Accounting
Accounting for venture-backed startups
Monthly close, GAAP-compliance, charts of accounts, and the systems venture-backed startups need before their first audit.
Venture-backed accounting is not the same as small-business accounting. The books need to hold up to a diligence request, an auditor's PBC list, and a board that expects the same numbers month after month. The chart of accounts has to reflect how the company actually spends money, not a template designed for retail. And when the accounting is behind, it is behind against a deadline someone else set, not against the founder's calendar.
This section is where we cover the mechanics: a monthly close that finishes on business day 10, a chart of accounts and revenue recognition policy that pass a first audit, a QuickBooks cleanup project that gets the books to a defensible state before an investor asks for them, and the difference between a bookkeeper, a controller, and the accounting function a Series A or B company actually needs. It's also where we cover the Ramp, Bill.com, and Rippling integrations that determine whether the close is a two-day event or a two-week fire drill.
The strongest entry points are the posts on QuickBooks cleanup and catch-up bookkeeping, the Series A finance stack, and the fractional controller explainer.
Accounting
Our books are a mess. What does QuickBooks cleanup and catch-up bookkeeping actually involve?
QuickBooks cleanup and catch-up bookkeeping for venture-backed startups: what the four-phase project actually involves, what it costs, and how to keep books from drifting again.
10 min read
Accounting
ASC 718 explained: stock comp expense accounting for startups without losing your mind
A founder's guide to ASC 718 stock compensation expense accounting — what it requires, the Black-Scholes inputs that matter, what implementation costs, and the mistakes that turn it into an audit problem.
13 min read
Accounting
ASC 842 explained: lease accounting for startups, what triggers it, and how to actually deal with it
A founder's guide to ASC 842 lease accounting — what counts as a lease, when the standard applies, what implementation actually costs, and the mistakes that turn it into an expensive audit problem.
12 min read
Accounting
Fractional controller services explained: what a fractional controller does, what it costs, and when your startup actually needs one
A founder's guide to fractional controller services — what a controller does vs. a bookkeeper or CFO, what fractional controllers cost, when your startup needs one, and how to choose the right firm.
11 min read
Accounting
M&A diligence for sellers: what acquirers will dig into in your financials
The technical playbook for sellers. Quality of earnings, working capital, revenue recognition, customer concentration. What to clean up before you go to market.
10 min read
Accounting
Why we recommend Ramp for venture-backed startups
Why Pegacorn Group recommends Ramp for nearly every venture-backed startup we work with — what it replaces, the controls features that matter, and when it's the right answer.
10 min read
Accounting
The Series A finance stack: every tool we set up for venture-backed startups in their first 90 days
Accounting, AP/AR, expenses, payroll, equity, banking. Here's the exact stack we deploy for venture-backed startups — and why.
12 min read
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