PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
Our team handles the financial side so you can master your profession.
Your expertise is what you sell. Let’s make sure it’s making you money.
Accounting built for professional service businesses
Whether you’re running an agency, a consulting practice, a creative studio, a law firm or other professional services firm, your business runs on time, talent, and relationships. The financial side of a professional service business has its own quirks: project margins that are hard to see clearly, cash flow that doesn’t always match your revenue, and a tax picture that changes as you grow.
At Lange Accounting, we work with professional service businesses as a true outsourced finance team, not just someone who shows up at tax time. We learn your business, track the numbers that matter, and help you turn what you do into what you actually keep.
The Challenge
The financial side of a professional service business is trickier than it looks
Professional service businesses don’t have inventory or equipment to point to—your product is your people and your expertise. That makes the financial picture harder to read and easier to get wrong:
• Not knowing which clients, projects, or services are actually profitable
• Cash flow that’s lumpy and unpredictable, especially with retainers, milestone billing, or seasonal slowdowns
• Tax obligations that grow in complexity as your revenue, team, and entity structure evolve
• Pricing and packaging decisions that feel like guesswork without good financial data to back them up
• Books that fall behind when you’re focused on delivering work, and catch up at the worst possible time
The Solution
Your outsourced finance team, without the overhead
Lange Accounting steps in as the financial partner your professional service business needs, but probably isn’t big enough to hire full-time. We keep your books clean, your taxes planned, and your numbers working for you:
• We track client and project profitability so you know where your time and money are actually going
• We build tax strategies around the deductions and entity structures that make the most sense for service businesses
• We help you make smarter decisions around hiring, pricing, distributions, and growth
• We stay on top of things all year, so nothing piles up and nothing surprises you
You run the business. We’ll run the numbers.
Everything you need, so you can get back to the work you love
You started your business to do great work, not to think about payroll and quarterly taxes. Here’s how Lange handles the financial side, start to finish.
Outsourced Accounting
Bookkeeping, tax prep, payroll, and notice handling—all taken care of, on time, every month. We keep your books clean and your financials current, so you’re never flying blind when it matters most.
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Business Foundation Services
From choosing the right entity structure to setting up cloud-based accounting systems that integrate with your time tracking and invoicing tools, we build the financial infrastructure your business needs to grow without the chaos.
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Business Management Services
Our Virtual CFO and cash management services give you the strategic visibility to make good decisions, whether you’re thinking about a new hire, adjusting your pricing, or planning what you want the next few years to look like.
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Services built around how your business works
Professional service businesses have their own financial rhythms, and so does the accounting that supports them. Here’s a closer look at the specialty services we offer.
- Tax compliance & planning
- Bookkeeping & month-end close
- Profitability & pricing
- Systems & KPIs
- Growth & hiring advisory
- Cleanup, catch-up & special projects
Good tax planning is year-round work, not a year-end scramble.
Tax for service businesses involves more nuance than most owners expect, and more opportunity than most general accountants capture. We handle all of it:
• Business and personal tax preparation for sole proprietors, LLCs, and S corps, including multi-state filing for businesses with remote staff or out-of-state clients
• Entity optimization and owner compensation planning—reasonable salary versus distributions—to keep your tax liability in check
• Maximizing deductions common to service businesses: software, travel, subcontractors, home office, and more
• Sales tax guidance where services are taxable, including SaaS, digital products, and certain specialized services
Clean books every month, not just when tax season forces the issue.
When you’re focused on client work, bookkeeping is easy to let slide. We make sure it doesn’t:
• Ongoing bookkeeping tuned to service firms, with clean categorizations and reconciliations every month
• Structured month-end close including accruals, prepaids, work-in-progress, and revenue cut-off
• Accounts payable and receivable support, such as invoicing, payment follow-up, and vendor bill processing
• Simple, readable management reports that tell you what’s actually going on in your business
Know which clients and services are worth your time, and which aren’t
The biggest financial blind spot for most service businesses is not knowing where the money is really coming from. We help you see it clearly:
• Client and project profitability analysis comparing effective hourly rates, project margins, and retainer value
• Identification of which services, clients, and channels are driving profit, and which are quietly draining it
• Pricing and packaging advisory backed by your own financial history: hourly versus fixed-fee versus value-based, retainer structures, and scope creep controls
• Cash flow forecasting that accounts for lumpy revenue, seasonal patterns, and planned hires or marketing investments
The right tools and the right metrics make everything easier.
Most service businesses are underusing the financial data they already have. We help you set it up right and actually use it:
• Setup and optimization of cloud accounting tools integrated with your time tracking, invoicing, and CRM systems
• KPI design tailored to service businesses: utilization, realization rates, client concentration, recurring revenue, and owner compensation as a share of revenue
• Budgeting and goal-setting that translates annual plans into monthly targets for revenue, margin, and operating expenses
• Management dashboards that give you a fast, accurate read on how the business is performing
Grow intentionally—not just because you’re busy.
Adding people and capacity is exciting, but it changes your financial picture significantly. We help you think it through before you commit:
• Modeling when and whether to hire employees versus contractors, and what you can realistically afford
• Analysis of how a new hire changes your margins, your owner take-home, and your cash flow
• Owner-level advisory on how much to distribute versus reinvest, and how to build personal reserves and retirement alongside growing the business
• Strategic planning support as you move from founder-led delivery to a scalable service model
Behind on your books? We’ve seen it before. Let’s fix it.
Life happens, and sometimes the books fall behind. We help you get back on track—and stay there:
• Historical bookkeeping cleanup so you can file past-due returns, apply for financing, or get a clear picture of where things stand
• M&A and exit preparation: normalizing earnings, building add-back schedules, and preparing financial packages for buyers or investors
• Project-based help for systems migrations, revenue recognition changes, or building your first real financial dashboard
• One-time or ongoing engagements, whatever your situation calls for
FAQs
What kinds of professional service businesses do you work with?
We work with a wide range of professional service businesses: agencies, consultants, attorneys, creatives, coaches, professional services firms, and trades. If your business sells time, expertise, or a recurring service, we’re set up to help.
How do I know if my pricing is right?
Most service business owners set prices based on gut feel or what competitors charge, not on what their own numbers actually support. We analyze your client and project profitability to show you what your time is really worth and where your pricing may need to change.
What’s the difference between an LLC and an S corporation, and which is right for me?
An LLC is usually the right starting point, as it protects your personal assets and keeps your finances clean. An S corporation election can reduce your self-employment tax burden once your income reaches a certain level, but it comes with added complexity. We run the numbers for your specific situation and give you a straight answer.
Can you help me figure out when I can afford to hire someone?
Yes, and this is one of the most common questions we get from growing service businesses. We model the financial impact of adding a new team member—what it does to your margins, your cash flow, and your own take-home—so you can make the decision with confidence.
My books are a mess. Can you still help?
Absolutely. Cleanup is one of our specialties. We’ll go back through your records, get everything reconciled and categorized correctly, and get you back on solid footing, whether you need to file
How do you handle cash flow for a business with irregular income?
We build cash flow forecasts that account for the actual patterns in your business, such as lumpy retainers, seasonal slowdowns, project-based revenue, and help you set up reserves and budgets that hold up even in slow months.
Let’s make your business as profitable as it is busy
You’ve put a lot into building what you have. Let’s make sure the numbers reflect that. Get in touch today and find out what Lange Accounting can do for your professional service business.