We’re 4 weeks out from Regulation CF (Title III of the JOBS Act) going live. This is exciting, right? Are you going to be one of the first companies filing a Form C? If you haven’t got your financial statements sorted out yet, you probably aren’t.
Any company looking to raise more than $100,000 must have their financial statements reveiwed by a CPA. You’ll need a balance sheet, profit and loss statement and cashflow statement covering 2014 and 2015 (or a shorter period if you haven’t existed that long) and they have to comply with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). GAAP requires that your financial statements be prepared on an accrual, not a cash basis. You’ll need footnotes explaining how you recognize revenue, and giving details of your employee stock option plan. You’ll need detail about any debt you’ve incurred. And so on.
When an accountant reviews your financials, s/he’s not just checking your math. The review process is fairly extensive and is going to include a lot of back and forth about your operations.
If you haven’t started yet, you’re running out of time.