Steve Ghirardo received a Bachelor of Arts in History from Stanford University in 1980, and then received his Masters in Business Administration from the University of California at Berkeley in 1982. He was recognized by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants for performance with high distinction for placing within the top 120 scores in the country of the 70,000 individuals taking the uniform CPA examination in November of 1982. Steve also received the Elijah Watt Sells award from the AICPA.

In 1992, Steve earned a Masters in Taxation degree from Golden Gate University in San Francisco, receiving the “Outstanding Student Award” upon his graduation, being ranked as the top student in the tax department.

Steve and his brother Jerry founded Ghirardo CPA in 1990 as a successor firm to their father’s CPA practice. Since that time, Ghirardo CPA has grown to be the largest CPA practice in Marin County. Ghirardo CPA has been a proud recipient of the North Bay Business Journals Best Places to Work award, every year since the award's inception.

In addition to Ghirardo CPA Steve is the founder and President of Ghirardo Real Estate Group, specializing in real estate consulting, brokerage, investment services and 1031 tax deferred exchange consulting. 

Steve is a long-time member of the Novato Rotary and the Novato Rotary Endowment, and served as the Endowment’s Treasurer for nearly a decade. He has also served on the Board of Directors for Circle Bank.

Steve and his wife Michelle have raised four kids in their hometown of Novato. He has a love for sports and community and through the years has coached a number of his kids’ sports teams. In 2007 Steve was inducted into the Marin County Sports Hall of Fame for his high school sports achievements.