Ask YC: Do I need to have breadth on accounting and laws?

I assume you are US based? In the UK there are govt agencies called "business link" which will gve you free advice on startups and getting your business off the ground. They can give you quite a bit of info related to laws and accounting. I assume that in the US there are similar initiatives (though you might have to pay).

As to employing someone?

I'd say it comes down to how much admin time you want to spend on the company - or rather how much you can spare. If you find yourself becoming too much of a manager and lose the ability to drive the project forward (IMO essential in the opening stages of a startup) then it might actually be more beneficial to employ someone.

Plus of course if you can employ someone experienced for 18 months then that is 18 months where you get to see how it is done and pick up tips & tricks from them. (after which it might then be economical to do it yourself).

I have been quite lucky. My father has run his own firm for a number of years - which is quite small (so he does all the admin). As a result he knows a lot about the books, accounting and legal aspects (if only on a small scale). In the end I decided to go with an accountant - but only because I have a friend qualified from university who is doing it on the cheap :) (if you don't know anyone like that then go befriend them! :D)

Under standard circumstances, it's always important to understand where the money is going and how it gets there :). Whether or not its your job to constantly track it at every stop and all the related tasks is a different situation. Generally, I feel its important that you know your basic accounting and bookkeeping and be able to understand it to a sense that you can do it during the early stages. Once you're founded, in the US, you do have financial and tax responsibilities that you have to be aware of and you likely don't have the money to pay an accountant to do it. Once you grow a little bit and have the money to spend on a professional accountant, if you're not really good at it (and even if you are) its generally best you get someone to do that for you, just follow along with everything that's going on.

However, being you're in China I'm not even going to step in advising you on how to go about your country's laws and financial regulations because I just don't know. China is its own animal and can't easily be dropped into the cookie-cutter systems of the US and UK. In my opinion and very limited experience that is, anyways.

>>ErrantX

I am China-based. I assume I do not have a friend that can do the work, and after all it seems a friend who will do cheap is very likely a close friend, right?

That is great that your father is someone who has experience. I am walking my own path. Do you have any titles to recommend?

I do not know if I will get bored of those manager things, and I have never did it before. But then, I felt there is a need to do it sooner or later, if we are to start anything.

>>Ram1024

I am trying to storm things out with a friend of mine. We are both developers. No actual things coming out yet, but I believe if both of us are not having ideas of how these things work, there's going to be a pain afterwards. I just want to get some breadth in advance.

You are right, think it loud.

One of the questions we are troubled at is : if we failed and decided to shutdown the startup we are trying, what if an agreement of 1 year payment is signed, how can we get rid of liabilities and not be sued?

--- Please pardon my unclear questioning as I am still not familiar with the details of how things work. Thanks.

I think you should ask the question, "Hey, should I know where my money is and will I get sued?"

If those two points are relatively important to you, I would imagine spending a little time understanding them.

1. You should at least know the basics, how accounts work and how to balance the books. Quarterly and fiscal reports are good to know so you can tell where your business is at. Wikipedia.

2. You will probably need to know about contract and IP law most in the tech business world these days. Wikipedia.

3. Yes, I use quickbooks. It's so easy to use that it has somewhat dumbed down my understanding of accounting that I formally studied last year. Learn accounting first.

Law is a huge deal. Maybe start off at Jurisprudence? :] I have formally and vocationally studied many topics of law (I hope I don't switch from IT/Coder to lawyer >.<) and it's a relatively abstract and complex subject. Basically, learn the basics about contract and IP law, then just work in good faith. The courts like people and businesses that work in good faith.

It also depends on your business model. If you are going to be invoicing clients/tracking time you should check out something like freshbooks.com it will really cut down on wasted time and improve organization. If your company is ad-driven, email your favorite websites and tell them that you are new, but love them and that you would like to put up an ad for them for $5 a month or something. 2 out of 3 times they will happily do it.

well it would probably help paint a clearer picture of what you need if you explain to us what you're trying to do.

like for example:

"i am a coder, i am making so-and-so product (can be vague if you're worried someone might steal your idea) for this field. i am currently partnered with someone who does design and marketing right now and we're looking to start full time work on this company in 2 months, what resources or skillsets should i be researching?"

i get the feeling that even by fleshing this out you'll realize some of the things you might need to look into.

let us know :D