Hillsborough County · Tampa
Bookkeeping & Payroll in Tampa, FL
Tampa sits across the bay in Hillsborough County and runs a far broader economy than the Pinellas side. Books, payroll, and QuickBooks support for businesses on the other side of the bridge.
What Tampa Businesses Run Into
Professional and technology firms with contractor-heavy teams and a mix of 1099 and W-2 workers
Construction and trade businesses working multiple simultaneous jobs that need real job costing
Importers and logistics firms tied to Port Tampa Bay, dealing with landed costs and long payment cycles
Hospitality operators around Ybor City and downtown managing tips and high turnover
Businesses with staff in more than one state, where payroll registration is easy to get wrong
Working in Tampa
Tampa had 384,959 residents at the 2020 census, making it Florida's third largest city and the 49th most populous in the country, at the centre of a metro area of roughly 3.18 million. Its economy is considerably more diversified than the Pinellas side of the bay, spanning healthcare, finance, insurance, technology, cybersecurity, tourism, construction, professional services, and maritime trade, with Bloomin' Brands, WellCare, Crown Holdings, and The Mosaic Company among the Fortune 500 names based there. Port Tampa Bay is the largest port in the state and accounts for more than 15 billion dollars in economic impact. The business districts each have their own character, from the downtown financial core to the Westshore Business District and the historic cigar-era blocks of Ybor City and West Tampa. MacDill Air Force Base hosts United States Central Command. Serving Tampa from Largo is a bridge crossing, and since most bookkeeping work is remote, that distance rarely matters in practice.
Local resource: City of Tampa Business Tax
How We Work
What happens after you get in touch
The written figure comes at step three, before any work starts.
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Get in touch
Use the form or call. A short conversation to hear what you are actually trying to sort out. No quote yet, nobody can price a file they have not seen.
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The free hour
An hour with Robin to go through where your books actually stand and what it would take to bring them current. No charge, no obligation.
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A written scope and a monthly figure
Before any work starts you get the scope in writing and the monthly number. No surprise invoice, and no work begins on a handshake.
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Handover, with overlap
Your QuickBooks file stays yours, there is no proprietary system to get locked into. Most handovers work best with a short overlap with your current bookkeeper, so nothing falls through the gap.
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The first month closes properly
The first month ends with a reconciled, closed period and a set of reports, not a setup invoice.
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Then it runs monthly
Accounts reconciled against real statements, the period closed so prior months stop moving, and reports that get explained rather than just sent. Most clients spend a few minutes a month answering questions.
Tampa Questions
Do you work with clients across the bay in Hillsborough County?
Yes. Most of the work is remote, so Tampa clients are handled the same way as clients in Pinellas.
Can you handle employees in multiple states?
Yes. Multi-state payroll needs the right registrations and withholding set up, and that is part of onboarding.
Do you do job costing for construction?
Yes. Job costing, including costing that flows into invoicing, is set up as part of the QuickBooks configuration.
What is the difference between a bookkeeper and a CPA?
A bookkeeper keeps your records accurate and current. A CPA is licensed and handles tax filing, audit, and attestation work. Shea & Shea does the first and works alongside whoever does the second.
What the Tampa economy runs on
Tampa sits across the bay in Hillsborough County with 384,959 residents at the 2020 census, the third largest city in Florida and the 49th most populous in the country, at the centre of a metro area of roughly 3.18 million. Its economy is considerably more diversified than the Pinellas side: healthcare, finance, insurance, technology, cybersecurity, tourism, construction, professional services and maritime trade, with Bloomin' Brands, WellCare, Crown Holdings and The Mosaic Company among the Fortune 500 names based there.
Port Tampa Bay is the largest port in the state and accounts for more than 15 billion dollars in economic impact. The business districts each have their own character, from the downtown financial core to the Westshore Business District and the historic cigar-era blocks of Ybor City and West Tampa.
Practically, a more diversified economy means more complicated books. Tampa businesses are more likely to run mixed teams of employees and contractors, to work several jobs simultaneously, to import, and to have staff in more than one state. Each of those is a specific setup decision in QuickBooks and payroll, and each is straightforward when handled at onboarding and expensive when discovered at year end.
Serving Tampa from Largo is a bridge crossing, and since most bookkeeping work is remote that distance rarely matters in practice.
Tampa is beyond the immediate Largo area, and it is served remotely like most of the client base.
Industries we see most
Professional and technology firms
Mixed teams of W-2 employees and 1099 contractors. Classification is the risk, and getting it wrong is one of the more expensive mistakes available to a small business.
Construction and trades
Multiple simultaneous jobs needing real job costing, ideally flowing through to invoicing so billing matches what was actually incurred.
Importers and logistics
Businesses tied to Port Tampa Bay deal with landed costs and long payment cycles, which have to be reflected in the books to make sense of margin.
Hospitality in Ybor City and downtown
Tip reporting and high turnover in districts where trade is concentrated into evenings and weekends.
Multi-state employers
Staff in more than one state need registration and withholding in each. Easy to overlook when the first out-of-state hire happens.
A few more
Do you take clients across the bay in Hillsborough County?
Yes. Most of the work is remote, so Tampa clients are handled exactly as Pinellas clients are.
Can you handle employees in multiple states?
Yes. Multi-state payroll needs the right registrations and withholding set up per state, and that is part of onboarding rather than something dealt with when a notice arrives.
Do you do job costing for construction?
Yes, including costing that flows into invoicing so what you bill reflects what the job actually cost.
What is the difference between a bookkeeper and a CPA?
A bookkeeper keeps your records accurate and current. A CPA is licensed and handles tax filing, audit and attestation work. Shea & Shea does the first and works alongside whoever does the second.
Client Reviews
What her clients say
5.0 from 22 reviews on Intuit’s Find-a-ProAdvisor directory, reproduced word for word.
I was lost when it came to deductions, Robin was able to quickly and clearly tell me what deductions I could take. She also helped me to understand why my 1099 contractors should have been on payroll. She was very kind and…
Robin has been great to work with! Family member was sick for awhile and the accounting side of the business got messy. Robin came in and helped clean it up and set us on a great path moving forward! Highly recommend!
I have had the pleasure of working with Shea and Shea over the past several months. Our firm reached out to Shea and Shea to upgrade our current QuickBooks product. Robin is extremely knowledgeable with all QuickBooks products.…
Get your books off your desk
A free 15-minute call with Robin. Where your Tampa books actually stand, and what it would take to fix them. No charge, no obligation.