Faq's

What does a startup bookkeeper do?

Indraganti’s startup bookkeepers will help your company have accurate, up-to-date financial statements that you can use to manage your business’ growth and cash flow. The basic tasks we will handle are the same as what any other quality bookkeeping provider would do – except that we have developed highly automated systems, and our team is experienced handling the nuances of early-stage, venture funded companies.

Our account managers have an average of 15 years of experience, and are experts on helping young, funded businesses with their bookkeeping. But that experience helps our team go beyond simple, outsourced bookkeeping, and offer financial advice and due diligence help that other accounting firms cannot match.

  • Cost-effective. As a small business, you probably don’t need a full-time bookkeeper. Remote bookkeepers normally offer part-time services that will meet your business needs.
  • Professional. Established remote bookkeeping firms have an extensive client base, which means you’ll have an experienced team helping you.
  • Flexible. An outsourced bookkeeper can adjust to your needs and response to your requests quickly and effectively.
  • Efficient. Bookkeeping can be time-consuming, and outsourcing your financial activities allows you to focus on developing your startup.
  • Objective. An outside bookkeeper provides a fresh and unbiased perspective on your financial situation, providing you with alternatives and options you may not have considered.
  • Accurate. You can’t effectively manage your business without accurate information, and a remote bookkeeper can provide you with financial data to help you reduce inefficient spending, increase your productivity, and prepare for growth.

Outsourcing your bookkeeping needs can be essential to growing your business, and accurate bookkeeping gives you a basis to improve your cash management, monitor your financial position, and provide accurate reports to your board and investors. Organized. An outsourced bookkeeper can help monitor your invoices, payments, billing and other transactions to make sure you’re collecting funds that are due to you, as well as paying your vendors and contractors on time.

If your startup is growing fast and you need someone to manage your finances, but you’re not ready to hire a full-time employee, you may need a fractional CFO.  A fractional CFO is an experienced Chief Financial Officer who provides services for startups on a part-time, retainer, or contracting basis.

The main responsibilities of a fractional CFO are to:-

  • Manage the startup’s financial reporting.
  • Build and maintain the startup’s projections and budget.
  • Execute capital raises i.e., venture capital rounds and handle legal and negotiations for the CEO, such as leases, insurance, etc.
  • Manage and support the company’s financial infrastructure.
  • Fractional CFOs most commonly partner with companies to help overcome financial challenges, achieve growth, optimize strategy, implement systems, raise capital, or navigate an audit and/or transaction. The CFO should be helping translate your company’s metrics into insight that the rest of the management team can use to make strategic, important decisions such as when to make additional hires, when to ramp up sales or marketing spend, or how potential contracts will impact unit economics.
  • Unlike a full-time CFO who oversees and maintains all general financial strategy or an interim CFO who performs CFO duties before or between CFO hires, a consulting CFO’s duties are usually on a project basis and are specifically tuned to your company’s particular needs, challenges, or goals.
  • This allows your company to benefit from the experience and expertise of a premium CFO without the operating costs of a full-time CFO ie. salary, benefits, and bonuses.

Startups need more than a robot to reconcile the accounts, they need a trusted advisor who is in tune with their unique growth path. The best accountant for a startup will be available. Available to answer questions, available to update numbers as new data is produced, available to set up the right systems for a high growth company.

When choosing a startup accountant, keep this in mind:

  • Speed
  • Accuracy
  • Reliability
  • Expert Advice
  • Low time commitment

Startup accountants and CA’s/CPAs are a special breed of advisors. Whereas a traditional small business focuses on their bank account balance, startups focus on the KPIs that help them raise their next round of funding. Choose your advisor wisely.

Many startups outsource their financial reporting and management functions, both to save money and to get professional accounting and finance services that would be difficult to locate and hire. As the company grows, management eventually hires the appropriate personnel and brings these financial functions in-house. However, with the current economic slowdown, some startups that may experience slower than projected growth are choosing to “re-outsource” their financials.

Employees are embracing the flexibility of working remotely, and startups benefit from greater access to talent, happier employees, and lower turnover. So how can you manage accounting with a distributed workforce? Here are some tips:

  1. Set up an expense tracking system.
  2. Establish a remote organization management structure.
  3. Use good accounting software.
  4. Use a strong payroll system.

