I went to a tax accounting firm I found on Yelp that had dozens of positive reviews and afterwards showed my tax return to Lee and within seconds he found a $4,000 mistake and got me a $4,000 refund - Lee told me that this is a common occurrence with tax returns prepared by people who really do not know what they are doing. My wife and I found Lee through a mutual friend, I was so impressed that I referred him to all of my friends, and I even referred him to my children who are in college to do their personal tax returns. Lee is fun to work with, infinitely honest, and very experienced, he really knows taxes. My personal tax records are a mess and Lee patiently helped me straighten it all out. He also has saved us a tremendous amount of money in taxes. He is always almost immediately responsive to my questions which is a big plus for me, as, my prior accountant would basically ignore me. read more

To really understand the tax issues that arise when you are a small business owner, you need a proper guide. I would not hesitate to recommend Lee Riley to help you in this way. Lee runs a series of inexpensive and quite invaluable seminars at San Francisco SCORE, focusing on maintaining tax records and avoiding the pitfalls of taxes for small businesses. These seminars are quite informal and friendly, and require no sophisticated technical or financial knowledge. Lee focuses on your "top ten" list of things to remember and mistakes to avoid.I learned a lot in just a few hours in these seminars that I'm not sure I ever would have figured out on my own. I also rely on Lee to help me with my taxes every year and he has been extremely helpful in making sure I understand the ins and outs of my own return. Thank you, Lee! read more

I don't know anything about taxes--nor do I care to ever really learn much about them. I'd rather have smart people who know about them advise me on what I should be doing--that way I can save valuable space in my brain for more important things likes sleeping, enjoying my life, and milkshakes. I called Lee because I am in the process of buying my first house and needed advice on how to change my W-4s so I can actually afford to eat anything besides mac & cheese once I move in. Lee was prompt in returning my email and gave me all the answers I needed within 10 minutes on the phone. He's a friendly dude, and I'll definitely be hitting him up this April to do my taxes. It's rare someone gives you such a quick response, spends time talking to you (without feeling rushed), and is so down to earth. read more

I first met Lee when I attended one of his tax seminars at the SBA/SBDC offices on Market Street. It should tell you something that I took a second seminar on taxes and ultimately signed on with him as a client. Lee seems to be a regular guy first and a tax accountant second, but stands out in both respects. Because he is also a Quickbooks Pro Advisor, it seems fair to say that his system is designed for people who want to be their own bookkeeper for the most part and also have the services of an expert whenever deadlines to be met or "hopelessly" complex technical issues come up. He also makes himself available to answer simple questions so really can be considered a one-stop shop. For his target audience at the SBA especially, Lee Riley is hard to beat. You'll like him. read more

Lee's QuickBooks class was fantastic, he charged me very little, a fraction of the cost of other classes. He gave a lot of one on one instruction, and I was able to go home and start using QuickBooks right away. I had taken another class that was very confusing, instead, Lee gave me a simple to use file and a list of instructions that was easy to follow. I am not very good at math and computers and Lee made it very easy and fun; it was not expensive and only took about and hour to learn. I am now able to do book keeping for clients thanks to what I learned. He was very friendly, he acted like we were old friends even though we had just met, what a nice guy. I am now a Quick Books semi-pro after just one hour of instruction. It was fun !! read more

I have been employing Lee Riley's services for 12 years and find his prices to be very reasonable. As a young single woman who had never been well-versed in tax preparation, I have come to rely on Lee's expert tax preparation and advice, particularly regarding business ventures. Lee has consistently prepared my tax returns with the utmost attention to detail and accuracy. Lacking background in accounting, I can honestly say that I feel very confident working with Lee because of his inherent patience and his ability to explain tax issues in plain language. Also, of great benefit to me are his suggestions on how to organize my record keeping for efficient processing. I decidedly recommend him. read more

I took Lee's QuickBooks class, it was amazingly inexpensive. He was not too busy that day and he taught me one on one. He says he has a QuickBooks seminar too, but that he often just teaches the class one person at a time. He have me a written list of what to do, and what not to do. The entire process was surprisingly quick, simple, and voila, I was a QuickBooks user. I can now do the QuickBooks at work for my boss, so it really helps me to keep my job. Lee is just a great, great, guy, really sweet, and easy to talk to. We met at the Hyatt in San Francisco and it was really fun too, much nicer than just sitting in a class room. I think of him now as a friend. Go Lee !! Thank you. read more

