Formations
“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.