01
Firm margin, watched monthly
What the firm keeps from every billed dollar, and what a delivered hour truly costs, visible monthly instead of discovered at tax time.
Industries · Professional Services · Washington
Your billable hour has a cost. Most firms have never calculated it.
Attorneys, consultants, agencies, and design firms. You bill expertise by the hour or the project, and your profit lives in the gap between what you bill and what a delivered hour truly costs.
What you get
What professional firms get from us
02
The utilization conversation
Billable ratios and realization against the truest cost of your team, so rate increases stop being guesses.
03
Owner compensation strategy
Salary versus distributions structured for tax efficiency, with reasonable compensation analysis for S-corp partners.
04
Clean trust and retainer handling
Client funds, retainers, and unearned revenue recorded correctly, which some professions do not get to treat as optional.
The rhythm
Patterns we fix in professional firms
pricing
Rates set by the market, costs unknown
Firms match competitor rates without knowing their own delivered-hour cost. We calculate it; the pricing conversation changes immediately.
cash
Great year, empty account
Long receivable cycles plus healthy draws equal cash stress in profitable firms. Receivables aging and a cash calendar fix the visibility half.
growth
The first non-billable hire
Admin and operations hires change your overhead math. We show what utilization must hold for the hire to pay.
taxes
Partner tax surprises
Pass-through income, quarterly estimates, and state obligations projected during the year, so no partner gets ambushed in April.
Straight answers
Questions owners actually ask
What does accounting cost for a professional services firm?
The Core Package starts at $750 per month flat, covering bookkeeping, payroll, tax planning and preparation, and advisory. Firms with multiple partners or trust accounting scope higher; the number is written down before we start.
What does switching accountants mid-year look like?
Cleaner than most owners fear. We collect access to your books and payroll, do the catch-up and cleanup in onboarding, and nothing lapses: filings, payroll runs, and estimates keep their dates. Most of the work is ours, not yours.
We already have a bookkeeper. What would you add?
Nothing bolts on, and that is deliberate. Advice is only as good as the books underneath it, so we do not layer advisory on top of another bookkeeper's work. The Core Package is one piece: bookkeeping, payroll, tax, and advice from the same team that closes your months. If keeping your current bookkeeper matters more, we are probably not the right fit, and we will say so on the first call.
Do you understand trust accounting rules?
We keep client funds and retainers correctly separated and recorded, and we work alongside your bar or professional association requirements. For attorneys, your trust account reconciliation is treated as non-negotiable, because it is.
Find out what your billable hour really costs
Bring us 30 minutes and your latest financials or tax return. No pitch deck, no obligation.
From the Learning Center
Keep reading: bookkeeping
Our clients' reviews
Here is what they say about working with us
I have been doing business with Caro & Associates for about 2 years now; personal and business account and I have wonderful things to say. First of all, they have saved me tons of money, I finally found an accounting company that won't overcharge me and will follow the rules to the "T". Secondly, their customer service is amazing, the Owner Jose Caro came to meet me several times and answer all my questions. The key to a great relationship with any professional is communication, whether it is an email or a phone call they are very timely when it comes to responding. I was so impressed with the service I began to refer my clients and every one of them has been just as pleased.
I’ve been working with Jose, owner of Caro & Associates for a few years now. Jose is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to tax preparation and planning. I highly recommend Jose and his team. They’re dedicated to providing the highest level of customer service. In addition, I have referred most of my clients to Jose with the peace of mind of knowing that Jose and his team will take great care of them.
Jose is the best accountant I've worked with, He takes the time to explain your options, he's very attentive whenever I need help with something, highly recommended.
The team at Caro and Associates are tax wizards. I thought I was going to owe almost $20k and they got me a small refund. I've been working with them as my accounting and payroll team since I opened my small Healthcare practice, Novel Eyes. Jose came highly recommended by several unconnected people and I feel like I'm in very good hands.