A more powerful G-Accon alternative for QuickBooks reporting
Both tools sync QuickBooks data to Google Sheets. Runbook lets you build custom reports by describing them in plain English, and understand performance and trends with AI-powered analytics, while G-Accon offers basic reporting capabilities with 2-way sync and more accounting system integrations.
Quick Decision Guide
The key question you should answer is: do you want the best tool for QuickBooks reporting, or do you want a broader accounting automation tool with more accounting system integrations?
Choose Runbook if you build custom reports, analyses, or forecasts from QuickBooks data. You get the same QuickBooks-to-Google-Sheets sync, plus AI that builds and explains reports for you — including reports that don’t exist in QuickBooks.
Choose G-Accon if you need a tool that can write data back to QuickBooks or if you use a different accounting system. G-Accon’s two-way sync feature lets you make bulk updates to QuickBooks directly from Google Sheets, and it integrates with Xero, FreshBooks, and Sage as well.
Where G-Accon is strong
G-Accon is an established financial reporting and automation tool. It’s built around a simple idea: lots of finance and accounting work happens in spreadsheets, so it should be easy to move data between your spreadsheets and your accounting system. Their solution is a 2-way sync between Google Sheets and accounting systems—QuickBooks, Xero, FreshBooks, and Sage.
It lets you sync standard QuickBooks reports and lists into Google Sheets (profit & loss, balance sheet, transaction lists, customer lists, etc.), and it lets you push data from Google Sheets to QuickBooks for things like recategorizations or journal entry uploads. For finance teams that need basic QuickBooks-to-Google Sheets sync functionality, or who need to be able to write data back to QuickBooks, G-Accon is one of the best options on the market.
Where Runbook is stronger as a QuickBooks reporting tool
Runbook makes it easy to build custom, insightful reports from your QuickBooks data. If you’re building reports in Google Sheets, that’s probably because you need the flexibility of spreadsheets to build custom reports, analyses, and forecasts. Runbook lets you pull the exact data and reports you need by describing them in plain English, even reports that don’t exist in QuickBooks. For example, you could ask:
- Show me all customers with invoices over 30 days past due and their average days-to-pay
- Show me the top drivers of last month’s increase in expenses
- Show me estimated vs. actual costs across all projects/customers in a single report
- Pull last month’s GL, and flag any potential issues including duplicate entries and expenses that may need to be capitalized
We can do this because Runbook’s QuickBooks-to-Google Sheets sync works fundamentally differently than G-Accon’s. G-Accon’s reporting capabilities are limited by what’s exposed via Intuit’s API, which means it’s mostly limited to the standard reports you can see in QuickBooks. Runbook represents your QuickBooks data in a proprietary data model that isn’t limited by the API. This makes it easy for AI to understand your data and query it for reporting and analysis, which lets you build reports that weren’t possible before.
We believe that syncing QuickBooks data to spreadsheets is only a small part of the financial reporting workflow. To build genuinely insightful reports, you need to reassemble that data into the right format, drill into the underlying transaction data for analysis, and add commentary. Runbook is built to automate all of those steps, while G-Accon simply syncs the data.
Direct Comparison
| Capability | Runbook | G-Accon |
|---|---|---|
| Core experience | Sync QuickBooks to Google Sheets, build any custom report by describing it, automated report refresh | 2-way sync between QuickBooks and Google Sheets, bulk GL updates |
| Custom reporting | Build any report by describing it in plain English | Limited by QuickBooks API. Often requires manual data assembly in Google Sheets |
| Variance analysis | AI analysis of underlying transaction data to explain variances | Not supported. Requires manual build in Google Sheets |
| Accounting systems | QuickBooks Online only | QuickBooks, Xero, FreshBooks, Sage |
| Sync direction | Read-only, never edits your QuickBooks data | 2-way sync, can bulk edit QuickBooks data |
| Free trial | 2-week free trial with hands-on support | 2-week free trial |
| Pricing | Starting at $99/mo | Starting at $60/mo |
| Support | Fast, direct support from the founders | Premium support only in higher tiers, and a dedicated account manager only in the Enterprise tier |
We’ll migrate your reports over from G-Accon for free
If you’ve already built reports in Google Sheets with a tool like G-Accon (or without one), migrating them all to a new tool might sound like a pain. We get it. That’s why we offer free migrations for all our customers. Runbook’s custom reporting features make this super easy, and your new reports will be simpler, clearer, and easier to maintain.
“The Runbook team made the migration from our previous reporting platform incredibly smooth by helping us recreate our existing reports and optimize them for the new system. Their support throughout the onboarding process was outstanding.”
Alan Egan
Blue Collar Back Office
Bottom Line
If you’re looking for an in-depth QuickBooks Online reporting tool that helps with custom reporting and analysis, go with Runbook. If you need a basic QuickBooks-to-Google Sheets sync, or an operational solution that handles writing data back to QuickBooks Online and more accounting system integrations, G-Accon is a solid, affordable solution.
