Clerky and Compliance Singularity serve startup companies at different stages of their compliance lifecycle. Understanding the division of responsibility helps startups assemble the right compliance infrastructure.
What Clerky Does
Clerky is a legal document automation platform primarily focused on Delaware C-corporation formation, SAFE and convertible note documentation, founder vesting agreements, and Series A/B fundraising legal package generation. It excels at: generating accurate, YC-standard legal documents without attorney fees, managing cap table documentation, and providing equity compensation documentation. Clerky's value is primarily at company formation and fundraising events — discrete, document-intensive moments in a startup's lifecycle.
What Compliance Singularity Does
Compliance Singularity handles the ongoing operational compliance that starts the day after formation: Delaware annual reports, BOI filing and updates, California Statement of Information (if you have a CA subsidiary or qualify to do business there), payroll tax registrations for new states, sales tax nexus analysis, employment law compliance, and benefits compliance monitoring. These are repeating, deadline-driven obligations that exist independent of fundraising activity.
Where They Overlap (Minimally)
Both tools touch Delaware entity management. Clerky maintains your cap table and can surface formation documents. Compliance Singularity tracks your Delaware annual report and franchise tax deadlines and files them. There is minimal functional overlap — Clerky's Delaware coverage is formation and equity documents; Compliance Singularity's Delaware coverage is ongoing compliance obligations.
The Right Stack for a Typical VC-Backed Startup
Most venture-backed startups benefit from using both tools for their respective domains:
- Clerky: Formation, SAFEs, equity grants, Series A docs, cap table management
- Compliance Singularity: Delaware annual report, BOI reporting, California compliance, multi-state payroll registrations as you hire, sales tax nexus as revenue grows, ACA monitoring as you approach 50 employees
Attempting to use Clerky for ongoing compliance is like using a document editor for database management — it can technically hold some of the information, but it is not built for the operational workflow. Attempting to use Compliance Singularity for cap table management is the reverse problem. Use the right tool for each domain.
Series A Compliance Due Diligence
One area where both tools contribute to the same outcome: Series A due diligence. Investors will want confirmation that the company's Delaware entity is in good standing (Compliance Singularity has the annual report filings), that equity grants are properly documented (Clerky has the 83(b) elections and option agreements), and that the company has filed its BOI report (Compliance Singularity handles this). Having clean compliance documentation — generated automatically by both systems — significantly reduces due diligence friction.