Austin Startup Resource
Startup resource guide
A practical Austin startup guide for setting up bookkeeping, CPA handoffs, tax records, payroll readiness, sales tax tracking, and monthly close routines before the first year gets messy.
Quick answer
Austin founders should set up bookkeeping before the first invoice, first payroll run, first lease payment, or first sales-taxable sale. The goal is not just clean books; it is a record system that can support federal tax filings, Texas sales and franchise tax review, payroll registration, lender requests, landlord paperwork, insurance audits, and month-end cash decisions.
A practical setup starts with a separate business bank account, a simple chart of accounts, a receipt-capture process, a monthly close rhythm, and a clear decision about who owns sales tax, payroll, contractor payments, and year-end tax preparation. A CPA can design the tax position, while a bookkeeper can keep the weekly and monthly records current.
Setup sequence
- Step 1Define the business model before choosing software.
List how money will come in, how customers will pay, whether you will sell taxable goods or services, whether you will hire employees, whether contractors will receive payments, and whether you need inventory, job costing, classes, or location tracking.
- Step 2Separate business money from owner money.
Open dedicated business banking and payment accounts, connect only business accounts to the bookkeeping file, and create an owner contribution and draw policy so personal transfers do not become messy expense records.
- Step 3Map the compliance accounts.
Before launch, confirm whether the business needs an EIN, a Texas sales tax permit, Texas franchise tax monitoring, unemployment tax registration, payroll tax deposits, contractor information reporting, or industry-specific permit records that must tie back to the books.
- Step 4Build a clean chart of accounts.
Use categories that match how the owner makes decisions: revenue streams, cost of goods or direct labor, payroll, rent, utilities, insurance, merchant fees, professional services, marketing, vehicles, equipment, owner draws, loans, and tax liabilities.
- Step 5Create the monthly close rhythm.
Assign one person to reconcile bank and card accounts, review uncategorized transactions, attach key receipts, review accounts receivable and payable, check payroll and sales tax liabilities, and produce a simple profit-and-loss, balance sheet, and cash snapshot each month.
- Step 6Set the CPA handoff calendar.
Agree on quarterly review dates, annual tax package requirements, payroll and 1099 responsibilities, entity-level filing expectations, and the point at which the owner should ask before buying equipment, adding locations, changing entity structure, or taking on debt.
Agency map
The bookkeeping setup should keep the business ready for several layers of review. The IRS is the main federal reference for EINs, business tax records, employment taxes, self-employment tax, information returns, and federal filing and payment options. The Texas Comptroller is the key state reference for sales and use tax registration, sales tax reporting, and franchise tax. The Texas Workforce Commission becomes important when the business hires employees and may owe unemployment tax. City of Austin resources can help owners find local small business support and partner organizations.
- Federal tax identity: keep the EIN confirmation, legal name, responsible party, entity type, and tax address in the permanent records folder.
- Texas sales tax: decide before selling whether the business needs a sales tax permit, how taxable sales will be tracked, and who files reports.
- Texas franchise tax: monitor entity-level filing requirements even when no tax is expected, because the bookkeeping file must support revenue and margin review.
- Payroll and unemployment: register and set up payroll records before employees are paid, not after the first payroll problem appears.
Documents to collect
A CPA or bookkeeper can move faster when the founder has the core records in one folder before the first setup call. For Austin small businesses, the useful packet usually includes formation documents, EIN records, owner information, tax accounts, bank accounts, point-of-sale access, payroll details, loan documents, lease terms, insurance policies, opening balance records, and any prior bookkeeping exports.
- Entity formation documents, assumed-name records if used, and the legal business name used with banks and tax agencies.
- EIN confirmation, Texas taxpayer number if issued, sales tax permit details if applicable, and unemployment tax account details if applicable.
- Business bank, credit card, payment processor, point-of-sale, payroll, and ecommerce access needed for bookkeeping feeds or reports.
- Lease, loan, equipment financing, insurance, merchant-services, and major vendor agreements that create recurring bookkeeping entries.
- Opening inventory, fixed assets, startup costs, owner contributions, existing debts, prepaid expenses, and any reimbursements owed to the owner.
