Startups and startup accounting are our niche, our passion, and high growth is where we excel. We offer financial and accounting services for 800+ fast growing Seed, Series A, and Series B tech companies - from SaaS to biotech to eCommerce and more.
Find out why the San Francisco Business Times named us one of the top 100 companies in the Bay Area AND one of the most Influential Women Owned Businesses in the Bay Area.
Founder & CEO Vanessa Kruze is a CPA, Deloitte Tax alumni, and former Controller of a 120+ FTE startup. Kruze COO Scott Orn is a Kellogg MBA, former VC Partner and investment banker. Our VP of FP&A, who helps our clients prepare their financial models for fund raises, is a former VC and operating executive. Our Staff Accountants and Controllers come from the Big 4 and top venture capital backed startups. Kruze started in San Francisco, but has expanded to the Los Angeles, San Jose and New York markets.
If your company is raising venture capital funding, we are one of the best tax partners in the greater SF area. We know what you need to do to stay compliant in San Francisco and what documentation you need to retain for regulatory compliance - and to be ready to fly through due diligence.
Kruze’s origins are in San Francisco, with a deep commitment to serving the tax and accounting needs of the VC-backed startup in the entire Bay Area. Kruze’s founder, Vanessa Kruze, attended university in San Francisco and much of the executive team has worked at startups in the SF Bay Area in a variety of finance, accounting and operational roles.
The San Francisco startup ecosystem continues to grow. As SF’s startups attract greater and greater amounts of venture capital funding - at greater and greater valuations - the need for qualified CPAs, tax accountants and quality monthly accounting providers like Kruze will only continue to increase. Making tax accounting and sales tax work even more important to San Francisco startups is the myriad of local city and state compliance paperwork and filings (see the tax deadline calendar that we link to below).
At Kruze, we specialize in delivering comprehensive tax solutions tailored for the vibrant startup ecosystem of San Francisco. Our dedicated team, led by industry veterans like Vanessa Kruze, CPA, leverages a deep understanding of the Bay Area’s unique tax requirements to empower startups from inception to exit.
Our comprehensive SF tax calendar keeps you informed on all critical deadlines, from PPLO and HCSO compliance to Federal and San Francisco-specific filings. Stay compliant and leverage tax opportunities with our expert guidance.
San Francisco’s dynamic tax environment, including its Gross Receipts Tax and Homelessness Gross Receipts Tax, requires nuanced strategies. Our team’s expertise ensures your startup not only remains compliant but thrives amidst these complexities.
As PitchBook reports, San Francisco area startups continue to attract record levels of venture funding at ever higher valuations. A qualified tax CPA like Kruze can likely help these companies save millions per year in payroll taxes through tax credit advice.
Concerned about your 2025 Tax Deadlines?
We've done the work for you with these 2025 Tax Compliance Calendars.
San Francisco companies with 20+ employees: Post updated Paid Parental Leave Ordinance (PPLO) and Health Care Security Ordinance (HCSO) posters and begin compliance. Keep in mind that SB-83 is a California law that extends Paid Family Leave benefits from 6 weeks to 8 weeks for claims starting on or after July 1, 2020.
Claim Research & Development Tax Credits on Form 941, and file annual Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) return on Form 940. Use our handy calculator to estimate your possible research and development tax credit.
San Francisco startups should send 1099s to contractors. Send W2s to employees and e-file 1099-MISC for non-employee compensation with the IRS. Or file Form 8809 for a 30-day extension to file W2s and 1099-MISC for non-employee compensation.
San Francisco Annual Gross Receipts Tax filing and payment deadline. Gross Receipts tax rates in San Francisco can vary depending on a company’s gross receipts – and business activity. Work with your accountant to determine if you need to file this; the limits are quite low so many funded startups will need to file.
For San Francisco startups, IRS ACA Compliance 1094-B, 1095-B, 1094-C, and 1095-C filings are due (if paper-filing, due April 1 if eFiling). File Form 8809 for a 30-day extension.
Delaware Annual Franchise Report filing deadline. Your San Francisco startup will pay a minimum of $400, which increases if you have significant funding.
SF 571-L Business Property Tax filing due. Initial deadline. According to the San Francisco Assessor’s office, California requires businesses to report their taxable property (machinery, equipment, fixtures, etc.) via a Form 571-L.
Deadline to file California Corporation Franchise or Income Tax Return (Form 100). Minimum amount due is $800.
C Corp Form 1120 Tax Return due. The Federal Form 1120 is the U.S. Corporation Income Tax Return, which the IRS has companies use to report their income, losses, credits, etc., and to figure the income tax liability of the corporation. Can extend the deadline to Oct. 15. All San Francisco startups are required to file this Federal form by this deadline unless they file an extension.
Federal Quarterly Estimated Tax 1st installment (first quarter 2024).
File the R&D Tax Credit Form 6765 with your tax return. Can extend to October 15. We strongly recommend working with a qualified CPA to prepare this form in conjunction with your Form 1120 if you are a high-growth startup – if your company is going to be acquired by a major technology company, that company’s CFO will use a strong tax team to do due diligence on this.
Due date for San Francisco startup employees to make contributions to Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) for 2023 (Employee Benefits).
Q1 Estimated San Francisco Gross Receipts Tax installment payment.
