Professional Services

Trust accounting for law firms and project-level tracking for architects, engineers, and surveyors.

The Industry

Licensed professionals deal with more than typical service businesses. Law firms hold client funds in IOLTA trust accounts that are subject to State Bar oversight. A single error in trust accounting can trigger an audit or disciplinary review, even when it was an honest mistake. Operating expenses and trust disbursements need to be tracked in completely separate accounts with independent reconciliation. Every dollar moving in and out of trust must tie to a specific client matter, and the records have to prove it.

Architects, engineers, and surveyors face a different kind of complexity. Projects run for months or sometimes years. Billing happens at milestones, on a percentage-of-completion basis, or through retainer draw-downs. Reimbursable expenses like printing, permit fees, and travel get advanced by the firm and need to be billed back to the client. Subcontractors handle portions of the work and need 1099s at year end. Without project-level tracking, the firm might stay busy all year but have no real idea which projects made money and which ones quietly drained the budget.

Who This Covers

Law firms, architecture firms, engineering practices, land surveyors, and similar licensed professional service firms throughout Wisconsin. Any practice where regulatory compliance, trust fund obligations, or project-based billing creates bookkeeping requirements beyond what a standard service business needs.

What Makes It Different

Law firms must maintain IOLTA trust accounts completely separate from operating funds, with full monthly reconciliation and client-level ledgers. Architects, engineers, and surveyors bill by project phase or retainer with reimbursable expenses that need tracking and rebilling. Both deal with professional liability insurance, continuing education costs, and licensing fees that require proper categorization for tax purposes and financial clarity.

What We Handle

For law firms, the most critical piece is trust accounting. We reconcile IOLTA accounts monthly so every client balance is accounted for and every disbursement ties to a matter. Operating accounts get reconciled separately. The two never get mixed in your books. We track what is held in trust by client so you can produce a trust ledger at any time without scrambling through bank statements. When the State Bar asks questions, the answers are already organized and ready.

For architects, engineers, and surveyors, we set up project-level tracking in QuickBooks so income and expenses are tied to specific jobs. Retainers get recorded properly and drawn down as work is performed rather than sitting unallocated. Reimbursable expenses are flagged so they actually get billed back to clients instead of getting absorbed as firm overhead. Subcontractor payments are tracked throughout the year for clean 1099 filing. Monthly reporting shows you which projects are on track and which ones are eating into your margins before they become a problem.

Trust Accounting and Compliance

Monthly IOLTA reconciliation with client-level trust ledgers showing exactly what is held and for whom. Operating account reconciliation kept fully separate. Proper recording of client fund receipts and disbursements tied to individual matters. Documentation maintained in a way that supports any State Bar trust audit without last-minute reconstruction.

Project Billing and Retainer Tracking

Income and expenses tracked by project or client engagement in QuickBooks. Retainers recorded and drawn down as services are delivered so revenue reflects actual work performed. Reimbursable expenses flagged for client billing instead of buried in general overhead. Subcontractor payment tracking and 1099 preparation at year end. Monthly reporting that shows project-level profitability clearly.

What Goes Wrong

Trust accounting problems usually start small. A disbursement gets recorded against the wrong client matter. An operating expense accidentally runs through the trust account. Funds get deposited into the wrong account because someone was in a rush. These mistakes don’t fix themselves. They compound. By the time someone notices, the trust ledger doesn’t match the bank balance, and reconstructing what happened takes hours of digging through months of transactions. If the State Bar requests a reconciliation, a firm with messy trust records faces real consequences even if no money was actually misused. The obligation is to demonstrate proper handling, not just good intentions.

For project-based firms, the most common problem is not knowing whether a project made money until it is already over. Hours pile up, subcontractors get paid, reimbursable expenses get advanced, but nobody tracks it against the original budget or scope. The project wraps up, the final invoice goes out, and only then does the firm realize it spent more than it collected. Retainers sit on the books without being drawn down properly, distorting when revenue appears on financial statements. Reimbursable expenses get buried in general firm overhead because nobody flagged them for rebilling. Over the course of a year, that can add up to thousands of dollars the firm paid out of its own pocket for costs that should have gone back to clients.

Trust Fund Errors

Client funds deposited or disbursed against the wrong matter. Operating expenses accidentally paid from the trust account. Trust balances that don’t reconcile to the bank statement at month end. Small mistakes that sit unnoticed for months and become major reconciliation headaches when an audit or compliance review comes around.

Lost Revenue on Projects

Reimbursable expenses absorbed as firm cost instead of billed back to the client. Retainers not drawn down as work is performed, creating uneven revenue that hides actual performance. No project-level cost tracking, so unprofitable types of work get repeated because nobody identified the pattern. Subcontractor costs not allocated to specific projects, making true job profitability impossible to calculate.

What Changes

Trust accounts get reconciled every month with a clear client-level ledger. You know exactly how much is held for each matter and can produce documentation on short notice. Operating financials are separate and clean. There is no guessing about whether trust funds are where they should be. When compliance obligations come up, the records are already in order and you are not spending a weekend reconstructing six months of transactions.

Project profitability becomes visible. You can see which types of engagements generate healthy margins and which ones consistently run over budget. Reimbursable expenses get billed back to clients instead of disappearing into overhead. Retainers are tracked and drawn down as services are delivered, so your monthly revenue reflects actual work performed. And because Rock Steady’s approach is education-first, we walk you through what your numbers mean so you can make better decisions about pricing new work, managing capacity, and understanding what your firm can realistically afford as it grows.

Compliance Without the Stress

Monthly trust reconciliation with client-level detail that is always current. Clean separation of trust and operating accounts in your books. Records organized to meet State Bar requirements without emergency prep. One less thing to worry about so you can focus on the actual practice of law instead of chasing down bank discrepancies.

Clarity on What Your Work Is Worth

Project-level reporting that shows true profitability after labor, subcontractors, and reimbursable expenses are accounted for. Retainer management that matches revenue to work performed. Financial visibility that helps you price new engagements accurately, identify which project types deserve your attention, and walk away from work that consistently costs more than it returns.

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