9 Best Online Bookkeeping Services for Startups 2025 TRUiC

For later time periods, outside of where you can easily project from your CRM pipeline, contribution margin use an estimated ACV. This should include all recurring revenue but exclude one-time charges and professional services. You need to look out for hidden costs, including setup and training costs, data migration expenses, and premium support fees.

Do venture-backed startups need an accountant?

• Ask any second or third time founder and they will tell you that they don’t mess around with accounting or financial planning.
• As a SaaS founder, your priority is growth—acquiring customers, retaining revenue, and impressing investors.
• We give your teams the tools – and guardrails around budget – to operate autonomously and more productively.
• SaaS accounting refers to the specialized practices of recording, analyzing, and managing the financial operations unique to software-as-a-service companies.
• We recommend QuickBooks Online (“QBO”) as the right bookkeeping software for startups and high-growth small businesses.
• Here is how our process works – absolutely no misunderstandings, absolutely no waiting times – only steps towards more efficient SaaS accounting and expansion.
• However, along with deferred revenue, MRR and ARR calculation and revenue recognition is the most difficult part of providing SaaS accounting services.

From the intricacies of revenue recognition to the challenges of managing rapid growth, these obstacles can significantly impact a company’s financial health and reporting accuracy. Subscription companies often get paid ahead of time for a service that will be delivered over the course of a year. We see many inexperienced bookkeepers recognize the full cash payment upfront bookkeeping and payroll services as revenue instead of recognizing it over time. This can cause significant misstatement of ARR, and can not only make a founder incorrectly run their business, but can damage a VC fundraise.

The only accounting firm built for growth

We’ve seen SaaS startups trip up by treating their finances like traditional businesses. Don’t fall into this trap—recognize the unique aspects of your business model from day one. Remember, your accounting practices should evolve as your business does, always reflecting the unique nature of your subscription-based model. What is the current consensus on accounting tools for early stage startups?

Why is reliable accounting important for SaaS companies?

Get the peace of mind to focus on running your business, thanks to our triple-checked financial statements. Let’s take a deeper look at what makes accounting for SaaS companies different and how to put the proper accounting tools in place for your business. Vanessa Kruze, CPA, is the founder of Kruze Consulting, and accounting and bookkeeping service for startups her team has helped over one thousand early-stage companies with their bookkeeping, tax and VC due diligence.

• In early 2023, SaaS startups need significant revenue to raise a Series B – on average, over $8M in ARR with solid growth.
• This involves tracking every sale, purchase and payment made within a given period and recording it in the appropriate accounts.
• This practice conforms with the accrual basis of accounting and revenue recognition requirements.
• On the other hand, accrual accounting is a method that records revenue and expenses when they are incurred, regardless of when actual cash is exchanged.
• StartupFino makes it easier with expert driven SaaS accounting and software solutions companies for your success.
• The first step is differentiating between operating and capital expenses.

Accounting services for small business and full back-office support

Pilot automatically connects to our financial accounts, sends us monthly reports, and syncs everything in Quickbooks. We pretty much spend zero time on accounting and can focus on our product and company. One-time fees like setup or implementation costs ought to be recognized as revenue when the related service is performed. In case they’re part of the continuing service, revenue must be recognized after the subscription period according to revenue recognition principles. Actual physical presence and economic nexus mean that SaaS businesses should establish their tax obligations depending on where their clients are located.