What we do
Six capabilities. One monthly close.
Trust accounting, matter economics, partner reporting, firm and partner tax, outsourced controller work, and the transitions in between — run on the same books, the same calendar and the same review team.
§ 00 How the practice is organized
Filed under one client, reviewed by one team.
Most firms hire a bookkeeper for the books, a payroll service for payroll, and a CPA for April — and nobody owns the whole picture. Redwood staffs every engagement from one file, so trust, matters, partners and tax all agree with each other.
One file, six disciplines
The same reviewer who signs off your trust reconciliation also sees your matter margins — nothing falls in the gap between specialists.
Built around the close calendar
Every capability reports on the same monthly cycle — reconciled, reviewed and delivered by business day 6, without exception.
State-specific bar knowledge
Trust-accounting rules differ by state bar. We map each client firm's obligations to the states they actually practice in.
§ 01 Trust & IOLTA accounting
The ledger examiners look at first.
Every dollar that touches a trust or IOLTA account is reconciled three ways, every month — bank, book, and every client sub-ledger — before it ever reaches your desk.
- Monthly three-way reconciliation — bank, book and client ledgers
- Client ledger reviews, matter by matter
- Bar-rule compliance mapped to each state you practice in
- Negative-balance and stale-funds alerts, the week they appear
- Unearned-fee and retainer-replenishment transfers, documented
- Audit-ready reconciliation binder, available on demand
Firms holding client funds in IOLTA or trust accounts — especially ones recently added, expanded, or flagged in a bar audit.
A bar-ready three-way reconciliation binder, delivered monthly, with every exception named and resolved.
$650per month · Trust Compliance
Adaeze Okafor, CPA — Director of Trust Accounting & Compliance
| Trust account | Bank balance | Book balance | Client ledgers | Variance | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IOLTA — operating trust | $2,184,600.00 | $2,184,600.00 | $2,184,600.00 | $0.00 | Reconciled |
| Client trust — escrow #2 | $612,450.00 | $612,450.00 | $612,450.00 | $0.00 | Reconciled |
| Settlement trust — PI matters | $2,022,900.00 | $2,021,150.00 | $2,021,150.00 | $1,750.00 | Under review |
| Total held in trust | $4,819,950.00 | $4,818,200.00 | $4,818,200.00 | $1,750.00 | Jun 30 close |
Variance on the settlement trust is a single pending disbursement, cleared before the June 30 close and noted in the client's exception log.
§ 02 Matter economics
Know which matters actually make money.
Realization, WIP aging and practice-group profitability, tracked at the matter level so pricing and staffing decisions rest on numbers, not memory.
- Realization and collection-rate tracking by matter and timekeeper
- WIP and accounts-receivable aging, with stale-balance flags
- Matter and practice-group profitability reporting
- Contingency case cost tracking and recovery modeling
- Alternative-fee arrangement and pricing analysis
- Rate-realization review ahead of annual rate changes
Managing partners and practice-group leaders who price, staff or evaluate matters.
A monthly matter profitability report, ranked by contribution margin, by practice group and originating partner.
$2,400per month · included in Firm Controller
Priyanka Das, CPA — Matter Economics & FP&A Lead
§ 03 Partner reporting & compensation
Numbers your executive committee can defend.
Draws, capital accounts and origination credit tracked continuously, so compensation decisions rest on figures the whole partnership has already seen.
- Partner draw tracking and quarterly true-ups
- Capital account maintenance and contribution/distribution schedules
- Origination and working-attorney credit allocation
- Compensation model design and scenario testing
- K-1 preparation coordination with the firm return
- Annual partner scorecard for the executive committee
Executive committees and equity partners setting draws, capital calls or compensation formulas.
A quarterly partner scorecard with draw recommendations, ready for the executive committee meeting.
$2,400per month · Firm Controller
Jonathan Reyes, CPA — Founding Partner
§ 04 Firm & partner tax
The return is the last step, not a scramble.
Firm and partner tax, prepared from the same books we close every month — so K-1s, composite elections and 1040s agree with each other before anything is filed.
- Partnership and S-corp returns (Forms 1065 / 1120-S)
- Partner 1040 preparation and review
- Composite and pass-through entity (PTE) elections, including California PTE
- Multi-state filings for partners practicing across state lines
- Quarterly estimated-tax letters, sized to each partner
- Year-end tax projection before the fourth quarter closes
Partnerships and S-corp law firms with multi-state partners or an upcoming composite or PTE election.
Filed 1065/1120-S returns, partner K-1 packages and quarterly estimate letters that match the firm's books.
$1,200per partner, per year · Partner Tax
Samuel Hart, CPA, JD — Partner Tax Director
§ 05 Outsourced controller & CFO
Your accounting department, without the headcount.
A monthly close firms can set their calendar by — financials, KPIs and cash forecasts delivered by the sixth business day, every month.
- Full monthly close, delivered by business day 6
- Annual budgeting and variance reporting
- 13-week and annual cash forecasting
- Banking relationships and line-of-credit management
- Firm-wide KPI dashboard — realization, WIP, trust, payroll
- Board- and executive-committee-ready reporting packages
Firms without a controller or CFO who need monthly financials they can actually act on.
A closed set of financials, a KPI dashboard and a cash forecast — in your portal by business day 6.
$2,400per month · Firm Controller
Elise Morgan — Controller Services Manager
§ 06 Formation, mergers & lateral transitions
The moments your books have to be right.
Formation, mergers, lateral partner moves, dissolution and succession all hinge on numbers being defensible on a specific date — we get them there before it arrives.
- New-firm formation — entity selection, trust setup, chart of accounts
- Merger and acquisition due diligence on the books
- Lateral partner onboarding and origination-credit transfer
- Practice or office dissolution wind-down accounting
- Succession planning and buy-in / buy-out valuation support
- Post-close reporting cutover and consolidated financials
Firms forming, merging, losing or gaining lateral partners, or planning a succession.
A written transition plan and a clean reporting cutover, coordinated with your counsel.
Customtypically $5,000–$12,000/mo · Fractional CFO
Jonathan Reyes, CPA — Founding Partner
§ 07 Who we serve
Practices we serve
A contingency firm and a patent boutique need almost nothing in common financially. We assign every engagement to people who have closed books for your kind of practice before.
The systems already on your desk — we work inside them, not around them.
§ 08 Next steps
Not sure which capability you need? Start with a call.
A 30-minute scoping call with a partner, a fixed-fee proposal within three business days, and a first close on the calendar within a month.