Professional Services
Trust accounting, project billing, and books that stay current so you can focus on billable work instead of chasing receipts.
The Industry
Professional services firms sell expertise and time. Law firms bill hourly or on retainer. Architects and engineers scope projects and bill against milestones. Surveyors price per job based on complexity and parcel size. In every case, the product is knowledge and the accounting has to reflect how that knowledge gets converted into revenue. Retainers received up front aren’t income yet. Billable hours logged today might not get collected for 60 or 90 days. Project fees billed in stages need tracking against the original scope and any change orders that come up along the way.
For attorneys specifically, there is an added layer that most bookkeepers have never dealt with. IOLTA accounts (Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts) hold client funds that do not belong to the firm until they are earned. Every dollar in that account needs to be tracked to a specific client. Every disbursement needs documentation. The Florida Bar does not treat trust account mismanagement as an honest mistake. Commingling client funds with operating funds, even accidentally, can lead to disciplinary action, suspension, or disbarment. This is one area of accounting where “I’ll sort it out later” is genuinely dangerous.
Who This Covers
Who This Covers
Law firms, solo attorneys, architecture firms, engineering practices, land surveyors, and similar professional practices in Jacksonville and Northeast Florida. Any firm where billable time and specialized knowledge are the primary sources of revenue.
What Makes It Complex
What Makes It Complex
IOLTA trust accounting with three-way reconciliation requirements for law firms. Retainer management where funds received are not yet earned income. Project-based billing against scopes that shift with change orders. Accounts receivable that age because clients delay payment on large invoices. 1099 obligations for expert witnesses, subcontracted engineers, or outside consultants. Multiple revenue streams that need to be tracked separately for any of this to make sense.
What We Handle
For law firms, we handle the trust accounting that keeps you compliant with Florida Bar rules. That means reconciling your IOLTA account every month with a three-way reconciliation between the bank statement, the book balance, and the individual client ledger balances. Every retainer deposit gets tracked to the right client. Every disbursement is documented. When funds are earned, they move to the operating account with a clear paper trail. You should never have to wonder whether your trust account is in order.
For all professional services firms, we handle the monthly bookkeeping that tends to fall behind when every free hour could be spent on billable work. Transaction categorization, bank and credit card reconciliation, and financial reporting that actually tells you something useful. We track revenue by client or project so you can see where your income comes from and which work is most profitable. Accounts receivable gets monitored so unpaid invoices don’t quietly age past the point of collection. And if your books are behind by months or years, we get them caught up first and then keep them current going forward.
Trust Account Management
Trust Account Management
Monthly IOLTA reconciliation with three-way balancing. Client ledger maintenance showing deposits, disbursements, and current balances for every matter. Clean documentation so when the Florida Bar requests records, everything is organized and ready. Separation of trust and operating accounts with proper tracking of earned fee transfers.
Operational Bookkeeping and Reporting
Operational Bookkeeping and Reporting
Monthly bookkeeping with revenue tracked by client or project. Accounts receivable monitoring to catch aging invoices before they become collection problems. 1099 preparation for subcontractors and outside experts. Catch-up bookkeeping to bring months or years of backlog current. QuickBooks Online setup and configuration built for how professional services firms actually operate.
What Goes Wrong
Trust account problems develop slowly and then surface all at once. A lawyer deposits a retainer into IOLTA, starts working the case, and transfers earned fees to the operating account as work progresses. Except the transfers don’t happen on a consistent schedule. Sometimes funds get moved before the work is technically completed. Sometimes operating expenses accidentally get paid from the trust account. Nobody reconciles the account for three months, and by then the individual client ledgers don’t match the bank balance. Sorting it out takes hours. And if the Florida Bar audits during that window, the consequences are real and immediate.
Beyond trust accounting, the broader problem across all professional services is that the books fall behind because the work always takes priority. An architect billing $175 an hour isn’t going to spend a Saturday afternoon reconciling bank statements. An engineer managing three active projects doesn’t have the bandwidth to chase down expense receipts. So the bookkeeping piles up. Tax season arrives and everything has to be reconstructed from scratch. Deductions get missed. Quarterly estimates are either ignored entirely or based on numbers that are months out of date. You end up paying more in taxes than you owe or getting hit with penalties for underpayment.
Trust Account Violations
Trust Account Violations
Client funds commingled with operating funds because the transfers weren’t tracked properly. IOLTA balances that don’t reconcile to individual client ledgers. Earned fees sitting in trust for months because nobody moved them. Or worse, funds moved to operating before they were earned. The Florida Bar treats all of these as serious violations regardless of intent.
Books That Fall Further Behind
Books That Fall Further Behind
Every month you skip the bookkeeping, it gets harder to catch up. Transactions pile up. Receipts disappear. By the time tax season hits, you’re looking at a full year of unreconciled accounts and your CPA can’t file until the books are done. Professionals who bill for their time understand the cost of an hour better than anyone, but still spend evenings and weekends trying to do their own accounting instead of handing it off.
What Changes
Trust accounts get reconciled every month without exception. Client ledgers balance to the penny. When the Florida Bar requests documentation, you hand over organized records instead of scrambling to reconstruct them. The low-grade anxiety that comes with knowing your trust account might not be perfectly clean goes away. It is clean, and you can prove it.
Your operating books stay current month to month. You can see which practice areas or project types are generating the best margins. Aging receivables get flagged early so you can follow up while the invoice is still fresh. Your CPA gets clean books at year-end and your tax return gets filed without the usual delay. If you came to us with a year or two of backlog, that gets resolved first. Then we keep it from ever piling up again. You stop spending your non-billable hours on accounting and spend them on the work that actually requires your expertise.
Trust Compliance Without the Stress
Trust Compliance Without the Stress
Monthly three-way reconciliation completed and documented. Client ledger balances verified against the bank statement every single month. Clean records ready for any Bar inquiry or audit. You practice law knowing your trust account is handled properly by someone who understands the requirements and takes them as seriously as you do.
Current Books and Real Financial Visibility
Current Books and Real Financial Visibility
Monthly financial statements that reflect reality. Revenue tracked by client or project so you know what types of work are most profitable. Receivables monitored so nothing slips through. Books ready for your CPA well before the filing deadline. Backlog cleared and a system in place to keep everything current. Your evenings and weekends go back to being yours.
The First Coast's Trusted Bookkeeping Partner
The Next Step:
A Free Discovery Call
Tell us where things stand with your books. Whether you're months behind or just looking for reliable bookkeeping going forward, we'll give you an honest assessment and a clear price.