Built for venture-backed startups · Bootstrapped too
Our CPAs know how venture-backed companies are built: Delaware C corporations, founder stock, SAFEs, priced rounds and option pools. We set up the structure that saves tax, from 83(b) to QSBS and the R&D credit, keep the monthly books your board reads, and file every federal, state and Delaware return, plus founders' own. Bootstrapped? Annual returns from $1,599 a year. Free 10-minute call.
A structure investors expect and that saves tax: founder stock with 83(b), QSBS tracked at every issue, SAFEs and rounds booked right, losses kept through each round. Monthly books for your board, and every return. Alongside your finance lead or CFO, if you have one.
LLC, S corporation or C corporation, and what each means for tax now and for QSBS if you sell later. Year-end returns only, or monthly books once you need them.
Each founder's 83(b) within 30 days of getting shares, the EIN, a first Form 1120 even with no revenue, and Delaware's report and franchise tax by March 1.
Delaware's notice often uses the method with the higher tax. Filed with your issued shares and gross assets, the tax can drop to the $400 minimum.
Payroll accounts and returns where people work, California's $800 minimum tax, contractors' 1099s, and a CRA payroll account for staff in Canada.
A Delaware C corporation with founders in Canada, mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong or anywhere else: Form 5472 when one foreign person owns 25% or more, and paying founders who live abroad.
Before a flip, the tax on both sides, including CCPC status. After it, the Canadian company's T2, the parent's Form 1120 with Form 5471, and each founder's Canadian return.
Exercising stock options, an 83(b) this year, or selling shares that may be QSBS: each founder's Form 1040, or T1 for founders in Canada, worked out before you act.
Leaving another accounting service, or doing your own books until now? Late returns, Forms 5472 and Delaware reports filed, and books caught up before a round. The catch-up is quoted first.
Your quote lists every company, country, year and form before any work starts.
Get your business established and keep its filings and finances on track.
Bring your books and business taxes together with a dedicated bookkeeper.
Prices are in USD. Government filing fees are extra.
Get your business established and keep its filings and finances on track.
Bring your books and business taxes together with a dedicated bookkeeper.
Prices are in CAD. Government filing fees are extra. PST/QST filings are billed separately.
Founders abroad, a Canadian company, payroll, sales tax or catch-up years: quoted after your free call from the companies, countries, years and filings you need. You see the fee before any work starts.
Free · 10 minutes
Book a consultationTen minutes by phone. One of our CPAs asks what is happening and when, and tells you what has to be filed.
Every company, country, year and form listed, with the fee, before any work starts.
Upload them to the secure client portal, never by email.
We walk you through each return and file it once you approve.
Pick the setup closest to yours. Each one lists the returns it files every year.
Often chosen byFounders raising from venture funds
The setup venture funds usually ask for. The company pays its own tax on Form 1120, and its stock can qualify for the QSBS exclusion when founders and investors sell.
Often chosen byBootstrapped startups paying owners from profit
Profits pass through to the owners' personal returns, so they are taxed once. A good fit while you pay yourselves from profit; venture funds usually ask for a C corporation.
Often chosen byFounders in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong or anywhere else
The same company, plus reports on its foreign owners. When one foreign person owns 25% or more, the company reports each related party it dealt with, such as a founder who lent it money.
Often chosen byCanadian founders raising from US funds
The company files in the US. Each founder files in Canada and reports the US shares there. If the work is done from Canada, the company may have to file in Canada too.
Often chosen byCanadian startups whose US investors ask for a Delaware parent
The founders swap their Canadian shares for shares of a new Delaware parent, and the Canadian company becomes its subsidiary. Your lawyer makes the change; we work out the tax on both sides first, then file both sides.
Often chosen byCanadian startups funded by Canadian investors, grants or revenue
A Canadian corporation controlled by Canadians keeps Canada's small business rate and the enhanced SR&ED credit.
Free · 10 minutes
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Short answers here. For your own situation, ask at a consultation.
Book a consultationYes, it's most of what we do for startups. Founder stock and 83(b) elections, SAFEs and convertible notes, preferred rounds, option pools, QSBS for founders and investors, losses that carry through each round, R&D credits against payroll tax, and founders or parent companies abroad. We plan the tax side of each step with your lawyer and your investors' requirements in mind, then keep the books and file the returns that follow from it.
Both. Venture-backed startups at every stage, from pre-seed to later rounds, and startups funded by revenue or by their founders. A bootstrapped company is often an LLC or S corporation that needs year-end returns only; a venture-backed one is usually a Delaware C corporation with monthly books for its board. The filings follow the structure, not who invested, and we file both.
Tax and Compliance starts at $1,599 a year: the federal and state business returns, the state annual report, a registered agent and a one-to-one tax consultation. Business in a Box starts at $299 a month and adds a dedicated bookkeeper, quarterly financial statements, monthly or quarterly closing, and estimated quarterly taxes. Founders abroad, a Canadian company, payroll, sales tax and catch-up years are quoted after your free call. Government fees, such as Delaware franchise tax, are extra. You see the fee before any work starts.
