How we work
The client docket.
Everything a managing partner or firm administrator needs to know about running an engagement with Redwood — onboarding, the monthly close calendar, the compliance dates that actually matter, and the portal you'll use every month.
§ 01 Getting started
Onboarding in thirty days — not ninety.
By the time your first month-end arrives, we already know your chart of accounts, your trust accounts and your partners. Nothing about the first close should be a surprise to either side.
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Kickoff & data access
Scoping call becomes an engagement letter. We collect read-only access to your accounting system, trust bank feeds, Clio or your practice management system, and payroll — no credentials shared, view-only connections only.
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Books & chart of accounts
We rebuild or clean up your chart of accounts to separate operating, trust and cost-advance activity by matter, and reconcile the trailing three months so the baseline is provably correct.
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Trust reconciliation baseline
Every IOLTA and trust account is reconciled three ways — bank, book and client sub-ledger — to a clean starting point, with any legacy exceptions documented and flagged to you directly.
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First close & review meeting
Your first full monthly close package is delivered by the calendar below, followed by a 30-minute review call to walk the partner docket line by line before it becomes routine.
§ 02 The monthly close
The same six business days, every month.
Every client runs the same calendar, staffed by the same review team, so the close is boring by design — and easy to defend to an auditor, a bar examiner or a departing partner's counsel.
| Business day | Task | Owner | Output |
|---|---|---|---|
| BD 1 | Bank & trust feeds pulled and matched to the general ledger | Bookkeeping team | Reconciled operating & trust feeds |
| BD 2 | Three-way trust reconciliation — bank, book and client sub-ledger | A. Okafor, CPA | Trust reconciliation & exceptions log |
| BD 3 | Matter review — WIP, billing, collections and cost advances by matter | P. Das, CPA | Matter profitability schedule |
| BD 4 | Partner draw review against collections and capital accounts | E. Morgan | Draw & distribution recommendation |
| BD 5 | Reporting package assembled and quality-reviewed | Engagement team | Financial statements & partner docket |
| BD 6 | Package delivered; close & decisions logged from the review meeting | Engagement lead | Signed close & decisions log entry |
What's in the package
The reporting package, every month.
Delivered by BD6 with a written summary — never just a PDF dropped in the portal. Every item below is included in a Firm Controller engagement; Trust Compliance clients receive the first two.
- Financial statements — P&L, balance sheet and cash position, current month and year-to-date
- Trust reconciliation summary — three-way status for every IOLTA and trust account, with exceptions named
- Matter profitability schedule — contribution margin, realization and WIP aging by matter and practice group
- Partner docket — draw and distribution review, capital account movement, compensation flags
- Decisions log — every draw adjustment, write-down or rate change agreed at the review meeting, dated and attributed
§ 03 Compliance calendar
The 2026 dates that matter for a law firm.
Federal deadlines apply nationwide; state and bar deadlines vary. Confirm state-specific and local bar dates with your engagement lead — the ones below are shown for illustration.
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15Jan
Q4 2025 partner estimated tax payment Estimates
Fourth-quarter 1040-ES payments for equity partners paying tax on their share of firm income.
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31Jan
W-2s & 1099s issued Firm
Forms out to firm staff and any contractors, co-counsel or vendors paid $600 or more during 2025.
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16Mar
Firm return due — Forms 1065 / 1120-S Firm
The statutory date is March 15, which falls on a Sunday in 2026; the return is due the next business day. Applies to partnerships and firms taxed as S-corporations.
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15Apr
Partner 1040s, Q1 estimate & CA PTE prepayment note Tax Day
Individual partner returns and the Q1 2026 estimated payment are due. For firms making a California pass-through entity (PTE) tax election, the required prepayment is due June 15 — noted here so it isn't missed at year-end planning.
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15Jun
Q2 estimate & California PTE payment Estimates
Q2 partner 1040-ES payments, and the California PTE elective tax prepayment referenced above, for firms electing PTE treatment.
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15Sep
Q3 estimate & extended firm returns Business
Q3 partner estimates due, along with extended 1065 / 1120-S returns for firms that filed for a six-month extension in March.
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15Oct
Extended partner 1040s due Final
Final deadline for partner individual returns filed on extension in April.
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—Varies
State bar trust account annual certification Confirm with counsel
Trust accounting certification requirements and deadlines vary by state bar. In California, the certification is due February 1 via the State Bar's attorney member profile. Confirm your jurisdiction's date with your engagement lead — this section is illustrative, not legal advice.
§ 04 Client portal
One place for the whole engagement.
Every client gets a secure portal login the day onboarding starts. It's where the monthly package lands, where documents move in both directions, and where the decisions log lives.
Monthly reporting package
Financial statements, trust reconciliation, matter profitability and the partner docket, posted by BD6 with prior months archived for comparison.
Secure document exchange
Bank statements, trust records and tax documents move through an encrypted upload — never as email attachments — with e-signature for engagement letters and estimate authorizations.
Decisions log
Every draw adjustment, write-down or rate change agreed at a review meeting is recorded here — dated, attributed, and carried into the next month's close automatically.
Deadline & task tracker
Your firm's tax and compliance dates, pre-loaded from the calendar below and updated the moment an extension or election changes them.
§ 05 What to gather
The onboarding document checklist.
Tick items off as you gather them — your progress is saved on this device only. Most firms need a subset of these; your engagement lead will tell you what applies.
Firm setup
Every engagementTrust & IOLTA
All client-money holdersPayroll & partners
Comp & draw reviewSystems access
View-only, pleaseNot sure what applies to your firm? Bring what you have — your engagement lead will tell you exactly what's left during kickoff.
§ 06 A sample decisions log
How decisions get recorded — not lost in an inbox.
Every draw adjustment, write-down or rate change agreed at a review meeting is logged like this, dated and attributed, and carried forward into the next close. Illustrative example below.
- Q2 draw true-up approved7 equity partners · +4.5% against Q2 collections, effective July 1 Jun 28, 2026
- Matter 2026-031 write-downClass action cost advances reduced $18,400 on partial settlement Jun 28, 2026
- Stale trust balance escalatedClient ledger inactive 14+ months — referred to originating partner for disposition Jun 22, 2026
- Realization rate reviewed, patent groupFlat-fee prosecution work re-priced after Q1 matter economics review May 31, 2026
§ 07 Next steps
Ready to see your own docket?
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.