Switching from Crunch

The engagement starts with a new QuickBooks Online or Xero file for the US entity, set up under US GAAP conventions rather than adapted from a UK chart of accounts. We review the UK-side Crunch records only far enough to identify any balance the two entities owe each other: a founder loan from the UK parent, a management fee, a cost-sharing arrangement, or capital contributed at formation. That balance gets its own intercompany account on both sides, so it can be reconciled every period instead of drifting apart. From there, ongoing monthly bookkeeping for the US entity runs independently: bank and card reconciliation, categorization against a US-appropriate chart of accounts, and monthly P&L and balance sheet reporting. Nothing about the UK entity's Crunch subscription or reporting changes; this work sits entirely on the US side of the structure.

We start with a short intake covering the US entity's formation documents, EIN, bank accounts, and the nature of the relationship to the UK parent or shareholders, funding, services, shared costs, or some combination. In parallel we pull whatever export or summary Crunch can provide for the UK side, not to migrate it, but to confirm the intercompany figures agree with what the UK books show. Once the US file is built and the opening intercompany balance is agreed in writing with you, monthly bookkeeping begins on Finbryn's standard schedule. Where Form 5472 applies, we build the underlying transaction log for that filing into the monthly close from month one, rather than trying to reconstruct a year of intercompany activity the following March.

The most common issue is a US entity with no distinct chart of accounts at all, transactions parked in a generic 'intercompany' or 'suspense' bucket because nobody set up US-specific categories at formation. The second is an intercompany balance that was tracked casually, a spreadsheet, an email thread, a verbal understanding, with no consistent figure on either side. The third is missed Form 5472 exposure: founders who know Form 1120 is due but don't realize a foreign-owned entity with reportable transactions needs Form 5472 attached, and that failing to file it carries its own $25,000 penalty separate from any late-filing penalty on the 1120 itself. We catch all three during the initial setup review, before they compound into a bigger cleanup.

The US entity's books run in QuickBooks Online or Xero, whichever fits your existing US banking and payment stack better, we do not require one over the other. We connect US bank and card feeds directly rather than relying on manual statement imports where the bank supports it. For entities also running payroll on the US side, we work alongside Gusto, ADP, Rippling, or Deel rather than duplicating payroll data entry inside the accounting file. Crunch itself stays untouched on the UK side; we do not integrate with or pull live data from it, since the two entities' books are deliberately kept separate rather than consolidated into one system.

This service fits a UK-registered company, sole trader or limited company on Crunch, that has incorporated or is incorporating a US entity: a Delaware C-corp to raise US venture funding, a US LLC to hold US operations or a US bank account, or a US subsidiary to employ American staff or contract with American customers. It also fits the reverse structure: a US company with UK-resident founders or investors who need the US side handled to US standards while UK compliance stays with Crunch. It does not fit a business trying to replace Crunch entirely for its UK entity; that is a UK bookkeeping engagement, not this one.

Every month's close for the US entity, including the intercompany reconciliation, is reviewed by a senior reviewer before it reaches you. You keep direct access to the QuickBooks Online or Xero file at every stage; nothing about the US books lives somewhere you cannot see it yourself. Where Form 5472 or the underlying Form 1120 needs a signature, that return is prepared by our team and filed by a credentialed signer, an enrolled agent or CPA partner, never by Finbryn directly. The engagement letter sets out exactly which entity, which accounts, and which filings are in scope before work begins.

Pricing for this engagement follows Finbryn's published US rate card rather than a bespoke quote invented for a UK-to-US structure. Setting up the new US file and the initial intercompany reconciliation is typically scoped as a one-time project fee, sized to the complexity of the intercompany relationship and how many periods need to be reconstructed. Ongoing monthly bookkeeping for the US entity then runs at the standard monthly tier that matches its transaction volume. Form 5472 and pro forma Form 1120 preparation support is a separate add-on, priced on the current rate card, and confirmed in writing before the first filing deadline arrives.