 3-4x your normal volume for year-end close, AutoEntry's credit costs spike and Dext's add-on fees for bank statement extraction beyond included allowances create unexpected bills. Neither platform offers truly predictable unlimited pricing.
Batch Processing Capabilities
Both platforms support batch uploads—you can upload multiple statements simultaneously rather than processing one at a time. AutoEntry organizes extracted statements into "Bank Statement projects" that let you categorize statements by date range or client before exporting the entire batch.
Dext's batch processing includes automatic categorization suggestions applied across all uploaded documents in a batch. If you've previously categorized a vendor, Dext applies that rule to new transactions from the same vendor automatically.
However, neither platform automatically detects and separates multiple accounts within a single PDF—a common scenario when clients send combined statements showing checking, savings, and credit card accounts. This requires manual splitting before upload or manual separation after extraction, adding time to client bookkeeping workflows.
Client Management and Organization
Dext's per-client pricing model includes built-in client organization features—each client gets their own workspace where documents accumulate. This works well for firms that need strict client segregation and individual client reporting.
AutoEntry's project-based organization allows you to group statements by client, but it's a secondary organizational layer rather than a primary pricing and access control mechanism. This provides more flexibility but requires more manual organization discipline.
Both platforms maintain conversion history, but accessing past statements and re-running conversions with updated categorization rules varies. Dext's client workspaces make historical access intuitive, while AutoEntry's project system requires remembering your organizational structure.
QuickBooks and Xero Integration Workflows
Both AutoEntry and Dext integrate with QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, and Xero. However, the integration depth differs in meaningful ways for bank statement workflows.
AutoEntry extracts bank statements to Excel/CSV format, which you then import into your accounting software. The fast-coding feature pre-maps transactions to accounts, but the import is a two-step process: extract with AutoEntry, then import the file into QuickBooks/Xero.
Dext offers more direct integration with auto-publish features that can post transactions directly to your accounting software based on supplier rules. This eliminates the CSV export/import step, but requires careful rule configuration to avoid posting errors.
Neither platform provides the level of AI-powered categorization that eliminates manual review entirely. Both require accountant oversight to ensure transactions map to the correct chart of accounts, especially for unusual or new transaction types.
The Problem Both Tools Share
Whether you choose AutoEntry's credit system or Dext's client-based pricing, both platforms create the same fundamental friction: pricing complexity that forces you to think about costs rather than client service.
With AutoEntry, you're calculating credit usage before processing statements. With Dext, you're optimizing client assignments to avoid add-on fees. Both models penalize growth—taking on new clients or processing more statements increases costs in ways that are difficult to predict or pass through to clients.
Categorization customization is limited on both platforms. AutoEntry's fast-coding requires manual mapping, while Dext's supplier rules need upfront configuration. Neither learns your firm's specific categorization preferences across all clients automatically—you're retraining the system for each new client or vendor pattern.
The lack of multi-account auto-detection means combined statements require manual intervention. Clients who send one PDF with three accounts force you to either process the entire document and separate later, or manually split the PDF before upload—both adding time to your workflow.
Why Accounting Firms Choose Zera Books Instead
Zera Books eliminates the pricing complexity that defines both AutoEntry and Dext. At $79/month, you get unlimited bank statement conversions, unlimited clients, and unlimited document processing with no credits, no per-client fees, and no usage tracking.
The platform automatically detects and separates multiple accounts within a single PDF—when a client sends a combined statement with checking, savings, and credit card accounts, Zera Books creates separate Excel files for each account without manual intervention.
Zera AI provides transaction categorization trained on 3.2+ million real financial documents and validated by 50+ CPA professionals. The system learns your firm's categorization patterns across all clients, applying consistent rules automatically rather than requiring per-client configuration.
Direct QuickBooks and Xero integration exports pre-categorized, properly formatted data ready for one-click import. You're not managing CSV files or configuring complex posting rules—the platform handles field mapping and duplicate detection automatically.
For firms processing multi-account statements from diverse clients, Zera Books removes the usage anxiety that slows workflows and creates unpredictable costs. Process 10 statements or 1,000—your monthly cost stays the same.
