Sean and Crystal Stapleton, owners of Balanced Books Bookkeeping and Consulting, had their official downtown grand opening Tuesday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and reception at their new location, 331 E. Main St.

Balanced Books offers bookkeeping, payroll, sales tax, 1099s, and business property tax statements.

“We don't do income tax returns,” said Crystal Stapleton. “And we don’t sell novels.”

About 75 guests attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony, which was co-hosted by the Turlock Chamber of Commerce. New executive director Allie Jeffery and former interim executive director Gina Blom were on hand to assist with the large white ribbon and oversized scissors.

The Stapleton kids — 13-year-old Cadence and soon-to-be 11-year-old Colin — pitched in to stretch the ribbon as Crystal snipped it into two pieces.

A jazz ensemble from Stanislaus State — Journey Poe (tenor saxophone), Noble Everett (keyboards, banjo), Lila Bracket (drums), Riley McCord (flugelhorn), and Cyrus Elia (bass) — was on hand to entertain guests who mingled while enjoying wine and hors d’oeuvres.

Balanced Books has been in business for 11 years, operating on West Main Street before moving to a location on Geer Road. The business, which employs 16, returned downtown in October, and has been ramping up for the grand opening since.

“We just didn’t have any room to grow,” said Sean Stapleton, a native of Indiana. “All the cubicles we had were full. We even took a conference room and divided it to make two more cubicles."

Balanced Books is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.