Quick Comparison
| Firm | Credentials | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| <a href="http://www.focus-grow.com/">Focus-Grow Bookkeeping</a> | Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor since 2004 under founder Terry Chong; independent firm operating from a Geary Street office since 2006 (20 years). | In-house style bookkeeping, accounts payable and receivable, payroll, and financial reporting for owner-operated small businesses with up to 10 staff. |
| <a href="https://www.bookkeepingsf.com/">Bookkeeping SF</a> | Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor for both Desktop and Online; owner Pamela Wallach has run the practice since 2009 (17 years) and has 20-plus years of bookkeeping experience. | Virtual and on-site bookkeeping, QuickBooks setup and correction, books prep for CPA tax filing, and small-business consulting across the city. |
| <a href="https://atozbk.com/">A to Z Bookkeeping Services, Inc.</a> | Independent SF practice led by founder and principal Alina Tse with 15-plus years of bookkeeping experience; works in QuickBooks Desktop, QuickBooks Online, Xero, and Quicken. | Monthly bookkeeping, payroll, and consulting for small businesses and first-time entrepreneurs across medical, tech, finance, electronics, and software sectors. |
1. Focus-Grow Bookkeeping
- Address: 323 Geary St, Suite 517, San Francisco, CA 94102
- Phone: (415) 779-4349
- Founder / Owner: Terry Chong
- Operating Since: 2006 (20 years)
- Credentials: Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor since 2004; B.A. in Accounting (with honors) from Golden Gate University
- Service area: Downtown San Francisco office plus on-site and remote work for small-business owners across the city
- Industries served: Owner-operated small businesses with up to 10 employees, including service firms, contractors, and entrepreneurs needing QuickBooks-based books
- Website: focus-grow.com
Two Decades on Geary Street
Terry Chong started TC Bookkeeping in 2004 and incorporated the practice into Focus-Grow Bookkeeping in 2006. The firm has run from 323 Geary Street in downtown San Francisco ever since, putting it well past the five-year tenure floor used in this directory and showing the kind of long-run independence the listing was built to surface.
In-House Accountant Model
Focus-Grow positions itself as your in-house accountants rather than as a remote dashboard service. Engagements cover daily bookkeeping, accounts payable and receivable, payroll, and monthly close work, with Chong and her team available to step into a client file the way a hired controller would.
QuickBooks ProAdvisor Depth
Chong has held QuickBooks ProAdvisor certification since the 2004 release cycle, which predates most independent SF firms in the current ProAdvisor directory. The firm specifies QuickBooks Desktop as its preferred platform and tracks each annual recertification needed to keep the credential active.
Built for Sub-10-Employee Shops
The firm caps its target client size at roughly ten employees, which lines up with the typical owner-operated retailer, service shop, or contracting business in San Francisco. That cap also keeps engagements personal rather than channeled through a junior team layer.
2. Bookkeeping SF
- Address: San Francisco, CA 94112
- Phone: (415) 323-3161
- Founder / Owner: Pamela Wallach
- Operating Since: 2009 (17 years)
- Credentials: Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor for QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online; 20-plus years of bookkeeping work
- Service area: San Francisco, primarily virtual with on-site visits available when a client engagement calls for it
- Industries served: Small businesses across aquarium services, contracting, audio systems, marketing, and real estate per published client testimonials
- Website: bookkeepingsf.com
Owner-Led Since 2009
Pamela Wallach has run Bookkeeping SF as a single-shingle independent practice from the 94112 ZIP since 2009. Public directory entries place the office in the Outer Mission neighborhood, and the firm has stayed under Wallach’s name rather than being rolled into a larger brand.
Dual QuickBooks Certification
Wallach holds active ProAdvisor certification for QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online, which lets her work inside both files without forcing a platform migration on the client. That dual credential matters because many SF small businesses still run Desktop alongside cloud tools.
Books-to-CPA Handoff
The firm focuses on monthly reconciliations, transaction categorization, and reporting that is clean enough to pass straight to a tax CPA at year-end. Wallach builds the books to the standard a return preparer expects, so the client does not pay a CPA hourly rate to clean up data entry.
Family-Business Operating Style
Wallach was raised in a three-generation family business in New York before moving into bookkeeping in California, and the company leans on that background in how it sets up client systems and reporting cadence. The published positioning is small-business focused rather than enterprise or venture-stage.
3. A to Z Bookkeeping Services, Inc.
- Address: 2145 19th Ave, Suite 205, San Francisco, CA 94116
- Phone: (415) 766-4671
- Founder / Owner: Alina Tse, Principal
- Operating Since: Roughly 13 years of firm operating history with founder Alina Tse holding 15-plus years of bookkeeping experience
- Credentials: Founder-led independent practice; works across QuickBooks Desktop, QuickBooks Online, Xero, and Quicken platforms
- Service area: 19th Avenue office in San Francisco plus outsourced accounting work for small businesses across the wider Bay Area
- Industries served: Small businesses and first-time entrepreneurs in medical, tech, finance, electronics, and software, plus general service firms
- Website: atozbk.com
Sunset District Storefront
A to Z runs out of 2145 19th Avenue in the Sunset District, which is a working office address rather than a virtual mailbox. The location is documented on the shop’s site, on its Yelp listing, and through third-party business directories, satisfying the two-source address rule used for this directory.
