Bookkeeping for San Jose Mental Health Practices
Bookkeeping for therapists, psychologists, and group practices in San Jose. Monthly books kept current and tax-ready by Aretha Dirde.
Bookkeeping for San Jose Practices
San Jose practices stay full. Between the tech workforce, the families that come with it, and a county where finding an available therapist takes months, most of the clinicians I talk to are booked out long before they get to their bookkeeping. Clinical hours come first, the receipts and deposits pile up in the background, and by December the whole thing feels like a wall.
Keeping those books current is all I do. Private practice bookkeeping for mental health professionals is my whole practice, and I spent more than 15 years as a licensed nurse in mental health before I ever opened QuickBooks. You will not have to explain a no-show policy to me, or why three weeks of session revenue shows up in your account as one lump deposit. I am in Lancaster, at the other end of California, and I work with San Jose practices the same way I work with practices in every other state, remotely, with me doing the work.
Monthly Bookkeeping
Monthly Bookkeeping
Transactions categorized, bank and credit card accounts reconciled, and a short set of monthly reports showing what came in, what went out, and what the practice kept. Payments that land in your bank get matched to the deposits they came from, so the numbers hold up when you look at them.
Getting Caught Up
Getting Caught Up
If nothing has been recorded since last spring, or since 2022, that is where we begin. I pull the statements, record and reconcile period by period, and hand you books that are current and accurate. No commentary about how far behind things got.
Payroll Each Pay Period
Payroll Each Pay Period
For practices with a payroll system already running, I handle the payroll runs so associates and admin staff are paid right and on time. I do not set up new payroll systems. Get the system in place and I will take it from there every pay period.
Records Your Tax Preparer Can Use
Records Your Tax Preparer Can Use
I do not prepare returns. What I do is hand your preparer clean, reconciled books with everything sitting in the right category, and answer their questions directly. Year-end 1099s for contract clinicians, supervisors, and vendors get prepared and filed as well.
San Jose Practices I Work With
The practices I work with in San Jose look nothing alike. A solo therapist renting a room two days a week in Willow Glen. A psychologist doing assessments for kids in Almaden and Cambrian Park. A psychiatric nurse practitioner running medication management visits back to back. A group near downtown with four associates and an office manager. An ABA team with technicians driving across the East Side. Online-only practices seeing clients all over the state.
What they share is cost. Santa Clara County rent, an EHR subscription, liability insurance, software, and payroll add up quickly, and a packed calendar tells you very little about profitability on its own. That is what the monthly numbers are for. Group practices in particular need to see margin per clinician before they hire the next associate. If your books have been sitting on your mind, book a consultation with me and we will talk it through.
Solo Therapists and Counselors
Solo Therapists and Counselors
Private pay rates, sliding scale slots, and the occasional out-of-network client all show up differently in the books. I reconcile the deposits from your practice management system to your bank, keep business and personal spending separated, and give you an honest monthly picture of what a week of sessions earns.
Group Practices with Associates
Group Practices with Associates
Splits, salaries, W-2 staff, and 1099 associates each get recorded correctly, payroll gets run, and 1099s get filed in January. Classification questions belong with your attorney or tax professional, and the books record whichever answer is true for your practice.
Psychologists and Assessment Work
Psychologists and Assessment Work
Testing engagements arrive as multi-hour blocks with report writing attached, often paid in stages. When therapy, assessment, and consulting income all run at different rates, I track them separately so you can see which part of the practice is carrying the rest.
Telehealth Practices
Telehealth Practices
Platform subscriptions, merchant processing fees, and payouts that arrive in batches need to be reconciled rather than guessed at. An online practice and a remote bookkeeper work the same way, so this fits naturally, and your home office and equipment records stay organized for your tax preparer.
Questions About This Area
You are in Lancaster. Can you still keep the books for a practice in San Jose?
Yes. Every client I have works with me remotely, here in California and in other states. You give me access to your accounts, we talk by phone or video whenever you want to go through the numbers, and I do the work myself. Being a few hours south of you has never gotten in the way.
What does monthly bookkeeping cost?
Full-service monthly bookkeeping starts at $165 a month, and payroll runs start at $150 a month. Your price depends on how many accounts you have and how much activity moves through them. I will give you a real number after we talk about your practice.
My books have not been touched in over a year. Where do we start?
We start with catch-up work. I gather your statements, record and reconcile month by month until you are current, and then we move into regular monthly service so it does not happen again. You will not hear a lecture from me about how it got this way. It is the most common reason people call.
Do you prepare my tax return?
No. I keep your books tax-ready and work alongside whoever prepares your return. If your preparer needs a report or has a question about how something was categorized, they can come straight to me instead of going through you.
Do you handle insurance billing or claims?
No. Claims, credentialing, and coding stay with your biller or billing service. My part starts when money reaches your bank account, matching payments and deposits to your books so the revenue you see on paper is the revenue you really have.
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
