Services Who we serve Results Team Process Consultation Book a consultation

Licensed CPA firm · Est. 2014 · Portland & remote

Your accounting bill should be a number, not a surprise.

Meridian Ledger runs tax, books, payroll and CFO advisory for founder-led companies on one fixed monthly fee. No hourly clock. No “quick call” invoice. You see the number before you sign.

312 clients on fixed fee

0 hourly invoices sent since 2019

4.9/5 across 187 reviews

Engagement statement · Sample
01 Tax planning & filing$ 520.00
02 Bookkeeping (monthly close)$ 390.00
03 CFO advisory$ 450.00
04 Payroll — 18 employees$ 180.00
05 Audit-ready reporting$ 240.00
Surprise fees$ 0.00
Total, billed monthly

$1,780/ mo

Typical for a company at $1.4M revenue. Your quote is fixed for 12 months.

Five services. Five published prices.

Every engagement is a line on your statement. Take one, take all five — the number never moves mid-year.

Tax planning & filingFederal · state · multi-state

Quarterly planning sessions, not a March scramble. We model your entity structure, estimate payments, file the return, and handle the notice if one arrives.
  • Form 1120 / 1065 / 1040
  • Estimated payments
  • IRS notice response
$520per month

BookkeepingMonthly close · reconciliation

Books closed by the 10th, every month, with a one-page variance memo written by a human — not a bot that categorises Stripe fees as “meals”.
  • Bank & card recon
  • AR / AP
  • Close by day 10
$390per month

CFO advisoryForecast · pricing · runway

A standing monthly session with a CPA who has read your P&L before the call. Cash forecast, hiring plan, pricing model, board pack.
  • 13-week cash
  • Board reporting
  • Fundraise prep
$450per month

PayrollW-2 · 1099 · benefits filings

Run payroll, file the returns, register the states you just hired into. Contractors and employees on one calendar.
  • Multi-state registration
  • 941 / 940
  • 1099-NEC season
$10per person / month

Audit-ready reportingGAAP · diligence · investor packs

Accrual conversion, revenue recognition memos and a data room that survives diligence. Built before the term sheet, not after it.
  • ASC 606
  • Diligence support
  • Investor pack
$240per month
No hourly billing

Prices shown are for companies under $2M revenue. Above that we publish a second schedule — same fixed-fee rule, quoted in writing before you commit. See the full fee schedule →

We know your chart of accounts already.

We work in six industries. If yours isn’t one of them, we’ll tell you and refer you on. Full industry detail →

SaaS

Software & SaaS

Deferred revenue, ASC 606, R&D credits and the 174 amortisation mess. 84 SaaS clients.

E-com

E-commerce & DTC

Inventory costing, marketplace payouts, sales-tax nexus in 30+ states. We reconcile Shopify to the penny.

Pro

Agencies & studios

Project margin by client, contractor 1099s, and a partner-comp model that doesn’t wreck your tax bill.

Med

Medical & dental practices

Provider productivity, entity structure for practice owners, equipment depreciation planning.

RE

Real estate & construction

Job costing, WIP schedules, cost-seg coordination, and lenders who need statements on time.

A Meridian Ledger accountant annotating a printed statement with a pen at a desk
Monthly close review — every statement is signed off by a named CPA before it reaches you.
Federal tax forms, a folder and a calculator laid out on a white desk during return preparation
Filing season — planned in Q3, not panicked in April.

The numbers we’re judged on.

Firm-wide, measured across the 2025 fiscal year. Audited internally, published here.

312

Clients on a fixed
monthly fee

$4.6M

Tax saved for clients
in FY2025

9.2

Average days
to monthly close

98%

Client retention,
trailing 3 years

0

Hourly invoices sent
since Jan 2019

What the fixed fee actually changed.

Three clients, three different problems, one thing in common: they stopped rationing their questions.

We used to budget for our accountant like it was weather. Now it’s a line item I can type from memory — and I call them about things I’d have avoided calling about before.

$61,400 saved · R&D credit study

DR
Dana ReyesCEO, Northbay Software

Our old firm took eleven weeks to close a month. Meridian closes by the 10th and sends a memo explaining what moved. Our lender noticed before we did.

Close time: 77 days → 9 days

MK
Marcus KaineFounder, Kaine & Co Builders

Diligence was the first time I’ve ever been thanked by a buyer’s accountant. Everything they asked for already existed.

Series A closed · 5-week diligence

PA
Priya AnandCOO, Lattice Health

You get a named CPA. The same one.

No offshore rotation, no ticket queue. Four licensed CPAs, one bookkeeping lead, and the person who answers your email is the person who signs your return.

Elena Vasquez, managing partner and CPA at Meridian Ledger

Elena Vasquez, CPA

Managing partner

19 years. Built the firm’s fixed-fee model after quitting a Big Four hourly desk. Leads SaaS and e-commerce engagements.

Aaron Feld, tax partner and CPA at Meridian Ledger

Aaron Feld, CPA

Tax partner

Multi-state nexus, entity structuring, R&D credit studies. Has handled 240+ IRS notices and lost two.

Nora Whitfield, controller and monthly close lead at Meridian Ledger

Nora Whitfield

Controller · close lead

Owns the day-10 close. If your books are late, it is on her calendar before it is on yours.

Julian Pham, CFO advisory lead at Meridian Ledger

Julian Pham, CPA

CFO advisory

Ex-operator. Runs the forecast, the board pack and the uncomfortable conversation about runway.

Four weeks from first call to first close.

The sequence is fixed, so you always know what week you’re in.

Week 1 · 45 minutes

Consultation

We look at last year’s return and your current books, then tell you what’s wrong and what it costs. Free, and you keep the notes.

Week 1 · same day

Fixed quote

One page: services, monthly number, what’s excluded. Fixed for 12 months. If we quoted wrong, that’s our problem.

Weeks 2–3

Cleanup & onboarding

We migrate the ledger, fix the prior-period mess and register any states you owe. Cleanup is quoted separately and once.

Week 4 onward

Close, memo, session

Books closed by day 10. Variance memo day 11. Advisory call in your calendar, same slot every month.

Questions we get before the first call.

If yours isn’t here, ask it on the consultation. It’s free and we won’t bill you for the answer.

Is the fixed fee really fixed?

Yes, for 12 months. The only things that change it are scope changes you approve in writing — a new entity, a new state, a headcount jump on payroll. Questions, calls, notices and “can you look at this” are already in the number.

What if my books are a mess right now?

Most are. We quote cleanup as a separate one-time fee after the consultation, typically $900–$4,500 depending on how many months are open. You see that number before you commit, too.

Do you take clients mid-year?

Every month. Roughly 40% of our onboardings happen between June and October, because that’s when people realise April is going to hurt again.

Who actually does the work?

A named CPA and a named controller, both in the US, both on your kickoff call. Nothing is offshored. You’ll have their direct email, not a shared inbox.

What software do you work in?

QuickBooks Online or Xero for the ledger, Gusto or Rippling for payroll. If you’re on something else, we’ll tell you honestly whether we can support it or whether migrating is cheaper than fighting it.

What happens if the IRS sends a notice?

Forward it. We draft the response, sign as your representative and follow it to resolution. Included in the fee — 240+ notices handled, and no separate invoice for any of them.

Step 01 · Consultation

45 minutes. A real number. No invoice.

Bring last year’s return and access to your books. You’ll leave with what’s wrong, what it will cost to fix, and your fixed monthly fee in writing — whether or not you hire us.

Book a consultation
What the call covers
Review of last filed return15 min
Books & close-process check15 min
Risks, savings, next steps15 min
Written fixed quoteSame day
Cost to you$0.00