“Can a single subscription platform own the entire financial back-office of America's self-employed professionals, from entity formation through annual tax filing?”
Founded in 2020 by Shahar Plinner, Formations was built from inception as an end-to-end financial OS for solo self-employed professionals — targeting the gap between DIY tax software and expensive CPAs. The platform combines S-Corp election, automated bookkeeping, payroll, and year-round tax planning into a subscription. Rather than building standalone software, Formations has assembled its stack through embedded partnerships: Gusto Embedded Payroll for S-Corp owner payroll requirements, Xero for accounting infrastructure, and Relay Bank for business banking. The strategic bet is that owning the financial workflow for the self-employed — from entity formation through tax filing — creates durable retention and upsell leverage.
Formations discloses Relay as its banking provider, according to the Embedded Finance Index 2026.
Formations does not disclose a bank charter of its own; its banking services are provided through Relay.
Formations's payroll is powered by Gusto.
Formations integrates with Xero.
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 3 layers in Formations's stack: Banking / BaaS (Relay); Payroll (Gusto); Accounting (Xero).
Formations was founded by Shahar Plinner and is founded in 2020, headquartered in Kirkland, WA, USA.
Get a read on where your own stack stands against Formations and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.