Industries
Startups and VC-backed companies
Finbryn keeps books for early-stage UK companies watching burn, runway and investor reporting closely, recording SEIS/EIS-eligible shares and SAFEs or advance subscription agreements correctly on the balance sheet and preparing R&D tax relief data as it accrues. We work inside Xero, closing by business day five.
Management report
Illustrative client · August 2026
GBP
| Line | Aug | Jul | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 142,380 | 131,904 | +10,476 |
| Cost of sales | (51,260) | (48,115) | (3,145) |
| Gross profit | 91,120 | 83,789 | +7,331 |
| Payroll | (46,300) | (45,900) | (400) |
| SoftwareNoted | (6,480) | (5,490) | (990) |
| Rent | (8,000) | (8,000) | 0 |
| Other operating | (9,215) | (9,870) | +655 |
| Net income | 21,125 | 14,529 | +6,596 |
Reviewer's note
Software is up on last month after two seats were added mid-month. Revenue includes one milestone invoice that will not repeat next month.
Illustrative. An example of the document, not a client's figures.
Exceptions report
Where the books usually hurt
Burn rate and runway numbers get recalculated by hand in a spreadsheet before every board meeting
Convertible notes, SAFEs and equity transactions get recorded incorrectly or not at all until a raise forces the issue
Expense categorization does not match what investors expect to see on a standard startup chart of accounts
R&D-eligible spending is not tracked separately, so the credit opportunity gets missed at tax time
Runway does not wait for month end
A venture-backed founder recalculating burn and runway by hand in a spreadsheet before every board meeting is working from stale numbers by the time the deck goes out. Finbryn builds burn and runway calculation into the monthly close itself, formatted the way a board expects to see it, so the figures in the deck match the figures in the ledger rather than a separate hand-built model.
Equity and quasi-equity instruments cause the most damage when they are recorded incorrectly. Advance subscription agreements and SAFE-style instruments used in UK raises need to sit correctly on the balance sheet, and shares issued under SEIS or EIS need their qualifying conditions tracked from day one, because a mistake discovered at the next funding round is far more expensive to unwind than one caught in the month it happened.
R&D tax relief and the merged scheme
UK companies doing qualifying research and development can claim relief under the merged R&D expenditure credit scheme, but the claim depends on R&D-eligible costs being separated from general expenditure throughout the year, not reconstructed retrospectively from a general ledger that never distinguished them. We tag R&D-eligible spend as it is incurred, so the underlying cost data is ready when a credentialed adviser prepares the actual claim. Finbryn does not submit R&D claims or decide eligibility.
Chart of accounts built for diligence
Investors doing diligence on a UK seed or Series A round look closely at expense categorisation against a standard startup chart of accounts, cap table consistency and how cleanly equity transactions are recorded, because inconsistent books slow down or derail a raise at the worst possible time. We build the chart of accounts to match what a diligence team typically expects, so a data room request does not turn into a scramble.
Working with Finbryn
You keep ownership of your Xero file. A named pod handles your account and any change in that pod comes with a recorded handover memo. Books are reconciled weekly and closed by business day five, with pricing published on our pricing page, and terms set out in your engagement letter. Catch-up work for companies that grew fast on manual spreadsheets is priced separately from ongoing monthly bookkeeping, and every file is reviewed by a senior principal before it reaches you.
Questions
Frequently asked questions: Startups and VC-backed companies
Do you track qualifying conditions on SEIS or EIS shares after they are issued?
Yes. Conditions are monitored and updated as terms convert, vest or change, not just recorded once at issuance.
Do you track SEIS/EIS shares and SAFE-style instruments correctly?
Yes. Those instruments are recorded on the balance sheet with their qualifying conditions tracked, and updated as terms convert, vest or change.
Do you prepare figures for an R&D tax relief claim?
We tag R&D-eligible costs as they are incurred so the underlying data is ready. The claim itself is prepared and submitted by a credentialed adviser, not by Finbryn.
Will our books be ready for investor diligence?
We build the chart of accounts and monthly close around what diligence teams typically request, though every investor's specific checklist can differ.
Do you track burn rate and runway alongside the monthly close?
Yes, monthly burn and remaining cash runway are calculated as part of the standard reporting for a funded company, since investors expect to see this figure without asking for it separately, and a slipping runway is exactly the kind of thing that should surface early, not at the next board meeting.
Can you produce a monthly burn and runway report for the board?
Yes, burn and runway are calculated as part of the monthly close and formatted for board reporting.
Do you track SAFE and convertible note activity?
Yes, those instruments are recorded on the balance sheet and updated as terms convert or change.
What are the common bookkeeping challenges for a startups and VC-backed companies business?
Beyond the basics, expense categorization does not match what investors expect to see on a standard startup chart of accounts and r&D-eligible spending is not tracked separately, so the credit opportunity gets missed at tax time come up often in this industry. We build the chart of accounts and reconciliation process around those specific patterns rather than a generic template that ignores how the business actually operates.
What software do you support for startups and VC-backed companies?
We work inside QuickBooks Online and Xero, along with the other tools listed on this page that are common in the startups and VC-backed companies industry. If you have no file yet, we set one up in your name so you own it from day one.
Related services
- BookkeepingMonthly bookkeepingOngoing monthly bookkeeping: transactions sorted into categories, accounts reconciled and month-end reports delivered in the software you already use.
- BookkeepingCatch-up and cleanup bookkeepingMonths or years of books brought up to date and reconciled, with a written record of every adjustment, so monthly bookkeeping can start from a clean base.
Next step
Talk to the team that would run your books
A short call covers your setup, your software and what a first month would look like. You get a written scope and price after it.