Accounting, Tax & Fractional CFO for AI Startups
Your biggest cost is compute, your revenue is usage-based, and your investors want clean numbers every month. Lineal's CPAs keep the books, file the taxes and act as your CFO, from your first round through Series B.
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Why
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Accounting, Tax and CFO for AI Companies
Start with what you need now and add more as you raise. Every engagement is CPA-led and priced at a fixed monthly fee.
Industries | AI | Bookkeeping & Monthly Close
Bookkeeping & Monthly Close
Accrual books a CPA reviews every month, set up the way investors and auditors expect.
- Bank, card and Stripe reconciliations
- Usage, subscription and prepaid-credit revenue under ASC 606
- Compute and API costs split between cost of revenue and R&D
- Cloud credit and committed-spend tracking
- Stock-based compensation entries
- Monthly P&L, balance sheet, cash flow and KPI package
Industries | AI | Startup Tax & R&D Credits
Startup Tax & R&D Credits
Every filing a venture-backed C-corp owes, plus the credits most early AI companies leave on the table.
- Federal and state corporate returns (Form 1120)
- Delaware franchise tax using the method that lowers the bill
- R&D tax credit, applied against payroll tax when you're pre-profit
- Section 174A research expensing
- 1099s, state registrations and sales tax nexus reviews
- QSBS-ready records for founders and early investors
Industries | AI | Fractional CFO
Fractional CFO for AI Startups
A CFO in your board meetings and fundraising process, without a full-time salary. Built for AI companies where compute spend moves the whole P&L.
- Fundraising models and investor data rooms
- Burn, runway and hiring plans
- Gross margin analysis with compute costs broken out
- Pricing and unit economics for usage-based products
- Board decks and monthly investor updates
Industries | AI | Finance Stack & Automation
Finance Stack & Automation
Your financial data flows in on its own, so the close is fast and the numbers are current.
- Stripe, bank, card and payroll feeds connected to your ledger
- Cloud and model-provider bills coded automatically
- Bill pay and expense approval workflows
- Revenue and KPI dashboards
- QuickBooks setup today, NetSuite when you outgrow it
What's Different About Accounting for AI Companies
A generalist bookkeeper will treat your company like any other SaaS business. These are the areas where AI companies get it wrong, and where we get it right:
Compute Costs Classified Correctly
Inference that serves customers belongs in cost of revenue. Training and experimentation belong in R&D. We tag GPU, cloud and model-API spend each month so your gross margin reflects the real business.
Usage and Credit-Based Revenue Under ASC 606
Prepaid credits are deferred revenue until they're used. Overages, minimum commitments and unused credits each have their own treatment. We set it up once, correctly, so it holds up in diligence.
Gross Margin Investors Trust
AI gross margins run well below classic SaaS, and investors know it. We report gross margin with compute broken out by product and customer, so you can explain the trend before anyone asks.
Cloud Credits and Commitments Tracked
AWS, Google Cloud and Azure credits burn down quietly, then your real bill arrives. We track credit balances, expiry dates and committed-spend contracts so your runway forecast isn't overstated.
R&D Credits That Reduce Payroll Tax
Eligible early-stage companies can apply the federal R&D credit against payroll taxes, even with no income tax to offset. We document qualifying engineering work as it happens, not in a rush at filing time.
Burn, Runway and Board Reporting Every Month
Each close ends with a package you can send straight to your board: burn, runway, revenue growth, gross margin and the KPIs your investors track.
Clean Equity and QSBS Records
Stock-based compensation booked correctly, cap table and ledger in agreement, and the records founders and investors need to support a QSBS exclusion when they sell.
Every Filing on Time
Delaware franchise tax, federal and state returns, 1099s and state registrations for remote hires, all on one calendar we manage, so no notice ever surprises you.
Just Raised? Start With Clean Books
In 30 minutes a CPA will review your books and tax filings, flag anything investors or the IRS would catch, and give you a fixed monthly price.
