Most “best CPA” lists are written for whoever is searching that week, not for architecture firm owners specifically. That is a problem, because architecture firms do not run like a typical small business. Revenue arrives in project phases instead of steady monthly invoices. Work is often performed weeks before it is billed. Reimbursable consultant costs pass through the books. And a firm’s tax picture can shift meaningfully depending on how principal compensation, design-related R&D credits, and multi-state licensing are handled.
This guide looks at CPA firms with genuine, publicly documented experience serving architecture practices and not general small-business accountants who happen to have one architect client. Basta & Company is one of the five, based in San Francisco. The other four are based in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Wisconsin, and New Jersey, because the right CPA for your firm does not have to be in your city, or even your state.
A quick note before you read further
We are Basta & Company, and we are on this list. We would rather say that plainly than bury it in fine print. Nothing here is a paid placement or a sponsored roundup: every firm below, including us, was selected because its own website, staff bios, or public materials show specific, verifiable work with architecture or architecture-and-engineering clients. If a firm’s site talked about “construction” in general terms but never mentioned architecture directly, it did not make the list.
If you read nothing else, read this table
| CPA Firm | Best for | Why it’s here |
| #1. Basta & Company | Small and mid-sized architecture firms that want a hands-on, year-round advisor | Only firm on this list built specifically around project-phase billing and CFO-level support for design practices, not general AEC tax prep |
| #2. Kreischer Miller | Established architecture and engineering firms with government contracts or multi-state operations | Named Architecture & Engineering industry group with a public practice leader and deep FAR/overhead-rate expertise |
| #3. Innovative CPA Group | Firms that want outsourced accounting plus M&A, valuation, or dispute support | Eight-office Northeast firm pairing day-to-day accounting with deal advisory and forensic work |
| #4. MBE CPAs | Firms focused on staff utilization, realization, and per-project profitability | Dedicated A&E practice built around workforce and profitability metrics specific to design firms |
| #5. Straight Talk CPAs |
Solo principals and small studios wanting virtual CFO support |
Boutique specialist marketing directly to architecture and engineering owners, with published case studies |
CPA for architecture firms California: how we picked these five
- A named architecture or A&E practice. Not a generic “we serve many industries” page. They’re an actual industry group, service line, or named practice leader for architecture and engineering clients.
- Technical depth that matches the industry. Overhead-rate audits, percentage-of-completion revenue recognition, the Section 179D deduction, and R&D credits came up often enough across this list that we treated them as a baseline, not a bonus.
- More than tax preparation. Bookkeeping, CFO-level advisory, valuation, or ownership-transition planning — the kind of support a growing design firm needs beyond one annual return.
- Public, verifiable information. Every claim below is sourced from a firm’s own website, not a directory listing, a press release, or a claim we could not check ourselves.
- A real point of contact. Every firm here has a public office address you could visit and, in most cases, a direct phone number you can call today.
1. Basta & Company — Trusted CPA for San Francisco Bay Area Architecture Firms
Best for: Small and mid-sized architecture firms, especially in California, that want a CPA who thinks in project phases, not just fiscal quarters
Address: 100 Pine Street, Suite 1250, San Francisco, CA 94111
Phone: (415) 333-6262
Website: bastacpa.com
Best fit: Architecture firms of any size that want a CPA relationship that runs all year, not just at filing deadlines — especially firms juggling multiple active projects, adding headcount, or planning an ownership transition.
Samy Basta, CPA, has spent more than 25 years working with project-based businesses, and Basta & Company was built around that experience rather than added onto a generalist practice later. For architecture firms specifically, that shows up in how the firm approaches the day-to-day work, not just the annual return.
Why architecture firm owners choose Basta & Company
- Billing structures built for the way design firms actually invoice—hourly, fixed-fee by phase, or percentage of construction cost—tracked so principals can see real margin by project and phase, not just firm-wide revenue.
- Work-in-progress and unbilled time visibility, so a firm knows what it has earned but not yet invoiced before cash flow becomes a surprise.
