Jack Hau
Partner, CPA
Technical accounting and helping companies through funding and IPO readiness. The one we turn to when a transaction is unusual, a revenue arrangement is complicated, or an auditor is going to ask a hard question.
Bookkeeping, controller, and CFO services · Santa Clara, CA
Business accounting you can trust.
The Bay Area's outsourced bookkeeping, controller, and CFO team since 2003.
See exactly where the business makes money and where it leaks. Faster cash flow, less debt, higher profit, and misused funds caught early. With the same controller on your books every month.
30 minutes with a partner · no cost · bring last month’s P&L
- Closing books since
- 2003
- Industries served
- 18+
- Hrs per month saved by clients
- 15+
- Revenue range we fit
- to $200M
Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors
We work in the tools you already use.
Every desktop and online version of QuickBooks, and the rest of the finance stack every day. Not tied to any vendor, so we recommend the setup that fits how you run the business.
Accounting and spend
- QuickBooks Online
- QuickBooks Desktop
- Xero
- Bill
- Divvy
- Expensify
- Hubdoc
- Fathom
- Tax1099
Commerce and payments
- Shopify
- Square
- Stripe
Payroll and time
- ADP
- Gusto
- Intuit Payroll
- Paychex
- TriNet
- QuickBooks Time
- Minute7
Where the money goes missing
Automate the work. You still have to own the answer.
Your stack runs more on its own than it did two years ago. Feeds, rules, and integrations handle work that used to be manual. That is a real gain. Software applies rules. It does not choose them when they stop fitting, and it cannot be accountable for the result. That part still needs a person.
It is also how companies outgrow a bookkeeper without noticing. Nothing breaks. The records get made, the tools run, and nobody senior is catching the judgment calls. Usually for three or four quarters before anyone says it out loud.
TP1 · seam: Contracts → revenue rules
The rule stopped fitting
Your contracts changed. The revenue logic did not. Nothing errored. The system did what it was told.
Who owns itYour controller rewrites the logic when the business changes, before the quarter closes on the old rule.
TP2 · seam: Stripe / Shopify ↔ the ledger
Two systems disagree
Both are internally consistent. Both are confident. Someone has to decide which one is right.
Who owns itReconciled every month on a fixed calendar, so the gap is found in weeks, not at year end.
TP3 · seam: Feeds and rules → exceptions queue
The exceptions have no owner
Automation clears the routine 95 percent. The rest lands in a queue nobody reads.
Who owns itOne named controller reads the queue, because they are on your books every month.
TP4 · seam: The close → lenders, boards, auditors
Someone has to stand behind the number
A lender or an auditor asks who is accountable. No tool answers that. A person does, by name.
Who owns itA controller who signs off on the package and takes the lender, board, or auditor questions.
Select a test point to probe the seam
Each one is small. What they add up to is a finance stack with more moving parts than anyone is watching, and the seams between systems are where the money goes missing. Nobody sells you ownership of the seams. That is the job.
Four levels of help
You move up when the business needs it, not on a schedule we set.
Read it like a cross-section: every layer sits on the one beneath it. CFO work only makes sense once the books underneath are clean.
- L4 When the decision is big
CFO Advisory
The work that only makes sense once the reporting is trustworthy. We are in the numbers every month, so we are not starting from zero when something consequential comes up.
- Pricing and unit economics
- Forecasting and scenario models
- Board and investor reporting
- Fractional CFO work
- Acquisition support and diligence
- L3 The owner
Controller
Someone senior owning the numbers. A reporting package built for how your business actually makes money, delivered on a calendar you can plan around, with a standing call to talk through it. We can train your team to own it, or run all of it. You decide how involved to be.
- Monthly reporting package
- Budget versus actual
- Cash forecasting
- Margin by client or contract
- Audit and lender support
- L2 The day to day
Accounting Ops
The operational work that scales with volume. Bills paid, invoices out, cash applied, payroll run on time. This is the layer that quietly breaks first when a business grows faster than the process underneath it.
