CPA for Tech Startups & Technology Companies

Tax services for technology companies: R&D credits, entity structure, capital structure, at any stage from startup onward.

A closed laptop, a circuit-board prototype, and a sketched wireframe on a navy desk

Specialized Tax Services for Technology Companies

Subscription revenue recognition, supply chain disruption, capital structures that change at every funding round: a generalist accountant meets these problems for the first time on your return.

GT works with technology companies from first-year startups through established businesses. Past preparation and filing, we advise on R&D credit qualification, entity structure, capital structure, plus the tax questions each funding stage raises.

Our Technology Tax Services Include:

  • R&D tax credit consultation
  • Tax planning & compliance
  • Entity and capital structuring

R&D Tax Credit Consultation

The credit rests on which activities and expenses qualify, so we evaluate them, then document the position so it holds up. Monthly accounting keeps engineering payroll and research costs tracked in the categories that computation needs. Formation-stage companies should start with entity and capital structuring, because the choices made before the first funding round follow you every tax year after.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed July 4, 2025, changed how domestic research costs are treated. New Section 174A allows a company to deduct domestic research or experimental expenditures in the year they are paid or incurred, for tax years beginning after December 31, 2024, rather than capitalizing them. A company can still elect to capitalize those costs and write them off over a period of at least 60 months. For a startup carrying heavy engineering payroll, the choice between the two changes the current-year result, so it belongs in tax planning rather than the filing rush.

Technology Tax Questions

Can a startup with no profit use the R&D credit?

Yes. A qualified small business, meaning one with under $5 million in gross receipts and no gross receipts more than five years back, can apply up to $500,000 of the credit each year against the employer share of payroll taxes instead of income tax. For a pre-revenue company with engineering payroll, that turns the credit into cash during the year. The election is made on a timely filed return, can be used for no more than five tax years, and has to be planned before the filing deadline.

Should a startup be a C corporation or an LLC?

It depends on who will own it. Companies planning to raise venture capital are usually C corporations, because investors expect it and because qualified small business stock held long enough can be sold with the gain partly or fully excluded from federal tax. A founder-funded company that expects to distribute profits early often does better as an LLC or S corporation. We run the numbers on both before anything is filed with the state.

Can we deduct the costs of getting the company started?

Partly in year one, the rest over time. Up to $5,000 of start-up costs and a separate $5,000 of organizational costs can be deducted in the first year of business, reduced dollar for dollar once each category passes $50,000. The remainder is written off over 180 months. Costs that count include market research, pre-launch salaries, legal fees to form the entity, and state filing fees.

Get in Touch with Our Technology Tax Experts

Prefer to talk? Call 818-570-0071 or email info@gttaxcpa.com.