Keeping Your Balance Bookkeeping & Tax Preparation Services
Category: Accountants [Edit]
582 Market StreetSuite 700
(between 2nd St & Sutter St)
San Francisco, CA 94104 (415) 399-9844
16 reviews
Neighborhood: Laurel Heights
"Who likes doing their taxes? Right, that's what I thought. No one. I started off this year with the intention of doing them myself and…" read more »
21 Reviews for Keeping Your Balance Bookkeeping & Tax Preparation Services
It's truly a relief to work with the team at Keeping Your Balance. As a small business owner, there are too many things to manage on your own and having the team at KYB professionally managing some of the more tedious financial aspects of my business is a tremendous help.
At KYB I work with Becky, Andrea, Sasha and Lauren on both bookkeeping and payroll. They are responsive, have great team coverage, provide resources, referrals and ideas about how to be more efficient. A fantastic resource that I highly recommend.
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About a week ago I was freaking out since I hadn't yet paid any estimated taxes this year but had income from 4 different companies (three of which I own/co-own). In short, I felt things were a mess. After checking out reviews and other online info for a ton of accountants/tax-preparers etc.. my personal assistant had KYB on the top of the list.
I called Monday, got an appt. Friday, and sat down with Katie Summers (who is awesome) for 3 hours! to review all of the stuff I had going on. She was extremely patient and helped me sort through all of my expenses and opportunities for tax savings.
Also, since she's a tax-preparer (which is mostly what I needed) and not a CPA she explicitly told me which questions she couldn't answer and directed me to a different firm.
Katie said they have grown 4x in the past 1.5 years (but are still small, at 8-9 employees, and personal) - it's no wonder.
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I'd definitely recommend KYB to anyone running a small business. My other company has an in-house accounting manager so I was a bit hesitant to outsource bookkeeping, but they've done a great job, are on top of things and everyone over there is very nice.
The invoices are always fair and we are able to trust them with an important part of our business that we don't have expertise in.
Thumbs up!
:)
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I was on the hunt for some accounting help late last year and found my way to KYB via Yelp.
Since then they have helped me out twice: once with a few year-end tax assessment suggestions and then again in April to prepare my return.
In the past I've worked with some pretty experienced/impressive accountants, and I would probably try a different firm if my situation were particularly complicated (e.g., lots of different asset classes or what-not), as they did not overwhelm me with detailed knowledge on a few of my more niche questions.
But where the KYT team really shone was customer service: they were always extremely friendly and accommodating, handled questions via email within a matter of hours, and prepared my return in one day even though it was April 14!
So if your financial/tax situation is middle range or even simpler, I would highly recommend giving these guys a try for sheer convenience and friendliness.
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Yes, even broke-asses need help with their accounting.
Believe it or not, my finances are pretty screwy considering my long periods without income and my strange travel expenditures (can "experiencing" the Red Light District in Amsterdam be considered a tax write-off?). Luckily I found Keeping Your Balance a long time ago and ever since then Becky & Co. have been making sure that I get the biggest tax refund legally possible, thus allowing me to continue this odd lifestyle I've become accustomed to.
Definitely go to them, you'll be glad you did!
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Keeping Your Balance is one of the best companies I have had a chance to work with. The staff is very professional, and highly trained in handling all types of small business needs. They do everything from bookkeeping to personal tax returns. I have used them, and highly recommend them to everyone. I also send my client to them when they are in need of bookkeeping, or need help with Quickbooks. This is very important for me as I help companies with their payroll needs.
Oh Yelp, I knew it would happen eventually. I mean, I go to Yelp for recommendations on everything, so why not for a book keeper for my business? KYB was very highly rated and I thought I had found my solution. Boy was I wrong....
Maybe it's because I used Becky and KYB for book keeping rather than tax prep, but my experience here was most certainly NOT 5 star.
Becky seemed great when I met for my initial consult, but from then on, my books were handled by an assistant, rather than Becky herself. First mistake.
Then aformentioned assistant racks up huge amounts of hours without warning me and when I confronted her about it, she BLAMED ME. Now, I have been in customer service for many, many years and rule numero uno is that you never blame the freaking customer!!! Especially when I was politely asking her why my bill had quadruped with no notice.
She explains that the extra time has come from me not giving her certain info that she has had to manually figure out, hence the extra time. Fair enough. From that point on, I get her the info she asks for - organize it beautifully and send it to her on time. And yet, nothing changes. She continues to bill me the maximum amount of hours she can on my account despite my efforts to make things more efficient. When I asked her and Becky about it, the response was basically that I should just get over it and expect to keep paying that amount, though there was absolutely NO evidence of her assistant doing the amount of work those bills required.
There were also mistakes with them sending me other clients invoices, lost packets of my own info that never turned up and I never received ONE financial report for my business!
Do yourself a favor - if you are a small biz owner like me, STAY AWAY. There are plenty of other options out there. I have a great book keeper now if you need a referral......
UPDATE: So mysteriously after my post there are several new reviews extolling the virtues of how great this place is.....all from new users with only ONE review: on KYB Bookeeping! How ironic. Look, no matter how many cheesy great reviews their friends may post, it still not going to keep them from sucking. San Francisco has TONS more bookeepers that will do a WAY better job - trust.
