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Can you recommend good start-up accounting software?

Vanessa Kruze, CPA, is a leading expert in startup taxes and tax compliance. Her team at Kruze Consulting has filed thousands of tax returns for companies that have raised billions in VC funding, and her work has been diligenced by leading VCs, attorneys, and M&A teams at the largest technology companies.
Vanessa Kruze, a highly-experienced CPA, brings valuable tax expertise to startups, drawing from her rich background at Deloitte Tax and as a financial controller for a $20 million startup. As the leader of Kruze Consulting, recognized multiple times in the Inc 5000 list, she specializes in navigating the complex tax landscape for startups. Her firm is known for delivering precise and strategic tax solutions, delivering tax credits utilizing advanced tools to ensure compliance and optimize tax benefits for startups throughout the United States.

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I’ve worked with many accounting software systems and QuickBooks is the best option for startups because you can seamlessly move from QB Online to QB Desktop as you scale. Here’s my review:

  • QuickBooks: there’s a reason why Intuit is the market leader. They’ve taken the time to build software that works for nearly every kind of startup. Start with QuickBooks Online. As you grow (and as a startup that’s your goal!) you can quickly and easily move to QuickBooks Desktop, which has more robust functionality and is capable of handling a complex, multi-million $$$ company.

  • NetSuite: is a great option, but complete overkill for a startup. Too pricey. But consider this once you’re doing really high volume, high complexity transactions. (for example, 200+ FTEs and/or $20M+ annual revenue)

  • Freshbooks: may be able to handle very early stage startup accounting needs, but will not be able to grow with you as the volume and complexity of transactions increases. Great for sole-proprietors.

  • Wave: may be able to handle very early stage startup accounting needs, but will not be able to grow with you as the volume and complexity of transactions increases. Great for sole-proprietors.

  • Xero: I applaud Xero for a) putting a fire under Intuit’s bum and getting them to revamp some of their older systems and b) marketing themselves as the new and sexy accounting software (it’s working). But there’s still key functionality that’s missing that makes it more time consuming to use. We are well versed in Xero and we do use it in our practice… but only after expressly telling our clients about said missing features that make using Xero more difficult.

At Kruze Consulting, we want our bookkeeping done as accurately, quickly, and efficiently as possible so that we can spend our time on higher “value add” activities. That’s why we use QuickBooks for the vast majority of our 150+ startup clients.

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