How we think about professional services
A professional services firm makes its margin on utilisation, not on inventory. The books need to reflect that — work-in-progress, unbilled time, retainer balances, project profitability — not just revenue and expense. We set up your ledger so that the monthly P&L tells you the truth about which engagements are paying for themselves and which are quietly draining the bench.
What makes the books different
- Retainer liability accounts that properly defer revenue until the work is performed
- Project or matter-level tracking when you need to see profitability by engagement
- Work-in-progress and unbilled time balances tied back to the time-tracking system
- Trust accounting referrals for law firms (we coordinate; the trust account itself stays with a specialist)
What a monthly close looks like for you
Each month we reconcile the operating and corporate accounts, match retainer drawdowns to invoices, post adjustments for deferred revenue, and reconcile the payroll and contractor spend. You receive a monthly package — P&L, balance sheet, cash position, plus a note on anything that changed materially from the prior month — by the 10th of the following month. The same monthly bookkeeping rhythm keeps the books audit-ready through the year.
Tools we commonly use for professional services clients
QuickBooks Online or Xero as the ledger. Clio, PracticePanther, or Harvest for time-tracking and invoicing, depending on your stack. Dext for receipt capture, Plooto for accounts payable, Wagepoint for payroll. We configure the integrations once and let them run.
Partners we work with
We work alongside a short list of Vancouver CPAs who handle year-end corporate tax for our professional services clients, and we coordinate with practice-management consultants when a firm is thinking about shifting its billing model. Our year-end preparation package is built so your CPA opens a clean set of working papers, not a pile of reconciliations. If you already have a CPA, we fit in. If you do not, we are glad to make an introduction.
A good fit if
- You bill by retainer, project, or hour, and your books need to reflect the distinction
- You have between two and thirty staff and need financial clarity without a controller on payroll
- You want to understand which engagements are profitable, not just your revenue total