You need less than you think — but you need it from day one. The golden rule first: separate bank account for the business, always. Mixing money ruins your books, your taxes, and your LLC protection.
| Bookkeeping — Wave (free) or QuickBooks (~$30/mo) / Xero | $0–30/mo |
| Invoicing — built into Wave/QuickBooks; Zoho Invoice is free | $0 |
| Getting paid — Stripe/Square (cards, ~2.9%), Wise (international bank transfers, cheap FX) | per transaction |
| Spreadsheet forecasts — Google Sheets + SCORE’s free templates (score.org → templates: cash-flow, break-even, startup-costs) | $0 |
| Receipts/expenses — bank feed into Wave/QuickBooks; photograph every receipt | $0 |
| Payroll (when you hire) — Gusto and similar | ~$40/mo+ |
| Taxes — a real CPA from year one (finds more than they cost; ask about quarterly estimates + IC-DISC for exporters) | $300–1,500/yr |
Every Friday: ① reconcile the bank feed (categorize the week’s transactions — 10 min) ② chase every invoice over 7 days late (5 min) ③ update your 8-week cash-flow forecast — cash today, plus what’s coming in, minus what’s going out, week by week (15 min). This one habit predicts every cash crisis a month early, while it’s still fixable.
Your SBDC will literally sit with you and set up your books ($0). SCORE mentors review your numbers monthly ($0). Wave/QuickBooks have free tutorials. If a tool needs a course to understand, it’s the wrong tool at your stage.