Bill more.Bookkeep less.Know what pays.
An accountant, not an app, closes your books every month. Built for law firms, agencies, consultancies, architects, engineers and IT firms. Flat fees from $850 a month, published before the call.
- No hourly billing
- Works with your CPA
- Works in QuickBooks and Xero
- Free 30 minute call
- $850FLAT MONTHLY FEE, CORE PLAN
- $0ONBOARDING FEE ON RETAINERS
- 24 hoursREPLY TO EVERY INQUIRY
- 3 wayTRUST RECONCILIATION, EVERY MONTH
WHERE THE MONEY LEAKS
Billable by day.Bookkeeper by night.Paid for only one.
Your books say profit. Your bank says otherwise. Money leaks out at four points between doing the work and banking the cash.
LEAK 01 · TIME
2.4 of 8
hours of an average 8 hour day that lawyers get paid for
Source: Clio Legal Trends, 2025
Hours worked, never paid for
Not just law. Billable utilization in professional services fell to 66.4% in 2025 (SPI Research, 2026). Architecture and engineering utilization has slipped to just under 60% (Deltek Clarity, 2026).
THE FIX · EVERY PLANBookkeeping is one of those unbilled hours. Hand us the books and the month end close, and bill that time instead.
LEAK 02 · SCOPE
57%
of agencies surveyed say they lose $1,000 to $5,000 a month on unbilled work
Source: Ignition survey of 273 US agencies, 2025
Extra work, never invoiced
The quick favor. The extra round. 78% of those agencies say they rarely or only sometimes charge for out of scope work. It feels like service. It is lost margin.
THE FIX · GROWTH PLANMargin by client and project at every close, so the client eating your scope shows up by name.
LEAK 03 · CASH
93 days
of revenue the median law firm has tied up in unbilled or unpaid work
Source: Clio Legal Trends, 2025
Chasing money you already earned
Payroll is due. You are writing reminder emails. 59% of US small businesses have at least some invoices 30 or more days overdue (QuickBooks, 2026).
THE FIX · GROWTH PLANAged receivables and a cash forecast, so a late client is a known number, not a payroll scare.
LEAK 04 · PROFIT
4 in 10
digital agencies surveyed did not track margin on individual projects
Source: Promethean Research, 2026
Revenue you can see. Profit you can't.
Same survey: digital agencies averaged a 13% after tax net margin in 2025. Without profit by client, the losers hide in a busy calendar.
THE FIX · GROWTH PLANProfit by client, matter or project at every close. Then you decide who to reprice.
THE BILLABLE HOUR MATH
Your most expensive bookkeeper is you.
Count only your hours on the books. Hours a week, times 48 weeks, times your rate, times the share you would really bill. Nothing you type leaves this page.
YOUR FIRM
Starts on an example firm. Slide to your own numbers.
Compare with the plan
Core fits firms up to $250k in revenue, 4 accounts and 50 transactions. Bigger than that? Compare with Growth and Controller.
- HOURS ON THE BOOKS, A YEAR288 hrs
- BILLABLE TIME LOST, A YEAR$43,200
- Core Financial, a year$10,200
ESTIMATED NET, A YEAR
$33,000Those hours are worth 4.2x what the plan costs. Bill them instead.
Get my hours backPRICES, UP FRONT
You bill by the hour. We never do.
Flat monthly fees, published before any call. Pick by revenue, accounts and transactions. Between two tiers? You start on the lower one, and we revisit at 90 days.
TIER 1
Core Financial
$850/mo
$10,200 a year
Solo and small firms up to $250k
An accountant closes your month. You get your evenings back.
Book my Core call- Up to $250k annual revenue
- Up to 4 accounts and 50 transactions
- Cash or accrual basis
4 more included
- Monthly close and bank reconciliation
- Standard financial reporting
- Payroll coordination and support
- Audit prep and year end CPA handoff
BEST FOR GROWING FIRMS
TIER 2
Growth and Controller
$1,750/mo
$21,000 a year
Up to $3M, when partners want margins and forecasts
Controller level oversight without the salary.
Book my Growth call- Everything in Core, plus:
- Up to $3M annual revenue
- Up to 5 accounts and 200 transactions
- Basic AP and AR management
4 more included
- Budgeting, forecasting and cash flow
- KPI tracking and performance analysis
- Process improvement
- Dedicated advisory meetings
TIER 3
Enterprise
$3,500+/mo
from $42,000 a year
Multi entity or high volume, $1M to $5M+
One set of numbers across every entity, with a priority direct line.
Get my Enterprise quote- Everything in Growth, plus:
- $1M to $5M+ annual revenue
- 6 to 10+ accounts and 200 to 500+ transactions
- Full cycle invoicing and bill pay
4 more included
- Multi entity and consolidation
- Scalable financial systems
- Advanced departmental tracking
- Priority direct line advisory
PROJECT BASED
Fixed Scope Projects
$1,500+one time
Behind, migrating or facing an audit
One urgent problem, one fixed scope, priced before work starts.
