Steps to shut down a startup
Even the best entrepreneurs build companies that don’t work out and move on to more success later. If you’re in the process of shutting down, I want to explain to you some of the steps to shut down your company appropriately.
Know your zero cash date
Zero cash date, also called cash out date, refers to the day a startup runs out of money. Founders, CEOs, CFOs, or really anyone associated with the company wants to make sure the company has plenty of cash and doesn’t hit the zero cash date.
How to make a good operating plan for your pitch deck
Pitching to potential investors will include some element of talking about your financial plan - but looking at a 1,000-cell spreadsheet is an invitation to get lost in the weeds. There’s a time and a place for that, but not in a 30-minute pitch. Here’s how to effectively abstract your operational data to aid fundraising conversations.
Accounting for startup financing from Pipe
Pipe.com is a new lending marketplace that allows companies with recurring revenue streams to generate cash or capital upfront by factoring, or trading, their future payment stream.
How do early stage VCs find the startups to invest in?
It's important to recognize that finding interesting startups to invest in is what early stage VCs are really exceptionally good at. They are amazing at generating really, really strong deal flow.
As a startup CEO, when can I give myself a raise?
Even in the money-driven world of vc-backed startups, founder wages and pay raises can be a sticky subject. Here, we break down when and how you can ask for a pay hike without alienating your investors and board members in the process.
The IRS Opens Up Electronic Submission for Power of Attorney
Getting the power of attorney for a client used to be an unenjoyable venture, especially for major tax firms, like Kruze Consulting, who have multiple clients to consider.
Why Would a Founder or CEO of a VC backed startup get fired?
It's really important to state upfront that no venture capitalist or board member ever wants to fire the founder from a startup.
8 Ways Employees Steal Money From Startups
Startup founders, let's dive into a topic I hope you never have to encounter, but an important one to look at - ways employees steal from a startup. This article will explore the top eight ways employees can steal money from a startup.
How To Move Your Startup’s Fiscal Year-End From December 31st to January 31st
Startup founders, do you want to know how to move your startups’ fiscal year-end from December 31st to January 31st? Well, you’ve come to the right place.
Brex vs American Express - Which credit card is best for startups?
The Brex corporate card is one of the fastest-growing financial tools we’ve seen startups adopt in the past few years. But traditional card vendor American Express isn’t sitting on its laurels, and has announced their own “Brex Killer” card -- “American Express Corporate Program for Startups.”
Should You Offer Cryptocurrency Payroll?
There are a lot of cryptocurrency fans out there. Some startups have their entire business based on it or have just invested in it and are true believers.
How to Handle a Co-Founder Departure
Your co-founder tells you he or she wants to depart. This is something no one in a startup wants to go through. But, sometimes if one of the partner’s or one of the founder's hearts aren't really in it, it's way better to know earlier rather than later.
5 Ways to Collect Cash Upfront from Customers
All businesses depend on revenue. This is especially true for startups where maybe money is scarce. So, collecting cash upfront from customers is crucial and beneficial to the success of the business.
Vaccine Tax Credit for Startups
The Vaccine Tax Credit was a tax credit created under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), and was announced earlier this year by the President.
What happens to my personal taxes if my employer switches to a PEO mid-year?
A question that comes up every now and then is “my employer changed to PEO, a professional employer organization, mid-year, how does that affect my personal taxes and W2s?” The answer is, it is not that complex.
Brex vs Ramp - Which card is best for startups?
One of the fastest-growing tools that we’ve seen our startup clients adopt is Brex’s corporate card. But Ramp’s expense management card is a great option for later-stage companies.
Why Do Big Acquirers like to buy Small Startups via an Asset Sale vs. an Equity Purchase?
Why do big companies like to buy smaller startups in an asset sale versus an equity purchase? The answer is pretty simple.
How to Legitimize a Handshake Equity Agreement Between Founders
Startup founders often ask us how to legitimize a handshake equity agreement between two founders. This is a great question and often comes up around equity grants.
What is an Orphaned VC Deal?
Your startup just got VC funding. Congratulations! But, then you receive notification that your venture capital partner just left their firm. Before you panic, read this article about “what is an orphaned VC”. Although it sounds awful, it is not as bad as you might think.
Which States Are Taxing PPP Loan Forgiveness?
PPP or the Paycheck Protection Program has been pretty big in the startup space, especially for a lot of seed and Series A companies that haven't raised a lot of capital.
What Does an Outside General Counsel Do?
What does an outside general counsel do? I've been getting this question more often. I think most startup founder's executive teams are used to working with a big startup law firm to handle all their financings, the M&A for sure.
What Does the VP of Ops or COO At a Startup Do?
