Bookkeeping & Finance

Wave, invoicing, taxes, bank accounts, and cash-management rules

Version 1 · June 29, 2026 referencefirm-opsfinance

Content

# Bookkeeping & Finance

_Lives in: 07 — Firm Operations_

How Confluxion Point handles money — bookkeeping, invoicing, taxes, and the practices that keep us out of trouble at year-end.

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## Bookkeeping software: Wave (free)

- **What:** Wave (waveapps.com) — free accounting software, no monthly fee
- **Why it:** Free, designed for sole proprietors and small partnerships, handles invoicing + receipt tracking + basic P&L + tax-ready exports
- **Upgrade trigger:** if/when we hit $250K annual revenue OR need to track inventory OR need payroll, switch to QuickBooks Online ($30/mo)

### What lives in Wave
- All customer invoices
- All business expenses (linked to receipts)
- Bank feed from the business checking account (auto-categorize)
- Year-end P&L for taxes

### What does NOT live in Wave
- Capital contribution log (lives in Drive — separate from operating expenses)
- Tax returns (lives in Drive `/Firm Operations/Tax Filings/{year}/`)

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## Invoicing

- **Schedule:** 50% at kickoff (signed agreement + tenant access). 50% at go-live (acceptance criteria met).
- **Tool:** Wave invoicing (free) with branded template — Confluxion navy + amber accent
- **Payment methods accepted:** ACH (no fee), wire (no fee), credit card (Wave charges 2.9% + $0.30 — pass through if customer chooses card)
- **Net terms:** Net 7 (we want money fast; we're not a big firm absorbing slow-pay)
- **Late policy:** 1.5%/mo on past-due balances over 30 days

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## Capital contribution log

Tracks every personal-paid expense for the firm. Counts toward each cofounder's tax basis in the LLC. Lives in Drive at `07 — Firm Operations` (see `Capital Contribution Log` doc).

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## Bank accounts

- **Business checking** — Mercury (no fees, software-firm-friendly) OR Chase (in-person if needed)
- **Business credit card** — Chase Ink Business Preferred or AmEx Business Platinum (whichever has the better current bonus)
- **Hard rule:** never run personal expenses through business accounts, and never run business expenses through personal accounts. The bookkeeping nightmare isn't worth it.

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## Taxes

### Quarterly estimated taxes

LLC partners pay quarterly estimateds. Default schedule:

| Quarter | Due |
|---|---|
| Q1 (Jan–Mar) | April 15 |
| Q2 (Apr–May) | June 15 |
| Q3 (Jun–Aug) | September 15 |
| Q4 (Sep–Dec) | January 15 (following year) |

Rule of thumb: set aside 30% of net partner draws for federal + UT state taxes. Adjust based on actual income.

### Year-end

- 1099-NEC issued for every contractor we paid $600+ during the year (by Jan 31)
- Form 1065 (LLC partnership return) due March 15
- Each partner gets a K-1 from the LLC; they report on their personal 1040 by April 15

### Recommended:
- **CPA for year-end:** ~$800–1,200 for a clean 1065 + 2 K-1s. Find a Utah CPA who's done LLCs before. Don't DIY.

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## Cash management rules

1. **3 months of operating expenses** held in the business checking account at all times once we're past 3 paid engagements
2. **Distributions to cofounders** happen quarterly, equal split, only after the 3-month buffer is met
3. **Insurance, software subscriptions, and legal fees** auto-pay from the business card
4. **No commingling** — never the personal/business gray zone

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## Tools list (what we pay for)

| Tool | Purpose | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Wave | Bookkeeping | Free |
| Google Workspace | Email + Drive | ~$12/user/mo |
| Mercury / Chase | Business banking | Free / minimal |
| Lemlist | Cold email outreach | ~$59/user/mo |
| HubSpot Free | CRM | Free until ~3rd paid customer |
| 1Password Business | Credential storage | $7.99/user/mo |
| LinkedIn Premium | Sam's outreach | $99/mo |
| Vercel | Site hosting | Free until traffic grows |
| Confluxion CRM (own) | Internal | $0 (own infra) |

Capital contribution log keeps the actual receipts.

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_Last updated: 2026-05-25_

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