STUDIO NOIR

Private · Master Plan · v1.0
STUDIO NOIRCPA BOOKKEEPER HIRE

STUDIO NOIR · CPA + Bookkeeper Hire

Taj is going to have a real business generating real revenue with real tax obligations, across multiple ventures (STUDIO NOIR, SoftPlay Era, personal). She needs professional financial support from day one. Not a friend-of-a-friend, not a spouse’s cousin. A real CPA and a real bookkeeper.

Trill runs the search and vetting via Claude Code. Taj interviews the shortlist and picks. Both get signed engagement letters before the first Mercury deposit.

Two roles, sometimes one firm

Bookkeeper (monthly)

What they do: categorize every transaction across Mercury operating + reserve + tax + Chase Ink + Chase LoC + Stripe + Mariana Tek. Reconcile monthly. Produce a monthly P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow statement. Flag anything unusual. Sync with QuickBooks Online (or Wave). Answer Taj + Trill’s questions about specific transactions.

What they cost: $200 to $600 per month depending on transaction volume. STUDIO NOIR at Y1 volume (roughly 60 to 150 transactions per month) sits at the $250-$400/mo tier.

When Taj needs them: starting month 1 of operations. Before then, Trill can categorize manually in Mercury’s built-in tools and hand it to the CPA at quarter-end.

CPA (quarterly + annual)

What they do: file quarterly estimated federal + NC state taxes for the LLC, file the annual federal return (Form 1040 Schedule C for a single-member LLC), file the NC annual report if the bookkeeper doesn’t, advise on S-corp election timing, sales tax registration + filing (NC charges sales tax on some fitness services, verify at hire), depreciation schedules on equipment lease, and general tax strategy.

What they cost: annual retainer $1,500 to $4,000 for a service business of STUDIO NOIR’s size, plus $500-$1,500 for the actual return at year-end. Budget $3,500/yr all-in for Y1.

When Taj needs them: the day the LLC forms. Even if there’s no income yet, the CPA is on record for tax elections (like S-corp) that have hard filing deadlines.

One firm or two?

Recommend: one firm that does both, if the firm has a bookkeeping team. Reduces coordination overhead. Everything flows through one relationship. Firm swaps the bookkeeper if needed without breaking the tax file continuity.

Two separate providers acceptable if: the CPA is a specialist (fitness/wellness industry experience, S-corp expert, or multi-entity experience with Taj’s SoftPlay + STUDIO NOIR + personal returns) and their bookkeeping team is weak. In that case, hire the specialist CPA + a boutique bookkeeper (Bench, Pilot, or a local NC firm).

What Taj should hire for specifically

Must-haves:

  1. NC-licensed CPA (or firm with NC-licensed CPAs on staff)
  2. Experience with single-member LLCs and S-corp elections
  3. Experience with service-based small businesses (studios, salons, spas, boutique fitness)
  4. QuickBooks Online expertise (not the desktop version)
  5. Real people, not a call center; Taj gets a named CPA she works with
  6. Response time: 48 hours or less to email during business days
  7. Portal-based document exchange (secure, not email attachments)

Strong-to-haves:

  1. Experience with multi-entity founder situations (SoftPlay + STUDIO NOIR + personal + potentially STUDIO NOIR IP LLC)
  2. Experience with pole/fitness sales tax specifics in NC
  3. Comfortable coordinating with a franchise attorney later (Phase 3 relevance)
  4. In-person meetings available at least quarterly (Raleigh-based preferred)

Deal-breakers:

  • CPA who charges by the phone call
  • Firm that requires a two-year contract
  • Firm that outsources bookkeeping to overseas without disclosure
  • Firm without a real portal or engagement letter template

The shortlist Trill builds (5 to 7 firms)

Trill uses Claude Code to research and shortlist. Criteria: NC-licensed, boutique or mid-market (not Big 4), service-business track record, Raleigh or Triangle-based preferred.

Starting candidate list (Trill validates + expands via Claude Code research):

Raleigh boutique CPA firms with small-business + wellness experience (starting research targets):

  • Kelley Galloway Smith Goolsby (Raleigh) — regional NC CPA firm, boutique-heavy client base, single-member LLC and S-corp experience. https://www.kgsgcpas.com/
  • Blackman & Sloop CPAs (Chapel Hill / Raleigh) — long-standing NC firm, service-business bench, familiar with fitness clientele. https://blackmansloop.com/
  • Batchelor, Tillery & Roberts (Raleigh) — Triangle firm, small-business focus, offers bookkeeping + tax under one roof. https://btrcpa.com/
  • Thomas, Judy & Tucker (Raleigh) — larger regional firm, has a small-business division, franchise experience relevant for Phase 3. https://www.tjtpa.com/

Boutique bookkeeping firms (if we split bookkeeping from CPA):

  • Bench Accounting — nationwide, subscription-priced, strong QuickBooks integration. Best for founders who want a simple monthly deliverable. https://bench.co/
  • Pilot — nationwide, higher-touch, better for growing companies. https://pilot.com/
  • Boutique NC bookkeeper (to be sourced) — if a local firm reads more relationship-first than SaaS.

