#startup
Essential accounting and finance guidance for startup founders
Section 41 lets a qualified small business apply up to $500,000 of R&D credit per year against employer Social Security and Medicare taxes via Form 6765 and Form 8974. This guide explains the QSB tests, the four-part research test, the redesigned Section G that becomes mandatory in 2026, and how OBBBA's Section 174 reset changes the timing math.
Section 174A restores immediate domestic R&E expensing and lets small businesses with $31 million or less in average annual gross receipts amend 2022, 2023, and 2024 returns for refunds — but the retroactive election must be filed by July 6, 2026.
How the IRS Section 83(b) election converts phantom ordinary income on unvested startup stock into long-term capital gains, what the new Form 15620 online portal requires, and when filing is the wrong move.
Section 1045 lets non-corporate taxpayers defer capital gains from a QSBS sale by reinvesting proceeds into new qualifying small business stock within 60 days. After the 2025 OBBBA expansion (75M gross assets cap, tiered 50/75/100 percent exclusion at 3/4/5 years), the rollover can convert a missed Section 1202 exclusion into a deferred, and potentially excluded, gain.
A first SOC 2 Type II audit takes a minimum three-month observation window — six months for most enterprise buyers — and runs $45,000 to $150,000 all-in for a sub-fifty-person SaaS startup. Here is what the Trust Services Criteria cover, how to scope the engagement, and the six preparation mistakes that derail first examinations.
ASC 606 requires SaaS companies to recognize revenue as the service is delivered, not when cash is collected. This guide walks through the five-step model, the deferred revenue schedule auditors scrutinize, and the six recurring mistakes that trigger restatements during fundraising diligence.
D&O insurance for startups in 2026 typically runs $3,500–$10,000 per year for $1M–$3M of coverage; Series A term sheets routinely require $3M–$5M within 60–90 days of close. The most common claims at sub-100-person companies come from employment disputes, not securities allegations.
Track the SaaS metrics that win term sheets in 2026: LTV, CAC, NRR, churn, CAC payback, and Rule of 40. Includes benchmarks and calculation traps to avoid.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act's Section 174A restores immediate domestic R&D expensing starting in 2025, and small businesses under roughly $31 million in average gross receipts have until July 6, 2026 to amend 2022, 2023, and 2024 returns to recover taxes paid under the TCJA capitalization rules.
A 409A valuation is the IRS-recognized appraisal that sets the strike price on every option grant. Without one, founders risk 20% federal excise penalties, premium interest, and California's 5% piggyback tax — all falling on the employee.
Profits interests let LLCs grant equity to service providers tax-free under IRS Rev Proc 93-27.
A working guide to Rollover as Business Startup (ROBS) arrangements — the five required steps, why only a C corporation qualifies, the Form 5500 and prohibited-transaction rules, IRS-documented failure rates, and when alternatives like SBA loans or 401(k) participant loans make more sense.
