District Six supervisor candidate Sonja Trauss is blaming her accountants for an error that is keeping her from participating in San Francisco’s public financing program, which would have funneled up to $155,000 into her campaign.

This program helps eligible candidates offset campaign costs by matching their contributions up to a certain amount. LeAnn Pelham, executive director of the Ethics Commission, notified Trauss last month that she was ineligible for the program because she did not file her intent to participate in time.

Trauss will appeal this decision at the July 20 Ethics Commission meeting.

Appearing before the commission after receiving Pelham’s letter last month, Trauss said the delay was caused by a simple administrative mistake her accountants made and that she should not be punished for it. She said her accountants have “never done this before,” and they are “using a different software.”

Trauss’ accountant is Shawnda Deane, president of Deane & Co., a Sacramento firm that helps political campaigns with day-to-day fiscal operations, such as filing disclosure reports. Deane’s biography states that her experience dates to 1994. Deane’s company was also affiliated with Progress San Francisco, the super PAC that supported Mayor-elect London Breed’s campaign.

“You have to ask her,” Trauss said, when asked how such a mistake was made. “She said that she had never done this before, and I didn’t realize that was something we were supposed to do.”

Deane could not be reached for comment Monday.

Trauss’ campaign sent in the Qualifying Request — supporting documents for the matching campaign funds — before the deadline. But she became ineligible for the program because she sent the Statement of Participation or Non-Participation on June 14, two days after the deadline.

Her attorney, former Ethics Commission acting director Jesse Mainardi, argues that sending in the Qualifying Request on time should be enough to prove that the candidate plans to participate in the program.

“This was an administrative error, and we think that in looking at the facts, the Ethics Commission will decide that Sonja is entitled to participate in the program,” he said.

Trauss said the nature of this mistake demonstrates a larger problem within the Ethics Commission’s process.

“It’s outrageous,” she said. “The point of this program is not supposed to be so complicated and difficult that even someone who does this full time for their job can’t figure it out.”

Trauss is campaigning to replace termed-out District Six Supervisor Jane Kim in November. Her competitors for the District Six seat, Matt Haney and Christine Johnson, both filed their paperwork by the deadline.

According to Pelham of the Ethics Commission, other candidates in November’s supervisors race who filed a statement to participate after the deadline were Uzuri Pease-Greene for District 10, and Arthur Tom, Li Miao Lovett and Trevor McNeil for District Four. District Two candidate John Dennis did not file a statement of participation, Pelham said. Tom and McNeil are also appealing.

— Trisha Thadani

Email: cityinsider@sfchronicle.com, tthadani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfcityinsider @TrishaThadani