Instabooks Read-Only Ceiling

Instabooks syncs QuickBooks Online transactions, accounts, customers, and vendors into read-only PostgreSQL tables, and that read-only constraint sets the ceiling on what an agency can sell. Starter at $15/mo covers one QuickBooks company with unlimited transactions and real-time two-way sync; Firm at $105/mo is the vendor's calculator estimate for 10 companies on one consolidated monthly invoice. The ceiling matters because write-back is absent: no automated data entry, no reconciliation, no account updates. So an agency prices the work as analysis, not bookkeeping replacement. A realistic engagement: a bookkeeping firm with 10 client companies pays $105/mo, connects each company as a separate database, and delivers P&L, AR aging, and cash flow queries through psql, DBeaver, or Excel Power Query. The retainer is justified by ledger-backed reporting the QuickBooks UI cannot produce, and the client still logs into QuickBooks Online for transaction entry.