Price my project- Historical cleanup and rescue from $1,500
- One off financial modeling from $2,500
- Audit readiness sprint from $3,000
2 more included
- ERP selection and implementation from $5,000
- Data migration and GL architecture, quoted
Full scope and every project price are on the rate card.
See the full rate cardYOUR OTHER OPTIONS
Controller level help for less than half a bookkeeper's pay.
A bookkeeping clerk's median wage is $50,670 a year (BLS, 2025). Growth and Controller is $21,000 a year, flat. Doing it yourself looks free until you price your hours.
| Cherry Tree | In house bookkeeper | Doing it yourself | Traditional CPA firm | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost a year | Flat fee, $10,200 to $42,000+ | $50,670 median wage | Your billable hours | Priced per engagement |
| With benefits and payroll taxes | Nothing extra | About $74,000 a year (our estimate) | Nothing extra, just your evenings | Nothing extra |
| Monthly close and reconciliations | Every month, every plan | Their core job | When you find time | If you buy monthly work |
| Forecasts and KPI tracking | From $1,750 a month | A corporate controller: $152,000+ starting salary | A spreadsheet and a guess | Priced separately, if offered |
| Law firm trust reconciliation | Monthly, ready for your review and sign off | If trained on trust | You, after hours | If they offer it |
| Who files your taxes | Your CPA, from books we prepare | Your CPA | Your CPA, or you | The CPA firm |
| Hiring and training | None needed | Yours to do | Yours to learn | None needed |
Sources, and how we estimate the $74,000
Sources: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, May 2025 median wage, bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks. Robert Half 2026 Salary Guide, national corporate controller starting salaries of $152,000 to $213,250 before bonuses and benefits. $74,000 is our estimate, not a published figure: $50,670 divided by 68.7%, the wage share of employer cost for private industry office and administrative support workers (BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, June 2026), before recruiting, training, software and office costs. A service is not a full time employee. The attorney stays responsible for trust accounts in every column.
WHO WE SERVE
You sell brains, not boxes. Your books should know that.
Every firm here sells time. Each one measures it differently. Find yours below.
Law firms
Your trust account should be the boring part of your practice.
- Trust accounts reconciled monthly: bank, trust ledger and client ledgers, ready for your review and sign off
- Client costs tracked as money owed, not buried in expenses
- Partner draws checked against collected cash, not billed fees
YOU SEE
- Fees collected
- realization
- collection rate
- lockup (days to cash)
- trust balances
Agencies
Your client's ad spend is not your revenue. Your AGI is.
- Pass through and media costs split out, so margin runs on AGI: the income you keep
- Scope creep flagged by client before a retainer turns red
- A cash forecast that plans for slow paying clients
YOU SEE
- AGI
- AGI per FTE
- client margin
- utilization
- days to cash
Consultancies
Delivered in March. Paid in June. Payroll runs every two weeks.
- Effective hourly rate by engagement, fixed fee work included
- Delivered milestones not yet invoiced, flagged at every close
- A cash forecast built around slow payers
YOU SEE
- Utilization
- effective rate
- unbilled work
- project margin
- cash runway
Architects and engineers
Percent spent is not percent complete.
- Fee burn tracked against progress, by project and phase
- Unbilled additional services and reimbursables caught at month end
- Backlog measured in months of payroll
YOU SEE
- Net fee revenue
- project margin
- underbilling
- backlog
- net multiplier
IT firms and MSPs
An annual prepay is not this month's profit.
- Recurring, project and hardware revenue kept on separate lines
- Annual prepayments deferred and released month by month
- Gross margin by service line, with low margin clients named
YOU SEE
- MRR
- recurring share
- margin by line
- deferred revenue
Other expert firms
Sell expertise by the hour, day or project? You belong here.
- Monthly close and clean books your CPA can file from
- Profit by client and by service line
- A cash forecast that covers payroll and owner draws
YOU SEE
- Revenue per head
- client margin
- receivables by age
- cash runway
WHAT YOU GET
Everything between the timesheet and the bank.
The finance department your firm never hired. Your people log the hours. We handle the money side, from the monthly close to the numbers partners ask about.
- EVERY PLAN
Bookkeeping and monthly close
Every transaction coded, every account in scope reconciled, every month closed. You stop doing it at night.
- LAW FIRMS
Trust account reconciliation
Bank, trust ledger and client ledgers reconciled monthly, ready for your review and sign off.
Your month end pack
EVERY PLANProfit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow, plus plain English notes on what moved and why.
Payroll coordination and support
EVERY PLANPayroll coordinated with your provider and booked correctly every cycle.
Audit prep and CPA handoff
EVERY PLANYour CPA files the return. We hand them reconciled books, schedules and support, so year end starts from clean numbers.
Growth and Controller adds
$1,750/MO- Client margin and KPIs
- Unbilled work, flagged
- Receivables and payables
- Budgets, forecasts and cash flow
- Dedicated advisory meetings
Historical cleanup and rescue
FROM $1,500Months or years behind? We rebuild the books to a clean close. Fixed scope, quoted in writing.
