An intelligence and workflow layer that monitors books held in other ledgers.
Before the feature detail, the choice is architectural: keep XBert at the centre and add the missing pieces around it, or run the firm and its clients on one rebuilt record.
A cloud ledger at the centre, a separate practice manager, AI tools reading a copy of the data, and paid connectors holding the parts together. Every join is another sync to watch, another subscription, and another place the same number can disagree.
COUNT rebuilt the ledger and the practice engine together. Practice Manager and COUNT Workspace are two experiences on one system, with the intelligence reading live data — a single source of financial truth for the firm and its clients.
XBert is a genuinely good watchdog: connect a client file and it surfaces duplicates, coding errors and data-quality risks before they reach a report, and the workflow and BI reporting around it are strong. But it depends on a ledger you are already paying for, and it bills twice: per user, then per client file by activity volume. Cost climbs with both team and portfolio. COUNT puts the same quality logic inside the ledger itself, at the point of coding, with the practice tier free.
Firms that want data-quality intelligence inside the ledger itself, on one consolidated platform: checks, workflow and client accounting in a single system, with the practice tier free.
Firms committed to Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks that want an independent quality-control layer across many client files.
How the two products differ on the things firms and businesses tell us matter most.
| Capability | COUNT | XBert |
|---|---|---|
| Practice licence cost | No per-user fees; clients on COUNT free | Per user, plus a per-client data plan |
| Client Workspace ledger | Included | Not included — connects to yours |
| Data-quality checks | Built into coding and the close pipeline | Core strength, run over the connected file |
| Time, WIP and billing | Included | Not included |
| Cost as client files grow | Flat practice pricing | Rises with client count and activity volume |
Expand any area for a line-by-line view of how COUNT and XBert differ.
The area XBert is built for, and the closest overlap with COUNT.
| Capability | COUNT | XBert |
|---|---|---|
| Automated error and duplicate detection | Built into Cruise Control coding and close review | Large library of built-in checks |
| Custom alerts | Custom close checks and scheduled agents | Unlimited custom alerts, prompt-generated |
| When issues surface | At the point of coding, before the entry lands | After the entry exists in the connected ledger |
| Resolution workflow | Fix in the same record | Deep link back out to the accounting file |
| Client queries | AI-drafted from uncoded items | Client portal requests |
| Capability | COUNT | XBert |
|---|---|---|
| Jobs, recurring work and templates | Tasks, recurring tasks and projects | Included in the per-user fee |
| Capacity planning | Included | Included |
| Time and WIP | Included | Not included |
| Billing | Firm billing with templates | Not included |
| Period close and workpapers | Thirteen close modules with a review pipeline | Notes and quality-compliance records |
| Capability | COUNT | XBert |
|---|---|---|
| General ledger | Included via Client Workspace | None — connects to Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks or FreeAgent |
| Bank feeds and coding | Included | Not applicable |
| GST and filing | Included via Client Workspace | Not applicable |
| One system for checks and figures | Yes | No — the check sits beside the ledger |
| MCP server | OAuth 2.1 MCP server for ledger and firm tools | XBert MCP for practice data |
| Capability | COUNT | XBert |
|---|---|---|
| Practice licence | No per-user fees; clients on COUNT free | About A$29 per user/month annually |
| Cost per client file | Included | About A$7 to A$99/month by activity volume |
| Cost as a portfolio grows | Flat | Scales with both clients and their transaction volume |
| Subscriptions to run a practice | One | Ledger, plus XBert per user and per client |
XBert details sourced from public information as at August 2026: XBert, XBert pricing. Pricing and features change; check the vendor for current details.
Import clients, workflow templates and recurring jobs.
Map your most-used XBert alerts to COUNT close checks and review rules.
Run both for one compliance cycle and compare what each surfaces.
We'll import a copy so you can compare like for like.
