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Startup
Essential accounting and finance guidance for startup founders
SOC 2 Type II Audit Cost: A Small SaaS Company's Complete Budgeting Guide
A first-year SOC 2 Type II report for a 10–50 person SaaS company typically costs $25,000–$80,000 total, with the audit fee itself covering only about 40% of that — internal labor and readiness work make up the rest.
LLM API Costs Are COGS, Not Overhead: A Gross Margin Guide for AI Wrappers
LLM inference is a variable cost of delivering your product, not software overhead — ICONIQ's 2026 data puts AI product gross margins at a 52% industry average, well below the 70-80% typical of traditional SaaS.
Carta vs. Pulley vs. Ledgy: How Startup Founders Should Choose Cap Table Management Software in 2026
Carta, Pulley, and Ledgy are the three leading cap table platforms in 2026, differing mainly on annual pricing ($1,200–$20,000+), US-only vs. multi-jurisdiction equity compliance, and 409A valuation turnaround time.
SBIR/STTR Grant Accounting: Indirect Costs, Time Tracking, and Fund Segregation
First-time SBIR/STTR awardees rarely fail audits on the science — they fail on indirect cost rates, timekeeping, and commingled funds. How to calculate your own indirect rate (DOE now caps reimbursement at 15% for for-profits), log daily hours DCAA will accept, and segregate award money before the SF 1408 survey.
The EB-5 Investor Visa in 2026: How Funding a US Business Can Get a Foreign Entrepreneur a Green Card
The EB-5 investor visa requires an $800,000 investment in a Targeted Employment Area (or $1,050,000 standard) plus 10 created jobs, and petitions filed by September 30, 2026 lock in today's thresholds before the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act's grandfathering provision sunsets.
Revenue-Based Financing: How to Trade a Slice of Future Sales for Growth Capital Without Giving Up Equity
Revenue-based financing repays a lender 2-8% of monthly revenue until a 1.2x-3x cap is reached, typically costing 20-50% effective APR versus 40-300%+ for merchant cash advances, with no equity or collateral required.
Stripe Billing vs. Chargebee vs. Recurly: Choosing Your SaaS Subscription Platform
Stripe Billing suits developer-led SaaS teams under roughly $500K MRR, Chargebee fits non-engineers managing complex pricing above a monthly platform fee, and Recurly's ML-optimized dunning recovers 40-70% of failed payments versus about 15% with no intervention.
Billing for Tokens: A Revenue Recognition Guide for AI Usage-Based SaaS
ASC 606 still governs AI token-based pricing, but variable consideration estimates, the right-to-invoice practical expedient, and breakage on prepaid credit packs make usage-based revenue recognition materially harder to get right than flat-rate SaaS subscriptions.
Protecting Margins When Costs Rise: Repricing, Cost Control, and Resilience Strategies for 2026
Margins don't collapse in a crisis — they leak in small cost steps. A quarterly loop to measure by SKU/channel, reprice in structure, cut waste not wages, and keep a buffer.
Section 174A Explained: How OBBBA Restores Immediate R&D Expensing for Software Companies
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act's Section 174A permanently restores immediate tax deduction of domestic software development and R&E costs for tax years beginning after December 31, 2024, reversing the five-year amortization rule that had strained small tech companies' cash flow since 2022.
SBIR/STTR Grant Accounting: Indirect Cost Caps and Avoiding a Clawback
SBIR and STTR awards are cost-reimbursable federal funding governed by FAR 31.205 and 2 CFR 200 — DOE now caps indirect costs at 15% of total award value, NIH has tightened its F&A allowance, and undocumented labor costs are the most common clawback trigger.
The EU AI Act Lands on U.S. SaaS Companies This August: A Practical Compliance Guide
A practical guide for U.S. SaaS founders, foundation model providers, and AI agent builders navigating the EU AI Act before the August 2, 2026 enforcement deadline — covering Article 22 representatives, Article 50 transparency disclosures, GPAI Code of Practice obligations, fine tiers up to 7% of global turnover, and procurement-questionnaire readiness.