Founded and headquartered in the bustling tech ecosystem of San Francisco, our CPA firm stands as a pivotal ally for startups seeking affordable yet exceptional accounting expertise. From SaaS to healthtech to hardware to ecommerce, we have specialized CPAs and accountants on staff who can help your company navigate the VC landscape and manage your growth. Early-stage companies are not all the same – a SaaS business is very different from a biotech company, and a hardware company is not at all similar to an ecommerce company.

CPAs are legally allowed to provide tax services above and beyond what other accounting professionals can do. As your startup grows, you’re going to need a greater degree of accounting proficiency to create budgets, handle your financial statements, develop forecasts, and provide reports to your board. Instead, they are small enough to DIY their accounting, with the exception of filing a tax return – using a legit CPA for a startup tax return is a very, very good idea. We talk to hundreds of startups a month – and about 10% of them don’t need a monthly accountant.

Web3 and Crypto Accounting Software

Tracking your expenses is crucial for monitoring cash flow and maintaining accurate financial records. Look for software that aligns with your business needs, offers features like invoicing, expense tracking, and financial reporting, and is user-friendly. Now that you understand the basics, it’s time to set up an effective accounting system for your startup. These tools streamline processes, reduce errors, and provide real-time insights into the financial health of the business. Accounting serves as the backbone of any business, including startups. Over time, accounting practices have evolved, and today we have sophisticated software and technology to aid in the process.

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• It’s this nice little clearinghouse in what accountants call “reconciling”.
• With a chart of accounts, you can organize your financial transactions into income, expenses, assets, and liabilities.
• Tracking expenses helps you identify waste and opportunities for savings.
• Ready to build investor-ready accounting?
• It’s the leading small business accounting software in the US for small businesses, and interfaces nicely with other automated systems like payroll.

Here’s why accounting matters for startups and how to get started. Without a solid accounting foundation, you risk losing sight of your financial health, which can derail your growth. Tools and calculators to help you stay on top of your small business taxes and evaluate your financials

Whether you hire an accountant or opt for other accounting software, you need to understand the basics of startup accounting. Accounting for startups involves keeping accurate records of financial transactions and examining your finances to identify opportunities for growth and improvement. Whether your SaaS company is in the startup stage, maturity stage, or somewhere in between, our accounting experts are well-versed in the specific needs of your cloud-based business. Each of these services is designed to give SaaS founders and leadership teams clear visibility into the financial health of their business.

The dirty secret to most (if not all) “automated” accounting firms is that they rely on cheap overseas labor. Read about some of our expertise on our tech startup industry page. For example, you will hear bankers, private equity investors, and those kind of folks use EBITDA as a proxy for cash flow. It is used as a proxy for cash flow while being focused on the income statement.

Other tools recommended by top tech startup accountants

It’s a good idea to have an accountant/CPA to file your startup’s tax returns and interact with state tax agencies. For more information about the value of accounting services for your startup, contact us. Your accountant should function as a partner, who supports the success of your startup and helps your company achieve its goals. And in today’s higher interest rate environment, our finance and accounting teams have been helping clients think about safe ways to get some yield out of their cash positions. Your accountant can help look at the “big picture,” examining how all your financials are interrelated and affect your company.

With our strategic industry-specific planning, we’ll guide you through capital raises, financial modeling, investor relations, and so much more. Our toolbox of SaaS technologies automates many tedious, manual processes — bill pay, payroll, accounting solutions, and more — ultimately improving efficiency and accuracy across the board. Our controllers and CFOs can help you manage investor-driven metrics from seed to sale, including average contract values, committed MRR, CAC payback periods, CLTV, profit and growth, and capital efficiency. With proven results across industries and growth stages, our clients consistently highlight our ability to simplify finance, accounting for startups unlock capital, and accelerate growth. Don’t just take our word for it — see how SaaS founders rate our CFO team. If your inquiry is highly specific, please submit a New Client Inquiry at kruzeconsulting.com

