Quick Comparison
| Firm | Credentials | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| QB-LA (Los Angeles QuickBooks Help) | QuickBooks Advanced ProAdvisor; Intuit certifications across QB Online, Enterprise, Pro, Premier, Point of Sale; TSheets certified | Founder-led firm serving Southern California small businesses since 1997, with full-cycle bookkeeping, payroll, and cash forecasting |
| Total Accounting and Bookkeeping, Inc. | Founder is California CPA (active license since 1996) and Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor; USC accounting degree | Founder-led practice for solopreneurs and small businesses across hospitality, retail, professional services, construction, and real estate |
| Sherman Oaks Accounting & Bookkeeping (One Source Services, Inc.) | Certified QuickBooks Pro Advisor; Xero, Bill.com, Hubdoc, TSheets, SmartVault, AccountingSuite, Float certifications | Female-founded firm covering bookkeeping, payroll, CFO support for law offices, medical/dental practices, restaurants, real estate, freelancers |
1. QB-LA (Los Angeles QuickBooks Help)
- Address: 2337 Roscomare Road #2-201, Los Angeles, CA 90077
- Phone: (310) 281-6161
- Founder / Owner: Joe Kennedy (Founding Principal); J.J. Kennedy (founding principal, currently directing operations)
- Operating Since: 1997 (29 years)
- Credentials: QuickBooks Advanced ProAdvisor; Intuit certified for QuickBooks Online, Enterprise, Pro, Premier, and Point of Sale; TSheets certified
- Service area: Greater Los Angeles and Southern California, with remote service across the United States
- Industries served: Small business, e-commerce, professional services, and growing companies needing data-entry through CFO-level support
- Website: losangelesquickbookshelp.com
Founder-Led Practice with a Long Local History
QB-LA traces its roots to 1997, when J.J. Kennedy helped establish the company as a QuickBooks-focused accounting practice for Southern California businesses. After a period working in internet ventures, J.J. returned to direct day-to-day operations, while Joe Kennedy holds the QuickBooks Advanced ProAdvisor credential and serves as the public face of the shop. The continuity of family leadership across nearly three decades sets QB-LA apart from larger national rollups that have entered the Los Angeles market through acquisition.
Service Range Beyond Standard Bookkeeping
The practice handles full bookkeeping, accounts receivable, collections support, cash forecasting, and budget building, alongside payroll and payroll tax filings. The team also assists with sales and use tax, city and county filings, and federal and California Franchise Tax Board returns when clients need an integrated finance function rather than a standalone bookkeeper. E-commerce integrations, electronic payments, and TSheets time-tracking deployments round out the offering for clients running modern operations.
Industry Mix and Engagement Model
QB-LA works with small businesses, e-commerce sellers, and professional service firms across the Los Angeles basin, with engagements ranging from one-off QuickBooks cleanup projects to ongoing fractional controller support. The firm publishes a steady blog covering QuickBooks Online updates, bank feed transitions, and small business tax planning, which doubles as a knowledge base for existing clients. Its Bel Air office on Roscomare Road serves Westside, Valley, and Downtown clients, and remote work is standard for businesses outside the immediate area.
2. Total Accounting and Bookkeeping, Inc.
- Address: 4667 Northridge Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90043
- Phone: (310) 765-1931
- Founder / Owner: Michele Roberts, CPA
- Operating Since: 2012 (14 years)
- Credentials: California CPA (active license since 1996); Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor; Bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Southern California; began career at Ernst & Young in 1993
- Service area: Los Angeles metro with remote service for clients nationwide
- Industries served: Hospitality, retail, professional services, construction, and real estate
- Website: totalaccountingandbookkeeping.com
CPA-Led Bookkeeping Built for Small Business Owners
Michele Roberts founded Total Accounting and Bookkeeping in March 2012 after a career path that took her from a bank teller role through audit work at Ernst & Young to Director of Finance at a global software and financial data provider. She built the practice to give solopreneurs and small business owners CPA-grade financial oversight without the overhead of an in-house finance team. Michele holds an active California CPA license and positions the practice as a bookkeeping and managerial accounting shop, with recurring transaction work and reporting at the center of every engagement. The CPA credential supports clean monthly books that feed straight into year-end tax preparation under one operating relationship.
