Your First 90 Days of Startup Finance
Written by Aparna Devalla, CPA
Curated by Rubric Financial
1 / 5
Week 1-2: Legal and Banking Foundation
- Incorporate as a Delaware C-corporation. This is the standard structure for venture-backed startups and what investors and attorneys expect.
- Apply for your EIN (Employer Identification Number) with the IRS. You can do this online and receive it immediately.
- Open a business bank account at a startup-friendly bank (Mercury, SVB (now part of First Citizens), or Brex). Never use personal accounts for business transactions.
- Execute founder stock purchase agreements at par value and ensure all co-founders and early team members have signed IP assignment agreements.
Related Resources
Lease Accounting Under ASC 842
A guide to ASC 842 for startups, explaining how to put office and equipment leases on the balance sheet as a right-of-use asset and lease liability.
Startup AccountingInvoice Consolidation Across Products and Entities
Why combining charges into unified invoices reduces friction, improves collections, and keeps multi entity books clean.
Startup AccountingDeferred Revenue Explained
Why annual SaaS contracts create a liability on your balance sheet, and what investors look for in your deferred revenue.
Related tools and reading
Fractional CFO for startups
Board packs, forecasts, and fundraising support without a full-time hire.
Free toolDo I Need a CFO? Quiz
A 2-minute self-assessment: bookkeeper, fractional CFO, or full-time hire.
InsightStartup CFO Digest: Week 36, September 2026
This week's funding environment shows strength at the mega-round level, with AI infrastructure and capital-efficient models commanding multibillion-dollar valuations. However, founders should note that this capital flow is concentrated in late-stage deals with clear unit economics or strategic customer commitments, not distributed across the venture ecosystem. Meanwhile, challenges around SaaS pricing, churn, and valuation velocity are reshaping how founders plan and forecast when raising now.
GlossaryRight of First Refusal (ROFR)
Investor's right to match any third-party offer to buy shares from existing shareholders.
ServiceCFO for startups
What a startup CFO does, when to hire one, and what it costs by stage.
Free toolDiligence Readiness Quiz
Assess how data-room ready your finances are.
Want your books handled properly?
A bookkeeper and CPA who work as one team, with your monthly close done and your ledger ready for diligence.
No spam, ever. If the download doesn't start, email us.
Or talk it through: