Your tools, in your books
QuickBooks Online and Xero are the two ledgers we work in. Every other tool here is money moving, or a record of it, that has to land in one of them correctly. Each page says what the tool does to your books and how it is booked — it is not a list of connectors.
26 tools in 7 groups. Looking for an accounting term? The founder glossary →
Accounting ledgers
The two ledgers we work in. Your books stay in your own company file.
Payments and commerce
Where customer money arrives. A deposit nets sales against fees, refunds and tax collected, and has to be split back out.
Payroll
One payroll run is wages, withholdings, employer taxes and benefits — booked as separate lines.
Banks and cards
Bank accounts and cards: the statements every cash and card balance is reconciled to.
- BrexCorporate cards and spend management for startups. The company owes the balance, not the founder.
- ChaseThe operating bank account most of your cash moves through.
- Bank of AmericaA business bank account, and the cash balance every other number depends on.
- WiseBalances in several currencies, mostly used to pay people and vendors abroad.
- VisaThe network behind most business cards. Your bank issues the card, and the charges arrive through its feed.
- MasterCardA card network your bank or card provider issues cards on. Charges arrive through the issuer's feed.
- DiscoverA card network and issuer. Charges, refunds and cash back all arrive in the same feed.
- American ExpressAmex issues both charge cards, paid in full each month, and credit cards. Either way, the balance is a liability until it's paid.
Travel and meals
Rides and meals: the most frequent small charges on a card, each needing the right account and a business reason.
Documents and data
Receipts, contracts, deal terms, policies and trackers: the support behind an entry, kept somewhere that is not a ledger.
- GmailWhere receipts, vendor bills and contracts usually arrive.
- Google DriveContracts, leases and statements on file.
- HubSpotWhere deals, customers and contract terms are tracked.
- NotionWhere a lot of teams write things down.
- Google SheetsWhere most startup books begin.
- AirtableA flexible database many teams use to track vendors, spend and approvals.
AI and code
Where founder finance scripts get written, and why writing to a ledger needs rules a chat or a script does not keep.
The guides that use them
Founder guides that walk through these tools in a real month.
- Company cardsCompany cards and receipts: coding, matching, reconcilingCompany cards without the month-end receipt chase: how to code card spend, match receipts, handle missing ones and reconcile the card to its statement.
- CashBank reconciliation step by stepMatch the bank statement to the books, clear deposits in transit and outstanding checks, book the fees, and reach a $0.00 difference every month.
- FundraisingAudit-ready books before your Series AInvestors, lenders and auditors ask for the same things: accrual statements, reconciled accounts and support for every balance. How to be ready first.
- Accounts payableAccounts payable process for startups: intake to paymentHow a bill moves from inbox to paid: intake, coding, approval, scheduling and recording, plus AP aging and who approves what at a 10-person startup.
Product names and marks belong to their owners and are shown only to name the tool. General information for US companies, not tax, legal or accounting advice.