Runwait vs Puzzle
Puzzle runs the accounting ledger. Runwait helps founders make the next cash decision.
- You need a general ledger and full accounting workflow.
- Cash and accrual financial statements are the primary job.
- An accountant will own categorization, reconciliation, and close inside the product.
- A founder still owns the runway and the money questions.
- Hiring, spending, and fundraising decisions are the immediate job.
- You want one guided model, sourced answers in Slack, and a clean accountant handoff.
| Capability | Puzzle | Runwait |
|---|---|---|
| One current runway for founder decisions | Continuous accounting and real-time financials | Cash, revenue, team costs, funding, and plans together |
| Month-end coverage and audit trail | AI-assisted accounting workflows with review | Coverage, open items, confirmations, and history |
| Hiring and fundraising scenarios | Runway models and financial reports | Before and after runway, with assumptions shown |
| Answers in Slack | AI chat and agents in the accounting product | Ask in plain English and get the basis and math |
| Shared document space | Accounting records and supporting evidence | Documents by month with scoped guest access |
| Deterministic math and visible basis | Governed automation and traceability | Finance functions calculate every figure |
| Designed for a founder to operate | Connect accounts and map the books | Guided model with direct entry and connected sources |
6 ways Runwait differs from Puzzle.
Founder decisions
The decision is the starting point.
Runwait is designed around the questions a founder has to answer before hiring finance: what can we afford, how long do we have, and what does the next round buy us.
Puzzle begins with accurate books. Runwait begins with the hiring, spending, or fundraising decision.
One financial model
Actuals and plans stay together.
Cash, revenue, team costs, funding, and plans share one model. The runway answer and the scenario both begin from the same financial picture.
Puzzle has a deeper accounting workflow. Runwait keeps month-end status beside the founder's runway and plans.
Answers in Slack
Ask where the decision happens.
Ask about runway, burn, a hire, or a raise in Slack and get the figure with its basis and assumptions, using the same calculations as the product.
Puzzle offers AI chat and accounting agents. Runwait focuses its answers on founder decisions and also works in Slack.
Accountant handoff
The evidence has a shared home.
Keep statements, invoices, and receipts together by month, then give an accountant or investor scoped access when review time comes.
Puzzle keeps evidence in the accounting system. Runwait presents documents as a shared founder and accountant space.
Team costs
See the hire in months of runway.
Runwait calculates loaded monthly cost, places it from the correct start month, and shows runway before and after the person joins.
Puzzle connects payroll data into the books. Runwait emphasizes the forward runway impact of team cost and equity.
Portability
Your data stays yours.
The runway, financial records, and supporting documents remain exportable, so adopting Runwait does not create a costly exit later.
Both emphasize control and traceability. Runwait calculates decision figures with deterministic finance tools.
Bring one real decision.
Bring the hire, spend, or raise you are considering. See the tradeoff before you commit.