Aeion Finance for Startup Controllers
Startup controllers and fractional CFOs share a pattern: cash position visibility (operating + savings + treasury), fast monthly close, runway projection (burn rate × cash on hand), 409A valuation data prep, ASC 606 deferred revenue tracking, board-update reporting, audit-ready records for tax + future due diligence. Aeion ships the ledger, banking, payroll, and reporting primitives for this at $99/mo Pro — instead of cobbling QuickBooks + Mercury + spreadsheets + ChartMogul + fractional bookkeeper.
The Startup Controller's Toolbox
Six core activities:
Cash Position Dashboard
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The 5-Day Close Workflow
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Runway + Burn Modeling
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409A Valuation Support
Annual 409A valuations need clean financials.
Quarterly Board Deck Data
Aeion doesn't auto-generate a board deck today — this is the shape of the data you'd assemble from finance + CRM reports each quarter, optionally via a custom Blueprint workflow:
FAQ
Both — Aeion handles the data + workflow; fractional CFO handles strategy + interpretation. Aeion makes the CFO more efficient (fewer billable hours on data assembly; more on strategic advice).
Pilot/Bench are outsourced bookkeeping ($200-1000/mo). Aeion is the platform; your team or a fractional bookkeeper operates it. Cost generally lower with Aeion if you have any in-house capability.
Aeion doesn't manage equity / cap table (those tools do). Aeion stores cap-table-relevant info (round terms, key dates) but the cap table itself lives in Carta. Aeion's QueryBuilder pulls Carta data via Singularity.
Aeion's /modules/files supports per-investor scoped data rooms with watermarks + access logs. Common shape for fundraising. See /crm/use-cases/startup-fundraising.
Typically $50M+ ARR + 5+ entities + Big 4 audit required + going public. Until then, Aeion covers startup-controller use cases.
Aeion's deferred-revenue schedule (contract value, term, cadence, recognized/remaining balances) is the ASC 606 data model; the monthly recognition posting is triggered by you or a custom Blueprint workflow, not a fully automatic cron. CPAs review and sign off on the schedule + postings. For complex bundled obligations, custom Blueprint workflows configure the allocation logic.
Signed audit events retained 1 year on Pro (7 years on Enterprise); per-transaction trace; immutable ledger; SOC 2 mapping. Auditors love this; due-diligence is faster.
Aeion generates 1099s + W-2s automatically. Your CPA does the corporate income tax return; Aeion provides the data prep.
Aeion tracks debt on balance sheet (notes_payable account); SAFE conversion details live in cap table tool (Carta). Aeion reflects the converted equity post-Series A.
Aeion handles state withholding + UI/SUI per state. For state income tax (corporate), Aeion provides data; your CPA files.