- AP and bill payment
- AR and collections
- Payroll processing
- Vendor management
- Sales tax filings
- L1 The floor
Bookkeeping
Transactions coded correctly, accounts reconciled, and a clean set of books that closes every month without being chased. Delivered on a fixed calendar, so you know when the numbers arrive before the month starts.
- Transaction coding
- Bank and card reconciliation
- Month-end journal entries
- Balance sheet analysis
- Three-statement package
Who we serve
We are not an industry shop. We are a complexity shop.
Plenty of firms will tell you they specialize in your vertical. What actually determines whether an accounting team can help you is how complex your business has become and how fast that complexity is changing.
A 40 person IT services firm with three acquisitions behind it has far more in common with a 40 person creative firm than either has with a two person startup in the same industry.
Complexity does not announce itself. It arrives as one more integration, one more entity, one more state, one more contract type.
Where we fit best
- Owner-run small businesses through companies at $200M in revenue
- Nonprofits answering to a board, funders, and auditors
- Startups and VC firms that need cap tables, board reporting, portfolio valuations, and K-1 support
- Multi-entity, multi-state, or inventory complexity
- A lender, board, or auditor asking real questions
- No full-time controller, or one who is underwater
How an engagement actually starts
Four weeks from first call to a monthly rhythm.
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Week 0
Clarity call
Thirty minutes with a partner. We ask what is breaking. You ask what we would do about it.
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Week 1
Diagnostic
Read access to your books, then a written summary of what is wrong, what it takes to fix, and a fixed monthly fee.
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Weeks 2 to 4
Cleanup and transition
Messy books are a normal starting point. We have cleaned up hundreds. We correct the historical record, rebuild the chart of accounts if it needs it, and document the process as we go.
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Ongoing
The monthly rhythm
A close on a fixed calendar, a reporting package you actually read, and a controller on a standing call.
What we don't do
Clear lines, so nobody is quietly competing for your work.
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We don't file your tax returns.
We are not a filing shop, and that works in your favor. Through our tax preparation support, your preparer gets reconciled, documented books, 1099s, sales tax records, and the year-end package they actually need. They spend their time lowering your tax bill instead of cleaning up your books.
Tax preparation support -
We don't audit.
The firm that keeps your books cannot independently audit them. What we do instead is get you audit ready and then carry the weight of the audit itself, so your team is not buried in requests.
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We don't stay stagnant.
We're in business to provide clarity for organizations to be successful. So we're always looking to help you improve systems, processes, and outcomes.
You work with the same controller every month.
Every engagement is led by a controller who knows your business, supported by a team underneath them. You are not handed to whoever happens to be free that week, and you are not emailing a shared inbox and hoping.
It is not just about the accounting. It is about a controller who listens before recommending anything and tells you plainly what the numbers mean. Every engagement starts with a conversation, and it stays one.
The people on your books
Closing books in Santa Clara since 2003.
SVAS now serves clients across the country and a few overseas. That reach comes from a team that has adapted as its clients have grown.
Taryn Yee
Partner, CPA
Works across operations and business development, from scoping new work through to keeping delivery consistent as the firm grows.
Andy Lau
Managing Partner
Runs the firm day to day. A career building product platforms and leading business operations: how the work gets done matters as much as whether it got done.
Controllers
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Margaret Michel
Managing Controller
18+ years · MBA · certified in management accounting and bookkeeping
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Patty Weber
Controller
20+ years · QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor · Rippling Payroll certified
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Janine Benedict
Controller
20+ years · former Director of Finance and Operations
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Jeff Barnes
Controller
15+ years · accounting degree · QuickBooks Certified
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Danielle Villaseñor
Controller
Consulting controller since 2011
Client words
Trusted by companies that demand excellence.
“The SVAS team have been LIFE SAVERS!!
They straightened out issues I had with the EDD from someone setting up my accounts incorrectly, saving me thousands of dollars. They also helped me set up my own payroll and Quickbooks when I incorporated and gave me clear instructions and great communication throughout working together. I highly recommend them!!”
“If you want it done right, hire Silicon Valley Accounting Solutions.
