Professional services accounting for law firms, agencies and consultants.

Yes, we report margin by project and by client every month. Fees are set against staff time, freelancer costs and direct expenses for each job. Overhead can be spread across projects, so margin shows the full cost of delivery. Many agencies and consultants see for the first time which work really pays.

Yes, we collect W-9s as freelancers start and prepare 1099-NECs each January. For payments made in 2026 onward, the 1099-NEC threshold is $2,000 a year, up from $600. Payments made in 2025 still use the $600 rule. We track totals per contractor all year, so the right people get a form.

We count retainer revenue as the work is done, not when the client pays. A retainer paid in advance sits in deferred revenue and is released as you deliver. A monthly retainer for ongoing service usually belongs to the month it covers. That follows ASC 606, the U.S. revenue standard. Unusual terms get flagged for your CPA.

Yes, we report billable utilization by person and by practice area each month. Utilization is billable hours divided by the hours someone was available. We take hours from your time tool and set them against capacity. Seeing it monthly makes hiring and pricing calls far easier.

Yes, we work with solo consultants and with agencies of 50 or more people. The method is the same at every size: time tied to fees, and margin by client. The setup grows with you. The fee is flat and based on your size and complexity, so a small practice does not pay for work it does not need. Obsidian Media, a five-person marketing agency in New York, is one example. We took over its books, its bills and its client payments.

Professional services accounting is bookkeeping for businesses that sell expertise and time, such as law firms, agencies, consultancies and architects. It adds what a standard ledger lacks. That means hours tied to invoices, margin by project, and work in progress and retainers booked as earned. Partnerships also need draws and guaranteed payments recorded properly.

Yes, law firm accounting follows the same method as our other professional services work, plus client trust accounts. Bookkeeping for law firms ties time and billing to fees, and unbilled time is booked as WIP. Costs you advance on client matters are tracked apart from fee revenue. Trust rules and bar compliance stay with your attorneys.

We reconcile each client trust account every month and keep it apart from operating funds. The bank balance, the trust ledger and the sum of client balances are checked against each other. Any gap is flagged to you in the same month. Your state bar sets the rules, and your attorneys decide how trust money is handled.

It depends on whether you act as principal or agent for that spend under ASC 606. If you control the media before it reaches the client, you are usually the principal and book it gross. If you only arrange it, you are an agent and book just your fee. We apply the policy your CPA sets, the same way each month.

Work in progress, or WIP, is work you have done but not yet billed. For a consultant, that means logged hours and costs on open jobs at month end. We value it at your billing rates, less any write-downs you expect. It sits on the balance sheet as unbilled receivables until the invoice goes out.

Draws reduce a partner's capital account, while guaranteed payments are an expense of the partnership. A guaranteed payment is a fixed amount paid for a partner's services, whatever the profit. It is reported on Form 1065 and on each partner's Schedule K-1. We code both the same way every month and keep capital accounts current.

Professional fees are what you pay outside experts, such as lawyers, accountants and consultants, recorded as an operating expense. For your business, the fees you charge clients are revenue instead. We keep the two apart, and we split rebilled costs from both. That keeps your margin figure honest.

Most small agencies and consultancies run QuickBooks Online or Xero, with Harvest, Toggl or Clockify for time. Many law firms track time and billing in Clio. Larger practices may add a PSA tool such as Productive or Kantata. PSA stands for professional services automation. We work inside the tools you already have and pull reports from them. Nobody has to change how they log time.

We charge a flat monthly rate based on your headcount, client count, billing model and entities. It does not change as projects open and close, and there is no setup fee. The written price reaches you within 24 hours of the call. If past months need work, that cleanup is quoted on its own.