Launching Your Startup: Finance & Accounting 101

So you just started your company and need to setup the accounting and finance. Here are the best practices to get you up and running quickly.
Cap Table Management
You’ll need a cap table to manage the stock of the founders, investors and employees. Carta is the most commonly used by startups and allows you to quickly and easily setup your cap table.
409A Valuation
As you’re building your company you’ll likely issue options to your employees in which case you’ll need a 409A valuation. This is basically a way to get “fair market value” of those options. Carta is also the best in the space for getting your valuation done quickly.
Bank Account
You’ll want to set up a bank account to keep your personal finances separate from your business accounts. While there are many banks available there are a few that cater to startups specifically. Silicon Valley Bank is one of the most commonly used by startups. They are reliable, that being said their service can feel a bit dated compared to a typical modern software. The second option is Mercury Bank which is a newer bank that has been built from the ground up for startups. They get rid of a lot of the fees and have a very intuitive interface.
Business Credit Card
Similarly to the bank accounts there are a lot of business credit cards out there. That being said there are only a few that are really a good fit for startups. The two main options are Brex and the Stripe Card. Both cards make it really easy to get a corporate credit card without doing a personal guarantee which was historically very difficult to find.
Accounting Software
You’ll want to make sure your accounting is organized, it will save you a lot of time in the future. The most commonly used service by startups is Quickbooks. They are still the number one player in the space. While they’re run by Intuit and their product innovation has been seriously lacking they’re still the best option to choose from. They also integrate with a lot of other third party services.
Depending on your background, getting the finance and accounting started for your startup may feel complicated, thats natural. Use these resources above as a guide, I’ll continue to update this to make it as useful as possible.