Develop a strong budget and financial model. Today’s technology startups are increasingly partly or fully remote. The only way to scaleably run a remote company’s back-office is to embrace cloud accounting technology. Today’s tech startup accounting requires, well, tech!

Not every startup needs a part-time or outsourced CFO – but if you do, you REALLY need one! Your part-time Chief Financial Officer should be an experienced financial professional who helps your startup set your financial and operational strategy, create and track important KPIs, run your financial systems and reporting, and manage your cash flows and spending. The best startup CFOs also help with fundraising and investor relations, although the CEO/founder should always be the one primarily engaging with potential investors.

To determine if your startup needs a CFO, ask yourself the following questions:–

  1. Is my startup having problems with basic bookkeeping and record keeping?
  2. Are my basic financial statements in order?
  3. Do I have detail on KPIs such as customer churn, customer acquisition cost, etc.?
  4. Do I know when my company will run out of cash, and have an understanding of my current burn rate and spend categories?
  5. Do I have a board approved budget that shows me a roadmap of how my startup will achieve its goals?
  6. Does my team have projections and guidance on who and which employees they can hire to meet the company’s goals?
  7. Am I experiencing issues negotiating the financial details of customer or vendor contracts?
  8. Have I prepared the diligence materials that a prospective investor will need to make an investment decision?
  9. Do I have a strategic and financial vision on my long-term pricing, revenue growth scenarios and spending plans?

If you’ve answered “no” to Questions 1 and 2 indicate that you need a good outsourced startup bookkeeper, possibly bundled with a controller. Questions 3 and 4, you should consider hiring someone to help with financial modeling or part-time FP&A. Questions 5 and beyond indicate that you need CFO level help, which, for many startups, can be achieved by hiring a part-time finance professional who understands the industry your business operates in.

A fractional CFO can be an important asset to a startup. They assist with financial modelling and decisions, preparing for board meetings, and handle operational details. Getting part-time CFO really helps the management team.  Typically fractional CFOs have three to four clients and charge one of two ways: An hourly rate, like $250-$500 per hour, or a fixed monthly fee. Those with fixed monthly fees normally allocate one full day per week to your startup.

Understanding whether your startup needs a CFO or a Controller is a crucial step in building a strong financial foundation, and can help you avoid brining in someone who is the wrong fit for your company. Figuring out which role you need depends on your current financial needs and strategic goals. If your startup requires meticulous day-to-day financial management, compliance oversight, and robust internal controls, a Controller might be the right choice. Controllers ensure financial accuracy and help build a solid accounting foundation. 

On the other hand, if your startup is at a stage where strategic financial planning, fundraising, and investor relations are critical, a CFO could provide the leadership needed to drive growth and scale your business. CFOs bring a strategic perspective, helping to shape long-term financial strategies and manage capital effectively.

For a detailed comparison to help you make an informed decision, Refer comparative table. This resource outlines the key responsibilities and skill sets of each role, guiding you to determine the best fit for your startup’s specific needs. Whether you’re looking for strategic financial guidance or day-to-day financial oversight, we can help you find the perfect fit for your team.

Features

Start-ups

SMBs

Large Organizations

Forecasting

Yes

Yes

Yes

Expense tracking

Yes

Yes

Yes

Time Tracking

Yes

Yes

Yes

Budgeting

Yes

Yes

Yes

Reporting

Yes

Yes

– 

Contact Management

Yes

Yes

Yes

Billing/invoicing

Yes

Yes

Yes

Document management

Yes

Yes

Yes

Payroll

– 

Yes

Yes

Inventory tracking

– 

Yes

Yes

Supplier management

– 

Yes

Yes

Asset tracking

– 

Yes

Yes

Multi-user access

– 

Yes

Yes

API

– 

– 

Yes

CRM integration

– 

– 

Yes

 

I’ll view “self-funded” as akin to a bootstrapped small business. The term startup tends to designate high growth companies that have been backed by angels or VCs. Being a self-funded small business – in my humble opinion – is much more difficult. You may not be as flush with cash as VC funded startups, but you also haven’t given away any equity/power in your company. So when should a small business hire a CFO? Only when they a) need one and b) can afford one. At this point, all you likely need is a financial model. If you’re in need of securing debt/equity investment, reporting to a board of directors, or expecting an acquisition… then consider hiring an interim CFO. A full time CFO will run you 240K+.

