Accountants for startups are not one job, and the founder who hires the wrong kind pays a signing rate for data entry or a bookkeeper's rate for advice nobody is qualified to give. The startup accountant keeps the ledger and closes the month; the cpa for startups signs the return, claims the credits and answers the questions an investor's diligence will ask; the startup tax accountant behind tax services for startups handles the federal and state filings and the sales tax as the company grows across states; the accountant for startup business questions, entity, equity accounting, the audit, is the firm's partner. None of them reads the runway monthly; that is the founder's record, which the free payroll for startups calculator on this site works.
The bookkeeper and the monthly close
The first accountant a startup needs is the one who categorises the bank feed, books the payroll journal with the employer taxes separated, reconciles the accounts and closes the month by a date. This is a bookkeeping service or a part-time bookkeeper, and it is priced by the month and the transaction count. It is the foundation the CPA signs from, and the reason the founder can read a burn figure that is true.
The CPA who signs, and the tax accountant who files
A CPA signs the return, prepares the R&D credit claim, responds to an investor's diligence questions and prepares the audit if one comes; the tax accountant inside the same firm files federal and state returns, registers the company where it sells, and keeps the sales tax straight. Ask what the firm does routinely for companies of your size and what each service costs; the answer separates a startup firm from a firm with a startup on its website.
What the founder keeps: the runway
No accountant reads the runway monthly unless engaged to, and the figure they produce is a month old when it arrives. Cash over net burn from the closed month, with payroll at the loaded cost, is the founder's own reading; the calculator on this site works it from the headcount, the salaries, the taxes, the other spend, the revenue and the cash, and Pro keeps each reading and each hiring scenario as the record the accountant and the board are handed.
Questions people ask about accountants for startups
Does a startup need a CPA or a bookkeeper first?
A bookkeeper first, from the first payslip, so the ledger and the monthly close exist; a CPA by the first tax filing, to sign it and read the close.
What do tax services for startups cover?
Federal and state returns, state registrations as the company sells or hires across states, sales tax, the R&D credit claim and the year-end forms; tax advice on entity and equity is the firm's judgement, not a page here.
How much does a startup accountant cost?
Bookkeeping by the month and the transaction count, the CPA by the filing and the engagement; ask each for a price for a company of your size rather than a rate card written for larger clients.