Is there a good accounting firm for startups?

I run Kruze Consulting, one of the top accounting firms that works exclusively with startups. Our clients raise billions in venture capital funding every year. We know what high-growth founders need from their books, taxes, financial projections and accounting team. 

SaaS, Hardware, Biotech, eComm, Fintech and Crypto - the best accounting firm for startups

Our clients span the typical “Silicon Valley” style business models and industry focuses, from SaaS to Hardware to Biotech to Crypto … well, you get the picture. As a remote-first company, with offices in several cities like Austin and NYC in addition to our California locations, we are able to take on clients anywhere in the United States.

We’ve build specific knowledge around the most important accounting issues facing VC-backed startups. Not all accounting firms understand technology, professional boards, the need to regularly raise venture capital funding, and the pressures felt by founders at high-growth companies. We do.

There are a handful of other accounting firms for startups that have the services that founders and their companies need - and that a CPA like myself considers good options. We’ve had the opportunity to work with a number of the best accounting firms serving startups - let’s list out some of the best in the business.

A CPA’S picks for best accounting firms for startups

• Kruze Consulting - Best for VC-backed startups; Kruze is a CPA firm 100% focused on VC-backed companies
• Dubler C.P.A. - Great choice for founders looking for tax advice
• L.F. Cochrane & Associates - Best for women owned small businesses/LLCs
• Upround Finance - Best CFO firm for B2B SaaS companies
• benchmarkCFO - Great outsourced CFO for early-stage companies

We’ve worked with scores of outsourced CFOs and accounting firms, and the ones above are some of the best in the business. What sets these firms apart is their focus, their experience and their customer service. Founders and business owners don’t have time to deal with a poor experience, and it’s not fair to founders to work with an accountant who has never seen a particular problem before.

What to look for in a great accounting firm for tech startup

Founders need an accounting partner who’s done it before for technology startups. Raising venture capital funding, burning millions of dollars, hiring fearlessly while unprofitable - there are not normal, small business activities! But for VC-backed companies, this is part for the course. Your accountant needs to know how to calculate your burn rate, should know about treasury solutions so you can earn interest on your bank balance, should have attended multiple board meetings with the best VCs.  A second axis that founders need to consider is tax advisory - which may not seem all that important for money losing, early-stage companies - but let me tell you, when you get into M&A due diligence, having an experienced tax CPA on your side is going to make a huge difference.

To try to help explain our expertise for various tech-businesses, we’ll dive into what to look for in an accountant for a SaaS business - we are using this as an example, as there are similar questions that a eCommerce or Biotech founder should ask for their industry. Here are some of the key items to look for in an accounting partner for your SaaS startup:

1. Already has SaaS and tech clients. You don’t really want to pay your accountant to learn on the job. There are a lot of nuances to getting a SaaS company’s books and taxes done correctly - ASC 985-605: Software Revenue Recognition is just the tip of the iceberg. You don’t want to pay hour CPA hourly to figure out how to do something. That leads me to the next point:
2. Fixed fee pricing. Choose a CPA who understands how important it is to have visibility into your company’s cash burn. Fixed fee pricing helps provide clarity to your costs. You can see Kruze’s monthly bookkeeping pricing here, and you can estimate your startup’s tax return costs here.  
3. Gets SaaS terminology. This is something to figure out before picking an accounting partner: if the accounting firm knows the lexicon, then you’ll know that worked with SaaS businesses before. Accounting and finance for SaaS companies is wildly different than that for a restaurant, and working with an expert in your industry will make all the difference. And if your venture capitalist asks you for a ARR growth report, you better not have to explain ARR to your CPA!
4. Has a SaaS Chart of Accounts. Revenue should clearly be defined as recurring v. one-off, and if you are lucky enough to get customer prepayments, the chart of accounts should have a corresponding Unearned Revenue or Deferred Revenue (Current Liability) account listed on the Balance Sheet. “COGS” has to include your direct costs associated with delivering the service - usually this is a hosting cost. But, your accountant needs to be savvy enough to ask you if some of your server costs are R&D or product development expenses. Don’t over encumber your Gross Profit with R&D expenses! CAC, LTV, and Churn should be addressed in the financial model. Our SaaS Chart of Accounts has evolved as our top clients have grown, raised hundreds of millions in venture funding and raised even more! We use this SaaS Chart of Accounts with our new clients, so they are set up for success. 
5. Have multiple levels of review. The ideal accounting & finance dept. has three levels: Staff Accountant, Controller, then CFO. Multiple levels of review ensure accuracy, because no one is perfect. I even have my own work cross checked.
6. Uses best in class software. Kruze Consulting is a leader in using cloud accounting software because it saves our clients time and money. Choose a partner who knows how to use automation to reduce your workload - it’s not easy being a startup founder, and you don’t want to spend time dealing with things like running payroll or processing expense reports! Kruze has also developed in house automation through our team of developers, and this automation helps us offer recurring bookkeeping (and annual tax returns) at affordable prices. 
7. Lots of successful exits. Large public SaaS companies regularly acquire startups. But surviving M&A due diligence is challenging, and if your books are not in order you can blow up your exit. Look for a top startup accounting firm that has regularly helped clients get acquired, because going through public company M&A due diligence is a skill - one that can dramatically increase your odds of a huge outcome for your business. 
8. Understands the VC process. Raising funding is just part of the SaaS game, and you as a founder need to work with teams who regularly help their clients raise capital. From knowing what VCs want to see in projections to quickly turning around GAAP financials, work with a startup accounting firm that de-risks your next round. 
9. A good working relationship. Even within the specialized world of Startup CFOs and accounting firms, you have a lot of choices. It’s OK to shop around. Expertise, resumes, and technical capability may be similar, so find someone that you feel comfortable with.
10. Has fun! Sure, this is a little silly, but founding and growing a company is hard. Choose to work with someone who gets that, and is there to help you through the good times and the tough ones.

