Bookkeeping for Pittsburgh Mental Health Practices
Bookkeeping for therapists, psychologists, counselors, and group practices in Pittsburgh. Work directly with Aretha Dirden, remotely, from anywhere in the city.
Bookkeeping for Pittsburgh Mental Health Practices
Pittsburgh trains a lot of clinicians and keeps most of them. Pitt, Duquesne, Chatham, Carnegie Mellon, then years inside UPMC or Allegheny Health Network before opening a practice of your own in Squirrel Hill, Bloomfield, or Mount Lebanon. Somewhere in all of that schooling and supervision, nobody sat you down and explained how to keep the books for a small business. That part you were expected to figure out on your own.
That is the part I take care of. My name is Aretha Dirden, and I keep the books for mental health practices from my desk in Lancaster, California. Before this work, I spent more than 15 years as a licensed nurse in mental health, so your day does not need explaining to me. Bookkeeping for therapists and other mental health professionals is the only thing I do, and you work with me directly every single month.
Monthly Bookkeeping
Monthly Bookkeeping
Transactions categorized, bank and credit card accounts reconciled, and a short set of monthly reports you can read between sessions. Starting at $165 a month, and I will walk you through anything on the page in plain language.
Catch-Up and Clean-Up
Catch-Up and Clean-Up
Books that were never started are a different job from books that were started badly. I handle both. Catch-up bookkeeping brings the missing months current, and clean-up work fixes miscategorized entries and accounts that never reconciled.
Payroll for Practices Already Set Up
Payroll for Practices Already Set Up
If your payroll system is up and running, I will process each pay period so your clinicians and front desk staff are paid on time. I do not build new payroll systems, and I will tell you that honestly on our first call.
Books Ready for Your Tax Preparer
Books Ready for Your Tax Preparer
I do not prepare returns. What I do is hand your preparer reconciled books, organized expenses, and documentation that answers their questions before they ask. April stops being a scramble.
Pittsburgh Practices I Work With
Practices in this city move with the academic year more than people expect. A caseload that is full in October and February gets quiet when students leave in May, and it fills back up in late August. Add the neighborhood offices in converted houses along Shadyside and Regent Square, the suburban practices out toward Cranberry, Wexford, and Sewickley, and the clinicians reaching small towns across Western Pennsylvania by video, and you get a lot of different books that all need the same care.
The practices I serve usually have somewhere between one and ten people. A solo clinician with a part-time admin, a psychologist splitting time between therapy and testing, a group practice on its third associate. If that sounds like yours, book a consultation with me and we will talk through where your books stand right now.
Therapists and Counselors
Therapists and Counselors
Private pay deposits, insurance payments, and sliding scale sessions all landing on different schedules. I reconcile what your practice system says against what actually hit the bank, and separate practice spending from personal spending so the numbers mean something.
Psychologists and Assessment Work
Psychologists and Assessment Work
Testing engagements bill differently from a weekly therapy hour, and report writing time rarely shows up anywhere useful. Bookkeeping for psychologists means tracking the mixed revenue in a mixed practice so you can see which side of the work is carrying it.
Group Practices
Group Practices
Associate splits and salaries recorded correctly, W-2 staff and 1099 contract supervisors kept straight, and year-end 1099s prepared on time. Reporting that shows the margin on each clinician before you commit to hiring the next one.
Recovery Counselors and Telehealth Practices
Recovery Counselors and Telehealth Practices
Recovery work runs deep in Western Pennsylvania, and much of it now happens over video. Group and individual rates, platform and EHR subscriptions, and processor fees reconciled instead of guessed at, so a mission-driven practice stays sustainable.
Questions About This Area
Are you located in Pittsburgh?
No. I work from Lancaster, California, and I keep books for mental health practices all over the country. We talk by phone, email, or video, and everything I need comes to me through secure uploads and your accounting software. You will always be working with me, not with a team that hands your file around.
What does monthly bookkeeping cost for a Pittsburgh practice?
Monthly bookkeeping starts at $165. Your price depends on how many accounts and transactions you have and whether you also want help with bills or invoicing. I quote a flat monthly rate after we talk so nothing changes on you later.
I have not touched my books since I opened. Can you still help?
Yes, and you are in very good company. Plenty of clinicians reach out a year or two in with a bank login and a folder of receipts. I record and reconcile the months that were missed, get you current, then keep things current going forward. No lectures about how it happened.
Do you handle insurance billing or claims?
No. I do not do claims, credentialing, or coding. What I do is reconcile the deposits that land in your bank account against your practice records so your books show what you actually collected.
Can you run payroll and prepare my tax return?
I run payroll for practices whose payroll system is already set up and running, and I do not set up new payroll systems. I also do not prepare tax returns. What I do is keep your books tax-ready so your tax preparer has clean, reconciled numbers when they need them.
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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