- Consultant and subconsultant pass-through tracking, so reimbursable structural, MEP, and specialty consultant costs do not quietly erode a project’s margin.
- Tax planning built around how architecture firms actually make money: R&D credit eligibility for design and innovation work, the Section 179D energy-efficient building deduction, entity structure, and owner or principal compensation planning.
- Support through every growth stage, from a solo principal to a firm adding associates, project managers, and several active engagements at once.
2. Kreischer Miller — CPA for Greater Philadelphia Architecture Firms
Best for: Established architecture and engineering firms with government contracts or multi-state operations
Address: 100 Witmer Road, Suite 350, Horsham, PA 19044 (Greater Philadelphia)
Phone: (215) 441-4600
Website: kmco.com
Best fit: Mid-sized to large architecture and engineering firms, particularly those with government contracts, an upcoming sale, or expansion into new states.
Kreischer Miller runs a named Architecture & Engineering industry group, led by Thomas C. Yankanich, CPA, out of its Greater Philadelphia office. The firm’s public materials focus heavily on the technical side of A&E accounting: indirect cost rate audits for the Department of Transportation and other federal agencies, CMMC readiness for firms doing Department of Defense work, and multi-state tax planning for firms licensed in more than one jurisdiction.
That makes Kreischer Miller a strong fit for firms further along in their growth — ones with government or infrastructure contracts, an eventual sale or ownership transition on the horizon, or operations that already cross state lines.
3. Innovative CPA Group — CPA for Connecticut-based Architecture Firms
Best for: Firms that want outsourced accounting plus M&A, valuation, or dispute support
Address: 1 Enterprise Drive, Suite 210, Shelton, CT 06484
Phone: (203) 489-0612
Website: innovativecpagroup.com
Best fit: Architecture and engineering firms in the Northeast, or any firm anticipating a merger, acquisition, partner buyout, or valuation event.
Innovative CPA Group operates eight offices across Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Florida, with a dedicated architecture and engineering service line covering tax planning, bookkeeping, and audit alongside heavier advisory work: M&A due diligence, business valuation, forensic accounting, and litigation support.
That combination — day-to-day accounting plus deal and dispute expertise under one roof — is useful for a firm anticipating a merger, a partner buyout, or any situation where the numbers might end up in front of a third party.
4. MBE CPAs — CPA for Wisconsin Architecture Firms
Best for: Firms wanting close attention to staff utilization, realization, and project profitability
Address: Wausau, WI
Website: mbe.cpa
Best fit: Architecture and engineering firms most concerned with utilization, realization, and per-project profitability, or considering an employee ownership structure.
MBE CPAs, based in Wausau, Wisconsin, publishes a dedicated architecture and engineering practice page built around a specific problem: knowing whether a project is actually profitable once staff time, realization rates, and overhead are accounted for. The firm’s stated client base includes architects, mechanical and structural engineers, geotechnical engineers, and surveyors, ranging from new practices to firms with national reach.
Alongside accounting and assurance work, MBE offers government contracting compliance (FAR), ESOP advisory, and workforce-focused consulting — useful for a firm whose biggest cost, and biggest opportunity, is its people.
5. Straight Talk CPAs — CPA for New Jersey Architecture Firms
Best for: Solo principals and small architecture practices wanting virtual CFO-level guidance
Address: Marlboro, NJ
Phone: (732) 566-3660
Website: straighttalkcpas.com
Best fit: Solo architects and small studios that want more strategic input than a traditional tax preparer offers, without the overhead of an internal finance hire.
Straight Talk CPAs is a smaller, New Jersey-based practice that markets directly to architecture and engineering firm owners, with a service page built specifically around this audience rather than construction or professional services broadly. Public case studies describe helping one architecture firm owner capture the Section 179D energy-efficient building deduction and another manage multi-state tax compliance across three states.
The firm positions itself around virtual CFO services, cash flow management for project-based work, and entity structure decisions (LLC, S-corp, or C-corp) — the kind of guidance a solo principal or small studio often needs but cannot yet justify a full-time controller for.
