Accounting and taxes

Accounting for Startups

Name: Accounting for Startups
Author: Eduardo Bugallo

The Complete Guide to Accounting, Taxes, and Finance for Startups in Brazil

20chapters
5parts
Oct 2026legislation updated
Included in Kindle Unlimited

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Startups live on speed. Accounting gets left for later, and the bill arrives at the worst moment: in the funding round, the sale or the crisis.

The price of leaving the numbers for later

Funding rounds delayed because the numbers don't add up
Founders paying taxes they didn't owe
A messy cap table and partners without a clear agreement
Companies losing value in due diligence

This book was written to change that.

Accounting for Startups

What you will learn

Brazil's Startup Legal Framework
What Complementary Law 182/2021 guarantees and how to start right: legal form, activity codes and shareholders' agreement.
Simples, Presumed or Actual Profit
How to compare Brazil's tax regimes with numbers, and how software, SaaS, marketplaces and apps are taxed.
The tax reform
IBS, CBS, tax credits, split payment and the new choice for companies in the Simples regime.
Investment and equity
Angel investment, convertible notes, funding rounds, valuation, cap table, stock options and vesting.
Metrics with accounting rigor
MRR, churn, CAC, LTV, burn and runway calculated the right way, with budgeting and cash flow.
Incentives and exit
Lei do Bem, public funding, governance, LGPD data protection, selling the company, IPO, crisis and closing down.

What's inside

Part I · Fundamentals

A startup is not a small company
The Startup Legal Framework, article by article
Starting right: legal form, activity code and shareholders' agreement
The right accountant for an innovative company

Part II · Taxes made clear

Simples, Presumed or Actual Profit
Software, SaaS, marketplace and app
The tax reform in a startup's real life
Pro-labore, dividends and the founder's pocket

Part III · Investors, partners and talent

Angel investment, convertible notes and the “Brazilian SAFE”
Rounds, valuation and cap table
Stock options, vesting and phantom shares
The founder's holding company

Part IV · Numbers that tell the story

The financial statements investors read
Intangibles: software, R&D and intellectual property
Startup metrics with accounting rigor
Budget, cash flow and runway

Part V · Incentives, governance and exit

Lei do Bem and public money for innovation
People: employees, contractors and more
Governance, internal controls and LGPD
From crisis to exit

Accounting doesn't shrink a startup's bets; it makes them measurable, comparable and defensible. Founders who understand their numbers decide better, negotiate better and sleep better.

From the book · Accounting for Startups

Who it's for

Founders and finance leadsof startups that want to raise, grow and sell with their numbers in order.
Angel investors and foreign fundswho need to understand convertible notes, cap tables and what to audit before investing in Brazil.
Accountants and studentswho serve or want to understand innovative companies, with examples and practical cases.

About the author

Prof. Dr. Eduardo Bugallo

E. Bugallo is the pen name of Prof. Dr. Eduardo Bugallo, a Brazilian accountant and business administrator with a PhD in Education and 20 years of undergraduate and graduate teaching. He works in accounting for construction, real estate, services and startups, and helps entrepreneurs with strategy and business planning.