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San Francisco-headquartered Inkle, an AI-driven accounting and bookkeeping firm for US companies that develops its technology in Bengaluru, has purchased the bookkeeping arm of small-business finance platform Finally. The price has not been revealed. Inkle describes the deal as an all-cash asset purchase and says it is the company’s first acquisition. Around 100 Finally employees based in the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Miami, Boca Raton and New York will join Inkle’s 60-member team in Bengaluru, comprising engineers, product designers, tax professionals and bookkeepers. With a workforce of about 160 across five countries, Inkle says it can provide round-the-clock support to clients across the Americas and Asia. Finally’s existing bookkeeping customers will continue working with their current teams, while accessing services through Inkle’s software. The acquisition also changes who Inkle works for. Until now, the firm’s clients have been mainly venture-backed startups. Finally’s customers are largely non-tech small businesses, including contractors, clinics, restaurants, professional services firms and owner-operators, a group Inkle regards as the core of America’s employer base. “Ranvir and I are delighted to announce Inkle’s first acquisition,” said Anand Krishna, co-founder and CEO of Inkle. “Inkle is an American company that serves American small businesses, and it’s built in Bengaluru. That combination is our edge: U.S. CPAs who own the outcome, and an engineering team in India building the software and AI that let them serve far more businesses, far better, than a traditional firm. We’re building the AI-powered Big Four, and this acquisition helps us take that to the businesses that make up most of the American economy.” Inkle cites a shortage of accounting professionals in the US as a factor behind the deal, with many CPAs and bookkeepers nearing retirement and fewer new entrants joining the profession. The AICPA’s 2025 Trends Report recorded 55,152 accounting degrees awarded in 2023-24, down 6.6% from the previous year. Inkle expects technology-led platforms to play a role in addressing the talent gap, with Indian engineers and finance professionals contributing to their development. The company was set up in 2022 by Krishna, who runs it from San Francisco, and Ranvir Singh, who oversees technology from Bengaluru. It combines a US-licensed CPA practice with product, engineering and AI development carried out in India. The Bengaluru team built both Inkle Books, the firm’s general ledger, and its tax and compliance platform. Because developers work next to the accountants who use their tools, Inkle says problems flagged by the delivery side are frequently resolved within a day. It sees moving Finally’s team onto this platform as the most demanding test of that approach so far. Inkle is also a frequent first stop for Indian founders looking to expand internationally. Each year it helps hundreds of businesses incorporate in the US, many of them Delaware C-Corps formed to raise investment and win American customers. It then looks after their continuing obligations, from federal tax returns and Delaware franchise tax to cross-border filings such as Form 5472 and FBAR. It is also the cross-border compliance partner for Stripe Atlas for Indian founders. On funding, Inkle says it has become profitable after raising only $1.5 million in pre-seed capital from Picus Capital, Saison Capital and Force Ventures. That is well below what competing firms have raised, and several of those better-funded rivals have since exited the market. Inkle’s software costs nothing to use, and the company charges only for its AI-assisted bookkeeping, tax and compliance services. These can be delivered on Inkle Books, QuickBooks, Xero, Zoho Books or Mercury Books.
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