Multi entity and ERP advisory
ENTERPRISE · PROJECTSSeveral entities, one set of numbers. Outgrowing your software? ERP selection and implementation, from $5,000.
HOW IT WORKS
Four steps. No sales maze.
Prices are on this page. Cleanup is quoted in writing. No meter runs while we learn your firm.
Weekdays, Eastern time
Book a free 30 minute call
Tell us how you bill, what software you use and where cash feels tight. Leave knowing which plan fits and whether cleanup comes first. No obligation.
Before you commit
Your price, in writing
Your fee comes straight from the tiers on this page. Cleanup, if needed, is a separate fixed scope quote in writing, before work starts.
Setup
Secure handover
You grant encrypted, least privilege access. We learn your books, billing and trust or project records. No onboarding fee on retainers.
Every month
Your monthly close
Books closed, accounts reconciled, and your pack in your inbox with plain English notes. At year end, your CPA gets reconciled books and schedules, not a shoebox.
FROM THE FOUNDER
You serve your clients. I guard your numbers.
I'm Joanna Karlicka, and I've spent 20+ years in accounting. I built Cherry Tree so great firms can stop running on guesswork.
You know the scene. The client work is excellent and the calendar is full. The books wait until midnight, and the numbers show up once a year, when your CPA asks. Then payroll is due and cash is tighter than the invoices said. Nobody warned you, because nobody was looking.
I've seen that scene again and again. The owners were never the problem. They were experts at their craft, stuck doing a second job nobody paid them for. Big companies have a finance team that closes every month and explains it. Firms that sell their time deserve the same, without the salary. So I built Cherry Tree.
Here is my promise. Your books close every month, so you know your numbers before your partners ask. A flat monthly fee, never an hourly meter. One accountable accountant who knows your firm, and me answering for all of it. You get back to billing. I keep watch over the rest.
“Bill your hours. Leave the books to me.”
WHY CHERRY TREE
Founder led. Flat fee. Nothing to hide.
Four things you can hold us to.
Flat fee, published
One monthly fee, on this page before the call. No meter running while you ask a question.
A reply inside 24 hours
You chase clients for money all month. You should never have to chase your accountant.
One accountable accountant
Someone who knows your firm, your clients and your numbers. Not a new face every month.
Your CPA keeps the taxes
Tax filing and audit representation stay with your CPA. We hand them clean books and schedules.
YOUR MOVE
Thirty minutes. Free. Nobody bills for them.
Weekdays, Eastern time. No obligation.
Book my free callSOFTWARE WE WORK IN
SECURITY
You keep client confidences. We keep yours.
- Access to your books is encrypted, with least privilege permissions, so we see only what the work needs.
- You get one accountable accountant, not a rotating queue.
- For law firms, every monthly trust reconciliation comes to you for review and sign off.
QUESTIONS, ANSWERED
Straight answers before you book anything.
Not covered here? Ask on the free call or send a message.
Why should I trust you with my books?
Fair question. Cherry Tree is led by its founder, Joanna Karlicka, who has 20+ years in accounting. You get one accountable accountant who knows your firm, not a rotating queue. Prices are published before any call, cleanup is quoted in writing before work starts, and every inquiry gets a reply inside 24 hours.
Do you file my taxes?
No, on purpose. Tax filing and audit representation stay with your CPA. We prepare the books, schedules and reconciliations they need and coordinate the year end handoff.
Can you handle trust accounting for my law firm?
Yes, in any US state. Every month we reconcile the trust bank account, the trust ledger and each client ledger, flag any difference and send the report for your review and sign off. You stay responsible for the trust account under your state's rules.
My books are months behind. Can you still help?
Yes. Historical cleanup is a fixed scope project from $1,500, quoted in writing before any work starts. Then your retainer runs from clean books, with no onboarding fee on top.
Why $850 when bookkeeping apps cost less?
Core is an accountant closing your month: accounts reconciled, standard reports, payroll coordinated and a clean handoff to your CPA. If you only need data entry, a lower cost service may suit you better. Compare the fee with your billable rate.
Do I have to switch accounting software?
Not if you run QuickBooks, Xero, NetSuite, Sage, SAP or Oracle. We also work alongside Bill.com, Gusto, Expensify and Stripe. Something else, or outgrown it? Ask on the call. ERP selection and implementation starts at $5,000.
Who is it for, and where are you?
Firms that sell expertise and time, anywhere in the US: law firms, agencies, consultancies, architecture and engineering firms, and IT services firms and MSPs. We are based in Aventura, Florida. If you sell inventory, we are not your best fit.
How do I get started?
Pick a weekday time in the calendar below. Rather write? Send a message and get a reply inside 24 hours. No obligation either way.
BOOK A FREE CALL
Pick a time. Bring your messiest month.
You already know the prices, so the call is about your books: which plan fits, and whether cleanup comes first. No obligation.
Free 30 minute call
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