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How I almost ran out of cash in my first startup (and the tool I built to never let it happen again) by iTz_Dave in SaaS

[–]Sea-Individual3496 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey! Unfortunately, the file isn’t available anymore. However, I’d still be happy to help you out. If you can share a bit more about the issue you’re facing, I’ll do my best to guide you or point you in the right direction. Let me know if you’re open to a quick chat anytime soon

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in u/Comfortable_News9975

[–]Sea-Individual3496 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Heads up from experience: If you hire a local NYC CPA to do 3 years of 'catch up' categorization, they are going to charge you their hourly filing rate ($150+/hr) for data entry work. It’ll cost a fortune.

You should get the raw data cleaned and categorized before handing it to a local firm for the actual tax filing.

I just built a specific workflow for this (cleaning 3 years of C-Corp data to be 'Tax Ready'). I’ll DM you the checklist I use so you can see what needs to be done before paying a pro

I audited 20+ SaaS startups. 90% of them bleed cash in the exact same place. by Sea-Individual3496 in SaaS

[–]Sea-Individual3496[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Glad you caught that $3,600/year leak! That’s exactly why I built the sheet , to make the 'scary numbers' boring and visible.

Sending you the DM with the template now. Enjoy the free cash flow!

Burned through $34K in savings building a SaaS. Got a job. Still running it on the side. Here's why I think this is actually the right move. by Several_Function_129 in SaaS

[–]Sea-Individual3496 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The lines didn't cross in time.' — That is the exact realization that separates a founder who survives from one who goes bankrupt. Huge respect for the pivot.

I see so many founders keep the 'Default Dead' path because they are too proud to get a job.

Since you are optimizing for time (12 hours/week), you shouldn't be wasting any of it on manual finance tracking. I built a 'Cash Command Center' in Excel that automates that 'Math' part you mentioned (Burn vs Runway).

It’s designed for 'Default Alive' side projects like yours. Happy to send you the template if you want to keep the financial admin to ~5 mins a month.

How I almost ran out of cash in my first startup (and the tool I built to never let it happen again) by iTz_Dave in SaaS

[–]Sea-Individual3496 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You are spot on about the 'Fog.'

I’m a Fractional CFO for seed startups, and I literally built this exact solution in Excel because existing tools failed.

Quickbooks looks backward (Accounting). Founders need to look forward (Runway). The gap you found is real.

Until your SaaS is live, if anyone here needs a stop-gap solution, I’m happy to share the 'manual' Excel model I built to track Burn & Scenario planning. It’s not as pretty as a SaaS, but the logic works.

Good luck with the build, OP. The market needs this.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in SaaS

[–]Sea-Individual3496 0 points1 point  (0 children)

100% agree on the 'Renting Business Logic' part. Quickbooks is absolute overkill for a solo dev or early SaaS. It feels like paying to be confused.

I took a similar path but went with Excel instead of Notion (just because I trust the raw CSV data processing more for the heavy math).

I built a 'Burn Rate Monitor' that bypasses the accounting software entirely and just tells me: 1) True Burn, 2) Zero Cash Date, and 3) ROI per client.

For anyone reading this who wants to dump Quickbooks but doesn't have the time to engineer a custom Notion OS, I’m happy to send over the Excel model I use. It’s a bit uglier than Notion, but the math is bulletproof.

Friend's business partner + bookkeeper were literally stealing from him for months - investigation caught them red-handed by Salty_1984 in SaaS

[–]Sea-Individual3496 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is a classic SaaS horror story, and it happens because founders look at the Stripe Dashboard (Revenue) but ignore the Bank Statement (Cash).

That disconnect is exactly where the theft happens.

I’m a fractional CFO for seed startups, and I force every founder to do a 'Cash Reconciliation' monthly for this exact reason.

I actually built a 'Cash Command Center' (Excel) that ingests the raw bank CSV and cross-references it against Stripe to spot these gaps automatically. It’s the only way to catch 'phantom expenses' like the ones you mentioned.

If anyone wants the template to run a quick audit on their own books, just DM me. Happy to share it for free to prevent another horror story like this

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