SaaS accounting that survives diligence.
Your MRR sheet says one thing. Your books say another. Your investors will find the gap in week one. Saturn BPO is the outsourced controller and bookkeeping team for SaaS: ASC 606 revenue recognition and deferred revenue baked into a fast monthly close, MRR/ARR and burn tied to the general ledger, SAFEs and notes on the balance sheet, and financial statements a controller signs off. Clean books are step one. Numbers you can defend are the point.
ASC 606 · Stripe Billing · Chargebee · Recurly · SAFEs & notes · QuickBooks Online & Xero
Board metrics
Q3 2026
Annual recurring revenue
$0.0M
12.1%MRR growth (last 4 mo)
- October$0
- September$0
- August$0
- July$0
Net revenue ret.
0%
Burn multiple
0.0x
Recs complete
0%
Works with the tools you already run
One annual contract, invoiced January 1. Your Q1 was not a $120,000 quarter.
Cash-basis books call an annual prepayment revenue the day it lands. ASC 606 recognizes it as you deliver it. The difference is the first thing a diligence team looks for, and the first thing that makes them re-cut every number you've shown them.
One $120,000 annual contract · illustrative
- Invoiced and collected, January 1$120,000
- Recognized in January (1/12)$10,000
- Deferred revenue liability, end of January$110,000
- Recognized in February$10,000
- Deferred revenue, end of February$100,000
- Recognized in March$10,000
- Q1 revenue under ASC 606$30,000
Same treatment for usage-based and one-time components under the five-step model. Deferred revenue is reconciled to the billing platform every month.
How a generic bookkeeper books it
January revenue $120,000 · February $0 · March $0
- • Q1 looks like $120,000. It was $30,000. Growth rate, gross margin, and burn multiple are all wrong.
- • No deferred revenue on the balance sheet, so the $90,000 you still owe customers looks like cash you can spend.
- • The MRR sheet says $10,000. The P&L says $120,000. Nobody trusts either.
- • Diligence re-cuts every month you've ever reported. Closes slip by weeks.
How Saturn books it
- Revenue recognized monthly$10,000
- Deferred revenue on the balance sheet→ liability
- Reconciled to Stripe / Chargebee / Recurlymonthly
- MRR/ARR bridge tied to the GLmonthly
- SAFEs, notes, and rounds on the balance sheetas they happen
- The MRR sheet and the P&L say the same number. That is what diligence-ready means.
Illustrative numbers, not client data. Your mix will differ. The method won't.
Six things your current bookkeeper probably gets wrong.
Not because they're careless. SaaS accounting has its own rules, and most bookkeepers learned on businesses that get paid once and deliver once.
Revenue recognized wrong
Booked when charged, not earned. Deferred revenue ignored. Your P&L lies about every annual contract.
MRR lives in a spreadsheet
The sheet doesn't match the books. Your board can tell, and so can every investor who asks for both.
ASC 606? "What's that?"
Common answer pre-Series A. Costs real money during diligence at the next round.
Equity off the balance sheet
Founder stock, SAFEs, convertible notes. Cap table and books drift apart.
Gross margin is a guess
Hosting, support, and payment fees sit in opex. Your 85% gross margin is closer to 70%.
Term sheet → 6 weeks of cleanup
Diligence can't open until your books match reality. Closes slip. Terms get worse.
Credentialed by the people who set the rules
QuickBooks ProAdvisors
Xero Advisors
NACPB Certified Bookkeepers
The difference shows up in diligence.
| Feature | Saturn BPO | Generic bookkeeper |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | ASC 606, recognized as delivered, deferred revenue tracked | Booked when charged |
| MRR / ARR | Bridge tied to the general ledger every month | A spreadsheet nobody reconciles |
| Billing platform | Stripe / Chargebee / Recurly reconciled to the GL | Deposits booked as income |
| SAFEs, notes, equity rounds | On the balance sheet as they happen | Missing or wrong |
| Gross margin | Hosting, support, and payment fees in COGS | Everything in opex |
| Burn | Tied to actuals, reconciled to cash | Bank balance minus last month |
| Month-end close | Fast, controller-reviewed, every month | Whenever the bank feed catches up |
| Financial statements | GAAP-aligned, investor- and diligence-ready | A QuickBooks export |
| Who reviews the work | A controller signs off every close | Nobody |
From founder-grade books to financials that survive diligence.
Before Saturn BPO
- Stripe charges = revenue (no deferred treatment)
- MRR/ARR in a sheet nobody trusts
- SAFEs and notes never on the balance sheet
- Year-end requires a $15K cleanup from an outside CPA
- Term-sheet diligence = 6 weeks of panic
After Saturn BPO
- ASC 606 revenue recognition baked into the close
- MRR/ARR bridge tied to the GL (one source of truth)
- Equity, SAFEs, and notes properly on the balance sheet
- Investor-ready financial statements with MRR and burn tied to actuals
- Diligence-ready every month, not just at fundraise time
An MRR bridge that ties to the ledger. Most startups see one that reconciles for the first time with us.
