Bookkeeping, tax, & CFO services for startups & small businesses

To hire a bookkeeper, you can start by contacting accounting firms that offer startup bookkeeping services. Because you don’t need a degree to do bookkeeping, you could even hire a talented and diligent recent high school graduate for simple record keeping. If you want to hire a more experienced bookkeeper, you will likely have to pay a higher hourly rate. The right accounting and bookkeeping service is more than just a data entry provider or QuickBooks operator. Good controller and bookkeeping services offer advice, counsel and insight — providing you with financial statements, budgets, forecasts and dashboards to monitor all your financial data. It’s one thing to have all the financial data you need to run your business.

To begin, you’ll need to figure out which banking institution you’d like to open an account with. For some business owners, convenience is key, so you could consider opening your business account with the same bank you use for your personal account—most banks offer both types bookkeeping for startups of accounts. Or, you could shop around to find the best perks like low fees, locations near where you live or work, or other benefits that are important to you. Typically, it only makes sense to hire an in-house accountant after your startup has expanded significantly.

Accounting Services

Meanwhile, accounting is more sophisticated and requires a higher level of expertise and analysis. Accounting and bookkeeping are intimately linked, but they’re not interchangeable. Understanding the difference between the two should help you clarify which financial responsibilities you can handle yourself and which you’ll need help with to complete.

When you have a Small Business Plus plan or higher, you get unlimited online support. All plans come with onboarding, a dedicated bookkeeper and account manager, reconciliation at month-end, balance sheet, P&L, statement of cash flows and a portal with document storage. Higher-tiered plans unlock more transactions and a more frequent service level. It’s also ideal for brand-new businesses because FinancePal can help with entity formation.

What to look for in a startup bookkeeper

Invoices require the initial contact, clear payment terms, and the occasional follow-up email. This can be hard to maintain if you’re not a natural stickler for to-do lists and calendar updates. But, what if you’re a startup founder with three business partners and you’re starting to conduct about 150 transactions a month?

Choosing your business entity and knowing what your accounting methods are will be necessary to your business. Another major step in running a business is having proof of all of your financial records. If the IRS comes sniffing around, you need to prove that your tax return claims are legitimate.

The founders guide to startup accounting

QuickBooks Live is our top pick for online bookkeeping services because it offers cleanup bookkeeping services that vary based on your company’s needs for your first month. This service is ideal for business owners who want to get their bookkeeping in order but don’t have the time or resources to do it themselves. At FinancePal, https://www.bookstime.com/ we take pride in helping businesses like yours succeed with our advanced, customer-oriented, online startup accounting and bookkeeping services. And, our team of financial experts are always available to provide accounting advice for startups who want to make sure their business is in the best possible position.

And don’t forget those phone bills, internet bills, and educational classes you took. These write-offs can be a great relief in offsetting the amount you owe. Like your invoicing, if your COGS is falling behind, then this is a nice indicator that it’s time to ask for some help (and that’s okay); we all need it from time to time. Bookkeepers love to puzzle the numbers together and present you with a focused picture. Our clients have a budget of at least $1000/month for airCFO, and most of our clients fall somewhere between $1,000 and $3,000 per month.