Just over a year ago I ran a Kickstarter campaign[1] that raised just over £45k (about $70k). Because I was applying for R&D tax credits, I filed a tax return b

Just over a year ago I ran a Kickstarter campaign[1] that raised just over £45k (about $70k). Because I was applying for R&D tax credits, I filed a tax return before I shipped the products. This caused a bit of a puzzle for my accountants. In the end they decided that they'd just not book the Kickstarter money as income at all until I shipped each reward. It's good that the author mentions factory financing. It's not something I'd thought of before, but it ended up being a crucial part of my project's success. My CM initially gave me the standard 50% upfront/50% ex works. As the time to ship drew closer, it became clear that cashflow would be very tight. Luckily my CM was very flexible, and agreed to extended terms for the final 25%, which gave me time to sell a few more flashes and cover the last payment. Choose your CM wisely! I'm going to be placing an order for a second batch soon and will be angling for better terms still. [1] https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vela/vela-one-the-worlds-first-high-speed-led-flash https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vela/vela-one-the-world...