Starting MRR, new, expansion, contraction, churn, ending MRR. Every month, and the ending number equals recognized revenue in the general ledger. That is the whole point.
| MRR bridge | This month | Ties to |
|---|---|---|
| Starting MRR | $84,000 | Last month's GL |
| New | +$9,200 | New subscriptions in billing |
| Expansion | +$3,100 | Upgrades and seats |
| Contraction | −$1,400 | Downgrades |
| Churn | −$2,600 | Cancellations |
| Ending MRR | $92,300 | = GL revenueties |
Illustrative, not client data. The last row is the test: if ending MRR and recognized revenue disagree, one of them is wrong, and we find out which before your board does.
Your first 30 days.
No mystery onboarding and no 90-day blackout. A clean takeover takes two to three weeks. Twelve months of cleanup first (common right after a raise) takes four to six. We'll tell you which on the discovery call.
Access and an honest diagnosis
Read-only access to QBO or Xero, your bank and cards, Stripe Billing or Chargebee or Recurly, your cap table tool, and payroll. We size any cleanup and tell you the real scope first.
A chart of accounts built for SaaS
Subscription, usage, and services revenue. Deferred revenue. Hosting, support, and payment fees in COGS. Equity, SAFEs, and notes with their own accounts. Contra accounts for credits and refunds.
First fully reconciled month
Revenue recognized under ASC 606, deferred revenue tied to the billing platform, every round and SAFE on the balance sheet. Backlog cleanup runs in parallel if you need it.
First close, first MRR bridge
P&L, balance sheet, MRR/ARR bridge that ties to the GL, gross margin by product line, burn tied to actuals, and a call with your controller. From here it repeats every month.
This is the finance team you'd hire if you had the time to hire one.
Fast month-end close
Controller-run month-end close, built to be fast and efficient once your records and access are in place.
Controls that hold
Internal controls, approvals, and audit-ready records. Nothing slips.
Visibility, not hindsight
Weekly cash and AR pulse, monthly statements, KPIs. See where you stand, not just what happened.
Books to board, one team
Bookkeeping, controller, and reporting under one roof. Income tax filed via our partner.
SaaS engagements are scoped to your operation.
Final price is sized to ARR scale, billing complexity, cap table activity, and the reporting support you want. Custom quote in 24 hours after a 30-minute discovery call.
What that buys you
- • Clean books + deferred revenue reconciled (the base layer)
- • ASC 606 revenue recognition baked into the monthly close
- • MRR/ARR bridge and burn tied to the GL (one source of truth)
- • Equity, SAFEs, notes properly on the balance sheet
- • Gross margin by product line, COGS done right
- • Investor- & diligence-ready financial statements, controller-reviewed
- • Federal + state income tax filing via our tax partner
Typical engagement
Custom quotein 24 hours
Month-to-month. Stay on QBO or Xero. No forced migration.
Get a custom quotePrice scales with
- • ARR scale + customer count
- • Billing platform complexity (Stripe Billing, Chargebee, Recurly)
- • Cap table activity (raises, SAFEs, notes, option grants)
- • Reporting cadence (monthly vs quarterly packs)
- • Multi-entity or international expansion needs
Which one is right for you?
We'd rather you pick the right partner than the wrong one. Here's where each genuinely wins.
Saturn is the right fit when...
- You're somewhere between $500K and $15M ARR and have raised, or will in the next 12 months
- Your MRR sheet and your P&L don't agree and you'd rather fix it before an investor notices
- Annual or multi-year contracts are a meaningful share of billings
- You've done a SAFE, a note, or a priced round and aren't sure the books reflect it
- You want to stay on QuickBooks Online or Xero, not migrate to someone's proprietary tool
Probably not the fit when...
- You're pre-revenue (a clean bank account and a good bookkeeper are enough for now)
- You want a fractional CFO to run the fundraise (we're controllership-first; CFO advisory is available once the books are right)
- You need audited financial statements (we run internal controls, not external assurance)
- You need someone to manage the cap table itself (use Carta, Pulley, or AngelList; we make the books match it)
What people actually ask before they sign.
Bring your MRR sheet and your P&L. We'll show you where they disagree.
Thirty minutes with our team. Bring your MRR sheet, last month's P&L, and your last cap-table event. We'll walk the gaps a diligence team would find, no logins needed, and tell you straight whether we're the right fit.
Book a free 30-min SaaS auditNo contract. No high-pressure follow-up. If we're not a fit we'll say so.