Our Story

David was born in Berkeley, spent his childhood in Southern California (something he does not readily admit), moved back to the Bay Area to attend San Francisco State at the age of 17 and has been here ever since. Robin grew up in Ohio (something she proudly admits).

At the age of 21, after trying New York, Robin and a few friends hopped in a Datsun truck (if you know what that is you may be a candidate for AARP) and drove across country for an extended stay in San Francisco. She too never left.

For the past nine years we have called Marin home. Nevertheless we consider ourselves citizens of the Bay Area. Between us we have lived and worked in four of its great counties: Alameda, Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo. Therefore we like to think of Business Cents as a Bay Area practice.

We have often been called The Brady Bunch (although thankfully we are two shy of that designation). When we met over 15 years ago we came together with a ready made family. We each had one of each: Daniel was two, Paul three, Lydia six, and Jessica eight. Now they range from 17 – 24!

Our greatest joy and our highest commitment is our family. All families have their challenges and a blended family has some special ones. During difficult times we fall back on love and mutual respect and do our best to present a united front. We find that when we are together so is the family.

Our Background
David is a trail blazer from way back. When he embarked on his study of computer science at SF State, that subject was still housed in the math department. The year he graduated (we won’t tell when that was)

Computer Science had become its own department and he was among the first class to receive a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science.

Even while in college David worked fulltime for financial software companies providing consulting services and then continued on a professional services management path overseeing consulting practices for financial and technology companies. His last stint in the corporate world was with Macromedia, which is now Adobe.

Robin has tried on a few different hats, but the two major careers prior to launching Business Cents were five years as a financial planner followed by seven years heading up the Human Resources department at Walden House (a California substance abuse treatment program).

When her father died from cancer in 2001 she decided a life change was in order. With teens and pre-teens it seemed like having two parents across a bridge after school hours was something to be avoided if at all possible.

History of Business Cents
Once at home Robin set about to do what any good Marin stay-at-home mom would do: get the house remodeled and the yard landscaped.

During this process not only did she introduce the landscaper, Denise Muscarella of Gardenscape Design to the contractor, Daniel Colter of Renaissance Design who later married at the house they had beautified (above picture is David and Robin at the wedding), but she offered her services to Denise to handle her administrative work.

While Denise was planting seeds in the Glantz/Wilson yard, the seeds of Business Cents started taking root as well.

As our QuickBooks and accounting skills deepened, we realized that our individual business backgrounds were a plus. We believe that we can be of more help to our clients if we do not limit ourselves to what is traditionally considered bookkeeping.

We are willing to roll up our sleeves and do major grunt work, such as organizing documentation and helping with clerical tasks. We are also able to operate at a consulting level providing accounting and business insights and providing technical guidance to suggest and/or implement tools to improve your business process.

There was never a question of whether we could work together. As a team we bring to the table different strengths and shared values. What are these values? In a nutshell: people come first. When our contribution supports your success, we feel successful. We know first hand that your business is your baby. You have put your blood sweat and tears into it and we give it as much care as we do our own (actually more).

Our Goal
We want to help you how you want to be helped, where you want to be helped, and when you want to be helped: With flexible professional staff we can provide either full or specific services; we can do a project or ongoing work; we can provide backup or oversight and training of your in-house staff; we will work onsite or from our office in San Anselmo. Because we have a team we have numerous options regarding time of day & day of week.

The Business Cents Team:
Bookkeeping & Quickbooks

When you work with Business Cents we match you up with an account manager whose abilities and personality fit your needs. Because we are a team, and not just a single operator, if your account manager hits a snag the answer is readily available.

We also make certain that throughout any engagement a second set of eyes will look at your books because we believe four eyes are better than two! Our employees benefit from ongoing education both outside of Business Cents and in-house.

Our clients have often felt great relief at the fact that once they work with Business Cents they will never have to look for a bookkeeper again.

Meet Jennifer Ross
Jennifer is our Senior Analyst. In this capacity she trains, oversees, and reviews the work of her fellow staff members (including the owners). She often meets with new clients or existing ones to work out the specifics of their needs. She also helps our newer staff by teaching them our best practices and helping them to sort out gnarly tax issues.

Jennifer is a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor in QuickBooks 2006 and 2007; she excels in Excel, and is also proficient in QuickBooks for Mac, Access, Quicken, Complete Tax, TaxWise, and PowerPoint.

Jennifer is on the leadership committee of the Pacific Heights chapter of Business Networking International (BNI) Jennifer has an uncanny ability to reduce a seemingly huge mess down to a manageable problem with ready solutions. She is a great supporter of Business Cents’ clients and goes out of her way to use their services whenever possible.

When you meet Jennifer you will swear she is a fashion model. But don’t let her haute couture exterior fool you.

Meet Helen Zucker
It is fair to say that Business Cents would not be Business Cents if not for Helen. Robin and Helen met in an accounting class at College of Marin. One week Robin mentioned to the instructor that she would be missing class the following week because she was taking her daughter college hunting.

Helen went up to Robin at the break and said “you don’t look old enough to have a child who is college hunting”. Clearly this was a young woman with depth and intelligence so one day after the class had ended Robin saw Helen at a gas station with her toddler and asked if she would like a job.

Before Business Cents was Robin and David, it was really Robin and Helen. They did books in a small room in Robin’s house and learned and grew together.

Helen continues to marvel at the fact that her Human Development degree from UC Davis and subsequent dabble into the world of starving artist ultimately led her to bookkeeping. But her clients benefit significantly from her well rounded background.