California · Small Business Accounting
A California small business accountant who keeps the whole thing straight.
One named QuickBooks ProAdvisor for your California small business — bookkeeping, QuickBooks, CDTFA sales tax, AB5 contractor tracking, and payroll coordination, kept CPA-ready every month in your own file. Fixed-fee, all 58 counties.
Bookkeeping & advisory · Fixed-fee · written scope in 3 days
TechBrot is a small business accountant for California businesses — TechBrot that keeps your bookkeeping, QuickBooks, CDTFA sales tax, AB5 contractor tracking, and payroll coordination straight and CPA-ready, in your own QuickBooks file across all 58 counties. The full California small business accountant summary is below.
Maintained by TechBrot Inc. California tax references ($800 FTB franchise tax; CDTFA district sales tax; AB5) reflect rules current as of the date this page was last updated.
The short version.
TechBrot is a small business accountant for California businesses — TechBrot that gives a California small business one named expert for the whole back office: bookkeeping, QuickBooks, CDTFA district sales tax, AB5 contractor tracking, payroll coordination, and CPA-ready monthly statements, in your own QuickBooks file across all 58 counties. California’s structure — the $800 FTB franchise tax, the nation’s most complex district sales tax, and AB5 — is built into the setup. Fixed-fee ($400–$2,500+/mo monthly; cleanup $1,500–$15,000+).
California small business accountant, in five questions.
What does a California small business accountant do?
Keeps a small business’s whole back office straight — bookkeeping, QuickBooks, CDTFA sales tax, AB5 contractor tracking, payroll coordination, and CPA-ready statements — by a named QuickBooks ProAdvisor in your own file. TechBrot is independent; we do the bookkeeping, your CPA files.
Do I need a bookkeeper, an accountant, or a CPA?
Most California small businesses need all three roles, often filled by two firms: a ProAdvisor/bookkeeper (TechBrot) for the day-to-day books and QuickBooks, and a CPA for tax filing and representation. We keep the books CPA-ready and coordinate directly with your CPA.
What California taxes affect a small business?
The $800 FTB franchise tax (owed even at a loss), CDTFA district sales tax at the correct combined rate by location, and AB5 worker classification.
What does it cost?
Fixed-fee against a written scope: monthly bookkeeping $400–$2,500+/mo; one-time cleanup $1,500–$15,000+. Exact fee in writing within 3 business days of a free discovery call and the file information needed to quote.
Do you serve my California city?
All 58 counties — LA, the Bay Area, San Diego, the Central Valley, Sacramento and beyond — delivered remotely on QuickBooks. Your location changes the tax context, never the service.
One accountant, the whole back office.
Bookkeeping, QuickBooks, sales tax, payroll coordination, and CPA-ready statements — handled by a named ProAdvisor so you can run the business.
Bookkeeping that stays current
Monthly reconciliation and a clean chart of accounts so you always know where the business stands.
Bookkeeping services →QuickBooks, set up right
A California-correct file — district sales-tax items by location, clean contractor tracking — in QuickBooks Online or Desktop.
QuickBooks accountant →Sales tax handled
CDTFA district rates configured by customer location and reconciled, so the return ties and notices don’t arrive.
Sales tax help →AB5 contractor clarity
W-2 and 1099 pay separated cleanly so your contractor mix is defensible if the EDD ever asks.
California overview →Payroll coordination
California payroll (SDI, PIT, EDD) configured and coordinated with your provider and CPA.
Payroll →CPA-ready, every month
Clean monthly statements your CPA can file from and a lender or investor can trust.
Financial statements →Three California facts that change how your books are kept.
California small businesses get tripped up by these more than anything else — so we build them into the setup from day one.
California’s $800 FTB franchise tax
Every LLC and corporation owes the Franchise Tax Board $800 a year to do business in California — even at a loss — plus an income-based LLC fee.
District sales tax by location
California’s 7.25% base is the highest in the U.S., and local district add-ons push the combined rate past 10.25% in places. QuickBooks must apply the correct combined rate by customer location, not a flat statewide rate.
AB5 worker classification
The ABC test reclassifies many core-work contractors as employees, with penalties of $5,000–$25,000 per violation plus back payroll taxes. We separate W-2 from 1099 and surface the exposure; disputes go to your CPA or counsel.
What we do — and what we don’t.
What TechBrot does
- Keep your QuickBooks file reconciled and current every month
- Build a California-correct chart of accounts and sales-tax setup
- Track AB5 contractor classification — W-2 vs 1099
- Accrue the $800 franchise tax and prepare CPA-ready statements
- Coordinate California payroll with your provider
- Be your single point of contact for the books
What your CPA does
- File California or federal income, franchise, or sales-tax returns
- Represent you before the FTB, CDTFA, or EDD
- Resolve worker-classification disputes or audits
- Provide legal or tax advice
Four steps from messy to handled.
Free file review
A QuickBooks ProAdvisor reviews your books and your California situation at no cost.
Written fixed-fee scope
A written scope and fixed fee within 3 business days — cleanup, monthly, or both.
Get current
If the file needs it, we bring it to a CPA-ready standard before the monthly cadence starts.
One accountant, every month
A named ProAdvisor keeps the back office straight and hands CPA-ready statements to your CPA.
Automation handles the data entry. We handle the judgment.
A California small business doesn’t need five vendors — it needs one accountant who keeps the books accurate, the sales tax configured, and the contractor mix defensible, and who can tell you what the numbers mean.
That’s the TechBrot model: accurate books first, one named ProAdvisor, and — when you’re ready — fractional-CFO advisory in coordination with your CPA.
California small business accountant questions.
What does a California small business accountant do?
Do I need a bookkeeper, an accountant, or a CPA?
Which California taxes affect my small business?
Do you serve my city or county?
How much does it cost?
Do you file my California taxes?
Can you take over messy books?
Are you a CPA firm?
Maintained by TechBrot.
Maintained by TechBrot Inc., a bookkeeping and advisory firm serving California small businesses remotely across all 58 counties. California tax figures — the $800 FTB minimum franchise tax, CDTFA district sales tax, and AB5 worker classification — reflect rules current as of the date below and are sourced from the California Franchise Tax Board, the CDTFA, and the EDD. TechBrot provides bookkeeping, QuickBooks work, and payroll coordination and works with your CPA, who files; we do not file California returns or represent clients before tax authorities.
Standards
Verified vs the CA FTB, CDTFA & EDD · No tax-filing or representation claims (out of scope) · Updated when rules change · No fabricated data
Around California.
California QuickBooks ProAdvisor & bookkeeping
The state page: services, industries, cities and the California tax terms in one place.
Small-business accountant, nationally
The national engagement this page is the California version of — same scope, same written fixed fee.
Also in California:Bookkeeping services · Monthly bookkeeping.
California cities:San Jose · Bakersfield · Sacramento — served remotely, in your own QuickBooks file.
Not sure where your file stands? Start with the free QuickBooks file review.
California small businesses start here
Want one accountant who keeps the whole thing straight?
Book a free discovery call. We’ll review where your books stand and send a written fixed-fee quote within 3 business days. No pitch.