Bookkeeper360 snares $3.5M in seed funding

Bookkeeper360, which provides online accounting, payroll and tax services to small businesses nationwide, has raised $3.5 million in its latest funding round, the company announced.

The seed round brings total funding for the Long Island company to about $5 million, said founder and chief executive Nick Pasquarosa.

Participating in the latest round were brothers Judson and Spencer Ain. The Ains, both of Roslyn, were previous investors in Bookkeeper360 and early angel investors in Etsy Inc., an online marketplace for handmade and vintage goods whose market capitalization is now more than $14 billion.

Also joining the round were Rob Basso, a Plainview investor and executive business coach, and Joseph Camberato, CEO of Hauppauge-based National Business Capital, which expedites financing for entrepreneurs.

Pasquarosa said that the funding announced last Thursday will be used to grow the current roster of about 65 employees to as many as 90 by year's end and develop dedicated apps as an alternative to the company's current web-based services.

Basso said the company attracted his notice when he used its software in a company he later sold.

"One of the things that drew me to the investment was the ability to create a dashboard," he said. The software, for instance, would alert the user if there was an imbalance in receivables and payables, creating a cash crunch.

"There's power in information," Basso said.

Pasquarosa said the company, which will be 10 years old in October, pivoted during the COVID-19 pandemic from a workforce where almost everyone reported to the office to one that went completely remote. The company let its seven-year Woodbury lease expire.

"We have employees in 25 states," he said. "It's been a blessing in disguise. Long Island is an expensive labor market."

Bookkeeper360, which has a lean marketing budget, received a jolt in April when the company was ranked the best overall online bookkeeping service by financial advice publisher NerdWallet Inc., Pasquarosa said.  Among its rivals in the NerdWallet ranking was Pilot, a San Francisco startup that has raised more than $150 million from high-profile venture capital firms, including Sequoia Capital and Bezos Expeditions, the investment company of Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos.

Bookkeeper's typical client is an e-commerce, technology or professional services company seeking rapid growth, Pasquarosa said.

The software's features include artificial-intelligence that tracks a company's cash burn and can estimate how much runway remains with messages like: "You have six months of survival left," he said. "That type of help was only available to businesses that had a full time [chief financial officer]."

By Ken Schachter

kenneth.schachter@newsday.comkschach

Ken Schachter covers corporate news, including technology and aerospace, and other business topics for Newsday. He has also worked at The Miami Herald and The Jerusalem Post.