Accounting challenges architecture firms should expect their CPA to understand
Architecture firms face financial challenges that go well beyond basic bookkeeping and tax preparation. Long project timelines, phased billing, fixed-fee contracts, subconsultant costs, and delayed client payments can make it difficult to see which projects are truly profitable. Labor is often the largest expense, so firms also need clear visibility into utilization, direct and indirect labor, overhead, and how much time teams are spending on work that can actually be billed.
A CPA who understands architecture firms should be able to connect those operational details to the financial statements. That means helping owners monitor project margins, cash flow, accounts receivable, staffing capacity, and tax obligations before problems become obvious. The goal is not just accurate books, but better financial visibility so firm leaders can price work more confidently, plan hiring, protect margins, and make smarter growth decisions.
Some of the key areas an architecture-focused CPA should understand include:
- Project profitability and margin tracking
- Staff utilization and billable time
- Direct and indirect labor costs
- Fixed-fee versus hourly project economics
- Subconsultant and consultant expenses
- Accounts receivable and billing cycles
- Cash flow forecasting
- Overhead management
- Staffing and capacity planning
- Tax planning for the firm and its owners
What makes a CPA good for an architecture firm?
Architecture firms have financial challenges that look different from those of a typical service business. Long project timelines, phased billing, employee utilization, consultant costs, project overruns, and delayed receivables can make firm-wide profitability look healthy even when individual projects are losing money.
Here are a few ways to know if a CPA is perfect for you:
- They track work in progress, not just revenue. If a CPA cannot describe how they would help you see unbilled time and phase-based earnings, they will be reactive the moment the year gets busy.
- They have actually handled Section 179D or R&D credit work. These are not universal deductions, and a CPA unfamiliar with them will simply never bring them up.
- They handle multi-state licensing and tax exposure. Many architecture firms end up licensed, and sometimes taxed, in more than one state well before they open a second office.
- They are actively working between January and April. A firm that goes quiet outside of tax season is not giving you the advisory support a growing practice needs.
- Some architecture firms need the technical depth of a larger regional practice; others need a CPA who will pick up the phone and already knows their numbers. Both are valid, depending on where your firm is today.
If you’re not sure where to start
Every firm on this list has real, public evidence of architecture experience, and any of them is a reasonable place to start a conversation. If your firm is based in California, is juggling several active projects at once, or has outgrown a CPA who only shows up at tax time, Basta & Company would be glad to talk.
Book a free 15-minute call with Basta & Company and bring your current chart of accounts, your last WIP report, or just your biggest open question. You will know quickly whether it is a fit.
Related reading
If you run a general contracting or trade business rather than a design firm, our guide to the best CPAs for construction trades in San Francisco covers a different set of firms built around job costing and bonding.
And if you are comparing CPAs across specialties more broadly, our overview of the best CPA firms in San Francisco covers healthcare, creative, international, and nonprofit specialists alongside construction and architecture.
Frequently asked questions
Does my architecture firm actually need an accountant who specializes in this industry? If your revenue is steady, predictable, and billed monthly, probably not. But most architecture firms bill across project phases, carry unbilled work in progress, and pass through consultant costs — and a generalist accountant will often just report those numbers rather than help you manage them.
Can a CPA based in another state work with my California architecture firm? Yes, for most tax and advisory work. Several firms on this list serve clients well outside their home state. The one place location matters more is state-specific compliance — California licensing and worker-classification rules, for example — where a CPA with direct California experience, like Basta & Company, has a real edge.
What is the Section 179D deduction, and does it apply to architecture firms? It is a federal tax deduction for energy-efficient commercial building design. Architects and engineers can qualify when they design, rather than own, a qualifying building for a government or certain other tax-exempt entity. Several firms on this list, including Basta & Company, mention it specifically because it is frequently overlooked.
Firm names, addresses, and specialties in this guide reflect publicly available information as of September 2026. This is not a paid ranking, and no firm was compensated for inclusion. Contact each firm directly to confirm current services, pricing, and availability.
