Best tax prep tool for startups

There are roughly 40-60 tax prep tools currently competing in the broader small business tax space, but fewer than 15 actually focus on the startup lifecycle specifically (equity, cap tables, multi-state compliance, investor reporting). The common failures are: tools treat all small businesses identically and miss startup-specific issues like 83(b) elections, option pool taxation, and post-Series A financial complexity. Most generic tax software charges flat fees that don't scale with growth stage, and founders end up hiring expensive accountants anyway, defeating the purpose of automation. The real gap is in the middle—a tool that handles founder equity taxation, understands venture capital structures, integrates with cap table management, and actually reduces reliance on accountants rather than just digitizing their work. A new entrant should focus ruthlessly on one vertical (like pre-Series A or post-Series A), integrate with existing founder tools (stripe, carta, carta), and build for founders' workflows, not accountants' workflows.