Bookkeeping & Payroll for Professional Services Firms

Often not. Many qualified professionals are 'award-free' and employed on common-law contracts or individual arrangements rather than under a modern award. However, support, administrative, reception and paralegal staff in most firms are covered by the Clerks—Private Sector Award 2020. The safest approach is to check each role against the relevant award coverage rather than assume the whole firm is one or the other—junior or graduate professionals in particular can sometimes fall within award coverage. We help map who sits where so pay and conditions are set correctly.

Yes. Award-free does not mean rules-free. Every employee is entitled to the National Employment Standards (NES)—minimum leave, maximum weekly hours, notice and so on—regardless of award coverage. If you use an enterprise agreement, it must pass the Better Off Overall Test against the relevant award. Award-free salaried staff must still receive at least the national minimum wage, superannuation, and their NES entitlements. We build payroll so both award-covered and award-free staff are handled correctly.

The Clerks—Private Sector Award 2020 covers employees doing clerical and administrative work in the private sector—reception, data entry, bookkeeping support, administration and similar roles—where no other industry award applies. In a professional firm it typically covers your admin and support team rather than the fee-earning professionals. It sets minimum rates by classification level, overtime, allowances and span of ordinary hours. Rates are reviewed and usually updated each year, so they need to be kept current.

Sometimes. Under superannuation guarantee rules, a contractor who is paid wholly or principally for their labour can be treated as an employee for super purposes, even if they have an ABN and invoice you. So an associate or freelancer who mainly provides their own labour may be entitled to super. The Superannuation Guarantee rate is currently 12% of ordinary time earnings. Misjudging this can lead to back-paid super and ATO charges, so contractor arrangements need to be reviewed individually rather than assumed to be super-free.

Client money held in trust is governed by strict statutory rules—under state legal-profession legislation for law firms and conveyancers, and agents legislation for real estate and similar agencies. In general you must bank trust money separately from your own funds, receipt it correctly, reconcile the trust account regularly, and report or have it audited as required. Trust accounting must be kept entirely separate from the firm's operating books. We can support the day-to-day record-keeping and reconciliation, while the formal statutory trust audit stays with your appointed external auditor.

It comes down to the substance of the relationship, not just a label or an ABN. An employee generally works under your control, is paid for time, gets leave and has tax withheld; a genuine contractor runs their own business, can delegate work, takes commercial risk and invoices for results. Someone who works mainly for your firm under your direction may be an employee in substance, which affects PAYG, super and payroll tax. Getting it wrong can amount to sham contracting. Where it's unclear, it's worth seeking advice before engaging someone as a contractor.

By tracking recorded time, work in progress and recoverable disbursements against what's billed and collected, rather than looking at invoices alone. That lets you see realisation (how much recorded time you actually bill), margin per matter, client or service line, and where fees are being written off. Many firms look healthy on revenue but leak profit through unbilled time and under-recovered costs. We keep this visible so partners and directors can price and resource the work properly.

Forecasting is key. Professional firms often do the work well before the money arrives, while salaries, rent and software fall due every cycle. We build a cash flow forecast around your actual billing pattern—retainers, project milestones and matter completions—so you can see when funds are due in, plan for quieter periods, and avoid being caught short between major invoices. Combined with clear WIP tracking, it turns lumpy billing into something you can plan around.