Bookkeeping, Reporting, and Advisory Workflow
The team handles bank and credit card reconciliation, QuickBooks setup and maintenance, financial statement preparation, payroll, and advisory work tied to monthly close. Clients receive period-end financials packaged for owner review, with explanations that translate accounting language into operating decisions. The firm also performs QuickBooks cleanup engagements for businesses that have fallen behind or inherited messy books from a prior bookkeeper.
Industry Specialization in Practice
Engagements span hospitality operators managing tip pools and food cost variance, retail businesses tracking inventory and sales tax across multiple jurisdictions, professional service firms billing on retainers and fixed fees, construction contractors needing job-cost reporting, and real estate investors tracking property-level profit and loss. Michele draws on her audit background to keep documentation tight and her Director of Finance experience to coach owners through cash management, pricing decisions, and growth planning.
3. Sherman Oaks Accounting & Bookkeeping (One Source Services, Inc.)
- Address: 15250 Ventura Boulevard, Penthouse 1220, Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
- Phone: (818) 501-3336
- Founder / Owner: Anna Mazisyuk
- Operating Since: January 2015 (11 years)
- Credentials: Certified QuickBooks Pro Advisor; certifications in Xero, AccountingSuite, Hubdoc, TSheets, SmartVault, Bill.com, and Float; degree in finance with emphasis in accounting and marketing
- Service area: Sherman Oaks, San Fernando Valley, Greater Los Angeles, with remote service
- Industries served: Small business, large corporations, law offices, construction, medical and dental practices, restaurants, real estate, design studios, freelancers, and high-net-worth individuals
- Website: shermanoaksaccounting.com
Founder Profile and Origin Story
Anna Mazisyuk launched One Source Services, Inc. in January 2015 after more than fifteen years serving as the private CFO to a Los Angeles entrepreneur, plus prior small-firm accounting roles dating back to her first QuickBooks file in 1996. She built the Sherman Oaks Accounting brand as the public-facing identity for the firm, with a focus on female-founded, founder-led service that treats every engagement as a long-term relationship. Twenty-plus years of accounting and management work give the practice depth that newer cloud-only competitors do not match.
Stack-Heavy Cloud Bookkeeping Approach
Beyond QuickBooks, the company runs Xero, AccountingSuite, Hubdoc, Bill.com, SmartVault, TSheets, and Float, which lets it match each client to the right tool rather than forcing every engagement onto one platform. Services include bookkeeping setup, cleanup, and ongoing maintenance, payroll, tax planning, financial reporting and analysis, forensic accounting reviews, and CFO-level guidance for businesses that need strategic input without a full-time hire. Paperless workflows and document automation cut the administrative load for clients who do not want to ship paper to an office.
Industry Coverage Across the Valley and Beyond
Anna and her team work with law offices managing trust accounting and case-cost tracking, medical and dental practices balancing patient receivables with payroll, restaurants tracking food and labor cost percentages, real estate operators handling multi-property reporting, design studios billing project-based work, and high-net-worth individuals consolidating personal and entity finances. The firm’s Ventura Boulevard office anchors its San Fernando Valley footprint, and remote engagement is standard for clients across Los Angeles and beyond.
Reference Notes
The Los Angeles bookkeeping market is shaped by the size and diversity of the regional economy, with entertainment, real estate, hospitality, retail, professional services, manufacturing, and a heavy concentration of solopreneurs all generating demand for outsourced bookkeeping. National rollups have moved aggressively into the city, but a layer of founder-led firms continues to serve owners who want a named contact rather than a rotating pool of remote bookkeepers.
