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Accounting for SaaS Startups

Finance built for recurring revenue, not generic books

Accounting for startups that need their numbers to hold up in a board meeting and a diligence room. We give SaaS founders bookkeeping, controller, and fractional CFO support, tracking MRR and ARR off your billing system, recognizing revenue under ASC 606, and closing every month so you always know your burn, your runway, and whether the model is working.

Want SaaS books you can trust?

What's your revenue?

Works in the tools you already use
The SaaS problem

Why SaaS books break the standard playbook

A subscription business does not look like a services firm on the books. Cash arrives before revenue is earned, contracts span months or years, and the metrics investors care about live in your billing tool, not your P&L. Generic bookkeeping records the cash and stops there.

Deferred revenue

Annual cash is a liability, not revenue

When you collect an annual plan up front, booking it the wrong way inflates a strong month and starves the next eleven. We set up deferred revenue, run the recognition schedule, and reconcile it back to billing every close.

Net revenue

The details that distort the numbers

Usage-based plans, mid-term upgrades, proration, and the refunds and credits that quietly distort net revenue all need the same discipline. We build the chart of accounts around how your plans actually bill, so the numbers reconcile and the story matches reality.

Runway

Burn and runway you can defend

What is your real burn, and how many months of runway? That depends on accrual-basis books, clean deferred revenue, and knowing which costs are cost of revenue versus operating spend. We keep all three current, so runway is a number you can defend, not re-estimate the night before a board call.

What's covered

What we handle for SaaS companies

Scope is agreed before we start. Most clients use the full range below; not every company needs every item on day one.

Revenue

MRR & ARR tracking

We tie your bookings, new, expansion, contraction, and churned, back to recognized revenue, so MRR and ARR reconcile to the financials rather than living in a separate sheet.

Compliance

ASC 606 & deferred revenue

Five-step revenue recognition, deferred revenue schedules, and contract-level treatment for annual, usage-based, and multi-element deals, set up so your CPA and investors can rely on it.

Cash

Burn rate & runway

Accrual-basis burn calculated monthly with cash and deferred revenue isolated, so runway is grounded in real numbers and updates automatically each close.

Metrics

CAC, LTV & churn

Unit economics built from clean COGS and sales/marketing spend, customer acquisition cost, lifetime value, gross and net revenue retention, and logo versus dollar churn.

Reporting

Investor & board packages

Monthly P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow on an accrual basis, formatted the way seed to Series B investors expect. Board-ready commentary comes with Controller and CFO.

Close

Monthly close, owned end to end

Every account reconciled, every entry reviewed by a senior before sign-off, delivered on a predictable schedule you can run the business on.

Who it's for

Built for seed to Series B SaaS founders

Pre-revenue and seed-stage teams that need accrual books and a clean baseline before the first raise
Series A and B companies that have outgrown spreadsheet MRR and need investor-grade reporting
Founders preparing for diligence who need deferred revenue and rev-rec that will survive scrutiny
Teams running Stripe, Chargebee, or similar billing that need it reconciled to the general ledger
Founders who want out of the close and back to building the product
Companies that want bookkeeping, controller, and CFO support from one team as they scale
Questions

SaaS finance FAQ

How do you recognize SaaS revenue under ASC 606?

We apply the five-step ASC 606 model to your contracts: identify the contract and performance obligations, determine and allocate the transaction price, and recognize revenue as obligations are satisfied. For most SaaS, that means subscription revenue is recognized ratably over the service term, with deferred revenue carried as a liability until earned. Setup fees, usage overages, and multi-element arrangements are handled per their own obligations. We reconcile the recognition schedule to billing every close so the deferred revenue balance always ties out.

Can you track MRR and ARR alongside the financials?

Yes. We track MRR and ARR with the movement components investors expect, new, expansion, contraction, and churn, and reconcile them against recognized revenue in the GL. That keeps your growth metrics and your accounting in agreement, instead of telling two different stories when someone compares the board deck to the financials.

How do you calculate burn rate and runway?

Burn is calculated on accrual-basis financials with deferred revenue isolated from cash, so a big annual prepayment does not make a burning month look profitable. We track gross and net burn and translate current cash into months of runway, updated every close. When you add Fractional CFO, we layer scenario planning on top so you can see how hiring, pricing changes, or a raise move the runway curve.

Do you report SaaS metrics like CAC, LTV, and churn?

Yes. Once COGS and sales/marketing spend are clean, we calculate customer acquisition cost, the CAC payback period, gross margin, lifetime value, and gross and net revenue retention. Because these come off reconciled books rather than ad-hoc spreadsheets, they hold up when an investor asks how the number was derived.

Are your books ready for a fundraise or diligence?

That is the point. We maintain accrual-basis financials with proper deferred revenue and documented adjustments, the foundation a raise is built on. For the raise itself, our Fractional CFO service adds the model, board package, data room support, and investor Q&A. You are not scrambling to clean up books the week diligence opens.

What does accounting for a startup cost?

We charge a fixed monthly fee, not an hourly rate, so there are no surprise invoices and the cost is predictable while you are watching runway. What you pay depends on your stage and volume, things like revenue, transaction count, and whether you need controller or fractional CFO work on top of the books, so a pre-revenue startup pays less than one heading into a raise. Use the estimator above for a quick number, then we confirm a tailored quote on a call. Engagements stay month-to-month.

Do you work remotely with startups?

Yes. We are remote-first and work with US-based startups entirely through secure cloud accounting, which is how most software teams already operate. You connect your billing and accounting systems, and we run the bookkeeping, close, revenue recognition, and reporting online, with quick communication over email, a shared workspace, or a call. There is no on-site requirement and no geographic limit within the US.

Why founders trust us

No lock-in. No surprises. SaaS books, handled.

Fixed monthly fee
No hourly billing and no surprise invoices, so you always know exactly what you pay.
Month-to-month
No long-term contracts or lock-in. Stay because it works, not because you're stuck.
Your data stays yours
Full ownership and admin access to every account and system, always.
Same or next business day
Reach your team in Slack, email, or a quick call, no ticket queue.

Numbers your board and investors can trust

Get SaaS-specific books, clean rev rec, and a monthly close you can stand behind. We reply the same day, or by the next business day.

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