About
Founded in 2017 by Renee Castellanos. Two blocks from the 2100 South bridge, with the Wasatch out the window and ninety-two owner-run businesses on the monthly calendar.
Owner to owner
I ran the books for a family restaurant group for nine years. Three locations, sixty staff, a CPA we saw once a year and a shoebox we handed him every February. I knew the feeling of finding out in April what we should have known in September, because I was the one who found it. I opened Summit & Pine in 2017 to be the bookkeeper I wished we had had: someone five minutes away, on a calendar, who could say what it cost before you called.
We are six people now. We are not a CPA firm, and we say so on every page, because the owners we work for have been burned by people who were vague about what they did. We keep the books, run the payroll, file the Utah returns, and hand your CPA a clean file in January. That is the whole job, and we are good at it.
Renee Castellanos, Founder
Every client, every month
Every client sees the same month. It is the thing we are most proud of.
Payroll dates follow your pay cycle; the rest is the same for every client.
The people
Renee, Jess, Amari and Kenji are the people you will deal with. Two more bookkeepers behind them keep the closes on time in the busy months.
Founder and Lead Bookkeeper
Renee ran the books for a family restaurant group for nine years before opening Summit & Pine in 2017. She still reviews every monthly close before it goes out on the 10th, and she is the person who calls you back after you send the form.
Monthly close review, catch-up scoping, the CPA handoff.
Payroll Lead
Jess runs every payroll on the calendar and files every Utah return that comes with it: TC-941E withholding, Department of Workforce Services wage reports, new-hire reports and W-2s. She answers the payday support line.
Payroll runs, Utah withholding and unemployment filings, W-2s and 1099s.
Staff Bookkeeper, Catch-Up and Cleanup
Amari rebuilds books that are months or years behind, one month at a time, and writes the summary that goes to the CPA when the last month is closed.
Catch-up rebuilds, cleanup of messy files, the first three monthly closes for new clients.
Systems Lead
Kenji sets up QuickBooks Online or Xero, connects the bank feeds and the point-of-sale, and makes sure the numbers land in the right place without anyone retyping them.
QuickBooks Online and Xero setup, bank and POS feeds, app connections.
Not a CPA firm
In your first month we call your CPA, agree the chart of accounts and the January handoff date, and ask what they wish their clients' bookkeepers did differently. Then we do that. The file they receive in January is reconciled through December 31, with the schedules and a cover note. If you do not have a CPA, we introduce you to one of the three Salt Lake firms we work with, and you choose.
Sugar House
Suite 204 at 1250 East 2100 South is a converted brick building with tall windows and a view of Mount Olympus. Parking is behind the building. Most clients never need to come in, and for those in the valley, Renee comes to you for the first meeting, usually to your own counter with a printed summary and two coffees.
1250 East 2100 South, Suite 204, Salt Lake City, UT 84106
Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 5:00 pm
Next step
Three details in the form, or one call. Renee calls back within one business day.