Bookkeeping for Chicago Mental Health Practices
Bookkeeping for therapists, counselors, psychologists, and group practices in Chicago. Books kept current and tax-ready by Aretha Dirden, working with you directly.
Bookkeeping for Chicago Mental Health Practices
Chicago has one of the biggest communities of mental health professionals in the country, and it is spread everywhere. Therapy suites above storefronts in Andersonville and Logan Square. Group practices in Lincoln Park, Ravenswood, and along the Loop. Assessment and testing work near the hospitals on the South Side. Solo clinicians seeing clients from home offices in Oak Park, Evanston, Beverly, and out through Naperville and Arlington Heights. Almost all of them are small businesses run by someone who trained to do clinical work and then inherited a business bank account, a pile of receipts, and a software subscription list that keeps growing.
My name is Aretha Dirden, and that back office part is what I take off your hands. I was a licensed nurse for more than 15 years working in mental health before I opened AD Keeps The Books, so nothing about your day needs explaining to me. I provide bookkeeping for mental health professionals all over the country, and Chicago practices fit easily because the work happens the same way whether you are down the street or two time zones away. You work with me directly every month. No rotating staff, no handing you off to someone new.
Monthly Bookkeeping
Monthly Bookkeeping
Transactions categorized, bank and credit card accounts reconciled, and a monthly report you can actually read between sessions. Starting at $165 per month. If a number looks strange to you, call me and I will walk you through it in plain language.
Catch-Up and Clean-Up
Catch-Up and Clean-Up
Some practices have books that were never started. Some have books that were started and went sideways. I handle both, priced per engagement after I look at what exists. Falling behind is common in this work, and it is fixable.
Payroll for Practices with Staff
Payroll for Practices with Staff
Plenty of Chicago practices grow into a team of associates and an office manager. If your payroll system is already up and running, I handle payroll processing every pay period so payday stops living in your head.
Tax-Ready Books
Tax-Ready Books
I do not prepare returns. What I do is keep the books clean, categorized, and reconciled all year so your tax preparer has everything they need in one place and April is a handoff instead of a scramble.
Chicago Practices I Work With
Chicago’s therapy economy covers just about every shape a practice can take. A newly licensed clinical social worker renting hours in a shared suite. A psychologist splitting time between therapy, assessment work, and consulting. A group practice that went from two clinicians to seven in three years and is now trying to figure out whether the next hire actually pays for itself. The city also produces a steady stream of new practice owners out of its graduate programs, and most of them are keeping business records for the first time in their lives.
I also work with psychiatric nurse practitioners and prescribing practices, which is close to home for me. My nursing years were spent in mental health, so a packed medication management schedule and the language around it are familiar ground. Wherever your practice sits in that mix, book a consultation and tell me where things stand right now. Honest starting point, no lecture.
Therapists and Counselors
Therapists and Counselors
Bookkeeping for therapists and counselors in solo practice across the city and the suburbs. Session deposits reconciled from your practice management system to the bank, private pay and insurance payments arriving on different rhythms, sliding scale and cancellation patterns visible in the numbers instead of buried in them.
Group Practices with Associates
Group Practices with Associates
Chicago supports a lot of multi-clinician practices. Associate compensation recorded correctly whether it runs on splits or salary, W-2 staff and 1099 contractors each tracked properly, year-end 1099s prepared, and reporting that shows what each clinician contributes. Classification questions go to your attorney or tax professional, and the books record whichever answer is true.
Telehealth Practices
Telehealth Practices
The Chicago metro runs right up against Indiana and Wisconsin, and a lot of practices here see clients online across a few states. Platform and EHR subscriptions, merchant processing fees, and payouts matched back to sessions all get reconciled rather than lumped into one mystery deposit.
ABA and Behavioral Health Providers
ABA and Behavioral Health Providers
The suburbs are full of ABA practices with technicians and analysts on staff and heavy session volume. These books are genuinely demanding. Payroll run dependably for established systems, contractor payments tracked all year, and revenue reconciled so a growing practice keeps its footing.
Questions About This Area
You're based in California. How does that work for a Chicago practice?
It works the way your telehealth sessions work. Statements, reports, and questions move electronically, and we talk by phone or video whenever you want to. Chicago is two hours ahead of me, so I am usually at my desk before your first client and your afternoon questions still get an answer the same day.
What does bookkeeping cost?
Monthly bookkeeping starts at $165 per month. Your number depends on how many accounts and transactions the practice has and whether you want extras like bill payment or invoicing. I will give you a real figure after we talk, not a range you have to guess at.
My books are months behind. Is that a problem?
It is the most common reason people call me, and I have never once made someone feel bad about it. If the books were never started, that is catch-up work. If they exist but nobody trusts them, that is clean-up work. Either way I get you current and then keep you there.
Do you handle insurance billing or prepare my tax return?
No to both, and I want to be clear about it. I do not do claims, billing, credentialing, or coding, and I do not prepare tax returns. What I do is reconcile the money that actually lands in your bank account from your billing setup and keep your books organized and tax-ready for whoever prepares your return.
Can you run payroll for my group practice?
Yes, if your payroll system is already set up and running. I process each pay period so your clinicians and admin staff are paid correctly and on time. I do not build new payroll systems from scratch, so if you are still choosing one, get that piece in place and I will take it from there.
Helping the People Who Help Others
Let's Start With
a Short Conversation
Tell me where your books stand right now, even if the honest answer is that nobody has looked at them in a year. I'll ask a few questions and give you a clear idea of how I can help.
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