Startup Bookkeeping · Charleston, SC

Bookkeeping for
Silicon Harbor
SaaS & Startups.

Charleston's "Silicon Harbor" scene — from Daniel Island SaaS to downtown seed-stage founders — needs more than a generalist bookkeeper. Tides builds investor-ready books, tracks MRR/ARR and burn, handles ASC 606 revenue recognition, and keeps your cap table clean so your next raise doesn't get derailed by messy financials.

No setup fees  ·  Cancel anytime  ·  Dedicated bookkeeper

At a Glance
What We Track for Tech & Startups
Everything handled monthly — nothing falls through the cracks
MRR / ARR Tracking✓ Reconciled
Runway & Burn Rate✓ Monitored
Investor-Ready Reports✓ Delivered
R&D Cost Categorization✓ Tracked
Subscription Revenue Recognition✓ Managed
SaaS Platform & Tool Costs✓ Catalogued
5.0
Star Rating
$0
Setup Fees
Built for Silicon Harbor

Startup Bookkeeping for
Charleston Founders.

Tides serves tech founders across Charleston County — from Daniel Island SaaS shops to seed-stage teams shipping out of downtown coworking spaces. Here’s why the Lowcountry startup scene needs a bookkeeper who actually understands tech.

Charleston has earned the “Silicon Harbor” nickname for good reason. The Charleston Digital Corridor — the city’s tech accelerator and member network — anchors a startup community that punches well above the metro’s size. Blackbaud (headquartered on Daniel Island) sets the bar for enterprise SaaS, Benefitfocus built a billion-dollar benefits platform here, BoomTown ROI dominates real-estate CRM, and PhishLabs, DigitalUS, and Cypress.io round out a strong B2B, ed-tech, and developer-tools bench. Talent flows from CofC, The Citadel, and Clemson’s Charleston outposts — and from Atlanta and Charlotte transplants chasing the Lowcountry lifestyle.

Daniel Island, downtown’s King and Meeting Street corridor, and the Cool Blow Street tech cluster on the upper peninsula form Charleston’s startup spine. From the downtown peninsula incubators feeding seed-stage product teams, to series-A SaaS scaling out of Daniel Island office parks, to bootstrapped B2B tools running lean from Mount Pleasant home offices — the seed-to-series-A pipeline runs through every Lowcountry zip code. Each stage has different bookkeeping needs, and a generalist firm rarely keeps up.

Investor-ready books look specific: a clean cap table reconciled to your equity ledger, ASC 606 revenue recognition so subscription revenue lands in the right period, SaaS metrics dashboards with MRR, ARR, CAC, LTV, and gross/net churn, and monthly close discipline that delivers a P&L, balance sheet, cash flow, and burn/runway view by the 10th — every month, without scrambling. That’s what we build for Charleston founders, whether you’re raising a friends-and-family round or prepping a Series A data room.

Who It's For

Built for Every Stage of
Tech Company Growth

Whether you're pre-revenue or scaling fast — we build the financial infrastructure that serious tech companies need.

💡

SaaS Companies

Subscription revenue, deferred income, churn, and MRR tracking require a bookkeeping structure that most generalists can't support. We build it right from the start.

  • MRR and ARR tracking
  • Deferred revenue and subscription billing
  • Churn impact on revenue recognition
  • SaaS tool and infrastructure cost tracking
  • Contractor and employee payroll
  • Investor report preparation
🚀

Early-Stage Startups

Pre-revenue and early-revenue startups need clean books for fundraising, investor updates, and board reporting — even before you have meaningful revenue.

  • Runway and burn rate monitoring
  • Investor update financial support
  • Cap table and equity expense tracking
  • R&D and development cost categorization
  • Founder payroll and distribution tracking
  • Tax credit identification (R&D credits)
📱

App & Digital Product Companies

Consumer apps, B2B tools, and digital marketplaces with multiple revenue streams, platform fees, and variable developer costs.

  • App store fee reconciliation (Apple/Google)
  • Subscription and in-app purchase revenue
  • Development contractor payments (1099)
  • Cloud infrastructure cost tracking
  • Marketing and user acquisition expense
  • Revenue by product or feature tracking
Sound Familiar?

The Financial Headaches
We Fix

Tech companies and startups face financial challenges that general bookkeepers routinely miss. Here's what we hear from nearly every new client.

😩

Investor Reports Are Always Last-Minute

Your investors want monthly updates with clean financials. Without organized books, producing those reports means scrambling — every single month.

