Peterson Sullivan works with early stage startups and on.
Peterson Sullivan has enjoyed the opportunity to participate in the excitement of the robust start-up company ecosystem here in the Pacific Northwest by helping clients get off to a good start in addressing the tax, accounting, and business issues they face. They are able to design their work with start-ups to accommodate the demands of their early stages of development. For very early stage companies, Peterson Sullivan expects to have limited initial involvement, which might include working with legal counsel to ensure the company has selected the appropriate entity structure and has considered the tax implications to the founders and early shareholders. As the company continues to grow and develop, Peterson Sullivan expects to assist with addressing the increasing taxation complexities, including research and development tax credits, preservation of net operating losses and tax credits, ownership changes, equity compensation, other complex debt/equity transactions, revenue recognition (hopefully an issue at some point), state and local taxes including nexus issues, and international tax issues. When the company starts to attract more attention from investors and lenders, they invariably are asked to produce GAAP-compliant financial statements. Peterson Sullivan assists by identifying any accounting complexities and preparing the company for producing better internal financial statements, and when necessary, providing a review or audit of those financial statements as the independent accounting firm. This preparedness is instrumental in getting the company ready for due diligence for a potential buyer, or positioning for going public, if the company goes that direction.