They do everything from basic bookkeeping, to high level accounting and financial reporting, to Controller services. The team are highly organized, detailed, professional, and dedicated to your success.”
“The SVAS team is our go-to for certified Quickbooks and expert advice and bookkeeping questions.
They are responsive and thorough and are extremely easy to work with.”
“Silicon Valley Accounting Solutions are responsive, professional and great to work with!”
Recent Google reviews
Read them via Accountsphere-
“For almost a decade, Silicon Valley Accounting Solutions in Santa Clara has handled my accounting so I can focus on IT. Margaret is always available with expert bookkeeping guidance.”
Ryan Mann Google · Apr 2026
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“Margaret and the Silicon Valley Accounting Solutions team in Santa Clara are knowledgeable, professional partners who helped our business gain an accounting edge. Highly recommended!”
Benji Stein Google · Apr 2026
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“Patty Weber at Silicon Valley Accounting Solutions in Santa Clara provided excellent, thorough customer care. I highly recommend their financial consulting services!”
Laura Leavitt Google · Apr 2026
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“As a small business owner in Silicon Valley, Silicon Valley Accounting Solutions keeps me calm and confident with my books. Their accounting services in Santa Clara are incredible!”
Melissa Sioson Google · Apr 2026
Free tool · SBA DSCR Stress Test
Can the business you are buying actually pay the loan back?
Your lender runs the coverage math once, using the seller's numbers, in a good year. The stress test runs it again on the years that actually happen. Every field explains itself.
Run the stress testHow to read a DSCR
- 1.50x
- The business earns half again what it owes the bank. Comfortable.
- 1.15x
- The floor most SBA lenders want to see before they will approve a deal.
- 1.00x
- Every dollar the business earns goes to the bank. Nothing left for a bad month.
- 0.85x
- The business cannot make its own payment. You cover the difference yourself.
Straight answers
Questions owners ask on the first call.
Do you prepare tax returns?
No. We are not a filing shop. Through our tax preparation support, your preparer gets reconciled, documented books, 1099s, sales tax records, and the year-end package they need. We work alongside your CPA and handle the questions that come back. If you need a preparer, we will point you to one of our partners.
Can you audit our books?
The firm that keeps your books cannot independently audit them. What we do instead is get you audit ready and then carry the weight of the audit itself, so your team is not buried in requests.
Our books are a mess. Is that a problem?
No. Messy books are a normal starting point and we have cleaned up hundreds. In weeks 2 to 4 we correct the historical record, rebuild the chart of accounts if it needs it, and document the process as we go.
How is the fee set?
After a week-one diagnostic with read access to your books, you get a written summary of what is wrong, what it takes to fix, and a fixed monthly fee.
Will we work with the same person every month?
Yes. Every engagement is led by a controller who knows your business, supported by a team underneath them. You are not handed to whoever happens to be free that week.
Which software do you work in?
We are certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors for every desktop and online version, and we work across Xero, Bill, Divvy, Expensify, Hubdoc, Fathom, Shopify, Square, Stripe, ADP, Gusto, Paychex, TriNet and more. We are not tied to any vendor.
What happens on the clarity call?
Thirty minutes with a partner, at no cost. We cover where you are now, what is actually broken, what it would take to fix, and whether we are the right fit. If a bookkeeper or a full-time controller serves you better, we will tell you on the call.
Do you only work with Bay Area companies?
Our office is in Santa Clara and we serve the South Bay and Peninsula, and we now serve clients across the country and a few overseas.
Start with a clarity call
Thirty minutes. A straight answer.
Thirty minutes with a partner. Bring last month's P&L if you have it. You will leave with a straight answer about whether we can help, including when the answer is no.
Or write to hello@svaccounting.com. It goes straight to the managing partner.
Visit the office
Silicon Valley Accounting Solutions
5201 Great America Parkway, Suite 360, Santa Clara, CA 95054
In the Techmart building, near Great America and the stadium. Free parking in the multistory garage behind Techmart, plus 2-hour spaces out front.
HoursWeekdays during business hours, Pacific time
Get directions