Every first-time founder gets stuck after incorporation. Delaware franchise tax? Form 1120? Foreign corp registration? Board minutes? RoadWork handles all of it — generates your forms, tracks your deadlines, manages your expenses, teaches you what matters. Built by a founder who just went through it.
Every Friday, 15 minutes. Reflect, plan, reset. The most important habit you'll build.
Track professional licenses that need annual renewal. These will appear in your compliance checklist.
Every dollar you spend on the business before revenue creates a Net Operating Loss (NOL) that carries forward to offset future taxes. Track everything.
| Category | Description | Amount |
|---|
Track monthly/annual subscriptions. These are projected into your annual total.
One-click templates for common startup expense profiles. Adds typical items — edit amounts to match your receipts.
Atlas fee, domains, basic hosting
~$800Atlas, domains, Vercel/Railway, GitHub, laptop
~$2,500Atlas, domains, dev boards, sensors, tools
~$4,000Atlas, GPU cloud, API credits, models, data
~$6,000Atlas, domains, AWS/GCP, auth, analytics, email
~$3,500Desk, monitor, keyboard, internet (biz %)
~$2,000Typical expenses for specific industries. Edit amounts to match your actual receipts.
License, MLS, E&O insurance, lockbox, signs
~$5,000Compliance, licensing (MQP/EVEP), API costs
~$4,500Shopify, inventory, shipping, product photos
~$5,000HIPAA compliance, EHR, malpractice, lab
~$12,000Health permits, equipment, POS, ingredients
~$15,000License, bonding, insurance, tools, vehicle
~$8,000Adobe CC, cameras, studio, portfolio site
~$4,000E&O insurance, CRM, travel, professional dev
~$3,500Node infrastructure, legal, audits, gas fees
~$8,000Stripe Connect, trust & safety, support tools
~$5,000501(c)(3) filing, fundraising platform, grants
~$3,000LMS, content creation, COPPA compliance
~$3,500RoadWork fills out your tax forms using the company info and expenses you entered. Review, print, and file.
Automatic 6-month extension for your Form 1120. Free to file. Takes 5 minutes. Buys you until October 15.
$0 to fileFederal corporate income tax return. For a zero-revenue first year, most lines are zero. Your expenses become your NOL carryforward.
$0 tax owedAnnual board meeting minutes. Legally required even as a sole director. Ratifies all company actions for the year.
Required annuallyEvery federal, state, and Delaware deadline for the next 2 years. Customized to your entity type and operating state.
Download as PDFMonth-by-month view of what's due. Based on your incorporation date and operating state.
See how your expenses and future revenue affect your tax bill. Play with the numbers.
Auto-generated based on your incorporation state and operating state. Fill in your company info first.
Track your corporate documents. Check off what you have, note what's missing.
How long can you operate before you need revenue or funding? Based on your burn rate and cash on hand.
Week-by-week guide for everything you need to do after incorporating. Based on real founder experience, not theory.
Track your company's equity. Standard Stripe Atlas setup: 10M shares authorized, founder gets 9M with 4-year vesting.
How well is your company set up? Based on your data in RoadWork.
Create professional invoices for your first clients. Print or save as PDF.
Every term you'll encounter as a first-time founder, explained in plain English.
Answer a few questions and we'll recommend the best structure for your situation.
See how fundraising rounds affect your ownership. Add rounds to visualize dilution over time.
Common agreements you'll need. Click to generate a template pre-filled with your company info.
Non-Disclosure Agreement for conversations with potential partners, investors, or collaborators.
2 pagesHire a freelancer or contractor. Covers scope, payment, IP assignment, and confidentiality.
3 pagesBring on an advisor with equity compensation. Standard 0.25-1% over 2 years.
2 pagesTerms for your software product. Covers licensing, liability, data, and acceptable use.
4 pagesRequired if you collect any user data. Covers data collection, usage, sharing, and rights.
3 pagesAssign pre-existing IP (code, designs, concepts) from the founder to the company.
1 pageWhen you're ready to fundraise, investors want specific numbers. RoadWork compiles your data into a pitch-ready sheet.
Real lessons from real founders who made the mistakes so you don't have to.
