Financial Operations Insights, Guides, and Tools
Costing for Biomanufacturing: Standard vs. Actual Cost and Variance Tracking
Biomanufacturing is unlike most manufacturing processes. Batch-based, long production cycles, and inherent variability are its hallmarks, and even the tiniest anomalies can have profound effects on the result (and therefore, finances).
Inventory Accounting for Medical Device Companies: COGS, Obsolescence, and Controls
Inventory accounting is a way for medical device companies to gain real-time insight into device expiry dates and device location. An efficient process can reduce overstock and stockouts by a significant margin and help to maintain positive cash flow.
Lab and Clinical Trial Spend: How to Set Up Spend Controls Without Slowing R&D
In the biotech world, spending and progress are intimately correlated. Every action taken, from experiments to patient enrolments to prototypes, moves a project forward incrementally, but it also burns up a lot of cash.
Transfer Pricing Basics for Life Sciences: Intercompany R&D, IP, and Cost Sharing Overview
Transfer pricing applies to multinational life sciences companies and covers cross-border transfers of goods, services, IP, patents, and trademarks, as well as R&D and manufacturing. As one of the most significant tax risks a life sciences company will face, meticulous documentation is essential, and pricing strategies must align with market conditions to ensure compliance.
Multi-State Tax for MedTech Sales Teams: Nexus Triggers and Compliance
It’s not unusual for a MedTech company’s sales footprint growth to outpace its tax infrastructure. A solid field team fuels rapid market penetration, but that’s a double-edged sword, as it can inadvertently create an unintended state and local tax burden.
QSBS for Life Sciences Founders: Section 1202 Basics and Pitfalls
The decision to structure as a C-corporation (C-corp) is common in the biotech sector, especially for firms seeking venture capital funding. VCs favor C-corporations because the structure protects them and provides various tax benefits, including the Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) exclusion under Section 1202 of the federal tax code.
R&D Credit vs. Section 174: How They Work Together in Life Sciences
Life sciences companies, especially pre-revenue startups, are inordinately impacted by taxation. On the one hand, the R&D credit provides significant tax relief, covering up to 25% of qualified expenses; on the other hand, Section 174 requires some costs to be amortized over a period of years.
R&D Credit Documentation Is Getting Stricter: What Form 6765 Changes Mean for 2026
The R&D credit is a critical benefit for life sciences companies and other research-focused organizations. With the ability to cover up to 25% of qualified costs, the credit can significantly ease the tax burden, fuel innovation, and improve cash flow, even for pre-revenue companies.
CFO Advisory for Life Sciences: Tracking KPIs That Actually Matter
Success in life sciences is as much about financial planning and timing as it is about the mission itself. Research and development (R&D), clinical trials, and regulatory approvals are resource-heavy and typically funded through investment, requiring meticulous financial management, reporting, and planning to ensure plans stay on track.
Life Sciences Financial Statements: What Investors Expect (and What CPAs Fix)
Financial reporting is an essential accounting practice for all businesses. Factual financial reports inform planning and critical business decisions and are required for stakeholder edification, especially in life sciences, which relies heavily on funding from investors and grant organizations.
Startup Accounting for Biotech Companies: What to Set Up in the First 90 Days
The first 90 days of any startup are the most critical. The decisions you make at this early stage can streamline engagement with investors and regulators, allowing you to focus on your mission without diverting unnecessary time and resources to accounting.
Life Sciences Tax Planning: A CPA Guide for Biotech, MedTech, and Pharma
The life sciences, biotech, MedTech, and pharmaceutical industries are among the most highly regulated industries. Companies in this niche contend with heavy compliance burdens, rapid-fire regulatory changes, and must always be ready for an audit or enforcement, often without advance notice.
Internal Controls for Life Sciences Startups: The “Pre-Audit” Checklist
Life sciences startups are typically not laser-focused on anything beyond innovation and their current projects, and finding the funding they need to keep it all going. However, without proper internal controls and SOPs, compliance and regulatory approvals may be challenging.
Clinical Trial Accruals: How Finance Teams Avoid Quarter-End Surprises
Clinical trials are complex endeavors, often spanning years and rarely aligning with a company’s accounting periods. And therein lies the challenge: how do finance teams accurately track trial accrual and avoid nasty surprises when closing out the quarter? When the numbers don’t line up, there is a distinct ripple effect in financial statements, and investors and decision-makers will undoubtedly feel the consequences.
Section 174 for Life Sciences: How to Treat R&E Costs and Plan for Cash Taxes
We must understand that Section 174 is a cash tax issue, not just a compliance change. Clinical costs are often more exposed than you might think, and foreign research activity can dramatically increase taxable income and inflate liabilities.
Manufacturing KPIs to Track for Financial Success
Efficiency is the bedrock of cannabis manufacturing success. Costs are rising, regulatory frameworks are evolving, and supply chains are becoming more fragmented. Overcoming these challenges requires meticulous planning, tracking, and analysis of key performance indicators (KPIs).