Bookkeeping for New Orleans Mental Health Practices
Bookkeeping for therapists, counselors, and recovery practices in New Orleans. Books kept current and tax-ready by Aretha, working with you remotely.
Bookkeeping for New Orleans Practices
Clinicians in New Orleans tend to stay rooted in the neighborhoods they serve. You know your clients’ families. You take the referral that comes through a church, a school, or a neighbor down the block. You keep a couple of sliding scale slots open because that is simply who you are. The one thing that keeps sliding to the bottom of the list is the bookkeeping.
My name is Aretha Dirden, and I do bookkeeping for mental health professionals in private practice all over the country. Before this I spent more than 15 years as a licensed nurse working in mental health, so you will never have to explain your intake process, your no-show rate, or why a Friday afternoon looks nothing like a Tuesday morning. Everything happens remotely, and you work with me directly.
Monthly Bookkeeping
Monthly Bookkeeping
Transactions categorized, bank and credit card accounts reconciled, and a monthly report you can read between sessions. Full-service bookkeeping starts at $165 a month and runs on a steady rhythm, so you always know where the practice stands without digging for it.
Catch-Up and Clean-Up
Catch-Up and Clean-Up
Some practices reach out with a year of unopened statements. Others have books that were kept, just not kept well. Either way, I work through what happened, reconcile every account, and hand back records you can believe again.
Payroll for Practices With Staff
Payroll for Practices With Staff
If your payroll system is already up and running, I process each pay period so your clinicians and admin staff are paid right and on time. Payday stops being one more thing you carry around in your head all week.
Tax-Ready Records
Tax-Ready Records
I do not prepare tax returns. What I do is keep your books clean enough that your tax preparer gets organized numbers, categories that make sense, and reconciled accounts. No March scramble, no shoebox, no apologizing.
New Orleans Practices I Work With
The practices I serve here look like the city itself. A counselor Uptown who has seen the same families for fifteen years. A social worker in Mid-City who left agency work and now rents one quiet room with a good chair in it. A recovery counselor running evening groups. A psychiatric nurse practitioner with a full medication management schedule. A small group in Lakeview or Algiers Point bringing on a third associate and wondering whether the numbers support it.
Late summer can throw a whole month sideways in New Orleans. Storm watches, closures, a week of rescheduled sessions. When that shows up in your financials, I want you to see it plainly and know it was the season and not your practice slipping. If you would like to talk through how your books are doing right now, book a consultation with me and we will go through it together.
Therapists and Counselors
Therapists and Counselors
Private pay arrives one way and insurance deposits land on their own schedule, and a sliding scale makes the totals hard to read at a glance. I reconcile what actually hit the bank and show you what a week of clinical hours really earns. I do not handle billing, claims, or coding. I account for the money once it comes in.
Addiction and Recovery Counselors
Addiction and Recovery Counselors
This city has a deep recovery community, and the people serving it often run individual sessions and group work at different rates in the same week. Bookkeeping for recovery practices keeps those revenue streams separated so you can see which part of the work is carrying the rest.
Clinical Social Workers
Clinical Social Workers
Plenty of LCSWs here came out of hospital or agency work and are keeping business records for the first time. We separate business banking from personal, get expenses tracked properly, and build a monthly picture honest enough to make real decisions about caseload and fees.
Group and Telehealth Practices
Group and Telehealth Practices
Practices with associates need clinician compensation recorded correctly, contractor payments tracked all year, and 1099s ready in January. Online-first practices serving clients across Louisiana need platform fees, EHR subscriptions, and processor deductions reconciled down to the dollar.
Questions About This Area
You are in California. Can you really keep the books for a practice in New Orleans?
Yes. All of my clients work with me remotely and I serve practices across the country. We share documents securely and talk by phone or video whenever you need me. You work with me directly every month, no matter where your office sits.
What does monthly bookkeeping cost?
Full-service bookkeeping starts at $165 a month. The final number depends on how many accounts you have and how much activity runs through them. I give you a straight quote after we talk about how your practice actually runs.
My books are several months behind. Is that going to be a problem?
No. It is the most common reason people call me. We find out how far back things go, bring everything current, and then keep it current with monthly service. There is no lecture attached to any of it.
Do you prepare tax returns?
I do not. I keep your books accurate and organized so your tax preparer has clean numbers and a short list of questions when the time comes. That handoff is usually the easiest part of the year for my clients.
Can you run payroll for my group practice?
Yes, as long as your payroll system is already set up and running. I process each pay period so your clinicians and staff are paid correctly and on time. I do not set up new payroll systems.
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.
Other Areas
