Getting started with Found

This guide will walk you through the first key steps to take once you have opened a Found account. This will introduce you to several key features of your account, but make sure to explore the additional resources linked throughout for more in-depth walkthroughs.

Step 1

Finalize your account set-up

Complete your Found business profile

First order of business: it’s time to complete your Found profile! 

Click on your profile icon (on the top right of screen on desktop, top left on mobile) and then click into your Business Profile. 

You can upload a logo, add a website and EIN, and edit the business type or business structure that you told us during onboarding. 

Download the Found mobile app

Make sure to download the Found mobile app from the App Store or Google Play Store to organize your finances on the go.

Step 2

Get started with banking

Make your first deposit

You can make a deposit into your account for the first time in a variety of ways, including:

• Transferring from an existing bank account

• Transferring from a payment app like PayPal, Venmo, or CashApp

• Depositing cash

• Depositing checks, if eligible

• And more.

A bank transfer is the most common way to deposit money. To do this, log into an existing bank account and initiate a transfer to your Found account number and routing number.

Try out your virtual debit card

Your Found business bank account comes with a Mastercard business debit card, free of charge.

While you wait for your physical card to arrive in the mail, you can use a virtual version of this card immediately upon opening and funding your account.

Visit the Cards section of your Found app to see this virtual card. Once you’ve added money to your account, use this card on a business expense to try it out (perhaps on business supplies or an ongoing subscription).

Tip: Add this virtual card to your Apple Wallet or Google Pay Wallet to make in-person purchases, just like you would with your physical debit card. This works well for business meals!

Activate your physical debit card

Once you receive your physical card in the mail, go to the Cards section of your app and click “Activate” in order to finalize set-up. It may take up to 5-10 business days for your physical card to arrive.

If your card is damaged or never arrives, you can easily order a replacement card in the app.

Step 3

Get started with bookkeeping

Review your first transactions

To begin organizing your finances, head to the Activity section of your Found app. This provides a transaction-level view of all income, expenses, and transfers in your account. 

When you click on a transaction, you can add a category, tag, or note for future reference.

First, review the category we assigned to the deposit that you made in Step II.

Tip: If you do not want deposits like this to be counted as Business Income in your reporting, you can categorize it as a Transfer or Mark as Personal.

Next, review the expense that you made on your virtual card in Step II by clicking on it. Add a category from one of our suggestions, create your own category, or click More to find one from our library of common expense categories.

Tip: Once you assign a category to this expense, you will be asked if you want to make this a rule. A rule will auto-categorize similar transactions in the future and can be a useful way to reduce manual work in keeping your expenses organized.

As a business owner, it’s important to track and categorize expenses not only to understand your spending, but also to lower your taxable income by tracking expenses as tax deductions. When you categorize an expense, we will show you the estimated tax saved by logging that deduction!

New to tax deductions? Check out our guide on 17 Self-Employed Tax Deductions for Freelancers and Small Business Owners.

Import past transactions from other accounts

Found is most powerful when all of your business income and expenses are tracked in the app. This will help to maximize deductions, accurately calculate estimated taxes, and keep your reporting clean and up-to-date.  

After categorizing your few new transactions, do the same by importing and categorizing your historical transactions.

We recommend importing business transactions from any other bank accounts, credit cards, or financial apps like Paypal or Venmo from at least the past year to ensure your records are accurate.

In Activity, click Add income or expense and then Connect other banks and apps. This will enable you to securely connect other accounts and import relevant transactions into your Found Activity feed.

Tip: Speed up future imports by creating categorization rules for common transactions.

Continuing to use this feature requires a subscription to FoundPlus. If you plan to make many business transactions outside of Found on another credit card or financial app, this subscription could be a great fit for your needs.

Learn more: How do I import transactions from another bank or credit card?

Step 4

Get started with budgeting

Create a Pocket

Pockets are sub-compartments within your Found account that allow you to proactively set aside money for different business needs or savings goals.

By default, every Found account starts with two pockets: Primary and Taxes. 

Other common Pocket categories that users create include Owner’s Pay, Operating Expenses, Rainy Day Fund, and any other key expense category or savings goal for your business.

To create a Pocket, follow these quick steps on mobile or desktop.

Tip: You can automatically set up a percentage of all income to be set aside into a Pocket, which Found calls a  “deposit allocation.” For instance, you can set 20% of all income to be set into your Pocket for “New Equipment” in order to save up for a new computer or other key piece of business equipment.

Pockets are a powerful way to see how much you have earmarked for each business need, but the money in each Pocket is still in your same checking account. Funds can be transferred from any Pocket to your Primary pocket at any time.

Tip: By turning on “flexible spending,” a pocket’s balance can be used for debit card purchases when your Primary pocket has insufficient funds.

Choose how much to set aside for taxes

Every time you receive a deposit into your account, you can automatically set aside a certain percentage into your Taxes pocket. This helps to ensure that you’re saving enough to pay your quarterly tax bills.

In the settings of the Taxes pocket, choose how much to set aside, known as your “Taxes allocation”:

• Smart Percentage: If you’re a sole proprietor, Found’s “Smart percentage” can recommend how much money to set aside. This percentage is based on the state you’re filing your taxes in and your estimated tax bracket, which we calculated based on your projected income and logged expenses.

• Your own percentage: You can set a fixed percentage based on your own estimate.

• None: You can turn off auto-saving and manually transfer money into your Taxes pocket anytime.

Visit the Taxes tab to see your Taxes Pocket balance and your latest quarterly tax estimate. As you categorize expenses, either manually in Activity or by automatically applying Rules, this will lower your taxable income and ultimately lower your quarterly tax estimate.

Step 5

Get started with getting paid

Set up Found to receive future income from other accounts

Next, set your business up to receive ongoing payments from clients or other platforms by connecting relevant accounts. Here are a few of the most common ways:

• Receive direct deposit from an employer or client: Set up Found to receive direct deposit from an employer or client by providing your Found account number and routing number, along with any required bank documentation.

• Receive payments from other platforms: If you use online platforms to run your business, get paid out directly into your Found account by adding Found’s account number and routing number in the other platform’s settings. See this example for Square, and follow a similar path in other platforms.

• Set up Stripe to receive card payments: Set up Found to automatically receive payouts from Stripe on a regular schedule by linking your Stripe account. Also, create or connect your Stripe account to receive card payments via Found’s Invoicing and Tap to Pay features.

Send your first invoice

Found lets you send unlimited customized invoices for free, directly from your app. Customize invoices with your logo and colors, add custom items, and even include a personal note.

Offer your clients a variety of online payment options, including direct deposit, credit card, debit card, or Cash App Pay, while always getting paid into your Found checking account.

Send your first invoice by navigating to the Invoices tab and following these simple instructions. Once you're paid, the income will automatically be set aside into the Pockets you set up in Step IV. 

Step 6

Get started with paying others

Add a contractor to pay

Found makes it easy to onboard, pay, and manage 1099 contractors as part of your business.

You can easily collect W-9 forms from new contractors, pay your people quickly, and stay on top of tax paperwork at the end of the year.

In the Contractors tab, click Add Contractor and Create a new contact with their name, contact info, and additional business information.

Draft a contractor payment

Select Pay contractor, choose this new contact, and draft your first contractor payment. You can enter the payment amount, select which Pocket to draw funds from, and either send  immediately or at a future date.

Tip: Mark the Payment type as a 1099 contractor payment if you want the payment to be tracked for 1099 tax forms and categorized as a business deduction in Activity.

Congrats on taking these big first steps towards running your business on Found! For more detailed walkthroughs, we encourage you to watch our tutorial videos or explore additional resources.