6 Questions to Ask a CPA Before Your First Funding Round
Sam's List Editorial | 2026-06-27
A first funding round exposes everything about how you have run your books. Investors and their diligence teams ask questions a generalist accountant may never have fielded, and the wrong answers, or missing records, can slow a deal or shave your valuation. Before you raise, your CPA should be ready for all of it. Here are six questions to ask a CPA before your first funding round, and why each one matters.
The goal is to find out, before an investor does, whether your accountant can carry you through diligence without a fire drill.
1. Have You Supported Startups Through a Priced Round?
Diligence is its own skill. A CPA who has been through funding rounds knows what a data room needs and how to present financials to investors. What you are testing: experience with the exact situation you are about to enter.
2. How Will You Keep Our Books Diligence-Ready?
Investors expect clean, organized financials they can verify quickly. Ask how the CPA structures your books so diligence is a review, not a reconstruction. What you are testing: whether your records will hold up under scrutiny.
3. Do You Understand QSBS and How to Protect It?
Qualified small business stock can offer a significant tax benefit to founders and investors, but eligibility hinges on technical details around entity type and timing. A CPA who understands QSBS can help you avoid blowing it early. What you are testing: tax sophistication that compounds over years.
4. How Do You Handle Our Cap Table and Equity Accounting?
Equity, options, and SAFEs all have accounting implications that get complicated fast. Ask how the CPA coordinates with your cap table and handles equity compensation. What you are testing: whether the messiest part of startup accounting is in good hands.
5. Can You Produce Investor-Grade Financial Statements?
There is a difference between books that satisfy the IRS and statements an investor will trust. Ask to see the kind of reporting package they would prepare. What you are testing: whether their output is fundraising-ready.
6. How Will You Work With Our Other Advisors?
Your CPA, your startup attorney, and eventually your fractional CFO need to coordinate. Ask how they collaborate so nothing falls through the cracks during a raise. What you are testing: whether they play well in the wider team a round requires.
Where a Startup-Focused CPA Fits
These questions favor a CPA who lives in the startup world rather than a generalist. Ursa Consultants is a New York City Sam's List firm with a focus on VC-backed startups, the kind of specialist built for diligence-ready books and the questions investors actually ask. For a founder heading into a first raise, that focus reduces the risk of a diligence surprise. Confirm credentials and fit before engaging.
You can review Ursa Consultants' profile on Sam's List.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should a startup hire a CPA before raising? Ideally well before you start the raise, so your books are clean and diligence-ready when investors begin asking questions. Bringing a CPA in early also helps you avoid mistakes, like QSBS missteps, that are hard or impossible to fix later.
What is QSBS, and why does it matter for founders? Qualified small business stock can allow founders and investors to exclude a significant portion of gain from federal tax if strict requirements are met. Because eligibility depends on entity type and timing, a CPA who understands it early can help preserve the benefit.
What does "diligence-ready" mean for startup books? It means your financial records are clean, organized, and verifiable, so an investor's diligence team can review them quickly rather than waiting while you reconstruct history. Diligence-ready books speed deals and protect your valuation.
Do I need a CPA or a fractional CFO for fundraising? Often both eventually. A CPA handles tax, compliance, and clean books, while a fractional CFO builds the model and financial story. For a first round, start with a CPA who can produce investor-grade statements and add CFO support as the raise gets serious.