Some business owners delay hiring a CPA to keep their costs down, but investing in the right one will be well worth the cost. If you have accounting software like Xero, QuickBooks, or Bench (that’s us!), already in place, check that your prospective CPA knows how to use them. A finance toolkit for a SaaS startup looks different than that of a mobile app business, for example. If your CPA is comfortable with the software, they’ll be able to immediately begin working with it to analyze your cash flow, inventory management, and pricing. Are you banking on equity funding, loans, or grants to start and grow your business? You can turn to a CPA for objective advice on strategic and financial topics, from getting funding, to improving your cash flow, and more.
Even if you’re an experienced founder with a solid understanding of finance and accounting, it’s always handy to have a CPA a phone call away. CPAs are highly qualified accountants, but if they don’t have experience with the precise requirements of your business, they could overlook important regulations or leave money on the table. To avoid these issues, the startup community should look for these five criteria when hiring a startup CPA. As a startup founder, you have plenty of responsibilities to fulfill, especially early on.
Searching for a CPA for Startups?
Their responsibilities may include financial forecasting, interpreting financial reports, and offering real-time insights into a startup’s income, expenses, and cash flow, thereby enabling informed growth decisions. Apart from tax management, CPAs can serve as valuable business consultants and advisors, helping startups navigate budget planning, regulatory compliance, and financial performance startup cpas analysis. Vanessa is a CPA and the founder of Kruze Consulting, and has helped hundreds of startups with their accounting and taxes. Vanessa Kruze, a seasoned CPA, has an impressive track record prior to establishing Kruze Consulting. Her experience includes pivotal roles at Deloitte Tax and as a controller for a substantial startup with over 120 employees and $20 million in revenue.
- Both are numbers-related, but bookkeeping and accounting are not quite the same things.
- Similarly, your burn rate tells you how long you have until you need to start turning a profit.
- Instead, they are small enough to DIY their accounting, with the exception of filing a tax return – using a legit CPA for a startup tax return is a very, very good idea.
- If your CPA is slow to respond, or you find yourself continuously reaching out to get an answer to a question, then you should move on.
- Not only can we answer those questions, but we do it in a timely fashion, so you can focus on the day-to-day.
- Even if you integrate your financial accounts with software or an Excel spreadsheet, be sure to enter everything else, such as cash transactions.
Reducing costs will allow you to stretch your business’s dollars even further. Otherwise, you risk giving your vendors free money in late payment interest. Was that trip to Staples for office https://www.bookstime.com/articles/adjusted-trial-balance supplies or to pick up a new banner for your tradeshow booth? These two items are categorized differently on your tax return, so record the category while transactions are fresh in your mind.