Yes. Many startups keep their own books at first and need only Form 1120, the Delaware report and state returns once a year. That is Tax and Compliance. If the books need work before we can file, we quote the catch-up first.
Yes. Tax and Compliance covers the company's returns whoever keeps the books. We work from the books your provider closes, ask for anything missing, and file the federal, state and Delaware returns. Founders' own returns can be added.
Our CPAs prepare your returns and plan your tax, and one of them takes your free call. On Business in a Box, a dedicated bookkeeper keeps your books, so one person knows your company month to month.
Yes. Each founder's Form 1040, with stock option exercises, 83(b) elections and QSBS when shares are sold. Exercising incentive stock options can trigger the alternative minimum tax even with no sale, so we work it out before you exercise. For founders living in Canada, the T1 with Form T1134 or T1135 for their US shares.
It may not be. Delaware's notice uses the authorized shares method: 10,000,000 authorized shares come to $85,165. The other method, assumed par value capital, uses your issued shares and total gross assets. With 9,000,000 of those shares issued at a small par value and $500,000 of assets, it gives the $400 minimum. You pay the lower of the two once your annual report gives those figures. A new round raises gross assets, so we work out both methods each year and file the report, with its $50 fee, by March 1. Filing late costs $200 plus 1.5% interest a month.
Within 30 days after receiving stock that can still be forfeited, such as founder shares that vest over time. The founder, not the company, mails Form 15620 or a signed statement to the IRS and gives the company a copy. It can't be revoked without IRS consent, and it isn't available for stock options. A late election generally doesn't count: each vesting is then taxed as pay at that day's value. We plan it with founders, including those in Canada or abroad, before the shares are issued.
They can, if the company meets the tests in section 1202. Among them, it must be a US C corporation with gross assets of $75 million or less at all times before and right after the issue, and use at least 80% of its assets in an active business. For stock issued after July 4, 2025, 50% of the gain is excluded after 3 years, 75% after 4 and 100% after 5, up to the greater of $15 million or 10 times basis. Older stock needs more than 5 years, a $50 million asset test and a limit of the greater of $10 million or 10 times basis. LLC and S corporation shares never qualify. The limit is per taxpayer, and shares given to family members or trusts keep their status, so planning before an exit can multiply it. QSBS held more than 6 months can also be sold and rolled into other QSBS within 60 days under section 1045. We keep the records each share issue needs.
Often, in the early years. A company with gross receipts under $5 million, and none before the last five tax years, can elect on Form 6765 to use up to $500,000 a year of its research credit against payroll tax. The election must be made on an original return filed on time, including extensions. The credit then goes on Form 8974 with the payroll return, starting the quarter after the income tax return is filed. We put the credit from your study on your Form 1120 and make the election; the study itself is done by a firm you hire.
That is what monthly books are for: revenue booked when earned, prepayments as deferred revenue, SAFEs and share issues recorded, every account reconciled, and books that tie to the returns we file. Before a round, we file any missing returns, Forms 5472 and Delaware reports. We don't audit. If an investor requires an audit, we keep the books and give the auditor the year-end figures and schedules it asks for.
Form 1120 every year, even with no revenue, due April 15 for a calendar year. If one foreign person owns 25% or more, it adds a Form 5472 for each related party it dealt with, such as a founder who lent it money; not filing one on time costs $25,000. Then the Delaware report and franchise tax by March 1, and returns in states where the company does business. Founders living in Canada may also file Form T1134 or T1135 there, and we prepare those too.
Once a non-resident corporation, such as a Delaware parent run from the US, controls your Canadian company, it is no longer a Canadian-controlled private corporation (CCPC). It loses the small business deduction on its first $500,000 of active business income, and the enhanced SR&ED credit: most CCPCs get 35% on up to $6 million of spending, refunded in cash on day-to-day costs, while other companies get 15%, used only against tax they owe. The change can also end its tax year early, adding a T2. Your lawyer makes the change; we work out the tax on both sides first. Then we file the Canadian company's T2 and any T106, the parent's Form 1120 with Form 5471 (missing one costs $10,000 a year) and its Delaware report, and the founders' Canadian returns.
We start from your last filed returns and your last closed month. If books or filings are behind, we list what is missing, quote the catch-up, and bring them current before the next deadline. Ask your current provider for an export of your books, the returns it filed, and any IRS, Delaware or state letters.
No. We don't do financial statement audits or reviews, SOC 2 reports, 409A valuations, R&D credit or SR&ED claim studies, financial models or fundraising advice, and we don't give legal or investment advice. When you need one of these, the firm you hire does it, and we use its results in your books and returns.
Yes. Our CPAs work in English, Mandarin or Cantonese, on calls and in writing.
Use these for background; they do not replace advice on your situation. Links checked .
