Bookkeeping for St. Louis Mental Health Practices
Bookkeeping for St. Louis therapists, counselors, psychologists, and group practices. Books kept current and tax-ready by Aretha Dirden, working with you directly.
Bookkeeping for St. Louis Practices
St. Louis has a deep mental health community. Between the hospital systems in the Central West End, the graduate programs at Washington University and Saint Louis University, and the community agencies spread across the city and the county, a lot of clinicians train here and stay here. Many of them eventually open a private practice, and that is usually the point where receipts start living in a drawer and the bookkeeping gets pushed to Sunday night.
I am Aretha Dirden, and I keep the books for mental health practices around the country from my desk in Lancaster, California. Private practice bookkeeping is the only work I do, for therapists, counselors, psychologists, clinical social workers, addiction counselors, and prescribers. Before this I spent more than 15 years as a licensed nurse working in mental health, so you will not have to explain your caseload, your no-show pattern, or why the deposits from your practice software never line up with your session count on the first pass.
Monthly Bookkeeping
Monthly Bookkeeping
Full-service monthly bookkeeping starting at $165 a month. Transactions categorized, bank and credit card accounts reconciled, and reports you can read between sessions that show what your practice actually earned.
Catch-Up and Clean-Up
Catch-Up and Clean-Up
If the books were never done, I record and reconcile the missing months. If they were done in a hurry and nobody trusts the numbers, I find what is wrong and fix it properly. Either way you end up with records you can believe.
Payroll for Practices with Staff
Payroll for Practices with Staff
If your payroll system is already up and running, I run it every pay period so your clinicians and front office staff are paid right and on time. I do not set up new payroll systems, and I say so up front.
Tax-Ready Records and 1099s
Tax-Ready Records and 1099s
Your books stay organized for whoever prepares your return, with documentation in place and categories that make sense for a practice. At year end I prepare 1099s for associate clinicians, contract supervisors, and vendors.
St. Louis Practices I Work With
The metro area holds a lot of care in a small footprint. There are therapy suites in Clayton and the Central West End, practices in Kirkwood, Webster Groves, Maplewood, and University City, offices out through Creve Coeur and Chesterfield, and clinicians in the Metro East who keep a caseload on both sides of the river. Most of the therapists and counselors I work with came out of hospital systems, community agencies, or school settings before they opened their own doors.
The practices I serve run from one clinician working alone to groups with ten people on the payroll, including ABA and behavioral health teams and telehealth practices seeing clients across state lines. If that sounds like your practice, book a consultation with me and tell me where your books stand right now. There is nothing to be embarrassed about, and I have heard it all before.
Solo Therapists and Counselors
Solo Therapists and Counselors
One clinician, a full caseload, and no time for QuickBooks. I reconcile the deposits from your practice software to your bank, keep private pay and insurance money straight as it arrives on different schedules, and separate business spending from personal.
Group Practices
Group Practices
Practices with associates, supervisors, and admin help. I record compensation splits and salaries correctly, keep W-2 staff and 1099 contractors clearly apart in the books, and show you what each clinician contributes to the bottom line.
Psychologists and Prescribers
Psychologists and Prescribers
Testing and assessment engagements carry report time, and medication management practices run high visit volume with short appointments. Both shapes are easy to misread. I track them so a mixed practice can see which parts pay for themselves.
Telehealth Practices
Telehealth Practices
Platform subscriptions, EHR fees, and merchant processing add up quietly. I reconcile payouts against sessions, record the software stack honestly, and keep home office and equipment records clean for your tax preparer.
Questions About This Area
You're in California. Can you keep the books for my St. Louis practice?
Yes. All of my work happens remotely and I have clients coast to coast. You share statements and access through secure links, we talk by phone or video whenever you want to, and you always work with me directly instead of a rotating team.
I see clients in Missouri and Illinois. Does that complicate my books?
Not on the bookkeeping side. I keep your income and expenses organized and reconciled no matter where your clients live. Questions about licensing or state tax filings belong with your attorney or tax preparer, and I make sure they have clean records to work from.
What does monthly bookkeeping cost?
Monthly bookkeeping starts at $165. Your price depends on how many accounts you have and how much activity runs through them. I give you a flat monthly number after we talk about your practice.
My books have not been touched since I opened. Where do we start?
We start with catch-up work. I record and reconcile the months or years that are missing, get you current, and then keep it that way going forward. This is how a lot of my clients begin, and there is no lecture about how it happened.
Do you prepare tax returns or handle insurance billing?
No to both. I keep your books tax-ready so your tax preparer has everything they need, and I stay out of claims, coding, and credentialing. My work is the money moving in and out of your accounts, recorded accurately and reconciled every month.
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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