San Francisco startups can claim Research & Development Tax Credits on Form 941.
San Francisco Business Registration Renewal filing due. Payment calculated on gross receipts.
Last day to electronically file the San Francisco Form 571-L Business Property Statement. A 10% penalty will be added.
Delaware Quarterly Estimated Franchise Tax. Pay 40% of estimated annual amount (if annual amount expected to exceed $5,000).
Q2 Estimated San Francisco Gross Receipts Tax installment payment deadline.
Claim Research & Development Tax Credits on Form 941 .
Delaware Quarterly Estimated Franchise Tax. Pay 20% of your estimated annual amount (if annual amount expected to exceed $5,000).
C Corp Form 1120 Tax Return final due date for San Francisco startups if extension was filed.
Q3 Estimated San Francisco Gross Receipts Tax installment payment.
Claim your Research & Development Tax Credits on Form 941.
Delaware Quarterly Estimated Franchise Tax, Pay 20% of estimated annual amount (if annual amount expected to exceed $5,000).
Technology Partners
Client testimonials
We're huge fans of Vanessa and the folks at Kruze Consulting. They set up our books, finances, and other operations, and are constantly organized and on top of things. As a startup, you have to focus on your product and customers, and Kruze takes care of everything else (which is a massive sigh of relief). I highly highly highly recommend working with Vanessa and her team.
Vivek Sodera
Co-Founder @ Superhuman
Prior to Kruze, as a remote-first team, we were weighed down by a lot of the bureaucracy involved with having a distributed workforce. Kruze has supported us above and beyond basic accounting needs by ensuring we have everything we need to expand and support our team wherever they may be located
Zack Fisch
Pequity's Head of Operations & Legal
Avochato has been growing rapidly in the past year – in fact, too quickly for us to keep up with books, taxes, and budgeting for growth. Partnering with Kruze Consulting has been fantastic to manage, track, and analyze our finances while we continue focusing on building our customer base. Kruze’s team knows what startups need.
Alex De Simone
CEO @ Avochato
Everybody, go to Kruze Consulting. They do a great job. I personally can tell you, they've done a great job for our companies, including Calm.com. I'm sure they’ll do a great job for you.
Jason Calacanis
Angel investor
I had a great experience working with Kruze Consulting when we raised Series A. They know what VCs need to see, and how to present a startup’s books and finances. If you are going to raise venture capital, you need experts like Kruze.
Chris Mansi
CEO @ Viz.ai
Being a repeat tech entrepreneur, I know how challenging it is to find the ideal CFO - not only is it often expensive to find the right one, but CFOs who combine expertise with scrappiness, market vision and perspective with detail orientation and 'roll up your sleeves' execution is near impossible for an early stage company. So I've been thrilled to work with Kruze Consulting, who not only provide all the ideal characteristics of a top-tier tech CFO, but also live and breathe entrepreneurship themselves. I've known Scott and Vanessa for many years and their deep personal integrity and strong reputation in the industry and made it an easy decision to work with them again.
Tina Fitch
CEO @ HobNob
NIH, NSF, and SBIR grant compliance can add a lot of overhead for a start-up. The Kruze team makes it easy, so we can spend our time growing the business instead of shoveling paperwork.
Charlie Silver
CEO @ Mission Bio
About Us
Startups are our niche, and our passion. Our clients have raised over $15 billion in VC funding. We are one of only a few outsourced accounting firms that specialize in funded early-stage companies - we only offer financial and tax services to fast growing startups in the Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A, Series B and Series C stages.
We know how to de-risk your startup’s next venture capital round. Our team makes sure you are ready to fly through your next VC’s accounting, HR and tax due diligence. And when you use us as your bookkeeper, we set up and keep up-to-date a due diligence folder so you can get that next round of fundraising.
Our practice is built on best of breed cloud accounting software like QuickBooks, Netsuite, Gusto, Rippling, Taxbit, Avalara, Brex, Ramp and Deel. Technology makes us more efficient, saving our clients money and letting us offer higher value services like FP&A modeling, 409A valuation, and treasury advice. Startups deserve to work with CPAs using modern software.
Top angel investors and VCs refer Kruze because they trust us to give the right advice. Our clients are portfolio companies of top technology and Silicon Valley investors, including Y-Combinator, Kleiner, Sequoia, Khsola, Launch, Techstars and more. With us, your books and taxes are in order when it’s time to raise another round of venture financing.
Kruze Consulting works with funded Delaware C-Corps. Our clients have secured Pre-Seed to Series C or Series D funding. We look to partner with our clients, going beyond the typical outsourced accounting relationship and seeking to provide a higher level advisory role. We feel honored to be a part of making the world a better place, even if it’s one debit and credit at a time.
Startup CFO services, startup accounting and bookkeeping services, startup annual taxes, expense reports, payroll, state sales taxes: we've got you covered. Our software provides custom tailored dashboards that can be provided weekly or monthly, depending on your preference and plan. Founders are often so busy building their company that they don’t have time to take care of their finances. Traditionally, these companies have had to work with a basket of people to get their work done, including bookkeepers, accountants, AP clerks, CFOs, consultants, and tax accountants. At Kruze Consulting, our founders have one point person, saving time and money.
