Before your first dollar of revenue:
- [ ] Open a separate business bank account (checking)
- [ ] Get a business credit card (or dedicated personal card for business only)
- [ ] Set up accounting software (see recommendations below)
- [ ] Create a simple chart of accounts
- [ ] Set up Stripe (or payment processor) to deposit to business account
- [ ] Save a folder for receipts (digital — Google Drive, Dropbox, or in your accounting tool)
- [ ] Note your fiscal year start date (usually Jan 1 for calendar year)

REVENUE
  Subscription Revenue      (MRR from customers)
  One-Time Revenue          (setup fees, lifetime deals)

COST OF GOODS SOLD (COGS)
  Hosting & Infrastructure  (Vercel, Supabase, AWS, etc.)
  Payment Processing Fees   (Stripe fees, ~2.9% + $0.30)
  Third-Party APIs          (SendGrid, Twilio, OpenAI, etc.)

OPERATING EXPENSES
  Software & Tools          (GitHub, Figma, analytics, etc.)
  Marketing & Advertising   (Google Ads, sponsorships, etc.)
  Contractors & Freelancers (developers, designers, writers)
  Legal & Professional      (lawyer, accountant, registered agent)
  Domain & DNS              (domain registrar, Cloudflare)
  Office & Equipment        (computer, monitor, desk — if home office)
  Education & Training      (courses, books, conferences)
  Insurance                 (if applicable)
  Miscellaneous             (catch-all — keep this small)

OTHER
  Owner Draw / Distribution (money you take out for yourself)
  Owner Contribution        (money you put in from personal funds)

Weekly (pick a day, be consistent):
- [ ] Categorize new transactions in accounting software
- [ ] Upload receipts for any expense over $75
- [ ] Reconcile bank account (does your software match your bank?)
- [ ] Note any unusual transactions to ask your accountant about

Monthly (first week of each month):
- [ ] Review Profit & Loss statement
- [ ] Check: Is revenue matching what Stripe shows?
- [ ] Check: Are expenses categorized correctly?
- [ ] Review cash balance — how many months of runway do you have?
- [ ] Set aside estimated tax payment (see Tax section)

Example:
- Customer pays $1,200 for annual plan on March 1
- You DON'T book $1,200 as March revenue
- You book $100/month for 12 months (March through February)

Why: You owe them 12 months of service. Until delivered, it's "deferred revenue" (a liability).

Due dates:
- Q1: April 15
- Q2: June 15
- Q3: September 15
- Q4: January 15 (of the following year)

How much to set aside:
- Rule of thumb: 25-30% of net profit (revenue - expenses)
- Transfer this to a separate savings account each month
- Pay quarterly estimates from that account

Likely deductible (confirm with your accountant):
- [ ] Hosting and infrastructure costs
- [ ] Software subscriptions used for business
- [ ] Payment processing fees (Stripe)
- [ ] Contractor payments
- [ ] Home office (dedicated space, % of rent/mortgage)
- [ ] Internet (business % of your bill)
- [ ] Computer and equipment
- [ ] Domain registration and renewal
- [ ] Professional services (legal, accounting)
- [ ] Business insurance
- [ ] Education directly related to your business
- [ ] Marketing and advertising expenses
- [ ] Travel for business purposes (conferences, customer meetings)

Do it yourself:    Pre-revenue to ~$2k MRR (use software, keep clean books)
Annual tax prep:   $2k-10k MRR (hire a CPA for year-end, do bookkeeping yourself)
Monthly accountant: $10k+ MRR (hire a bookkeeper or service like Bench)

Review monthly. Ask:
- Is revenue growing month over month?
- Are expenses growing faster than revenue?
- What are my top 3 expense categories?
- What's my profit margin? (profit / revenue × 100)

Review monthly. Ask:
- How much cash do I have today?
- How many months of expenses can I cover? (runway)
- Am I cash-flow positive? (more coming in than going out)

Review quarterly. Less important at early stage, but needed for:
- Applying for business loans or credit
- Talking to potential investors
- Understanding deferred revenue