Checklist
The GAAP readiness checklist for pre-Series B startups
21 items. Score your books before investors score them for you.
Built by CoCountant’s controller-led finance team.
No spam. Your checklist arrives instantly. Unsubscribe anytime.
Trusted by CEOs at 3 to 100 person teams who demand enterprise-grade control.
What’s inside the checklist
Revenue Recognition Audit
5-item ASC 606 checklist: accrual basis, five-step model, deferred revenue, performance obligations, and contract modifications.
Expense Recognition & Accruals
5 items covering the matching principle, prepaid amortization, accrued liabilities, depreciation schedules, and stock-based compensation.
Balance Sheet Integrity Check
6 items covering monthly reconciliations, AR and AP aging, intercompany eliminations, equity issuances, and cap table reconciliation.
Financial Statement Presentation
5 items covering P&L formatting, balance sheet classification, cash flow statement preparation, accounting policy consistency, and disclosures.
Scoring Rubric & Gap Analysis
Rate each item as compliant, partial, or not started. Score out of 44 and see exactly where you need to focus before diligence.
How CoCountant Closes the Gaps
Controller-led methodology for revenue recognition, GAAP accruals, financial statement formatting, and monthly close oversight.
What our clients say
These founders and operators switched to controller-led accounting and now make faster, clearer decisions.
Close time cut 20 days → 10 days
Their controller is consistently and readily available for chats and meetings whenever we need their help. We definitely want to continue using them because of their availability and expertise.
Colleen Rupp
COO Hollywood.com
Recovered 200 K in overdue AR
Their controller took it upon himself to work on our outdated AR and brought in a couple hundred thousand AR dollars for us that seemed unrecoverable. Our reporting to board members and shareholders has also improved significantly.
Waynewright Malcom
CFO, Backpack Group
12 hours exec time saved per month
Extremely friendly to tight budgets. Their monthly calls to go over the books help immensely and save me money. With reconciled accounts and their timely updates, I have a clear picture of my revenue, expenses, and cash flow.
Mark Arthur
Founder & CEO Coast2Coast HR, LLC
Audit-ready and tax-smart
They helped us with compliance and tax planning, streamlining our financial management system and accounting processes. They're dedicated to our success and really understand our needs.
Peter Hansen
Founder Gemini Brass & Woodwinds
Custom chart of accounts → Category level insight
They came in and helped me with exactly what I needed: setting up QuickBooks, detailed bookkeeping, building custom categories specific to my business so I know where I'm spending to improve cash flow, and monthly calls to review transactions.
Jillian Wells
Founder Palo Verde Botanicals
Systems streamlined, operations simplified
CoCountant team is very thorough with their review of my transactions, and their bookkeeping service help keep my books updated to provide a clear financial picture.
Ravi Bajracharya
Co-founder & CTO, Datum
Huge ROI, efficiency up, costs down
The value-to-cost ratio is amazing. I save so much time using CoCountant’s bookkeeping services, and I get more strategic intelligence on our financial situation than I could create on my own. Wonderful service for busy entrepreneurs.
Edwin Goutier
CEO, LaunchPath Innovation
14 months cleaned, current, and reconciled
Hiring CoCountant in 2024 was the best decision I’ve made in a long time. Each month they do a great job of managing our books and reporting.
Oscar J. Muro
Founder, Rhino Web Group
Who this checklist is for
This checklist is for the pre-Series B founder, CFO, or finance lead who needs to know — before investors ask — whether their books are diligence-ready.
This is for you if
- You’re approaching a Series A or B funding round
- You’ve never had a GAAP readiness audit or controller review your books
- Your revenue recognition methodology hasn’t been formally reviewed
- You are unsure whether your revenue recognition follows ASC 606
- Your CPA has flagged accrual-basis issues at year-end
- You want to know your score before an investor’s financial diligence team does
- You’re preparing for an audit or sophisticated investor due diligence
This may not be for you if
- You’ve already completed a financial audit with a Big 4 or regional CPA firm
- You have a full-time controller managing GAAP compliance monthly
- You’re pre-revenue or in the idea stage with no material transactions
- You are not planning to raise institutional capital
- You are outside the US and not using US-based accounting standards
The checklist takes under 20 minutes to complete and will tell you exactly where your gaps are before investors find them.
How CoCountant prepares books for investor review
Every CoCountant engagement is built around GAAP methodology. Here’s what that means in practice for your monthly close.
- Revenue recognized on accrual basis with ASC 606 applied to every contract
- Full accrual basis with matching principle applied every close
- P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow statement prepared every month
- Deferred revenue tracked and adjusted as contracts are delivered
- Stock-based compensation expense calculated and recorded
- Books formatted for board and investor consumption from day one
Client-verified performance. QuickBooks certified expertise at the Elite level.
Elite is the highest tier in Intuit’s QuickBooks ProAdvisor program.
4.4
on TrustPilot
5.0
on Clutch
4.5
on Goodfirms
4.3
on G2
Get the complete checklist now.
Score your books before investors do.
Download the checklist, work through all 21 items, and know your GAAP readiness score. Or speak with a CoCountant advisor about what controller-led close management looks like for your business.