Track your key business milestones. Check them off as you achieve them.
Estimate your TAM, SAM, and SOM. Investors expect this in your pitch. Works top-down.
A monthly close checklist. Good bookkeeping habits from day 1 make tax time painless and fundraising smooth.
When should you start paying yourself? How much? What are the tax implications?
Track investor outreach, meetings, and follow-ups. All stored locally.
Download your compliance deadlines as calendar events. Import into Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, or Outlook.
Your one-page business model. Fill each box. This forces clarity on what you're building and why. Auto-saves.
Figure out what to charge. Three methods: cost-plus, value-based, and competitive.
CAC, LTV, margins — the numbers investors actually care about. Fill in what you know.
Month-by-month cash flow projection. More detailed than the runway calculator — includes revenue growth, one-time costs, and seasonal variation.
Track your key metrics weekly. See trends over time.
Track every service and tool you pay for. Know exactly where your money goes.
Are you missing tax deductions? Based on your industry and setup, here are deductions you might be eligible for but haven't tracked yet.
Step-by-step guide through your first Form 1120 filing. Follow each step in order.
Set monthly budget targets and track actual spending. Auto-populated from your recurring expenses.
Track candidates for open roles. When you're ready to hire, keep your pipeline organized.
Many founders work a day job while building their startup, or search for roles between ventures. Track your applications here.
72% of founders deal with mental health issues. This isn't weakness — it's the job. Track your wellbeing so you can see patterns before burnout hits.
42% of startups fail because there's no market need. Answer honestly — this scorecard tells you if you have PMF or if you're building in a vacuum.
Stop guessing which channels work. Track spend and results per channel. Kill what doesn't work, double down on what does.
70% of startups scale too early. Premature scaling causes 74% of failures. This assessment tells you if you're actually ready.
Log your big decisions. Review outcomes. Find patterns. Founders who journal decisions make better ones over time.
It costs 5-7x more to acquire a new customer than retain one. Understand your churn and what it's really costing you.
Your strategic plan on one page. Vision, priorities, metrics, actions. Review monthly. Auto-saves.
30 seconds. What did you do today? What will you do tomorrow? What's blocking you? Builds a record you'll be grateful for later.
Set 2-3 objectives per quarter. Each gets 3-5 measurable key results. Update progress weekly.
Log every piece of customer feedback. Find patterns. Build what people actually want.
Collect testimonials, reviews, and case studies. Export them for your website, pitch deck, and marketing.
Know your competition. Track their pricing, features, and positioning. Find your advantage.
Copy-paste templates for every email a founder sends. Pre-filled with your company info.
Launching on Product Hunt, Hacker News, Twitter, or Reddit? Don't miss anything.
Build your profile once. Generate tailored applications for every job. Track everything.
Select a target job, and RoadWork generates a tailored cover letter, resume highlights, and follow-up email based on your profile.
ANALYTICS ENGINE | Pattern Recognition | Data Analysis
Build your elevator pitch, 1-liner, and investor narrative. Each version auto-saves.
A scratch pad. Ideas, phone numbers, links, random thoughts. Auto-saves.
Structured meeting notes. Who, what was discussed, action items. Never lose context.
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats. Honest assessment = better decisions.
Define who you're building for. Real personas = better product decisions.
What you're building and when. Keep it simple — 3 columns: Now, Next, Later.
Daily habits that build the business. Track streaks. The compound effect is real.
Simple profit & loss statement auto-generated from your tracked expenses and revenue.
Curated tools, books, and resources. The stuff that actually helps.
Your lightweight CRM. Investors, advisors, customers, partners — all in one place.
What you shipped. Use this for investor updates, blog posts, and your own motivation.
Articles, threads, videos to read later. Stop losing bookmarks.
