Fondo Reference Architecture
Overview
Reference architecture for a startup's financial operations with Fondo at the center, connecting payroll, banking, payments, and internal reporting.
Architecture
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Data Sources │
├──────────┬──────────┬──────────┬──────────┬─────────────┤
│ Mercury │ Gusto │ Stripe │ Brex │ AWS/GCP │
│ Banking │ Payroll │ Revenue │ Expense │ Cloud │
├──────────┴──────────┴──────────┴──────────┴─────────────┤
│ Plaid / OAuth Connections │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ FONDO PLATFORM │
│ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌────────────────┐ │
│ │ Monthly │ │ Tax │ │ R&D Tax Credit │ │
│ │ Close │ │ Filing │ │ Study (6765) │ │
│ └──────────┘ └──────────┘ └────────────────┘ │
│ │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Outputs │
├──────────┬──────────┬──────────┬────────────────────────┤
│ P&L │ Balance │ Cash │ R&D Credit │
│ Report │ Sheet │ Flow │ Certificate │
├──────────┴──────────┴──────────┴────────────────────────┤
│ Internal Dashboard (optional) │
│ Revenue metrics │ Burn rate │ Runway │ Board deck │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Recommended Stack
| Category | Tool | Why | |----------|------|-----| | Banking | Mercury or SVB | Startup-friendly, API access, Plaid compatible | | Payroll | Gusto | Best startup payroll, Fondo integration | | Revenue | Stripe | Standard payments, clean webhooks | | Expenses | Brex or Ramp | Auto-receipt capture, categorization | | Bookkeeping | Fondo | Automated, CPA-managed | | Tax Filing | Fondo (TaxPass) | Bundled with bookkeeping | | R&D Credits | Fondo | Integrated with bookkeeping data | | Cap Table | Carta or Pulley | Equity management | | Board Reporting | Fondo exports + internal dashboard | Custom metrics |
Data Flow
- Transactions flow from banks/cards/payroll into Fondo via Plaid/OAuth
- Fondo CPA team categorizes and reconciles monthly
- Financial statements generated and delivered to Dashboard
- R&D credit study prepared annually from same data
- Tax returns filed using reconciled data
Resources
Next Steps
Start with fondo-install-auth to set up your Fondo account.