Optimize efficiency with
NetSuite accounting and bookkeeping
How We Get Your Finances Investor-Ready
Most AI startups come to us with books on a cash basis, revenue in Stripe and compute in one big expense line. Here's how we fix that:
Free Finance Review
A CPA reviews your books, Stripe data, payroll and past tax filings, and tells you what needs fixing before your next raise or tax deadline.
Clean Up and Catch Up
We move you to accrual books, fix past months, set up a startup chart of accounts and classify compute, revenue and equity correctly from day one.
Connect Your Stack
Stripe, banks, cards, cloud bills and payroll flow into your ledger automatically, so the monthly close takes days, not weeks.
Close, File and Advise
We close your books every month, file every return on time and, when you're ready, join your board meetings and fundraising as your fractional CFO.
Our all-in-one solutions save
time and money, so you can
focus on what matters most
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Why AI Founders Choose Lineal
You need one team that understands both the accounting rules and how an AI company actually makes and spends money.
Licensed CPAs on Every Account
A US-based CPA owns your books and your tax filings. No offshore queue, and no handoff between a bookkeeper and a separate tax preparer.
Built Around AI Unit Economics
Generalist firms treat an AI company like any SaaS business. We account for what's different: compute-heavy margins, usage pricing, prepaid credits and research-heavy payroll.
Accounting, Tax and CFO in One Team
The people who close your books also file your taxes and build your fundraising model, so nothing gets lost between three different vendors.
Fixed Monthly Pricing
One predictable fee agreed upfront, with no hourly billing, so you can plan your burn with confidence.
I seek Lineal CPA's help to manage my books and financial statements for the current year, and I am very happy with the service they provided.
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Lineal CPA has been so patient with me as I prepare my first business tax return! He provided me with the tools I needed to be organized and answered my questions promptly along the way.
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Job well done. Good job on the quick books to Intacct implementation.
Proactive Tax planning service was a first for me and our business benefited a lot from this rather than the once a year tax planning. Great communication as well.
Working with Vatsal was an excellent experience and continues to be. He prepared my annual corporate tax return and still checks in every quarter to make sure business is going smoothly. We will continue to use his service and recommend to others as well.
Great service! I don't usually post reviews but I am happy to do so for Lineal. Probably one of the few very CPAs that I actually enjoyed talking to.
Great service! Friendly, responsive, knowledgeable! Wouldn't hesitate to recommend.
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Great support and quick response. Timberley is fun to work with and she works diligently to meet deadline. Vatsal also reacts quickly when we need more supports.
We hired the firm for Netsuite consulting they did a great job on onboarding us and monthly accounting on NetSuite.
Get Investor-Ready Books Before Your Next Raise
Messy books before a raise, a tax deadline coming up, or a board asking about gross margin? Book a free 30-minute call and we'll tell you exactly what you need.
Frequently
asked questions
As soon as you raise outside money. Investors expect accrual financials, and a Delaware C-corp owes federal, state and franchise tax filings every year, even before revenue. Setting the books up correctly at seed is far cheaper than cleaning them up before a Series A.
It depends on what the compute is used for. Compute that serves paying customers, such as production inference, generally belongs in cost of revenue. Compute used to train models, run experiments or build new features is generally research and development. Getting the split right is what makes your gross margin credible to investors.
Under ASC 606, cash received for prepaid credits is recorded as deferred revenue and recognized as customers use the credits. Usage overages are recognized when the usage happens, and credits customers are not expected to use are handled under the breakage rules. We set up the schedules so revenue is right every month.
Often, yes. A qualified small business, generally one with under $5 million in gross receipts and no receipts more than five years back, can elect to apply up to $500,000 a year of the federal R&D credit against its employer payroll taxes. For an early AI team, that can mean real cash back each quarter.
Every Lineal engagement is a fixed monthly fee. Business tax starts at $199 a month, managed accounting at $950 a month and fractional CFO at $1,450 a month. The exact price depends on transaction volume, entities and how much CFO time you need. Book a free call for a quote.