At least 3 months before a new fundraising round. There’s a lot of preparation that goes into process, and a startup CFO will be essential as the CEO is often hair-on-fire busy courting potential investors. A CFO will build the financial model, track KPIs, prepare the financials, and will leverage angel/VC relationships. After the fundraising round, an interim CFO’s workload decreases dramatically. CFO level work then focuses on benchmarking the financials and KPIs to the financial model that was presented to the investors, and providing detailed reports of this progress at the quarterly board meetings. Intermittent startup CFO requests include advising on equity compensation, venture debt, investor relations, etc. If you’re raising a Series A, B, or C round, an interim CFO can help. Past Series D, a startup usually hires a CFO to manage the now growing accounting department. If you’re thinking about an IPO in the near future, you’ll need a full time CFO.

Before the company goes public! These are the true heroes, and the real embodiment of a CFO. They face relentless pressure from the CEO, Employees, Shareholders, and Wall Street. Their decisions can make and break the company… and the lives of thousands.

The main responsibilities of a startup’s CFO are to:

  • manage the startup’s financial reporting;
  • build and maintain the startup’s projections and budget;
  • execute capital raises, like venture capital rounds;
  • handle legal and negotiations for the CEO, such as leases, insurance, etc

The CFO should be helping translate the company’s metrics into insight that the rest of the management team can use to make strategic decisions – important decisions like when to make additional hires, when to ramp up sales or marketing spend, how potential contract will impact unit economics, etc.

Not every fast-growth company needs an outsourced CFO, but when it’s time, it’s time! Here are some of the key items to look for when hiring a senior finance professional on a contract basis:-

  • Look for someone who knows your stage – a company gearing up to get ready for a $100 million venture raise is very different from a company with more modest capital needs
  • If you operate in a speciality industry, you may need a specialist. Some industries, such as biotechnology or technology hardware manufacturing, have unique capital and cash flow needs. Finding an outsourced expert can help you craft a financial strategy unique to your business.
  • Get someone who can provide the right amount of attention for the foreseeable future. Fractional CFOs are in high demand, and finding someone who has enough time to dedicate to your business can be a challenge. Working with someone who doesn’t have the bandwidth to give you the attention you probably need maybe a mistake.

Choose a partner who will compliment your leadership and management style. For example, if you’re not a details-oriented CEO, finding a finance leader who is comfortable diving into the details may be best.

From SaaS to biotech, Retail to E-Commerce, at Indraganti we have experience across a wide range of startup industries and verticals. Our team provides online bookkeeping services to hundreds of funded startups and high-growth companies, and our experience in specific industries sets up apart from both traditional accountants and automated solutions.

Founders are typically experts in technology, engineering, or science, not the complex world of financial accounting.

That’s why we specializes in empowering high-growth Startup’s/SMB/MSME’s with strategic financial and accounting advisory services tailored to the unique challenges of venture-backed companies or otherwise planning to go for funding.

We understand that in the fast-paced world of startups, every dollar counts. Our team of experienced accountants combines deep industry knowledge with cutting-edge technology to provide you with the financial clarity and strategic insights you need to scale rapidly and confidently.

You should set up a system to track expenses from day 1, even before you incorporate or have a business bank account. The Best Expense Management Software can help.

By partnering with us, startups can leverage their expertise to streamline expense management processes, optimize financial health, and focus on core business growth.

Choosing the right banking partner is crucial for financial stability and growth. As the banking sector stabilizes in 2025, startups are presented with a plethora of options tailored to meet their unique needs. From robust technical integrations to startup-focused financial products, the right bank can offer more than just a place to store funds—it can be a strategic partner in navigating the complex financial landscape.

Founders should prioritize financial institutions offering excellent customer service, robust technical integrations, startup-focused advice, and financial stability.

The moment when you begin hiring employees is a key point in any startup’s life. For founders, picking a payroll system presents an important decision that will matter a lot over time.

Partnering with us will help early stage startups set up their first payroll, develop a keen sense of what matters most to founders as they take this step allowing a fully integrated Compliance requirements.

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