Seattle Professional Services Accountant: 5 Questions to Ask First

Seattle Professional Services Accountant: 5 Questions to Ask First

A Seattle professional services accountant keeps the books for a firm that sells expertise by the hour, the project or the month, and explains what the numbers say about whether that expertise is paying off. A weak fit shows up as a month-end report that arrives after the staffing decisions are made.

The five questions below are what to settle before you sign. The numbering is a sequence, not a ranking.

On our partner roster, one Sam's List partner lists a Seattle base: System Six, a bookkeeping and fractional CFO firm whose live profile lists Professional Service Firms among its specialties. As of the roster's last update on September 14, 2026, that is the whole Seattle roster, and System Six is written up below. System Six is a vetted Sam's List member and a paying member of our featured program; payment does not buy the language we use or its reviews. You can read how we picked this firm at the end.

1. Does Your Seattle Professional Services Accountant Report Utilization and Realization?

A services firm sells time and skill, so its core numbers are not the ones a product company watches. Utilization is the share of available hours that staff spend on billable work. Realization is how much of the billable value you actually collect after write-downs and discounts. Together they explain why a busy firm can be unprofitable.

Ask whether the accountant reports both by person and by client, where the hours come from and who reconciles billed hours to the revenue in the books. Good professional services firm accounting ties those together every month.

The limitation: these metrics are only as good as the time entries behind them, and an accountant cannot fix a loose timesheet habit alone.

2. How Will You Time Revenue When Work Is Billed by Project or Retainer?

Milestone projects, monthly retainers and hourly work invoiced in arrears do not produce revenue the same way. Cash can arrive before the work is done, or long after.

Ask which method the firm uses, cash or accrual, and why. Ask how retainers paid in advance are handled and how unbilled work in progress shows up at month end.

The limitation: accrual books give a truer picture of performance but take more work to keep, and the method for your tax return may differ. Confirm the tax method with a CPA.

3. How Does Your Seattle Professional Services Accountant Run the Month-End Close?

The close turns raw transactions into reports you can act on: reconcile the accounts, post invoices and expenses, review the results and release the package. For a services firm speed matters, because staffing and pricing choices cannot wait for stale numbers.

Ask what day the report lands and who does each step. Ask what the package contains, such as profit and loss by client, an aging report showing who owes you and cash against your payroll calendar. The person who records transactions should not be the only one who reviews them.

The limitation: a faster close is not automatically a better one. A report on day three that skips reconciliation is worse than a clean one on day ten. Judge the first two closes, not the promise.

4. What Do You Know About Washington B&O Tax and Seattle Payroll Expense Tax?

Washington charges a business and occupation (B&O) tax on gross receipts, meaning revenue rather than profit. Seattle also has a payroll expense tax that applies to larger employers based on payroll size. Whether either reaches your firm, and at what rate, depends on your revenue, payroll and activity classification, and the figures can change.

You are not asking for rates. Ask whether they handle the filings or only the books and who tracks due dates. A good answer separates what they do from what you should confirm with the state or the city.

The limitation: some bookkeeping firms do not prepare returns or file state taxes at all, so get the scope in writing.

5. How Big Is the Team, and Who Actually Does the Work?

The person in the sales conversation is not always the person who closes your books. Ask who your day-to-day contact is, who prepares the work, who reviews it and how many other clients that group handles. A larger team usually means coverage when someone is out; a sole practitioner has a single point of failure. Hear the backup plan before you need it.

If you are weighing a Seattle fractional CFO for professional services, add one question: what decisions will this person help you make, such as pricing or hiring, and how often will you talk? That advice only helps if the books under it are sound.

The limitation: a bigger firm can mean more handoffs, so ask to meet the people who will handle your work.

Where System Six Fits

System Six is a bookkeeping and fractional CFO firm based in Seattle. It was founded in 2009, has about 41 employees and serves clients nationwide. Its live profile lists Non-Profit Organizations, Professional Service Firms and Real Estate Investors as specialties, and says it serves small businesses generating between $1 million and $10 million of revenue.

System Six does not yet have enough reviews on Sam's List for us to cite a count, so we describe the firm by what its profile says instead. Reviews are limited, so ask for client references.

The limitation, plainly: the profile lists a $1 million revenue minimum, so a smaller firm may fall outside what System Six takes on. It also does not describe utilization reporting, state tax filing or Seattle payroll tax work by name, so ask what is included before you assume it is.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does a Seattle professional services accountant do?

A Seattle professional services accountant keeps your books, reports on how staff time turns into revenue, handles or coordinates tax filings and helps with pricing and hiring decisions. Scope varies by firm, so ask for it in writing.

Do professional services firms owe Washington B&O tax?

Many do. Washington charges B&O tax on gross receipts, and the rate depends on your business activity classification. Some small businesses may qualify for a credit or exemption. Rules and rates change, so confirm what applies to your firm with the Washington Department of Revenue.

What is the difference between utilization and realization?

Utilization is the share of available hours spent on billable work. Realization is the share of billable value you collect after discounts and write-downs. High utilization with low realization means staff are busy but the work is not paying.

When does a Seattle fractional CFO for professional services make sense?

It makes sense when the books are reliable but you need help with pricing, cash planning, hiring or a partner transition and cannot yet justify a full-time CFO. It does not fix messy books. Ask what the engagement covers and how often you meet.

Before you interview anyone, write down the report you wish you had each month. You can browse fractional CFOs on Sam's List, including System Six, and ask each one how it would produce that report.

How We Picked This Firm

The pool. The pool is the Sam's List partner roster for Washington. As of that roster's last update on September 14, 2026, the only Washington partner on it is System Six, which is based in Seattle, so the write-up covers the whole roster. This is not a survey of every accountant who serves Seattle professional services firms, and many firms not on the roster could fit.

How it is organized. The five questions are a sequence to work through, not a ranking. System Six is the only firm written up, so there is no order of firms.

What review counts mean here. System Six has too few reviews on Sam's List for a count to mean much, so we do not cite one. A count shows how many clients wrote something down, not quality.

What payment does and does not buy. Listing on Sam's List is free, and so is being named in this article. The firm written up here is a paying member of our featured program, which is why it gets a write-up. What payment does not buy is the language we use about a firm, its review count, or a promise that it fits you.

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About the author: Kimberly Green is the cofounder of Sam's List, where business owners and high earners find vetted CPAs, financial advisors, and fractional CFOs. She's met one-on-one with 400+ financial professionals and writes from the real data behind thousands of client-advisor matches. Ask her anything about finding an accountant - she's heard it all, including the questions people are afraid to ask.