Maybe you are an early-stage founder and you are at the point of needing to grow your leadership team? Maybe you are a newly hired VP or COO and are not quite sure of your role? You may be wondering, “what does the VP of Ops or COO at a startup do?” And the answer is a little bit of everything. PS. read to the end for helpful COO/VP of Ops tips.
What is the Right of First Refusal When it Comes to Startup Equity?
What is the Right of First Refusal (ROFR) when it comes to startup equity? The ROFR is part of the stock purchase agreement that is signed during a venture capital fund raise.
Startup PPP Loan Statistics
We recently compared revenue trends amongst 400 early-stage startups that took a Payment Protection Program (PPP) loan last year to startups that did not.
How does a secondary transaction get reported on ASC 718 Stock Option Expense?
The quick answer is that a secondary transaction should not impact your ASC 718 reporting. However, going forward, It potentially can impact your 409a.
What is the Minimum Angel Check to Get Pro-Rata Rights
Sometimes, founders will just give everyone who participates in the early rounds pro-rata rights.
Can my startup retroactively apply for PPP 1?
Today I'm answering the question, can my startup retroactively apply for a PPP 1 loan? This is a question I'm getting quite a bit from startup founders who were eligible but didn't apply for the Payment Protection Program loan in March, April, and May of last year.
Startup Financial Planning
It is late in the year 2020, and we can all agree that it’s been a doozy year so far. Everyone will be probably cheering for the same hopes and wishes to have a much better 2021. It is also a time to get your startup’s financial plan together.
Technical debt for accountants
A lot of startup founders know about technical debt. It basically means when you're working fast you're not going to architect everything perfectly.
Webinar: Life Science Startups Can Lower Operating Costs During COVID-19
Our friends from TriNet have invited Kruze Consulting COO, Scott Orn, to host a roundtable to discuss end-of-year planning and outline the activities that life sciences companies need to consider while moving into 2021.
Best Shopify Apps
We work and do the accounting for a TON of eCommerce companies, and have seen many different configurations of Shopify apps. Here is our list of the best apps for your Shopify software stack.
Top three negatives that employees feel about their bosses
As the COO of a people-driven services firm, I spend a lot of time thinking about our employees. We aren’t perfect here at Kruze, but I think we’ve taken a lot of very great steps in the past couple of years to make this a good place to work.
Your startup is a giant sea monster
You’re a startup and the world of possibilities lies at your feet. You’ve developed a product that can provide value to organizations across the globe. You simply need to let the world know about you.
What is EPLI and how it could save your startup $100,000 dollars
This is the story of how a 20-person startup lost $100,000 of their cash because they didn’t have EPLI. If you are a startup founder, have employees, and haven’t heard of EPLI, this post is for you!
Podcast with Kruze Client and Sean Ellis
Recently, Kruze COO, Scott Orn, participated in Sean Ellis’ new podcast accompanied by one of our clients - the CEO of SonderMind, Mark Frank.
Webinar: SMB loans during COVID
Kruze Vice President FP&A, Healy Jones, will be joining this new Procurify’s webinar on All You Need To Know For Small Business Loans.
What the Plaid acquisition by Visa means for startup bookkeepers
Visa has announced that they are acquiring Plaid, a FinTech Unicorn who provides the backend data-transfer piping a lot of automated financial systems use - including some cutting edge bookkeepers.
Tech CFOs Name the Hottest New Tech Cities In 2020
This month we surveyed nearly 30 Bay Area CFOs to find out their predictions for all things tech in 2020. One question that drew particularly enthusiastic responses was: What’s the next new U.S. tech hub?
Working Capital 101 for Startups
Venture-backed, early-stage companies should use accrual accounting - I won’t get into the detail here as to why, but if your goal is to raise serious VC funding or get acquired by a public technology company (or eventually have an IPO), you need accrual-based accounting.
Startup Offsite Travel Policy
Offsites are becoming more and more popular for startups, especially since many startups are hiring remote workers. Getting everyone together for a few days to go over corporate strategy and training can not only help improve productivity, it can also help grow the right company culture.
How are Startups using cloud software that IPO’d in 2019?
2019 hasn’t been the best year for startup IPOs. Uber, Lyft, and Slack are all tradings below their IPO prices - and let’s not even talk about WeWork.
If this is the tech recession, what can you do about it?
From our perch as accountants to almost 200 venture-funded startups, we may be seeing some signs of a coming economic slowdown. Here is our advice on what startup founders should do to prepare for a recession.
Using milestones to gate your burn rate
Early-stage startups have a constant battle of managing their cash-out dates (when they run of capital) and spending enough to make progress on their business plan.