Post-incorporation is where founders get lost. Here's how the options stack up.
| Feature | DIY / Google | CPA ($500+/yr) | Clerky ($500+) | RoadWork (Free) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compliance checklist | You figure it out | They tell you at tax time | Post-incorp guidance | Dynamic, personalized |
| Deadline tracking | Calendar reminders | They remind you | No | Auto-calculated, color-coded |
| Expense tracking | Spreadsheet | They do it | No | Built-in with categories |
| Form generation | Download from IRS | They file for you | Some docs | 7004, 1120, Board Minutes |
| State-specific guidance | Hours of research | They know | No | All 50 states, auto-generated |
| Tax education | Blog posts, Reddit | They explain at billing | Help articles | 17 topics, 8 deep guides |
| Cap table | Spreadsheet | Not their job | Equity management | Built-in tracker |
| Runway calculator | Spreadsheet | Not their job | No | Auto from expenses |
| 90-day plan | Scattered advice | Not their job | Checklist | Personalized, week-by-week |
| Document vault | Google Drive | Not their job | Document storage | 16-doc checklist |
| Data privacy | Your spreadsheet | They have your data | Cloud-stored | 100% local, never leaves browser |
| Cost | $0 | $500-2,000/yr | $500+ one-time | $0 forever |
| Professional license tracking | No | No | No | FINRA, NASAA, any license |
Common founder tax questions answered instantly. Click a topic or type your question.
Everything a first-time founder needs to know about corporate taxes, explained plainly. Click to expand.
A C-Corporation is a separate legal entity from you. It files its own tax return (Form 1120), pays its own taxes, and has its own EIN. This is different from an LLC or S-Corp where income passes through to your personal return.
If your company had $0 revenue in its first year, here's exactly what you owe:
No income = no tax. But you still must FILE Form 1120 (or get an extension with Form 7004). Filing is free. Not filing = penalties.
Delaware charges a franchise tax regardless of revenue. For a company with 10M authorized shares (standard Stripe Atlas setup), the minimum is ~$450 using the Authorized Shares method, plus a $50 annual report fee. Due March 1 every year. Late = $200 flat penalty + 1.5%/month interest.
If you incorporated in Delaware but operate from another state (most founders do), you need to register as a "foreign corporation" in your operating state. This costs $150-250 typically. Some states also require a state tax return even with $0 income.
Every dollar you spend on the business before generating revenue creates a Net Operating Loss (NOL). This loss carries forward indefinitely and offsets up to 80% of future taxable income.
Year 1: Spend $5,000 (formation, domains, hardware, hosting). Revenue = $0. NOL = $5,000.
Year 2: Revenue = $50,000. Expenses = $20,000. Profit = $30,000. But you can deduct your $5,000 NOL from Year 1, so taxable income = $25,000. At 21% corporate tax rate, you save $1,050.
Every Delaware corporation must pay franchise tax every year, due March 1. Yes, even with $0 revenue. This catches first-time founders off guard.
Go to corp.delaware.gov/paytaxes/, enter your file number, and pay with a card. Takes 5 minutes.
Form 7004 gives you an automatic 6-month extension to file your Form 1120. It's free. It takes 5 minutes. There's no reason not to file it.
Download the PDF from irs.gov, fill it in (name, EIN, form code 12 for 1120, $0 tax), and mail it to the IRS. Or use RoadWork's Generate tab to create a filled version.
If you used Stripe Atlas, they filed an 83(b) election within 30 days of your stock grant. This is extremely important.
Without 83(b): You'd owe income tax on your shares as they vest, at their fair market value at vesting time. If your company becomes worth $10M by the time shares vest, you'd owe tax on millions in "income" you never received as cash.
With 83(b): You pay tax on the shares at grant time, when they're worth almost nothing ($0.00001/share = $90 total for 9M shares). Future appreciation is taxed as capital gains only when you sell.
Look in your Stripe Atlas dashboard for the signed 83(b) election. You should also have mailed a copy to the IRS within 30 days of your stock grant. If you're past 30 days and didn't file, consult a tax attorney immediately — this cannot be undone.
Delaware law requires corporations to hold at least one board meeting per year. As a sole founder who is also the sole director, this feels silly — but it matters.
Ratify all actions taken during the year: expenditures, officer elections, stock issuances, major business decisions, tax filing authorization, banking authorization. Use RoadWork's Generate tab to create proper minutes.
This is the bare minimum to keep your corporation alive and compliant. It doesn't include business expenses, insurance, or anything operational — just the cost of existing as a legal entity.