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vs.

Puzzle keeps the books. Aleq is the controller.

Puzzle keeps clean, real-time books for startups. Aleq is the controller on top — closing, reconciling, collecting, deriving GAAP — and becomes your system of record as you scale.

the difference in one line
Puzzle keeps the books clean. Aleq does what a controller does on top of clean books — closes, derives the GAAP, collects the cash — and signs every move.

Aleq

powered by TAMi
Does the controller's work; you supervise.
  • Closes, reconciles, and collects end to end — autonomously, governed
  • Live in 48 hours on read-only credentials — no implementation project
  • Every action signed, gated, replayable, and reversible
  • Eval-gated before any change touches the books
  • $60 per hour worked — no seats, no platform fee

Puzzle

startup bookkeeping
Keeps clean books; not a controller.
  • Automated bookkeeping and clean, real-time books
  • Not a controller: no autonomous close, collections, or GAAP engine
  • No governed execution or per-action signing across the work
  • No collections by voice; no earned autonomy
  • Subscription by stage / burn
head to head

Where they actually differ.

Aleq
Puzzle
The model
System of record
✓ — and operates it
✓ (startup books)
Who does the work
Aleq
Bookkeeping automation
AI that acts on the ledger
✓ governed
—
The work
Reconciliation
Overnight, to $0.00
Automated
Month-end close
Continuous, sealed daily
Basic
Collections
By voice + email
—
Accounts payable
Extracted, 3-way matched
Basic
GAAP
Standards derived
✓ 606 · 842 · 718 · 740
Limited
Multi-entity consolidation
✓ automated
—
Trust
Action-level audit trail
✓ signed & replayable
Basic
One-click reversal
✓
—
Eval-gated before posting
✓
—
Commercials
Time to live
48 hours
Fast
Pricing model
$60/hr worked
Stage-based sub
moving from Puzzle

Live in 48 hours. Your record when you're ready.

No rip-and-replace. Aleq connects read-only and proves itself against the books you already keep — then becomes the system of record on your timeline.

01
Connect read-only
Aleq reads Puzzle and your bank feeds with read-only credentials. Nothing changes.
02
Replay a period
It re-closes a month you've already signed in Puzzle — every step shown.
03
Run in Assist
Aleq proposes; you approve. Move proven work to Auto on your timeline.
04
Become the record
Start on top of Puzzle. Cut over to Aleq as your system of record when you're ready.
“Clean books were the floor, not the job. We still needed someone to actually run finance.”
— the case for a controller over a bookkeeper

Outgrowing bookkeeping?

Keep Puzzle's clean books — Aleq runs the controller's work on top. Bring last month and we'll close it on the call.

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