- Prior-year tax returns or prior bookkeeping exports if the business is converting from spreadsheets or another accounting system.
Launch bookkeeping decisions
Most bookkeeping problems come from decisions that were never assigned to anyone. Before launch, write down who is responsible for receipt capture, sales tax review, payroll review, customer deposits, vendor bills, contractor records, reconciliations, month-end reporting, and CPA questions. A lightweight written workflow is enough if it makes the owner, bookkeeper, payroll provider, and CPA responsibilities visible.
- Cash or accrual: ask the CPA which reporting basis fits taxes, lending, inventory, and management reporting.
- Sales tax workflow: decide how taxable and non-taxable sales are coded, who reviews marketplace or point-of-sale settings, and where exemption certificates are stored.
- Payroll workflow: decide who approves hours, payroll changes, owner pay, benefits deductions, payroll tax deposits, and workers compensation records.
- Contractor workflow: collect W-9s early, track payment totals, and confirm which vendors may need year-end information reporting.
- Close workflow: choose a monthly close date and a short owner review meeting so bookkeeping becomes a management tool, not just a tax scramble.
CPA vs bookkeeper
A bookkeeper usually handles transaction coding, reconciliations, routine reports, accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll coordination, receipt capture, and cleanup projects. A CPA or tax adviser usually handles entity tax planning, tax return strategy, franchise tax questions, multi-state or complex sales tax questions, owner compensation, depreciation, and higher-risk filing decisions. Some firms do both, but the owner should still ask which work is monthly bookkeeping and which work is tax advisory.
- Hire a bookkeeper first when: transactions are piling up, sales channels are not reconciled, receipts are missing, or monthly reports are late.
- Hire a CPA first when: the entity type is unclear, the business will hire employees, sales tax treatment is uncertain, there are multiple owners, or a major financing or lease decision is coming.
- Use both when: the business has employees, inventory, debt, multiple locations, contractor-heavy operations, or a founder who needs monthly numbers and annual tax planning to agree.
Common mistakes
The most expensive bookkeeping problems are usually boring: mixed personal and business spending, late reconciliations, vague expense categories, missing W-9s, point-of-sale deposits that do not match bank deposits, sales tax collected but not set aside, payroll started before registration is complete, and year-end CPA handoffs that arrive without reconciled balance sheet accounts.
- Do not use the owner personal account as the operating account once the business is active.
- Do not treat sales tax collected from customers as spendable operating cash.
- Do not wait until tax season to reconcile loan balances, payroll liabilities, inventory, or owner distributions.
- Do not give a bookkeeper tax-planning authority unless that role is actually included in the engagement.
- Do not assume a payment app, point-of-sale report, or bank feed is a complete set of books by itself.
First 30 days checklist
- Choose the bookkeeping owner, CPA or tax adviser contact, payroll contact if needed, and backup approver.
- Create the business records folder and save EIN, entity, tax, bank, lease, loan, insurance, payroll, and sales tax documents.
- Open business banking and payment accounts before revenue starts moving through the business.
- Set up bookkeeping software, chart of accounts, bank feeds, receipt capture, and month-end reconciliation rules.
- Confirm sales tax, franchise tax, payroll, unemployment, contractor, and estimated tax responsibilities with the appropriate adviser or agency resource.
- Schedule the first month-end close and the first quarterly CPA review before the calendar fills up.
Review rhythm
Review this guide quarterly or sooner if the IRS, Texas Comptroller, Texas Workforce Commission, or City of Austin changes a relevant startup, tax, payroll, or small-business resource page. The highest-risk sections are sales tax setup, payroll registration, franchise tax monitoring, contractor reporting, and any wording that could be read as tax advice instead of a setup checklist.
Next startup guides
After the bookkeeping foundation is in place, most Austin owners should also review the business formation path, permits path, insurance and risk controls, grants and funding readiness, and lease or commercial real estate decisions. Keep those reviews connected to the bookkeeping file so the business can prove its setup, spending, payroll, and compliance history when a lender, landlord, insurer, agency, or tax adviser asks.