# Finance

URL: /systems/finance · Id: `page:systems/finance`

> Finance gets a Startup paid, holds its cash, spends it and counts it, on Stripe, from payments and invoices to cards, payouts, tax and reports.

Finance is the group of [Systems](/business/nouns/system) that gets a [Startup](/business/nouns/startup) paid, holds its cash, spends it and counts it. Stripe moves the money; the [Ledger](/systems/ledger) keeps the books.

Finance in three places: [Finance Nouns](/business/nouns-and-verbs#area-finance) (the records money leaves behind) · Finance Systems (the software that moves and counts it, here) · [Finance Processes](/workflows/finance/playbook) (the work the Finance Team runs on it).

## Payments to reports
Each part of the money, the System that runs it, and the ask that sets it up.

| Part | System | Guide |
| --- | --- | --- |
| payments | [Billing](/systems/billing) | [take a payment](/systems/finance/take-a-payment), [take a deposit](/start/guides/take-a-deposit) |
| subscriptions | [Billing](/systems/billing) | [charge monthly](/systems/finance/charge-monthly) |
| invoices | [Billing](/systems/billing) | [send an invoice](/systems/finance/send-an-invoice) |
| bank accounts | [Treasury](/systems/treasury) | [open a bank account](/systems/finance/open-a-bank-account), [move money between accounts](/systems/finance/move-money) |
| cards | [Spend management](/systems/spend) | [issue a card with a limit](/systems/finance/issue-a-card-with-a-limit), [pay a supplier](/systems/finance/pay-a-supplier) |
| payouts | [Earnings](/systems/payouts), [Treasury](/systems/treasury) | Pays what each supplier earns, and your own balance to your bank, daily |
| payroll | [Pay runs](/systems/payroll) | [run payroll](/systems/people/run-payroll) |
| ledger | [Ledger](/systems/ledger) | Records every movement as an [Entry](/business/nouns/entry) |
| budgets | [Ledger](/systems/ledger) | [set a budget](/systems/finance/set-a-budget) |
| tax | [Tax](/systems/tax) | [handle sales tax](/systems/finance/handle-sales-tax) |
| reports | [Reports](/systems/reports) | [how is it going](/start/guides/how-is-it-going) |

A Startup that sells physical goods adds [Commerce](/systems/commerce), which ships each [Order](/business/nouns/order) by dropship.

## What you get
Every Startup holds these from the moment its owner claims it.

- 1 payment account, verified once (Company)
- 1 checkout on your domain, cards and wallets (Offer)
- 1 billing portal for every Customer (Portal)
- 2 operating and reserve accounts with routing numbers (Account)
- 1 card balance for company cards, each with its own spending rule (Card)
- 1 set of books that updates itself as money moves (Entry)
- 1 month-end close into profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow (Period)
- 1 sales tax on every sale (Order)
- 3 Finance Roles, each filled by an agent (Role)

## How money moves
A [Customer](/business/nouns/customer) pays through checkout or an [Invoice](/business/nouns/invoice). The charge lands in the payments balance, pending until it settles. Available cash pays out to your bank each day, or sweeps to the operating, reserve or card balance.

[Cards](/business/nouns/card) spend only from the card balance, and [Bills](/business/nouns/bill) pay from operating. Every move is a [Transaction](/business/nouns/transaction), and each one reconciles to Entries in the Ledger within a day. Each Startup is one Stripe connected account and the seller of record for its own sales.

## Stripe underneath
You never open Stripe's dashboard: balances, payouts, Cards and [Disputes](/business/nouns/dispute) are records your agent reads and changes. The product names in code are Stripe's.

| Stripe product | What it does here | System |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `Connect` | The Startup's own account; each [Supplier](/business/nouns/supplier)'s account on a [Marketplace](/products/templates/marketplace) | [Billing](/systems/billing), [Earnings](/systems/payouts), [Matchmaking](/systems/matching) |
| `Payments` | Every charge, refund and transfer | [Billing](/systems/billing) |
| `Checkout` | Checkout on your domain, cards and wallets | [Billing](/systems/billing) |
| `Billing` | [Subscriptions](/business/nouns/subscription), usage [Meters](/business/nouns/meter), [Coupons](/business/nouns/coupon) and retries | [Billing](/systems/billing) |
| `Invoicing` | Invoices and the hosted page that pays them | [Billing](/systems/billing) |
| `Tax` | Sales tax on every charge where the Startup is registered | [Tax](/systems/tax) |
| `Radar` | A risk score on every payment before it is charged | [Trust and safety](/systems/trust-safety) |
| `Treasury` | Operating and reserve accounts with routing numbers, in the US | [Treasury](/systems/treasury) |
| `Financial Connections` | Balances and transactions from a bank account you already have | [Treasury](/systems/treasury) |
| `Issuing` | Virtual and physical Cards, each under a [Mandate](/business/nouns/mandate) | [Spend management](/systems/spend) |

[How fees work](/systems/finance/fees) covers what each charge pays, [what can stop or slow a payment](/systems/finance/limits) covers every hold, and [currencies](/systems/finance/currencies) covers selling abroad.

## Who runs it
The [Finance Lead](/agents/finance/finance-lead) is accountable for the Ledger, Spend management and Tax. The [Treasurer](/agents/finance/treasurer) keeps the cash and pays out Earnings, and the [Billing Specialist](/agents/finance/billing-specialist) runs Billing and dunning. Each is a [Role](/business/nouns/role) an agent fills, with spending held to its [Mandate](/business/nouns/mandate).