• Whether your SaaS company is in the startup stage, maturity stage, or somewhere in between, our accounting experts are well-versed in the specific needs of your cloud-based business.
• And, Accounting Today has named us a leader in using technology – in part due to our commitment to AI and because we known in the startup community for brining the best new accounting and financial tech to our startup clients.
• Connect all your financial accounts to automate data entry, speed up your books, reduce errors and save time
• We also provide traditional bookkeeping services, making sure your financial records are accurate, up-to-date, and aligned with your strategic goals.
• Due diligence is the process other businesses use when assessing your business as a potential partner, supplier, borrower, or investment.
• And Xero started in New Zealand it’s actually a great company.
• This will help you monitor revenue and expenses, track budgets, fulfill financial obligations, and take action if problems arise.

Accounting for startups 101: A guide to get you started

This is the part where accounting becomes your best friend. Proper record-keeping is the backbone of good accounting. Any business’s prime question is, “Do I have enough money to keep operating? A smooth accounts receivable process is the lifeblood of your cash flow.

It’s like it, those Excel or Google Sheets can work on a cash basis, but it’s basically your income statement and then maybe a cash line item at the bottom. And then the old, age-old Excel/Google Sheets accounting system that always scares us when we see founders using it. This is one of those things where if you’re using Accounting Seed, it probably works but you’re probably also probably limiting your pool of exceptional accountants that you can work with. There’s another company called Accounting Seed which is based on Salesforce, which I’ve seen once or twice.

Accounting has variously been defined as the keeping or preparation of the financial records of transactions of the firm, the analysis, verification and reporting of such records and “the principles and procedures of accounting”; it also refers to the job of being an accountant. With the development of joint-stock companies, accounting split into financial accounting and management accounting. Accounting can be divided into several fields including financial accounting, management accounting, tax accounting and cost accounting.

The 2026 Accounting and Bookkeeping Playbook for First-Time Startup Founders

The bookkeeping process involves keeping track of business transactions and making specific entries. The success of your startup is based on efficient budget management, balancing the books, and modifying financial strategies when needed. Book 30 minutes with a virtual CFO to ask questions, talk business, or find out more about Acuity’s CFO services. Working with a Controller can help you manage that funding and keep investors updated by forecasting cash flow, streamlining the workflow process, and assisting with the complexities of running a SaaS business.

Which accounting software do most startups use?

Maximize your innovation spend by capturing credits that reduce tax liability and free up capital for growth. From recognizing revenue accurately to modeling future growth and investor scenarios, our CFO team ensures you have the numbers, insights, and strategies needed to scale with confidence and secure funding on your terms. At Acuity, we’ve worked with tech startups for more than a decade using SaaS technology.

Outsourced accounting firms offer scalable support, industry best practices, and technology integrations that most early-stage teams can’t develop in-house. Their specialized knowledge streamlines audits, supports international growth, and positions your startup for rapid scaling and eventual exit. Track your revenue and expenses by jurisdiction to comply with tax and payroll obligations. Systematic expense tracking and cash flow forecasting are essential for avoiding surprises and keeping your startup within runway targets. Consistency ensures founders always know the company’s cash position and can provide up-to-date reports instantly during board meetings or funding rounds.

We’ve put together the ultimate finance and HR due diligence checklist for startups. We know how quickly investments and acquisitions can come together, and recommend that companies are ready for due diligence ahead of time. Our CPAs are experts in startup accounting, and are experienced in leveraging AI accounting tools and automation. Accounts payable (AP) is the money your business owes to its vendors for providing goods or services to you on credit. The cash-out date is the estimated date you’ll be in business until given your monthly spend and the remainder of the investment you have sitting in your bank account.

Raising capital or considering an acquisition means you’ll need skilled accounting practitioners to help you. A bookkeeper typically focuses on processing and recording transactions, including things like invoices, receivables, payments, and other essential functions. With that in mind, let’s look at what makes an accountant so valuable? But at a certain point, your startup is going to need a greater degree of professional expertise. “Switching from Brex to Ramp wasn’t just a platform swap—it was a strategic upgrade that aligned with our mission to be agile, efficient, and financially savvy.”