San Francisco
Bookkeeping services in San Francisco
Outsourced bookkeeping for Bay Area companies, built around California's minimum franchise tax and San Francisco's gross receipts regime.
Outsourced bookkeeping for Bay Area companies, built around California's minimum franchise tax and San Francisco's gross receipts regime.
At a glance
California charges companies for existing, not only for earning. San Francisco layers a gross receipts tax on top. Both are owed by companies with no profit at all, which is most of the Bay Area's venture-backed base.
California's minimum franchise tax is $800 a year, payable whether the company made money or not. There is a first-year exemption, and it is not the same for every entity type.
| Entity | First taxable year |
|---|---|
| C corporation | Exempt from the minimum |
| S corporation | Exempt from the minimum |
| LLC | Not exempt — waiver expired for years from 1 Jan 2024 |
The LLC first-year waiver ran only for tax years beginning between 1 January 2021 and 1 January 2024. A page written before 2024 will tell you your new California LLC is exempt. It is not.
The city's business tax regime is built on gross receipts. A company burning venture money to grow revenue can owe San Francisco tax in a year it loses money, and the liability scales with the thing it is trying hardest to increase.
Which is why a Bay Area close has to track revenue by the categories the city cares about, not only by the ones the income statement needs.
Daily categorisation, a monthly close with a named accountant, and burn and runway that stay current rather than lagging a month. If you are a Delaware C-corp operating in California — most Bay Area startups are — we handle the Delaware franchise tax alongside the California filing.
We are a remote team, with no San Francisco office. For outsourced bookkeeping that has never been the deciding factor.
Where these numbers come from