Not on the shortlist:

  • Big 4 (Deloitte, PwC, EY, KPMG) — wrong size fit, too expensive, service tier too impersonal
  • H&R Block or Jackson Hewitt — retail tax prep, not business advisory
  • TurboTax Business — DIY, not what we need for a real LLC with employees eventually
  • Any firm whose website loads slowly, has broken links, or uses stock photos of “team of professionals” — signal of a firm not investing in itself

The hire process

Week 1 (Trill via Claude Code): - Build shortlist of 5-7 candidates with contact + fit notes - Draft outreach email template + intake questionnaire

Week 2 (Taj): - Send outreach to shortlist - Schedule 30-min discovery calls with 3-4 that respond warmest

Week 3 (Taj + Trill): - Discovery calls, use the questionnaire (below) as script - Request engagement letter drafts from top 2 - Reference check both (ask for 2 current clients each, call them)

Week 4 (Taj): - Pick one - Sign engagement letter - Bookkeeper connects to Mercury + QuickBooks on the same day as Mercury opens (see [[bank-setup-runbook]]) - CPA gets copies of Articles of Organization, EIN letter, and Operating Agreement

Total time: 4 weeks from formation to signed CPA + bookkeeper relationship.

Discovery call questionnaire (Trill scripts, Taj reads)

Same 10 questions to each candidate. Score after the call.

  1. How many single-member LLC clients do you have that generate $200K-$1M annual revenue?
  2. Do you have any current or past clients in fitness, wellness, or boutique studio? Names or descriptions.
  3. Walk me through your monthly bookkeeping deliverable. What do I get on the 5th of each month?
  4. What’s your response time SLA on client emails during business days?
  5. Do you handle NC sales tax registration and filing? Have you filed for a fitness studio before?
  6. Do you advise on S-corp election timing? When would you recommend I make that switch?
  7. Can you coordinate with a bookkeeper that’s not on your team, if I chose to keep them separate?
  8. What’s your all-in annual pricing for the scope we discussed (monthly bookkeeping + quarterly estimates + annual return + one advisory call per quarter)?
  9. What’s your engagement termination process if we’re not a fit?
  10. Who specifically will be my point of contact? Can I meet them before I sign?

Scoring: 1-5 on each question. 40 or above passes; below 30 walks. Top 2 by score get engagement letter requests.

Cost budget

Y1 all-in professional financial services: - CPA annual retainer: $2,500 - CPA year-end return + advisory: $1,000 - Bookkeeper monthly ($300 avg × 12 months): $3,600 - Total Y1: ~$7,100

Funded from operating revenue starting month 1. Not from the $84K startup budget (see [[startup-budget]] — insurance and monthly software already carved out; CPA/bookkeeper is next).

Y2+: budget flexes with revenue. If Y2 revenue hits $250K, we may promote to an S-corp election, which adds ~$1,500/yr in payroll compliance costs but saves ~$3-5K/yr in self-employment tax. CPA advises timing.

What Taj needs to do (short list)

  1. Sit on the 3-4 discovery calls Trill schedules (30 min each).
  2. Pick one. Trust your gut on the “will I be comfortable calling this person when something goes sideways” question.
  3. Sign the engagement letter (electronic, DocuSign).
  4. Give the CPA + bookkeeper access to Mercury (read-only banker access), QuickBooks, and Stripe.

Trill runs everything else.

What NOT to do

  • Do not defer this hire past month 3 of operations. By month 3, we have 30+ members, real tax obligations, and if we haven’t set up bookkeeping, the year-end mess is expensive.
  • Do not hire a friend or family member as the CPA. Professional distance is required. If a family member is a CPA and wants to do this, hire them as a paid engagement, not a favor.
  • Do not use TurboTax Business “with expert help” as a substitute. It’s fine for a solo freelancer; not for an LLC with contractors, sales tax obligations, and franchise-track brand IP.
  • Do not skip the engagement letter. Every professional relationship starts with a signed engagement letter. If the CPA won’t send one, walk.