Bookkeeping software for small business in the USA: bank feeds, receipts and a dollar ledger
Finn keeps your books in US dollars with dates in month, day, year order. Bring in your bank activity by uploading a CSV or PDF statement, or by connecting Mercury, Wise, Stripe or Revolut where you use them. Finn categorizes each transaction using your business context, including open invoices and recent activity, and flags anything unclear for you to review.
Receipts go straight to Finn. Email one in, or send a photo by WhatsApp, Telegram or Slack, and Finn reads it, matches it to the bank line and records it in the right account. At month end Finn reviews the ledger and raises exceptions, you clear them, and the month is locked.
- Categorizes transactions with your own business context
- Matches receipts, invoices and bills to payments
- Keeps a proper double-entry ledger behind every report
- Flags exceptions instead of posting guesses
31 OctThe Form 941 Q3 lands on 31 Oct. Finn puts it on your calendar and reminds you ahead of it.
Sales tax software for US businesses: nexus, economic thresholds and state filings
The US has no national VAT. Sales tax is set and collected state by state, and since the Wayfair decision in 2018 a business can owe it in any state where it passes an economic nexus threshold. The most common threshold is 100,000 dollars of sales, with some states such as California, New York and Texas using 500,000 dollars. Physical presence creates nexus too.
Finn tracks your sales by state, tells you when you are approaching a threshold and prepares the figures you need for a return. Marketplace facilitator laws mean Amazon, eBay and Etsy collect on your behalf in most states, but those sales generally still count toward nexus. Registration and filing happen with each state, by you or your advisor.
- Watches sales by state against economic nexus thresholds
- Separates marketplace sales that the platform already taxed
- Prepares the figures for each state return
- Points you to a state-licensed CPA where coverage ends
Federal income tax for LLCs, S corporations and C corporations: Form 1120, 1120-S and 1065
How you are taxed depends on your entity. A C corporation pays a flat 21% federal rate and files Form 1120 by 15 April for a calendar year. An S corporation and a partnership are pass-through entities, filing Form 1120-S or Form 1065 by 15 March, with the profit flowing to the owners' personal returns through a Schedule K-1.
A single-member LLC is taxed like a sole proprietorship by default and a multi-member LLC like a partnership, and either can elect S or C treatment. An S election on Form 2553 is due within two months and 15 days of the start of the tax year it applies to. Finn keeps your books ready for whichever return applies and reminds you of the date.
US payroll, FICA, Form 941, W-2 and 1099-NEC
Employers withhold federal income tax and FICA from wages. FICA is 7.65% from the employee, made up of 6.2% Social Security and 1.45% Medicare, matched by 7.65% from the employer. Form 941 reports it each quarter, due on 30 April, 31 July, 31 October and 31 January. Form W-2 goes to employees and to the Social Security Administration by 31 January.
Contractors are different. Businesses report payments to non-employee contractors on Form 1099-NEC, due to the contractor and the IRS by 31 January, and collect a Form W-9 first. Finn keeps wages and contractor payments apart in your ledger so the year-end forms start from clean totals. The filings themselves go through your payroll provider or your CPA.
- Form 941 due at the end of the month after each quarter
- W-2 and 1099-NEC due 31 January
- Backup withholding applies if a contractor gives no taxpayer ID
- Wages and contractor payments tracked separately
State annual reports, Secretary of State filings and the EIN
There is no federal company registry. Your company is formed and kept in good standing with a state Secretary of State, and each state sets its own annual report, franchise tax and fees. Delaware, for example, is a common home for startups and carries its own franchise tax and annual report. Finn has specific guidance for Delaware, California, New York, Texas, Florida and Washington.
You also need an Employer Identification Number (EIN), free from the IRS online, for any corporation or partnership, any business with employees, and in practice for most business bank accounts. A foreign-owned single-member LLC must get an EIN and file Form 5472. Finn keeps the dates in front of you and the state filing is made by you or your agent.
Sole proprietors, single-member LLCs and quarterly estimated tax
A sole proprietor reports business income and expenses on Schedule C of the personal Form 1040, due 15 April. The profit is subject to income tax and to self-employment tax of 15.3%, made up of 12.4% Social Security and 2.9% Medicare. You can deduct half of the self-employment tax from your income.
Because no tax is withheld, you pay estimated tax in four instalments due 15 April, 15 June, 15 September and 15 January, when you expect to owe 1,000 dollars or more. The safe harbour is the lesser of 90% of this year's tax or 100% of last year's. Finn tracks your profit through the year so each payment starts from real numbers.
Switching from QuickBooks, FreshBooks or Xero
Most US businesses we talk to are coming from QuickBooks, FreshBooks or Xero, often with a bookkeeper in the middle. Switching is a CSV export and an upload. Export your transactions, contacts and chart of accounts from the old package, and Finn maps the columns itself without a template or manual reformatting.
There is no lock-in, and your CPA or bookkeeper can keep access so they can review the books. A clean switch date is the start of a quarter, which keeps estimated tax and payroll quarters in one system. Finn carries across open invoices and bills so customers and vendors keep their balances.