Bookkeeping for Consulting & Professional Service Firms
You're billing $2M annually, but you honestly can't answer whether you made money on the Henderson project. Your QuickBooks shows revenue and expenses, but there's no clean view of which clients consumed the most contractor hours, which projects went over budget, or how overhead should be allocated across 14 active engagements.
We specialize in project-based accounting for Bay Area consulting firms, creative agencies, and professional service businesses. From revenue recognition and job costing to partner distribution clarity and CPA coordination, we transform project complexity into financial visibility.
Mike Hecker personally conducts every consultation to understand your billing model and project structure, then matches you with a bookkeeper who specializes in professional services.
What We Handle
Project-level P&Ls showing true profitability by engagement
Revenue recognition for retainers, milestones, and hourly billing
Job costing with labor and contractor allocation
Overhead distribution across projects
Clean financials that don't require you to change how you work
Project-Based Financial Management:
Partnership & Tax Coordination:
Partner distribution calculations with clear documentation
Multi-member LLC and S-corp accounting
Contractor vs. employee classification and 1099 management
CPA-ready financial statements
Why Service Firms Choose Us
We Speak Professional Services: We understand retainer accounting, milestone revenue recognition, utilization rates, and the complexity of allocating contractor costs across concurrent projects. Your business model isn't a puzzle to us.
Project-Level Visibility: You'll get P&Ls for each engagement showing revenue minus direct labor, contractor costs, and allocated overhead. Finally answer "did we actually make money on this project?"
Partnership Clarity: Transparent distribution calculations that all partners can understand and trust. Remove the financial ambiguity that corrodes relationships.
CPA Coordination: We deliver reports in the format your tax accountant needs, making year-end preparation smooth instead of chaotic.
Tool Flexibility: We work with various time tracking and project management systems. You don't need to change your workflow.
Month-to-Month Service: No long-term contracts. You stay because the work is excellent and the insights are valuable.
Common Questions
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We set up your accounting to match your actual billing structure. Retainer clients are recognized monthly based on service delivery. Milestone projects use percentage-of-completion or specific milestone achievement. Hourly work is recognized as invoiced. You'll see exactly what's earned versus what's billed versus what's collected.
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Yes. We set up job costing so every project shows its revenue, direct labor costs (based on your time tracking), contractor expenses, and allocated overhead. You'll see which types of projects are actually profitable and which ones consume resources without adequate margin.
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We structure your books to track each partner's contributions and create transparent distribution calculations. Whether you split equally, by ownership percentage, by billable hours, or a hybrid model, we'll document it clearly so everyone understands how distributions are determined.
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Usually not. We work with various time tracking systems, project management platforms, and can integrate that data into your financial reporting. We focus on delivering the insights you need regardless of what tools you're currently using.
"As a business strategy consultant, I've worked with a number of bookkeepers over the years. MH Consulting and Bookkeeping is one of the best I've ever encountered. What truly sets MH apart is their understanding of small business. Most bookkeepers just prepare the books for taxes with little understanding of the client's business. MH goes far beyond that. Mike and his team truly care about their clients, take the time to understand their goals, and present financial information in ways that actually help you make informed business decisions."
Ready to Know Your Numbers?
Let's discuss your firm's billing model and how we can deliver the project-level visibility you need.