There's good news and bad news:

Bad news first: the answer is technically from the start.  The second you start imagining your idea, putting any money in,  earning any money, registering the business - you need to track everything.  You also need to make sure that you chose correctly which entity formation, bank, etc from the start.

But most founders can't do this.  That's understandable so there's a little wiggle room (some good news, we'll get to that).  But the biggest mistake I see is founders budget for ads, marketing, even payroll before accounting, and leave out accounting for years -  and that's a mistake.  Do not push accounting off to the side, it will cost you more by ignoring it.

The good news: there are some things you can preventively do that will help - but again don't push this off more than a few months and certainly not into the next tax year.

• Opt in for hourly consulting on tax scenario planning that includes all facets of you, the business, and future payments to others - plan ahead
• Open business bank accounts and run ALL activity through that
• If you need to lend money to the business, do not pay out of any personal account; transfer lump sums into the business acct(s)
• Use a service like my "Jumpstart Your Business" service to learn how to do basic bookkeeping and make sure you have the right software stack for at least your phase 1
• Do your own bookkeeping until you can pay a professional. Most bookkeepers I've met are really bad, so know what good bookkeeping is before you just hire someone.
• Remember bookkeeping is just looking and cataloging past activity, it doesn't steer the ship. You also need to do forecasting and budgeting and other higher level planning.

Lastly, bookkeeping and even CFO work is below a CPA's "pay grade" .  They don't care what #s you give them so don't rely on them to make sure you're running your business correctly. You are paying them only to file on your behalf, with the #s you give them.  And if you falsify them - that's on you.    Tax work is not related to running the business profitably day to day.    

So if you can't budget for accounting, don't ignore it because it's still a necessity and the foundation for your business choices - figure out another plan.  Accounting is part of your business whether you acknowledge it or not.

PS you can't raise money without it either ;)

Your friendly neighborhood CFO - Kirsten (a Startups.com Community Advisor)

Service here: https://www.verteconsulting.com/jumpstart