And that’s just for getting the books done! Let’s take a look at the tax side.

Top qualities to look for in a tax accounting service for startups

Like it or not, the tax and compliance work for startups is intense. And, as a founder, it’s OK to not like it - after all, getting tax services can seem like a distraction for the real work of building a business. But there is no way to get around it, and when you are going through due diligence and are going to get acquired for hundreds of millions of dollars, you can bet that having a good tax services firm on our side is going to make a huge difference. Here is what to look for in a outsourced tax firm:

1. Focus: The firm should have a focus on working with startups and early-stage companies. This ensures that they understand the unique needs and challenges faced by startups and can provide tailored solutions. Early-stage companies are really different from small businesses. Where as small business owners focus on minimizing their current tax bills, startups need to focus on compliance, being ready for due diligence, and capturing tax credits that can reduce their burn rate.
2. Experience with big exits: Very few accounting services firms have sold a startup to massive technology companies like Apple, Cisco, Workday, etc. The due diligence process here is not to be trifled with, and founders who try to work with a CPA firm that’s never done it before are going to find themselves doing a lot of googling to figure out what’s going on. And since founders need to sign massive attestations on the company’s tax position, usually putting themselves out there for personal liability, it pays to work with a firm that’s done it many times before. Kruze has, of course, worked with companies that have been acquired by the public companies we just listed (and many others) and have the experience to navigate these complicated transactions.
3. In house tax team: Way too many startup accounting firms actually outsource their tax work to a 3rd party CPA because they don’t have the expertise in house. Founders should work with an accounting firm that doesn’t outsource tax work because it ensures that the firm has direct control and oversight over the tax process. This means that the firm can provide accurate and timely tax advice and filings, as they have a deep understanding of the company’s financials and operations. Additionally, working with a firm that doesn’t outsource tax work allows for better communication and collaboration between the founders and the accounting firm, leading to a more personalized and tailored approach to tax planning and compliance. Coordinating diligence between your bookkeeping and tax firms is a royal pain, and you’ll thank yourself for keeping it all in one place.
4. Knowledge of startup-specific tax credits: The best tech startup accountants can help founders get federal tax credits for their unprofitable startups, such as the R&D tax credit. Look for a firm that has expertise in identifying and maximizing these tax credits, as they can help reduce the startup’s burn rate. Kruze’s team has created R&D tax credit studies that have cumulatively saved our clients over one hundred million in payroll taxes!

When should a startup move to an outsourced accounting firm?

A startup should hire an outsourced accounting firm after it has raised about $500k. To be more specific, before an early-stage company has raised funding, the founder can probably use QuickBooks Online to keep the books in order (it still makes sense to get a tax CPA for tax filings!). Once a founder has enough capital in the company’s bank account to afford an experienced outsourced accounting partner, then it’s time to get some time back by finding a good, outsourced finance partner like Kruze. This will help the books be ready for due diligence, but more importantly, will save the CEO time! Time to focus on building product, getting sales, hiring, fundraising - time is very percious to a startup, so outsource non-essential tasks like books as soon as it’s affordable.

A tech startup accountant who gets taxes

We also are tax experts - which may seem odd, as startups lose money, so why do they worry about taxes? Well, it turns out that the best tech startup accountants can help founders get federal tax credits for their unprofitable startups - including the R&D tax credit, which can help a startup actually reduce its burn rate! You can estimate your tech startup’s R&D tax credit here. 

Kruze the best accounting firm for high-growth, technology companies. We GET what founders are going through, know the metrics they need to support their growth and VCs and have the experience to help make sure your team has the financial data they need.

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If you want to learn more about what our customers think of Kruze, visit our customer reviews page. And reach out to us if you’d like to see if we can help your business scale!