How do YC startups handle company taxes?
I wasted $5K/year across 2 years on Pilot bookkeeping & tax services (solo founder, very simple books, Delaware C-corp)
Upon realizing my expensive mistake, I do book-keeping myself, but there has to be a standard, more affordable alternative for doing company taxes right?
If you have a reason for operating as a C corp you might want to hire an accountant or CPA to do the bookkeeping a taxes for you. Generally you want to focus on your core business and hire out the necessary but extraneous work to companies (often solo entrepreneurs themselves) who have accounting and taxes as their core business.
I've been using Bench for bookkeeping and taxes this year, but I wouldn't recommend them. I feel every time I speak to my team, it's a different person and they all ask the same questions. Their UX and notification system is also very frustrating; I find myself receiving notifications to "review transactions" when there are no transactions to review. I pay $500/mo, and I paid a few $k to "catch up" on my books when onboarding. I will likely go with a local CPA next year.
YC companies are drowning in money, they’re probably not looking to save on tax filing.
have you tried self-filing for taxes using Turbo Tax for business? (by Intuit)
I always recomend this to founders, it's the most straight-forward and costs around $500 (a bit more if you get the package where they have someone assisting you)
Happy to chat more if helpful -- I do finance/accounting for startups.