Accountants for Professional Services.
You're billing more than ever. So why does cash always feel tight? In professional services, your profit is tied up in time– recorded, written off, unbilled, or waiting to be paid. We help solicitors, consultants, surveyors and architects see exactly where it's leaking and get it back.
220+
Businesses supported
Xero
Award winners
Brown & Brown
Among our clients
Sound familiar?
●
The work is going well. The numbers tell a different story.
Time written off, work sitting unbilled, invoices paid late. Every one of those takes profit out of the business– and most firms don't find out until year-end, when it's far too late to fix.
• Lock-up
The firm is busy and fees look healthy, but your cash is stuck in work you've done and haven't been paid for.
• Who’s profitable?
You couldn't say which service lines or fee earners actually make money, you just know everyone seems busy.
• Write-offs
Time gets written off every month and nobody could tell you exactly how much, or which clients it keeps happening on.
• Drawings vs profit
Partners and directors take drawings based on how things feel, not on what the firm has actually earned.
What we track
●
The numbers that matter in professional services.
Not generic accounts. The measures that show where your profit really goes and what to do about it.
• Lock-up (WIP + debtor days)
See exactly how long your cash sits between doing the work and getting paid– the single biggest drain on a professional services firm.
• Utilisation & chargeable time
How much of your team's time is billable versus absorbed, so you know whether you're under-resourced or over-staffed.
• Recovery rate
What you actually bill against the time you record. Track it by client and fee earner so write-offs stop being invisible.
• Profit by service line
Know which departments and types of work genuinely pay, and which are being quietly subsidised by the rest of the firm.
• Profit per fee earner
What each person genuinely contributes once salary and overhead are accounted for– so growth in headcount actually means growth in profit.
• Fee pipeline & forecasting
A forward view of committed and expected fees, so you can plan hiring, drawings and investment with confidence.
What changes for you
●
From busy and stretched to busy and in control.
●
●
●
See it
Find where the profit leaks.
A Xero setup built for professional services, with reporting on lock-up, recovery and profit by service line– not one lump sum at year-end.
Understand it
Sit down with us every quarter.
We walk through where time is being written off, which work is worth doing more of, and how to get cash in faster– all in plain English.
Act on it
Pay yourselves properly.
Proactive tax planning and clear profit forecasting, so drawings and investment decisions are based on facts, not gut feel.
Bold St Media
●
Driving performance with data-led financial insights.
We transformed Bold St Media’s accounting setup with bespoke reporting and real-time financial insights, helping the team move from reactive decisions to a more proactive, growth-focused way of working.
Testimonial
●
"We love working with the team at Ashton McGill. The way you approach accountancy is so refreshing and has brought so many positive impacts to our business. Thank you!”
Eilidh McCluskie, Bold St Media
Services
●
Support that meets you where you are, and grows with you.
Every business needs something slightly different from its accountant. What matters is having the right support for where you are now, with the structure to take you where you want to go next.
You're building the foundations.
You want to know everything is being handled properly. You're getting started, putting the right systems in place and want an accounting team you can rely on as the business grows. We'll help you build solid financial foundations from day one.
-
Accounts, tax, VAT and payroll taken care of, with filing dates and compliance deadlines managed proactively. No last-minute panic. No missed deadlines.
-
We set up Xero with a bespoke chart of accounts tailored to your business, so your data is clean, accurate & meaningful.
-
You'll have a quarterly check-in with someone who understands your business, giving you a regular opportunity to ask questions and stay on top of where things stand.
You want to understand where you stand.
The business is established. Now you want more clarity. You don't just want accounts filed. You want to understand how the business is performing, where your money is going and what your numbers are telling you. Our Clarity package gives you the visibility and understanding to run your business with confidence.
-
See where your business stands with regular performance reports focused on the numbers and metrics that actually matter to you. A clear, up-to-date picture of how the business is performing, without the noise.
-
Data without understanding is just noise. We'll meet with you regularly to help you understand what's driving performance, what the trends are telling you and what deserves your attention next.
-
We'll help you plan ahead with strategies that minimise your tax bill legally and keep more money where it belongs– in your business
You're making bigger decisions about what's next.
Growth brings bigger questions. Should you hire? Invest? Change your pricing? Raise funding? You need to understand not only where the business is today, but where your decisions could take it. Our Catalyst package gives you the financial structure to plan ahead and grow with intention.
-
Turn your ambitions into a clear financial plan, so you can see where you're heading and understand what needs to happen financially to get there.
-
Hiring. Pricing. Investment. Growth. We'll help you model different scenarios before you make the decision, so you can understand the potential impact and move forward with confidence.
-
When you're making bigger moves, we'll help you understand the numbers behind them, giving you the financial insight and structure to make informed decisions about funding, investment and growth.
Let's find out where your profit is really going.
Book a free, no-pressure discovery call. We'll talk through where you are, what's frustrating you, and whether we can help.