Hi everyone! If you’re reading this article, you might have an upcoming call with Hash Basis to learn more about our services and potentially engage us to clean up your books. This post breaks down exactly what our initial scoping call looks like, what we're trying to figure out, and what comes after. My goal is to make this process feel less like a mystery and more like what it actually is: a genuine conversation. In our latest episode with The Accountant Quits podcast, I talked about how I approach these calls almost like a doctor would when seeing a new patient for the first time. I’m curious about what the current state of your books is, what the pain points are and what your ideal finance and accounting system looks like. When a new customer signs up with Hash Basis, they’re not just getting a run-of-the-mill accountant - they’re getting a team member that truly cares about them and their company.

First, Some Context on How We Find Clients

Almost all of our inbound leads come from word of mouth these days. We’ve been operating in the crypto space for over three years, so we’ve fostered relationships with our customers and colleagues, who refer leads to Hash Basis when it makes sense. We’re still a small boutique accounting firm (I don’t envision that changing), so taking on an additional customer is a big deal for us. The fit has to be natural and mutually beneficial. Back in the early days, we’d say ‘yes’ to any work that knocked on our door, but that led to more chaos and stress - and in the end, we struggled to maintain customer service. We fixed this unhealthy spiral by trimming down our customer list and niching our services down. What a breath of fresh air! So while our rolodex is smaller, our work quality is much higher. This is also why our initial scoping call is so critical - our capacity is limited, so we have to be sure our new clients are the best fit possible.

Once the lead comes through the door (either through word of mouth, referral or filling out the contact form on our website), we'll reach out to schedule this initial call.

Diagnosing the Current State

Our initial scoping call is a thirty minute conversation with me (Mackenzie), the founder here at Hash Basis! The call is nothing to be worried or nervous about - I’m simply trying to comprehend your business model and what your accounting needs are. I usually open the conversation with something like: "Tell me about your accounting journey." That question gets people talking (I much prefer listening to talking in this first call!), and what comes out is pretty insightful. I’m either chatting with the founder, operations lead or finance lead, and typically the company only has a handful of employees/contractors. We mostly work with Seed to Series B companies, which are often too small to have in-house accounting teams.

Some founders are embarrassed to admit their books are a mess. Some think they're fine but there are actually bigger issues lurking underneath. Some are legitimately organized and just need a better accounting partner. We’ve seen it all.

The call is meant to be a low-pressure diagnostic — think of it like an accounting doctor's appointment. I'm wrapping my head around the entire picture before I say anything about how we can improve the situation. After the lead gives me a general overview of their business and books, I’ll slide in with more specific questions such as:

• Entity Structure & General Biz
  
  • What entity type are you?
  • When and where were you incorporated?
  • Do you have foreign subsidiaries?
  • Do you have employees or contractors?
  • What’s your business model?
  • How are you funded?
• The Current Accounting Setup
  
  • Quickbooks/Xero/a spreadsheet held together by hope?
  • Existing team composition (i.e. who does your books now?)
  • What’s your accounting tech stack? i.e bank, credit cards, payroll, custodians, equity software
  • I’ll also ask a general question like, “If you had to guess, how accurate are your books now?”
• Crypto Activity
  
  • Number of wallets, chains where the company has activity, ballpark volume
  • Self-custodied, exchange wallets, custodian wallets or a mix?
  • Types of on-chain activity (just simple receives and sends or staking, complicated DeFi, mining, etc?)
  • Do you already have a crypto subledger set up (Koinly, Bitwave, etc)
  • Do you have a token or are you planning on launching one?
  • Token flows overall (if they already have a diagram prepared, then chef’s kiss)
• Pain points and goals
  
  • What’s not working for you right now and what does your ideal accounting and tax setup look like?

Don’t worry, I try not to pepper the lead with these questions and stress them out. Usually these topics are already discussed when the lead is giving me their accounting spiel. But it really is mega helpful to review everything above so we have a clear understanding of your current state and, on the tax side, what compliance items you need. I love digging into new business models and seeing the creativity behind product ideas and revenue generation. That’s the cool part about having an accounting firm - I’m not drudging through the same boring spreadsheet every day. I’m dancing between vastly different company setups and challenges, which keeps my brain entertained.

In addition to the technical questions above, we’re also evaluating the personality fit as well. We like working with kind, honest people who are responsive, respectful and understand the importance of a well-oiled accounting machine.‍

After the Call

Assuming the call goes well and we think there's a fit, we'll move into due diligence. This means both sides sign a NDA, and we'll request read-only access to your books and a list of your company's crypto addresses. We want to see the actual state of things before we send you a service quote. Looking through your Quickbooks file helps us confirm the mental model we’ve already constructed about your company. If more revision is required, we’ll include a setup fee in addition to the monthly fees listed on our website.

Once pricing is agreed upon, the next step is onboarding! We’ll save that for another article. 🙂

Ready to talk? You can reach us through our contact form or learn more about how we work here.