Diligence-ready books from the start, equity accounted properly, and a runway number your board can rely on.
Cleaning up two years of books during diligence costs time and leverage at exactly the wrong moment. The alternative is cheap: set the close process up correctly at the start and keep it current.
We run the accounting and CFO function for venture-backed companies from pre-seed through Series A and beyond, scoped and priced for the stage.
A cleanup during a live round delays close and hands leverage to the other side. It's the most avoidable cost at this stage.
SAFEs, convertible notes, and priced rounds each carry accounting consequences most founders discover during their first audit.
A burn number that ignores hiring plans and committed spend isn't a forecast, and a board will notice.
ASC 718 expense and valuation obligations start earlier than founders expect and become diligence findings when skipped.
We set up the chart of accounts and close process to be diligence-ready from the beginning, account for SAFEs, notes, and priced rounds properly, produce burn and runway on a driver-based model, and handle stock compensation expense and 409A coordination before anyone has to ask.
Scoped and priced for early stage.
Handled at the time, not retroactively.
Driver-based, with hiring plan built in.
Stock comp expense and valuation timing.
Assembled before the round, not during it.
Section 174 R&D capitalization can create taxable income at a pre-revenue company, which is an unwelcome surprise for a startup with no cash to pay it. The R&D credit can offset up to $500,000 of payroll tax annually for qualifying small businesses, which usually makes it the highest-return work we do pre-revenue. QSBS eligibility under Section 1202 depends on decisions made at formation and during financings. Delaware franchise tax and state registrations follow your footprint and your remote headcount.
You can, and many do. The cost shows up later as a diligence delay and a cleanup bill. Our seed-stage scope is deliberately light and priced for that stage.
Yes, and it's usually the highest-ROI thing we do pre-revenue, because it can offset payroll tax rather than income tax.
We prepare board materials and join the finance portion of board meetings when you want us there.
Tell us where you are today. We will follow up within one business day with a view on what is worth fixing first.
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