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Keeping Your Balance is the best place to get your taxes done. Becky has done my taxes for the past few years and she is always fast, friendly and professional! Not to mention she always manages to get me a large refund!
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I got an IRS bill a few weeks before the 2007 tax deadline saying that I owe them $8500 for some stocks I sold in 2005. The day before my deadline, I called Becky to get her advice before I write the whole $8500 check. She told me to bring all the paperwork she needed then she'll look at it. An hour and a half later she told me that I only owe $2600 to the IRS and $1500 to the state. That's $5900 less I would have paid to the IRS! And we completed filing it on the day of the deadline! Thank you Becky for saving my life and my business.
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Picking an accountant/bookeeper is sort of like dating. No, really. A couple years ago I had my taxes prepped by a small company that helped me find all sorts of things I could write off and then put it all together in this pretty lil' package. Seriously, I was in love. But when I tried to go back, they disappeared off the face of the earth. Wha? Was it me? Wasn't I a devoted client? Didn't I shower them with compliments? Then, I went through a series of "rebound" relationships with a number of tax companies, but nothing quite worked out. Well, let me tell you, Becky and her team are awesome and will never let you down (unlike others who shall not be named). Forget about dating, go ahead and get the ring. This one's a keeper!
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If an accountant could be equated with a super hero than my vote goes for Becky at Keeping Your Balance. I had been totally screwed over by an evil accountant which i had sent in all of my tax info into about two months before it was due. I found Becky last minute and was very pleasantly surprised at how calm and professional she was in dealing with my situation. I plan on now using her services to help keep my business account all ticked and tied. If you like amazing customer service and some one you can depend on and trust that this is the place for you.
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I had just heard of yelp from friends when I said I was looking for someone to due my taxes for me. Keeping Your Balance caught my eye while browsing...and I was ecstatic with their level of service and professionalism. They answered all my questions and filed my taxes in no time at all. In addition, their office is so easy to get to from MUNI. I couldn't ask for anything more. I will definitely be coming back next year. They blow the doors off all those other Tax Prep places I've been over the years.
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I have met Becky a few times but just recently got to know her on a personal/professional level. She is an amazing person and the way to handles her business and clientale is second to none. What is great about how KYB does business is that they don't just focus on your finances; they leverage their resources and contacts to make your life more managable while continuing to find creative ways to save you time and money.
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Ohmygod Becky at Keeping Your Balance is a life saver! She helped with my extremely confusing taxes, got me a kick ass deduction, and her prices were super fair. She also keeps the books for a business associates of mine and he has had nothing but positive things to say about her and her company!!!!
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I won't bore you with rehashes of how awesome Becky is (it's all true!). Instead, I would like to mention that as Keeping Your Balance has grown over the past year, Becky has added really great staff. I worried KYB might lose the personal touch as it grew, but, if anything, I get even more personalized service now. Dealing with KYB is always very easy and stress-free. In particular, Erin Beber is fantastic and a joy to deal with!
I hate to crowd the office over there with new clients, but KYB deserves your business!
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The impeding tax season returns! Among all of that confusion with receipts, W-2s, tax write offs... who can keep all of this information straight? My solution is KYB, Keeping Your Balance. Let them do your taxes, like I do, and your life will be happier. You'll save time and you'll end up richer with a better tax return than expected.
Don't be fooled by bitter complaints! The entire team at KYB not only helps out businesses of all shapes and structures, but they can help out individuals- like you and me! So if you are looking for a SF local alternative, I would HIGHLY recommend KYB!
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Becky and her team of experts will expertly take care of all your bookkeeping services. She has helped me put a system into place which saves me time to promote my own business and gives me confidence my finances are in top notch order!
I recommend Keeping Your Balance to every entreprenuer who wants to focus on growing their business and leave the financial details to the experts!
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This small accounting & tax preparation outfit specializes in small businesses and individuals. In my years of working alongside Becky Shahvar (the founder) as both a customer and consultant, I have seen her company's attention to detail and vast knowledge base pay dividends to all involved.
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A good bookkeeper is harder to find than a trustworthy auto mechanic. I am one of KYB's first clients. I've seen Becky's company grow from a home office (Baltic Avenue), to 3 great employees and an office in the Financial District (Park Place). My bookkeeping needs are very specific and more demanding than most businesses. From day one KYB has shown me that they care about my finances, look out for my best interests and always conduct business in a professional manner, Brandee is proving that my books are also very important to her. She is going above and beyond my original expectations. I've also met Robin and I can already tell that he is not far behind Brandee in becoming a valuable asset to team. Erin is now my account manager but they all have worked on my account at some point or another. When I call during business hours, they answer the phone, when I need a report it's done promptly, and I am never made to feel like I am unimportant. I consider myself very lucky to have found Keeping Your Balance and recommend them to anybody in search of bookkeeping services.
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Becky and her team at Keeping Your Balance are amazing!
Smooth, easy, accurate. If I ever have questions, they get back to me immediately with the answer and always give us sound advice.
Becky has offered our I.C.s workshops like bookkepping 101 and done many of their taxes, all satisfied customers.
We love KYB at EHS!
I just moved her from out of the State and with Tax's from two different states i was concerned i would have problems - Becky has helped me enormously.....Professional, and worry free. TWO THUMBS UP
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