Learn about our mission, values, and the way we work together to support our clients.
We help people build not just buildings. Businesses. Families. Communities.
Basta & Company is the accounting and fractional CFO firm built for the people who shape the built environment — the architects, designers, contractors, and property professionals who turn ideas into places people live, work, and gather.
We’re not a generalist CPA firm that happens to have a few construction clients. This is the only industry we serve, which means every process, every report, and every conversation is built around how your business actually works — job costing, WIP, retainage, license compliance, and all.
Traditional accounting is transactional: you send documents, a preparer files a return, and you don’t hear from anyone again until next tax season. That model doesn’t work for businesses managing job costs, progress billing, subcontractor compliance, or seasonal cash flow swings.
We work differently.
“Cloud accounting” gets thrown around a lot. Here’s what it actually looks like day-to-day:
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Your accounts connect directly to your books. Bank accounts, credit cards, and payment platforms feed transactions into your accounting software automatically, instead of someone manually keying in numbers from a statement weeks later. That means your books reflect reality in near real time, not last quarter’s reality.
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You and your team see the same numbers we do. Everything lives on a secure, cloud-based platform, so there’s no version-control problem of emailed spreadsheets or “which file is the latest one.” You can log in and check your financials whenever you need to, from wherever you are: a job site, a client walkthrough, home.
Documents and communication live in one place. Instead of digging through email threads for that W-9 you sent in March, everything — tax documents, financial statements, questions, requests — sits in a secure client portal built for exactly this kind of ongoing relationship.
Reconciliation happens continuously, not once a year. We review and reconcile your accounts on a regular cadence throughout the year, so small errors get caught while they’re small, and nothing snowballs into a year-end scramble.
The result: when you ask “what’s my cash position right now” or “can I afford to hire this month,” the answer comes from current data, not a guess based on last year’s numbers. That’s the whole point. The technology exists to support faster, better decisions, not to replace the advisory relationship.
Great decisions are built on great data. That’s why we structure our work in layers, each one supporting the next — you can’t skip a layer and expect the ones above it to hold.
Better Decisions, Real Strategy, Growth
Reduce Taxes, Stay Compliant
Accurate Financial Statements
Organized Financial Records
Accounting shows you the facts. CFO work shapes your future. Most firms only give you the first one.
Most construction, architecture, and design firms in the $2M–$20M range are too big to run on gut instinct and too small to justify a full-time CFO salary. That’s the gap we fill.
A fractional CFO relationship gives you senior-level financial strategy, job profitability analysis, cash flow forecasting, growth and hiring decisions, banking and bonding relationships, without the six-figure overhead of a full-time hire. You get the thinking partner, on a schedule that fits a business your size.
Basta & Company was founded by Samy Basta, CPA, licensed CPA with 25+ years of experience helping Bay Area businesses grow with confidence. From smart California tax strategies to clear financial guidance, our team simplify accounting and provide hands-on support tailored to your needs.
We work exclusively with businesses in the built environment: the people who design, build, and maintain real estate. If your work touches a building — from the first sketch to the last punch-list item — we speak your language.
You bill by project phase, carry WIP on work that isn’t done, and need financials that keep up with a business built on creative and technical deliverables — not inventory or hourly labor.
You live and die by job costing. A profitable-looking year can hide three money-losing jobs, and generic bookkeeping will never catch it in time to fix it.
Your business runs on recurring contracts, seasonal cash flow, and managing other people’s assets as carefully as your own.
Across all three, our clients typically run $2M–$20M in annual revenue — big enough that the stakes are real, and growing fast enough that the wrong financial infrastructure becomes expensive quickly.
Most firms grow by taking on every client that comes through the door. We don’t.
We intentionally limit how many clients we take on at any given time, because the kind of work we do — real-time financial guidance, proactive tax strategy, hands-on advisory — doesn’t scale past a certain point without losing quality. When a firm spreads itself across too many clients, something gives: response times slow down, strategy becomes generic, and clients start to feel like a number.
We’d rather do exceptional work for a smaller number of businesses than mediocre work for a large one. That means every client on our roster gets real attention from real people who know their business, not a rotating cast of preparers working from a template.
If we don’t have capacity for your business right now, we’ll tell you honestly — because a firm that’s stretched too thin can’t deliver what we promise.
Sharon Ching
SLM Architecture and Design
What a great surprise! We were expecting to pay IRS over $10,000 in additional taxes but we ended up with $4,000 tax credits and paid nothing! Samy is amazing! He knows all the recent tax reforms and patiently explains them to us and applies the relevant tax deductible tools and strategies for our business and personal taxes.
Elmira Esmaeili
As a new client I’m delighted to report that my interactions with Basta & Company have been excellent. I’m grateful for the invaluable assistance I’ve so far received from Basta & Company, and staff!
John Meloy
I cannot recommend Samy enough! He helped us with a very challenging 1031 exchange which allowed us to defer our capital gains taxes and purchase a new property. He returns e-mails and phone messages promptly and the best part is that he talks non CPA language to you in order to make sure you understand everything. If I could, I would give him 6 stars!
Michael Berke
We work with small-to-mid-size businesses and scaling companies in the built environment: construction, engineering, architecture, interior design firms, and property management – primarily across San Francisco, the Bay Area, and California. We tailor every engagement to the size, stage, and industry of your business. Have a different industry? We work with select businesses on a case-by-case basis. Reach out and let’s talk.
Yes. Many of our clients are San Francisco business owners whose personal and business finances are closely linked. We provide integrated California tax planning and preparation for both, ensuring your overall tax strategy is aligned and optimized.
Absolutely. Proactive tax strategy, not just annual filing, is one of our core services. We identify legal deductions, tax credits, and planning opportunities throughout the year so you never pay more than you legally owe.
Depends. We offer monthly retainer engagements for accounting, CFO advisory, and tax management. Most clients find ongoing support delivers the most value.
We help new and growing businesses build a strong financial foundation from the start. Whether you’re launching a construction company, architecture firm, or interior design studio, our team provides the accounting, tax, and advisory support you need to stay organized, manage cash flow, and make confident financial decisions as your business grows.
Fill out our contact form to share your business details and biggest financial challenges. We’ll review everything, and if it looks like a good fit, we’ll invite you for a call to dive deeper. No obligation.
Still Have A Question?
We’re here to help. Reach out to our team and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
Basta & Company guides San Francisco businesses through every financial milestone — from business structure and accounting systems to tax strategy and scaling with confidence.
Top-rated San Francisco CPA offering fractional CFO services and tax strategy in the Bay Area
With over 25 years of experience, Basta & Company has become a trusted partner for growing businesses across San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma counties, as well as throughout California. Led by Samy Basta, CPA, our team provides fractional CFO services, accounting, and tax strategy for the built environment: construction, planning & design, and CRE.
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