We built the tax app we wanted in our first freelance year
Ashford started in 2021 in Raleigh, North Carolina, after its founders each got a tax bill they had not saved for.
Why Ashford exists
In 2019 Dana Brooks was a freelance brand designer and Luis Ortega was writing code for three clients at once. That April, Dana owed $11,400 she had not set aside, and Luis paid a penalty for four quarters he did not know existed.
Neither of them needed an accountant all year. They needed something that watched the money come in, kept the receipts, set aside the right share and told them when to pay. So they built it, with a CPA on the team from day one.
Today Ashford is 14 people, most of them in Raleigh. Every number the app shows can be traced to a rule, and every rule to a line in the tax code. When we are not sure, we say so in the app and a CPA answers.
Small on purpose. We would rather answer every message than grow faster.
Our office on Fayetteville Street, Raleigh. Visitors welcome on weekdays; email first.
Connect the accounts you get paid through and Ashford shows your fourth-quarter estimate in about five minutes. Bookkeeping and estimates are free; filing starts at $24 a month.