Founder Path Into Bookkeeping
Alina Tse came into bookkeeping after earning her B.S. in Nursing from San Francisco State University, then spent more than a decade building bookkeeping expertise before launching A to Z. That non-traditional path is documented on the practice’s About page and on her LinkedIn profile.
Multi-Platform Software Bench
The firm explicitly markets capability across QuickBooks Desktop, QuickBooks Online, Xero, and Quicken. That platform spread is wider than most single-practitioner SF shops, which lets the firm pick up clients already locked into Xero or Quicken without forcing a migration to QuickBooks.
Small-Business and Startup Mix
A to Z serves a mix of established small businesses and first-time entrepreneurs, with client industries spanning medical practices, tech firms, finance shops, electronics companies, and software businesses. The published service set covers monthly bookkeeping, payroll management, and consulting.
Reference Notes
- Focus-Grow Bookkeeping address (323 Geary Street, Suite 517, San Francisco, CA 94102) and 2006 incorporation date cross-checked against the company’s own about page (focus-grow.com), the shop’s Yelp business listing, and BBB and Manta directory entries that all show the same Geary Street location and Terry Chong as the principal. The (415) 779-4349 phone number is the active business line published across those same directory entries.
- Bookkeeping SF was established in 2009 with Pamela Wallach as owner; this is confirmed through the practice’s own About page on bookkeepingsf.com, its Yelp listing in the 94112 ZIP, the Alignable profile under the Outer Mission neighborhood tag, and Pamela Wallach’s CountingWorks practitioner page. The (415) 323-3161 phone number is the published business line tied to those records.
- A to Z Bookkeeping Services, Inc. office at 2145 19th Avenue, Suite 205, San Francisco, CA 94116 and phone (415) 766-4671 are confirmed through the firm’s own site (atozbk.com), its Yelp business profile, the BBB profile, and third-party business directory listings. Founder background and industry list are sourced from the company’s About page and Alina Tse’s LinkedIn profile.
Selection Methodology
This list applies four filters to the San Francisco market. First, the shop has to be independent and owner-operated rather than part of a national rollup or franchise. Second, the practice should be a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor practice or, in the case of A to Z, a documented multi-platform QuickBooks-focused independent shop, with credentials and platform proficiency visible on the firm’s own site and on third-party directories. Third, the company has to have been in business for more than five years, with priority given to firms past the ten-year mark. Fourth, the shop has to position itself as a bookkeeping practice rather than a pure CPA tax-prep shop. National rollup and franchise brands such as Bench, Pilot, QuickBooks Live, BELAY, Bookkeeper360, Bookminders, Supporting Strategies, Bookkeeper.com, and 1-800Accountant were excluded at the shortlist stage, along with firms whose published street address and phone could not be cross-verified across two independent sources.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do these firms work with clients outside San Francisco proper?
Yes. Focus-Grow Bookkeeping is based at 323 Geary Street downtown but serves owner-operated businesses across the city and supports clients remotely. Bookkeeping SF is virtual first from the 94112 ZIP, with on-site visits available when a client engagement calls for it. A to Z Bookkeeping Services runs out of the Sunset District office on 19th Avenue and takes on outsourced accounting work for small businesses across the wider Bay Area.
Are these firms CPA practices or bookkeeping practices?
All three are positioned as bookkeeping practices built around QuickBooks rather than as full CPA tax-preparation firms. They handle monthly books, reconciliations, payroll, and reporting that gets handed off to a separate tax preparer or CPA at year-end. Owners who need an annual return filed will typically pair one of these firms with an outside CPA.
What does QuickBooks ProAdvisor certification cover?
Intuit’s ProAdvisor program certifies practitioners on the current QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop releases, with annual recertification required to keep the credential active. Focus-Grow Bookkeeping and Bookkeeping SF both publish active ProAdvisor status on their own sites, with Bookkeeping SF certified for both Desktop and Online editions. A to Z Bookkeeping Services lists deep working proficiency across QuickBooks Desktop, QuickBooks Online, Xero, and Quicken.
How long have these firms been operating?
Focus-Grow Bookkeeping was incorporated in 2006 by Terry Chong, after she launched her predecessor practice TC Bookkeeping in 2004. Bookkeeping SF has run under Pamela Wallach since 2009. A to Z Bookkeeping Services, Inc. shows roughly 13 years of firm operating history, with founder Alina Tse holding 15-plus years of bookkeeping experience. Each clears the five-year minimum tenure threshold this directory applies, and each has remained an independent practice across that window.
Editorial Note
This post was prepared on 2026-05-11 using publicly available web sources, including each firm’s own website, Yelp business listings, Better Business Bureau profiles, the Alignable neighborhood directory, the CountingWorks practitioner directory, and LinkedIn profiles for the founders. Address, phone, ownership, and tenure details reflect those sources at the time of writing. Readers should confirm current details directly with each firm before contracting, since office locations, phone numbers, and ownership can change after publication.