Brex vs Stripe - Which card is best for startups?
One of the fastest-growing tools that we’ve seen our startup clients adopt is Brex’s corporate card. But Stripe’s new card is a huge announcement from a major fin-tech provider to early-stage companies.
Event - Managing Departmental Budgets for Fast Growth Startups
Kruze Consulting and Procurify are pleased to present an event for San Francisco startups, Managing Departmental Budgets for Fast Growth Startups.
Sustainable Coffee Company Roast Umber for WellnessWednesday
Brad Gakenheimer joined us for a #wellnesswednesday event to share how Roast Umber is working to break down barriers in exploring coffee, to promote sustainable growing practices and challenge you to enjoy a cup of coffee, as it is.
Uber Lyft - April 2019 Updated Analysis
We recently updated our Uber vs. Lyft Market Share Report. Check it out to see how these two competitors fought over the startup ridesharing market!
Featured Service - Growlabs
Growlabs is a marketing and sales automation service that helps B2B companies identify new customers and accelerate their growth.
A new startup that is setting out to heal the planet and its people
A noticeable trend among startups is a desire to build a business that will have a positive impact on people and our planet.
Scott Orn Interviewed
Kruze Consulting’s COO, Scott Orn, was recently interviewed on Blake Oliver’s podcast.
Featured Service - DocSend
DocSend is a great content management tool designed for sales and finance professionals.
Featured Service - AVRA Talent
AVRA Talent, previously known as Recruit, partners with startups and growing firms to help fill non-technical talent.
Featured Service - Opendoor
Opendoor makes it possible to sell a home online in minutes, removing all of the headaches, uncertainty, and risk from the transaction.
Featured Service - HubHaus
HubHaus is solving the housing problem for working professionals through Coliving.
Top Startup Accounting Questions and Answers
At Kruze, we want to make sure we are a valuable resource to startups’ founders, as they attempt to grow their businesses and take on the world!
Kruze Consulting Firm Overview
Vanessa Kruze has a passion for startups and loves being a financial copilot for businesses. QuickBooks Online helps her go beyond the reports and forms and help founders and business owners understand the valuable data in their financials.
Startup 409A Valuation Report
Hey, it's Scott Orn at Kruze Consulting, and today we're talking about 409A valuation reports and why startups need them.
5 Things to do after You Raise Venture Capital
Today we're talking about five things to do after you raise venture capital. The first one's kind of obvious. You need a place to put that money, so you need to get a startup bank. We highly recommend you work with a bank that focuses on startups.
4 Reasons to Raise Venture Debt
Today we're talking about four reasons to do ventured debt if you're a startup. Now, the most important one is to extend your runway and make sure you hit all the key milestones the company needs to raise its next round of capital.
Featured Service - Bonusly
They are building the future of employee recognition, rewards, and reviews. Bonusly integrates seamlessly with your organization's HR and communication tools.
Introducing KruzeTax - Startup Tax Returns
Tax Season is upon us! Instead of using a local CPA firm (way too expensive & no Startup expertise), check out KruzeTax.com.
What is the best and cheapest registered agent in Delaware that has experience with tech startups?
I’m going to expand this question a bit…Why does a startup need to have a Registered Agent in Delaware?
Do bootstrapped startups actually pay taxes?
Yes, even bootstrapped pre-revenue startups must pay taxes. You might not be subject to Income Taxes (which are based on profitability) but you will still be subject to a wide variety of other taxes which aren’t always connected to Revenue.
2018 New Tax Laws & How they Affect Startups
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.
Featured Service - UrbanSitter
UrbanSitter helps you find Babysitters, Nannies, and Child-Care.
Featured Service - Pana
Pana combines mobile app technology and virtual travel assistants to make travel easy.
Featured Service - Hugo
Hugo is the smartest place for your team’s meeting notes, and we can guarantee that it is because we have been happily using it at Kruze Consulting with amazing results.
Featured Service - Emburse
Emburse's virtual cards and expense management system is truly amazing for keeping expenses within your company well organized and controlled.
What Startup Systems to Set Up First?
We help venture back startups with everything from accounting, finance, tax, and HR. One of the biggest questions that we get from our new founders is what systems they should set up.
Bookings vs Revenue
At Kruze Consulting, we get tons of questions about the difference between bookings and revenue.
Does Your Startup Have What It Takes to Raise a Series A?
When I was a partner at Lighthouse Capital, I invested in tons of startups. I invested in startups like it was my job—because it was my job, and at Lighthouse we did our job well. So I have seen exactly what it takes to raise a Series A.
How much can your startup save in payroll taxes?
Estimate your R&D tax credit using our free calculator.
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