We have a tremendous amount of faith in Lee's abilities, and we appreciate his conservative, and highly ethical approach. These are a few of the reasons that we have been working with him for so many years. Lee is never too busy to answer questions, and, he explains difficult subject matters in clear, and easy to understand terms. Lee's classes are very interesting, and, as a result, I had no trouble using QuickBooks. His committments to teaching his clients, is what sets him apart from many accountants. It is always a pleasure to sit down and talk with Lee, and I would have no hesitation recommending him. Lee is almost immediatly responsive to any E-mails that you send him. read more

I have both worked with Lee on my own personal taxes/bookkeeping as well as on projects involving mutual clients. He is extremely knowledgable and quickly points you in the direction that makes the most sense in terms of tax liability and in terms of administrative effort on the business-owners part. Lee is extremely personable and not the "stuffy accountant type" at all! Probably the best thing about Lee is his knowledge of Quickbooks...by training you to do some of the work yourself, he automatically makes the accounting process more user-friendly and much much much more cost-effective. I highly recommend that you seek out Lee Riley for any accounting needs. read more

I am very hard to please and have worked with a lot of clowns in the past. Lee is the real deal: organized, effective, reasonably priced and very efficient. The piece of mind and clarity that he has provided me is invaluable. I love how he runs his business because he is EZ to deal with and always available if I have questions. Lee gets you on the right foot from the very beginning and, like all the courses he teaches for the SBA, he will communicate effectively to see to it that your personal and business taxes are handled professionally. Be prepared to sleep better at night! read more

A colleague of mine referred me to Lee for my income tax return preparation. I had some issues involving the taxation of my compensation at work, bonuses, etc., and Lee made the entire process very easy with no hassles to deal with. He was efficient and easy going, a nice guy! I always felt confident that everything would be Ok, and it was. He obviously knows his stuff, and I felt confident that Lee maintains a high degree of security over my personal documents, which is important to me as I work in the tech industry and am aware of the importance of security issues. read more

Lee is a highly qualified CPA, and tax advisor. I highly recommend Lee for a multitude of tax issues including Subchapter S corporate tax returns, Estate form 706 retruns, Estate form 1041 and 541 income tax returns. Lee has a wealth of knowledge and experience in business tax issues, personal income tax and trusts and estates tax matters. He is intellegent, personable, professional, and provides prompt and accurate responses to your questions. Lee is generous with his time, and often provides guidance or advice as a value added part of his practice. read more

I'm a new small business owner and Lee has been instrumental to getting me started on the right track with my business -- he helped me set up my LLC, learn Quickbooks (and guide me along the way to make sure I was doing things correctly), and answer any questions I have. I have also taken all three of his small business taxes seminars through the SBA which I highly recommend. He is extremely responsive, personable with a dry sense of humor, and provides sound advice, e.g. recommending that I purchase NeatReceipts which I love! Thanks, Lee! read more

Lee is not your typical accountant. That much starts to be obvious when you meet him. First of all, he also has an MBA in tax issues. Secondly, he is incredibly accessible. I've received scary notices from the IRS which freaked me out, but have never seen him panic. He just handles everything with calm and it all works out. He knows all of the ins-and-outs of dealing with taxes. He even helped me through our incorporation process. He is incredibly knowledgable, smart, nice and relaxed. I've happily referred many, many people to him. read more

Lee has been my accountant for both my family's personal taxes as well as my business taxes (consulting company, S-Corp) for the past 3-4 years. He was extremely helpful in helping set up my business, coaching me on using Quickbooks, and answering many questions above and beyond what I thought an accountant usually does. He is very quick to respond to all my requests (and I am a bit needy), and very professional. I would (and do) recommend Lee, especially for small business owner/operators. read more

We are an arts non-profit on the San Francisco peninsula. Lee has been doing our annual audit for several years now. He is meticulous, professional as can be, well informed and very ethical, and we all feel we can interact with him without any reservations. The result is a better product with minimum aggravation, and he delivers everything on time, every time. We are very satisfied with his work and recommend him highly. read more

Lee does have a lot of clients, but I have found him very good at answering questions over email. I have not used him very long, but his email responses are very informative and he's been a great help to me. I think the previous comment must be taken in the light of a very stressful day perhaps. He gives lectures on tax at the SBA, at the end of the day he knows his stuff. I have recommended him to friends. read more

Lee has been my tax accountant for over 15 years. He has earned my continued business through the effectiveness of his work on my returns. I am so convinced of his thoroughness; I rest assured when referring new clients to him. James de Tomasi, Insurance and Financial Services 1750 Montgomery Street San Francisco, CA 94111 (415) 773-5377 jim@detomasi.com www.detomasi.com read more

I have had the opportunity to have Lee as my CPA for over 24 years. He is very professional and the very best at what he does. His passion, attention to detail, forward thinking and understanding of the tax codes puts me at ease as we enter tax time. He handles both my business and personal returns. In three words - simply the best! read more