Operating books
Bank, cards, payroll, debt, owner accounts, expenses, and revenue reconciled on schedule.
CPA services for law firms and attorneys
A Law Firm CPA for the Firm and Its Partners
Tax planning, compliance, partner coordination, IOLTA-aware accounting, retirement planning, and multi-state work in one CPA-led relationship.
Designed for established solo attorneys, partners, and firms that value accurate books and proactive planning. Tax work does not substitute for legal ethics advice or a state-bar audit.
The short answer
A law firm CPA should connect the firm’s books and return with partner economics, K-1s, guaranteed payments, basis, estimates, retirement plans, state obligations, and trust-account boundaries.
A strong fit
- Established solo attorneys and multi-owner firms
- Partners with K-1, basis, estimate, or multi-state complexity
- Firms that need accounting and tax work coordinated
- Practices considering entity, partner, or retirement changes
Probably not the right fit
- A price-first, simple individual return
- A request for legal advice or a bar-compliance opinion
- A firm unwilling to maintain separate trust records
- Pre-revenue practices with no current accounting scope
Commercial service hub
Different law-firm economics require different CPA work
| Profile | Core questions | Likely first deliverable |
|---|---|---|
| Solo attorney | Entity, payroll, estimates, books, retirement | Owner/entity tax and accounting diagnostic |
| Law firm partner | K-1, guaranteed payments, basis, estimates, states | Partner tax map and projection |
| Multi-owner firm | Allocations, draws, capital, payroll, buy-ins and exits | Firm/partner responsibility matrix |
| Growing firm | Close, trust records, profitability, hiring, retirement | Accounting and reporting roadmap |
| Attorney with side income | Separation, deductions, states, estimates | Income-stream and entity review |
Go deeper: solo attorney guide · law firm partner tax guide
Firm and partner together
Partner, employee, K-1, and guaranteed-payment coordination
The firm return, partner K-1s, draws, guaranteed payments, basis, estimates, and state obligations should be modeled together.
Labels in a compensation system do not determine tax treatment by themselves. Review the partnership agreement, ownership, services, allocations, capital, liabilities, distributions, state sourcing, and any withholding or composite-return rules. Partner transitions require tax and legal coordination before documents are signed.
Go deeper: partner tax guide · K-1 vs. 1099 comparison
Structure follows facts
Entity structure and owner compensation
A PLLC, professional corporation, partnership, and tax election answer different legal and tax questions. Professional-entity and ownership rules vary by state, so Taxstra models the tax side and coordinates legal conclusions with counsel.
- Current and future owners
- Reasonable compensation when applicable
- Payroll, draws, distributions, and benefits
- State professional-entity restrictions
- Basis, capital, buy-ins, and buyouts
- Succession or sale objectives
Go deeper: law firm entity guide · reasonable salary
Accounting boundary
Trust and IOLTA accounting without overstating the CPA’s role
Client funds are not firm revenue, and trust records must remain separate from operating books.
Trust-account rules are jurisdiction-specific and enforced by legal regulators. Accounting workflows should preserve client-level ledgers, reconcile bank and book balances, identify outstanding items, and prevent operating transactions from passing through trust accounts. Tax and bookkeeping work does not replace legal ethics advice or a required trust audit.
Scope must be explicit
Confirm whether the firm needs bookkeeping, tax work, an agreed-upon procedure, a financial-statement assurance engagement, or a state-bar compliance review. Those are not interchangeable services.
Go deeper: law firm bookkeeping
Reliable firm economics
Bookkeeping, matter economics, and the monthly close
Trust records
Separate ledgers and reconciliations maintained under applicable professional rules.
Partner reporting
Draws, guaranteed payments, capital, distributions, and allocations reconciled to governing documents.
Management reporting
Cash, collections, staffing, matter or practice-area performance, and owner decisions made from current information.
Go deeper: law firm bookkeeping guide · outsourced accounting services
High-impact, high-dependency
Retirement and cash-balance planning for firms and partners
Plan design depends on entity structure, employee demographics, compensation, contribution goals, cash flow, existing plans, and administration. The tax deduction should be modeled alongside required employee costs and long-term funding obligations.
Go deeper: law firm retirement planning · cash balance plan guide
Do not wait for filing season
Year-end and multi-state planning
- Update firm and partner projections
- Reconcile draws, capital, basis, and distributions
- Confirm retirement funding and payroll deadlines
- Review partner transitions and pending transactions
- Map offices, remote work, cases, payroll, and partner residence by state
- Document open elections and responsibilities before year-end
Go deeper: law firm tax planning · multi-state tax planning
A defined engagement
What a law firm should expect from Taxstra
- Named firm and partner filing scope
- Accounting responsibility and close calendar
- Current-year firm and owner projections
- Entity and compensation analysis when warranted
- State filing and payment responsibility map
- Retirement and year-end decision calendar
- Written open items, assumptions, and implementation owners
- Tax return preparation and next-year carryforward
The working relationship
How the engagement works
- 01
Map the firm and owners
Review entities, agreements, owners, books, payroll, trust-account workflow, returns, states, and deadlines.
- 02
Stabilize accounting
Define operating and trust boundaries, close ownership, reconciliations, and partner reporting.
- 03
Plan and coordinate
Project firm and partner taxes, address compensation, retirement, states, and transitions before deadlines.
- 04
File and carry forward
Prepare coordinated returns, reconcile K-1 and owner data, preserve basis and open items, and reset the calendar.
Would a more proactive CPA relationship improve the decisions you make this year?
Walk us through your situation and we'll tell you how we can help. 30 minutes, free, no pressure.
Frequently Asked Questions
The CPA should understand partner and employee economics, K-1s and guaranteed payments, basis and distributions, entity and compensation choices, trust-account boundaries, retirement-plan design, multi-state work, and law-firm bookkeeping.
Taxstra can coordinate accounting and tax work involving trust-account records, but a state-bar audit, legal compliance opinion, or assurance engagement is a distinct scope. The engagement should never imply that tax preparation certifies bar-rule compliance.
Potentially, depending on the legal entity, ownership rules, state professional-entity law, compensation, and economics. Counsel should confirm legal structure and ownership; the CPA should model tax and administrative consequences.
Partners generally receive Schedule K-1 reporting, and may receive guaranteed payments and allocations under the partnership agreement. Basis, distributions, self-employment tax, state sourcing, and withholding can require separate analysis.
Yes. Taxstra works nationwide, but partner residence, work location, firm offices, payroll, and client or case activity can create different state questions. The facts must be mapped rather than generalized.
Educational information only, not individualized tax, legal, or investment advice. Federal rules are discussed unless stated otherwise; state treatment and exceptions can differ.
Limited Availability
Bring the whole tax picture into one conversation.
Book a free 30-minute consultation. We will tell you candidly whether Taxstra is the right fit and what the next step would be.
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