Long Beach bookkeeping — the city’s own business license tax, not the Los Angeles one.
QuickBooks ProAdvisor bookkeeping for Long Beach businesses — built around the city’s own business license tax (not the City of Los Angeles tax), California’s $800 franchise tax and CDTFA sales tax, and the realities of Port logistics, import/export, and the harbor economy. A senior bookkeeper assigned to your file, and every close reviewed by a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor before it reaches you, kept CPA-ready for your CPA to file.
If your file needs our paid diagnostic first, its fee is credited in full against the cleanup. Either way, you get a fixed fee in writing before any work starts.
Long Beach bookkeeping starts with the right city: Long Beach is a charter city with its own business license tax, not the Los Angeles City Business Tax. Port logistics, import use tax and drayage costs come next, at an 11.00% combined sales-tax rate. TechBrot keeps it in your QuickBooks file for $500–$2,500+/mo.
They took something that felt overwhelming to me as a first-year business owner and made it simple.
What stood out the most was TechBrot Inc’s attention to detail.
Why Long Beach books are different.
Long Beach looks like part of Los Angeles, but for your books it is a different city in the way that matters most: it taxes businesses itself.
Long Beach is a charter city with its own business license tax — it is not covered by the City of Los Angeles Business Tax. Businesses that operate across the two cities routinely get this wrong and either miss a registration or pay the wrong city. Layered on top is California’s structure: the $800 minimum franchise tax the FTB charges regardless of profit, an income-based LLC fee, CDTFA sales/use tax at 11.00% in the city, and AB5 worker classification.
Then there’s the harbor economy. The Port of Long Beach — next to the Port of Los Angeles — anchors a dense logistics, freight, customs-brokerage, and import/export sector where freight, duties, drayage, and demurrage decide thin margins. The city also has active oil production in its tidelands. A generic bookkeeper handles none of this; we put your senior bookkeeper on your file who tracks the right city registration and the harbor-specific costs — built into the monthly close.
The result: books that reflect how a Long Beach business actually runs — the correct city business license tracked, sales and use tax reconciled to the CDTFA, freight and import costs handled cleanly, contractor vs. employee clean under AB5 — reconciled monthly and handed to your CPA CPA-ready.
Long Beach areas we serve.
- Downtown & the waterfront
- · Professional services, hospitality & finance
- The Port & harbor-industrial district
- · Logistics, freight, customs & import/export
- Bixby Knolls & North Long Beach
- · Small business, retail & services
- Belmont Shore & the East side
- · Retail, restaurants & professional services
- Airport & business corridor
- · Aerospace, tech & professional services
- All of the Harbor area
- · Delivered remotely on QuickBooks — location doesn’t change the service
Long Beach’s tax stack, at a glance.
Industry-specific bookkeeping for Long Beach businesses.
- Logistics, freight & import/export· Port of Long Beach operators — freight, customs, duties, drayage and demurrage tracked, thin-margin cost accounting
- Customs brokers & freight forwarders· client disbursement and duty pass-through accounting, trust/escrow handling, and use tax on imports
- Manufacturing & distribution· inventory and COGS, production costing, and CDTFA sales/use tax on equipment and materials
- Aerospace & advanced manufacturing· job costing, contract accounting, and government/defense-contract structure where it applies
- Hospitality & tourism· Transient Occupancy Tax, high-volume POS, and tipped-employee payroll on the waterfront
- Real estate· investors, brokerages & property managers — multi-entity ledgers and trust accounting
Complete bookkeeping, Long Beach-aware.
Monthly bookkeeping
Reconciled accounts, a clean chart of accounts, and monthly statements — with the correct Long Beach city tax tracked and CDTFA sales/use tax reconciled.Monthly bookkeepingCleanup & catch-up
Logistics and import/export books carry detail most files miss. We get the file CPA-ready, then keep it clean.Bookkeeping cleanupQuickBooks management
Setup, cleanup, and ongoing management in QuickBooks Online or hosted Desktop — with freight, duty pass-through, and inventory structure where needed.QuickBooks OnlineSales- & use-tax-ready books
Books structured so your CPA can file the CDTFA sales tax accurately at Long Beach’s high combined rate, with use tax on imports handled correctly.Sales tax complianceAutomation handles the data entry. We handle the judgment.
Under a thin-margin freight book, the value isn’t categorizing a transaction — it’s knowing your duty and drayage pass-throughs are clean against margin, your correct city tax is filed, and your contractor mix won’t fail an AB5 test. That judgment is what your senior bookkeeper brings, working in your own QuickBooks file with every close reviewed by a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor against TechBrot’s written close standard, and what fractional-CFO advisory extends once the books are clean.
Checked against the CDTFA and the City of Long Beach.
California services, delivered remotely.
California services
Each engagement below is written for California’s own rules and delivered inside your own QuickBooks file. The California page has the full picture.Searching for a QuickBooks ProAdvisor near me in Long Beach? TechBrot works remotely, inside your own QuickBooks file, so distance does not change the work.
By industry: Saas · Not sure where your file stands? Start with the free QuickBooks file review · moving off Desktop? QuickBooks Desktop to Online migration · state-by-state tax quirks.
Long Beach bookkeeping questions.
Does Long Beach use the Los Angeles city business tax?
No — and this is one of the most common things businesses get wrong. Long Beach is its own charter city with its own business license tax; it is not covered by the City of Los Angeles Business Tax. Businesses that operate across both cities often miss a registration or pay the wrong city. We track the correct Long Beach registration in your books so nothing is missed or double-counted; the City of Long Beach and your CPA confirm what applies.
What California taxes affect my Long Beach bookkeeping?
California charges an $800 minimum annual franchise tax to the FTB on LLCs and corporations regardless of profit, plus an income-based LLC fee. The CDTFA administers sales and use tax at 11.00% in the city of Long Beach, including use tax on imported goods. And AB5’s ABC test governs worker classification. We build all of it into how your books are kept.
Do you handle Port logistics and import/export businesses?
Yes. Logistics, freight forwarders, customs brokers, and import/export businesses around the Port of Long Beach run on thin margins where freight, customs, duties, drayage, and demurrage all have to be tracked cleanly to know true profitability. We structure the books so those costs are captured and reconciled and use tax on imports is handled correctly — coordinated with your CPA and any customs broker on duty and compliance matters.
Can you handle customs-broker client disbursements?
Yes. Customs brokers and freight forwarders pass duties and disbursements through on behalf of clients, which must be recorded so pass-through money never inflates revenue and client balances stay clean. We set the books up so disbursements, advances, and any trust/escrow handling are tracked correctly, and coordinate with your CPA on the tax treatment.
Do I need a bookkeeper based in my state?
No. QuickBooks Online work happens in your own file, so it does not depend on where the bookkeeper sits. TechBrot works remotely and has no local office. What matters is that the books follow your state’s sales-tax, payroll and entity rules, and your CPA or EA files the returns.
Book a Long Beach discovery call.
Tell us where the books stand. We’ll tell you which engagement fits, if any.
Or send the details instead