📉

You Don't Know Your Real Burn Rate

Gross burn? Net burn? Including contractor costs? Most early-stage founders don't have a precise number — and that's dangerous when you're managing runway.

🧾

Revenue Recognition Is Tricky

SaaS and subscription revenue doesn't always recognize the month you receive it. Without proper deferred revenue accounting, your P&L doesn't reflect the true state of your business.

😰

R&D Costs Are a Mess

Development contractors, hosting, software tools — these costs are real and potentially eligible for R&D tax credits. Disorganized books mean you miss the credit and can't defend it in an audit.

What Tides Delivers Every Month
So you never deal with any of those problems again
MRR & Burn Rate Tracked MonthlyPrecise numbers every month — gross burn, net burn, and runway calculated from actual data.
Investor-Ready Reports DeliveredP&L, balance sheet, cash flow, and key metrics — formatted for investor readability.
Deferred Revenue Handled CorrectlySubscription revenue recognized in the right period — P&L reflects your true performance.
R&D Costs DocumentedEvery development cost categorized and ready to support a tax credit claim.
One Dedicated BookkeeperA real person who understands startup financials and responds fast.
What's Included

Everything You Need,
Nothing You Don't

Every Tides plan includes all seven core services. Tech and startup clients get specific treatment for SaaS revenue recognition, burn rate tracking, and investor-ready financial reporting.

📈

Financial Reporting

Monthly reports that show your income, expenses, and profit — so you always know where you stand.

Monthly Reports
🏦

Bank Reconciliation

Every business account and credit card matched and verified each month. No mystery charges. No unresolved transactions. No surprises.

📄

Accounts Payable & Receivable

We track vendor bills and outstanding invoices so your cash flow stays healthy and nothing gets missed or paid twice.

🔄

Catch-Up Bookkeeping

Months or years behind? We clean it all up before we start your regular monthly service — no matter how far back the backlog goes.

💼

Payroll Support

If you have team members, we coordinate payroll processing and keep your tax filings clean and on schedule.

★★★★★

“Our investors actually commented on how clean our financials looked. Tides gave us credibility we didn't have before.”

NA
N.A.
SaaS Founder  ·  Verified Client
Common Questions

Charleston Startup
FAQ

Questions we hear from Silicon Harbor founders before they sign on with Tides.

Yes — SaaS revenue recognition is core to what we do for Silicon Harbor founders. We track MRR and ARR by cohort, manage deferred revenue on the balance sheet, and recognize subscription revenue in the right period under ASC 606 so your P&L matches GAAP. We also support cap table tracking and equity expense recording so your financials and your cap table tell the same story when investors or your CPA dig in.
Yes — MRR and ARR tracking is something we set up specifically for subscription businesses. We reconcile your subscription billing platform against your bank, track new MRR, churned MRR, and expansion MRR, and give you a clear monthly revenue picture that matches how investors think about your business.
We set up your books to recognize subscription revenue in the correct accounting period — not just when cash is received. This gives your P&L an accurate picture of your business performance and ensures your financials meet investor and audit standards.
Yes — we produce a monthly package that includes P&L, balance sheet, cash flow statement, and key metrics (burn rate, runway, MRR). It's formatted for investor readability, not just accounting accuracy, so you can drop it into your monthly update without any reformatting.
We calculate both gross and net burn rate monthly from your actual financial data. Runway is calculated based on your current cash balance and net burn — giving you a real-time picture of how long your current funding lasts. We flag when runway thresholds are approaching so you're never surprised.
We categorize your R&D and development expenses in a way that makes it easy for your CPA to identify potential R&D tax credit eligibility. We don't file taxes, but clean, well-organized R&D cost records are the foundation of a successful credit claim.
Flat monthly pricing based on transaction volume. No hourly rates, no setup fees. Free call for an exact quote. Startup-friendly pricing that scales with your growth.
📍 Service Coverage

Based in Greenville, SC —
Serving Clients Nationwide

100% remote bookkeeping for small businesses across South Carolina and throughout the United States.

12 Industries

Beyond Tech & Startups,
We Serve All These Businesses

Tides Bookkeeping specializes in bookkeeping across 12 distinct industries. Industry-specific expertise means fewer errors, better categorization, and a bookkeeper who already understands how your business makes money.

View All Industries →
Get Started Today

Build Your Product.
We'll Handle
The Books.

Schedule a free 15-minute call. We'll review your current setup, answer your questions, and give you a flat monthly quote — no pressure.

No credit card required  ·  No long-term contracts  ·  Cancel anytime