California’s regulatory environment adds weight to firm selection. The California Board of Accountancy licenses CPAs and disciplines tax practitioners, while the California Tax Education Council registers paid tax preparers (CRTPs) who are not CPAs, attorneys, or Enrolled Agents. Bookkeeping itself is not a state-licensed activity in California, which makes QuickBooks ProAdvisor certification, Xero advisor status, AICPA membership for CPA-led firms, and IRS Enrolled Agent credentials important third-party signals for buyers. Sales and use tax administration sits with the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, payroll tax with the Employment Development Department, and entity filings with the Secretary of State, so a competent Los Angeles bookkeeper has to coordinate filings across multiple agencies.
The three firms profiled above were chosen because each is founder-led, each carries documented QuickBooks ProAdvisor or equivalent certification, and each has a verifiable Los Angeles operating presence dating back at least eleven years. Firms acquired by or operating as national rollups (Bench Accounting, Pilot, QuickBooks Live, BELAY, Bookkeeper360, Bookminders, Supporting Strategies, Bookkeeper.com, 1-800Accountant) were excluded, as were pure CPA tax-prep firms whose primary line of business is annual returns rather than recurring bookkeeping and managerial accounting work.
Selection Methodology
Selection follows four criteria. First, family-owned or founder-led independent bookkeeping firm outside national rollup pattern. Second, QuickBooks ProAdvisor certification or equivalent (Xero, Sage). Third, BBB listing or equivalent third-party recognition. Fourth, minimum 5-year continuous operating history with documented Los Angeles service coverage. Firms acquired by or operating as national rollups (Bench Accounting, Pilot, QuickBooks Live, BELAY, Bookkeeper360, Bookminders, Supporting Strategies, Bookkeeper.com, 1-800Accountant) are excluded. Pure CPA tax-only firms are excluded; this directory profiles bookkeeping and managerial accounting firms.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I verify a Los Angeles bookkeeper’s credentials?
Start with Intuit’s ProAdvisor directory at proadvisor.intuit.com to confirm QuickBooks certification level and current standing. For CPA-led firms, run the founder’s name through the California Board of Accountancy license lookup at cba.ca.gov. Enrolled Agents can be verified with the IRS at irs.gov/tax-professionals. Cross-check with a Better Business Bureau profile at bbb.org and the California Secretary of State business search at bizfileonline.sos.ca.gov to confirm entity status, registered agent, and years in operation.
What credentials should a Los Angeles bookkeeper hold?
At a minimum, look for active QuickBooks ProAdvisor certification, with Advanced ProAdvisor status preferred for clients running QuickBooks Enterprise or complex multi-entity files. Xero advisor status matters for firms that prefer that platform. For tax-adjacent work, an Enrolled Agent or California CPA license signals deeper regulatory training. Industry-specific add-ons such as IOLTA trust accounting knowledge for law firms, job costing for construction, or restaurant POS integrations all add value depending on client mix.
How can I tell if a Los Angeles bookkeeper is independent versus a national rollup?
Check whether the shop has a named founder still actively involved, a single physical office or clearly identified team, and a website that names individual staff rather than a generic pool. National rollups typically route inquiries through standardized intake forms, assign a rotating account manager, and operate under brand names such as Bench, Pilot, BELAY, Bookkeeper360, or QuickBooks Live. The California Secretary of State entity search will show the registered agent and filing history, which often clarifies whether the local presence is a true small firm or a subsidiary of a larger out-of-state operator.
When should a Los Angeles business hire a bookkeeper versus a CPA?
A bookkeeper handles day-to-day transaction recording, bank reconciliation, payroll processing, invoicing, accounts payable, and monthly financial reports. A CPA typically focuses on tax planning, tax return preparation, audit and attest services, and high-level advisory work. Most Los Angeles small businesses benefit from a recurring bookkeeping engagement plus a separate annual or quarterly relationship with a CPA for tax filings. Some firms profiled above are led by CPAs but operate primarily as bookkeeping practices, which can collapse two relationships into one if the practice offers both services.
Editorial Note
Compiled by the editorial team. Firm details cross-verified through QuickBooks ProAdvisor directory, BBB business profiles, and firm-published websites where available. Credentials should be re-verified through Intuit’s ProAdvisor lookup before engaging. Information current as of the date below; firm details may change without notice. Last updated: 2026-05-11.