Bluebook

What do they actually do

Bluebook provides an AI‑assisted workspace for accounting teams and firms. It connects to common ledgers/ERPs like QuickBooks Online, NetSuite, and Xero, ingests bills and documents into an inbox, proposes categorizations and journal entries, and helps teams run month‑end closes through owned checklists and a central review queue. A research/chat assistant answers accounting and tax questions with citations to standards and source documents, and basic FP&A tools run variance and runway analyses on connected books (product pages).

In practice, teams connect their ledger, route invoices to Bluebook, let agents extract data and draft schedules (accruals, depreciation, prepaids) and reconciliations, review AI proposals, and sync approved entries back to the GL. Early customers include accounting firms such as Baker Tilly and other Nordic firms, with Bluebook publicly citing adoption among “30 leading firms in the Nordics,” and recent funding to expand in Europe (YC profile, press, Tech.eu).

Who are their target customer(s)

• Mid‑size accounting firm partner or managing director: Needs to scale capacity across client engagements but loses billable time to repetitive bookkeeping and close tasks; wants predictable, auditable ways to shift routine work to a system so staff can focus on advisory (YC/press).
• Engagement or practice manager at an accounting firm: Coordinates many month‑end closes with manual checklists and back‑and‑forth; needs a single workflow that assigns preparers/reviewers, tracks completion, and standardizes schedules (product).
• Corporate staff accountant or month‑end closer (mid‑market company): Manually processes inbox documents, builds depreciation/accrual schedules, and prepares recurring journal entries, making closes slow and error‑prone (product).
• FP&A lead or controller: Spends hours pulling and reconciling data from the ledger to deliver variance and management reports; needs faster, repeatable analytics tied to the books (product — FP&A).
• Technical accounting or compliance specialist: Time‑consuming research on standards and policies; needs sourced answers and reproducible calculations for audit support (product/blog).

How would they acquire their first 10, 50, and 100 customers

• First 10: Convert existing Nordic pilots and references (e.g., Baker Tilly and other early firms) by running one live client close per firm with hands‑on onboarding and publishing short case studies (YC/press).
• First 50: Turn initial wins into a repeatable playbook: targeted outbound to accounting networks and ERP partners, cohort onboarding to lower setup costs, and partner referrals; capture two short ROI stories per service line to speed deals.
• First 100: Expand across Europe by productizing onboarding and adding standardized payroll/HR integrations; recruit channel implementers and a referral program, emphasizing auditability and reproducible calculations for compliance‑focused buyers.

What is the rough total addressable market

Top-down context:

Bluebook targets spend on close management, accounts payable/invoice processing, and research/workflow tools for accounting firms and corporate accounting teams, initially in the Nordics and broader Europe where teams already run on ERPs like NetSuite, QuickBooks, and Xero.

Bottom-up calculation:

If priced at €100–€200 per user/month and landing 10–25 users per team, average account value is ~€12k–€60k/year. With ~15k–25k target teams (mid‑size firms and mid‑market corporate accounting teams in EU/UK), directional TAM is ~€225M–€1.5B/year.

Assumptions:

• Pricing is per user; mid‑market firms and teams average 10–25 users on the platform.
• There are roughly 15k–25k relevant teams in EU/UK that use modern ERPs and would consider AI‑assisted close/workflow tools.
• Adoption focuses on mid‑size firms and mid‑market corporates rather than very small practices or large enterprises initially.

Who are some of their notable competitors

• FloQast: Close management and reconciliation workflow for accounting teams; strong in checklisting, tie‑outs, and review workflows.
• BlackLine: Enterprise close and account reconciliation automation; used by large finance organizations for period‑end controls and automation.
• Vic.ai: AI‑driven invoice processing and AP coding, often used by accounting firms and finance teams to automate bill entry and approvals.
• Silverfin: Platform for accounting firms offering workflow, working papers, and analytics with strong presence in Europe.
• Botkeeper: Automation platform for bookkeeping firms that combines software and services to reduce manual accounting work.