Hourly Bookkeeping Rates

Reviewing your net sales finances is not an annual event completed at tax time! You need to keep a pulse on your numbers to know if your business is healthy. To accurately bill your clients, you need to track the time of multiple employees, each at a different billable rate, when you have a team working on a case. There is a science to figuring out how much you should charge your clients. Our expert CFOs can help figure out a strong bill rate for each level of staff in your firm so you can ensure that every case will result in a profit. Hiring an accountant costs $150 to $400 per hour on average, depending on their experience.

Why Partner With Accounting for Law

Most often they’re a small group of accountants or bookkeepers that serve a local geography, Accounting for Churches often with an additional team overseas. I work a maximum of 20 hours per month on this particular client’s books and charge $1,000 a month. I do not offer full-service payroll as a bookkeeper, and I don’t do payroll in QuickBooks, but my clients have a payroll service they use.

Amount and Type of Transactions

Law firm accounting must be tightly calibrated to properly manage retainers. We will be your knowledgeable and practiced partner to make sure you stay in compliance and treat your clients right. Bookkeeping deals primarily with handling the financial records of a business and preparing financial statements.

R&D Tax Credit

But, when it comes to using the data that a bookkeeper records to help your firm (by tasks like preparing financial statements, financial forecasting, and capturing expenses), you need an accountant. Just as your clients rely on your expertise with the law, there comes a point when you need to call in accounting professionals. Whether it means using legal accounting software to simplify and automate your accounting, hiring a professional legal accountant, or both—don’t be afraid to delegate when you need to.

Experienced bookkeepers will know how to streamline processes and offer practical solutions that fit your firm’s scale. A monthly bookkeeping retainer should offer far more than categorization and reconciliations. For law firms, bookkeeping must also support compliance, decision-making, and growth — all while using systems built specifically for legal operations. By prioritizing meticulous financial record-keeping, law firms can ensure their long-term success while upholding the ethical standards expected in the legal profession. This foundation not only supports operational efficiency but also contributes to the firm’s legacy of trust and reliability in the eyes of clients and the community alike.

• You can connect with a licensed CPA or EA who can file your business tax returns.
• Trying to save money on bookkeeping might seem smart — until it threatens your entire practice.
• IOLTA accounts are designed to keep client funds separate from your typical business or operating account—where you are allowed to accrue interest.
• Essentially, we get a lump sum of money, and we want to categorize it to see how much each class is making.
• By closely monitoring accounts receivable diligently, firms can ensure timely follow-ups on outstanding invoices, which is essential for maintaining positive cash flow.
• By using sound bookkeeping practices to keep accurate records and consistently review the firm’s financial statements on a monthly or weekly basis, you’ll see your firm’s true financial picture.

• First, let’s review typical accounting and bookkeeping functions that need to happen regularly so you can make sure you’ve got these covered.
• They can use your financial data to understand what it tells you about your business.
• Your bookkeeper goes into your accounting software regularly (at least weekly) and records all the money coming in and all the money going out so that it appears in the correct place.
• Bookkeepers also look at what others in their field are charging.

As Certified Smokeball Consultants, we transform your practice management software into a powerful financial tool. We’ll optimize your Smokeball setup to streamline billing, automate workflows, and drive firm profitability. With this guide, you’ll understand key financial concepts, financial levers affecting your business, best practices for billing and collecting money, and how to manage and outsource financial work. Follow these rules and keep track of client funds every day to ensure you don’t cross any lines that can cause your firm serious problems. In today’s world, it is easy to find and use a virtual bookkeeping service. Also, many outsourced companies are now offering a team approach where you get the benefit of their bookkeeper, controller, and outsourced CFO for higher-level financial analysis.

Your best bet is likely to hire both a legal bookkeeper and a legal accountant. Accounting for law firms lets you collect and analyze information, and make data-driven decisions based on what money comes in and leaves your firm, so it’s worth it to pay attention. Every law firm legal accounting services has a responsibility to stay compliant with ethics regulations, and your firm is no exception. Ethics rules vary in each jurisdiction, but there are definitely some basics when it comes to accounting for law firms.

Double entry accounting is a helpful practice for lawyers to know about, as it provides an extra guard against errors. While the chart of accounts is customized to your law firm’s size, jurisdiction, and practice area, it typically includes five core categories in addition to numerous subcategories. Although bookkeeping is a universally important corporate function, geographical circumstances also play a role.

Accountants who bill by the hour appreciate the task and project planning capabilities TimeSolv offers. Easily breaking your business down per user, client, task, frequency, and more, means bringing new clarity to your work. Taxes are incredibly complex, so we may not have been able to answer your question in the article.