Ask HN: Accounting for a brand new startup

[swiil]

Just co-founded a company with my neighbor - more on that later... How are you handling accounting now? What's the most cost efficient way for 2 partners to have simple income and expense tracking so tax time will be easy? Still in R&D but we've closed the first sale (we already have a check and no bank account yet).

[wj]

Depends on your needs. Wave Accounting has a free tier that you could probably use. I tried it out but went back to GnuCash (also use Quickbooks for the day job) as my brain works better with double entry accounting. With Wave (or other online accounting systems) it is easy for both you and your neighbor to track information. You could also do the same with a simple shared spreadsheet.

I would recommend one of you take the responsibility for the accounting and provide the other with monthly income statements and balance sheets.

Come tax time it might be worth your time to hire somebody to do your taxes. Maybe the same person who helped you file your business paperwork since they are already familiar with your company structure.

It isn't accounting software (but it does do income and expense tracking) but if you're interested I'm just about ready for beta testers for some software I've been working on. startopz.com.

Send me an email (in my profile) and mention this post if you're interested in trying it out.

[Bibianadais]

I would say it depends on (1) how much time you want to contribute to you own bookkeeping (2) how comfortable are you with your own financial management. You definitely can split the work with an accountant and only pay for what you really need help with.

The least you can do is maintain all your records in one place, this will make reviewing and auditing the work more efficient.

If you are comfortable, try setting up a category listing and recording your bank transactions and spendings (Quickbooks, Wave, Xero). This is about 80% of the overall work.

When it comes tax time, hire an accountant to review your ledger and make any necessary adjustments. The income stmt generated at the end of all this is sufficient for tax filings.

Slowly build your accounting infrastructure as your business grows. I would suggest improving the system so that it would generate useful information about the trends of your income and expenses, cash-flow, and business projections - in addition to providing numbers for tax purposes.

(Feel free to contact me for any specific questions, happy to help. I'm an accountant in Seattle with expertise in small business accounting.)

[quickpost]

I've always been partial to the Accountinator spreadsheet. It's basically just an Excel spreadsheet with a variety of simple customizations to make it a nice ledger. Easy to learn, easy to customize, etc.

http://accountinator.com/2012/11/simple-accounting-spreadshe... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtqkL2KgjXI&feature=youtu.be

[secfirstmd]

Crunch in the UK is pretty good to startups. Many places these days give you a fixed fee for stuff and then throw in online software aswell.

Can recommend Quickbooks online for managing...though I hear Xero is good also.

[rmaurin]

(disclosure: I'm with Wave) Wave is great for new companies. The accounting and invoicing are 100% free. Like define_hipster says, your attention is likely to be on your product right now, but my advice is to start capturing your expenses and income right away. It's seconds of work if you do it now vs. headaches and stress if you leave it for later. Good luck with the new business!

[iqonik]

I tried to manage my own accounts but after a year you soon realise you're better off having an accountant. Your time is too valuable to be doing something that doesn't directly add value to your business. It's also very reassuring knowing when I get a letter from HMRC I don't fully understand they are only a phone call away.

[petervandijck]

Very cost effective: 2 folders:

- /incoming invoices/january/ - /outgoing invoices/january/

And then a Google spreadsheet with columns and totals to keep track.

[define_hipster]

If you just founded the company, you probably shouldn't even think about things like accounting because at that stage only making product and selling product matter.

[hakanderyal]

Totally depends on the country, state, type of work etc. but the safest way is working with an accountant.