Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Answers to the questions practice owners ask us most. Don't see yours? Schedule a free consultation and ask us directly.
About GreenOak
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GreenOak Accounting is a specialized accounting firm offering fractional CFO services to growth-minded private practice owners. Our CFO engagements include monthly bookkeeping, financial reporting and strategic guidance on hiring, compensation, cash flow and growth. Tax preparation and planning can be added.
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GreenOak has served private practice owners for over 10 years. Today we work with more than 450 practices every month.
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Most accountants are good at bookkeeping and accounting. What they're missing is industry-specific knowledge to help you grow your practice. GreenOak works only with private practices, so we know what works in this industry. Our services are delivered by real U.S.-based professionals, not AI, bots or an overseas call center.
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GreenOak was founded by Julie Herres, EA, author of Profit First for Therapists and host of the Therapy For Your Money podcast.
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Our team is fully remote and located across the United States, and we serve private practices in all 50 states. Our mailing address is 8140 Ashton Ave #108, Manassas, VA 20109.
Who We Work With
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We specialize in mental and behavioral health and physical therapy practices. We also work with occupational therapy, speech-language therapy and nutrition practices. Our clients include psychologists, counselors, social workers, psychiatrists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists and nutritionists in private practice.
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We're best for growth-minded group practice owners who want to understand their numbers and are ready to make decisions based on them. If you want to keep growing, hire leaders, add locations or pay yourself better, we'd love to talk.
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Our services are focused on group practices. We have a limited number of spots for solo practitioners, so ask about availability during your free consultation.
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No. We work only with health-related private practices. The one exception is when an existing client owns a second business that we support alongside their practice
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Yes. Many of our clients have locations or clinicians in multiple states, including practices participating in PSYPACT. Our tax team is very familiar with multi-state taxation.
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No. GreenOak serves only U.S. businesses. Profit First for Therapists is available to practice owners anywhere at profitfirstfortherapists.com.
Consultations and Getting Started
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Schedule a free consultation at greenoakaccounting.com/consultation. Booking online is the fastest way, and you can see all current availability there.
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Yes. The consultation is completely free, with no obligation.
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You'll meet with our Business Development Manager, who works like an intake coordinator for our accounting team. They'll learn about your practice, share how we can help, and walk you through pricing. They can't answer specific accounting questions, but if we're a good fit, they'll match you with the right team.
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Our accountants aren't available for on-the-spot calls. The best next step is to book a free consultation online.
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Current availability is always on our consultation page. If you're hoping for an earlier time, check back often, since cancellations sometimes open new slots.
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We take on new clients most of the year. To take care of existing clients at year-end, we don't start new clients between December 15 and February 15. If you reach out during that window, we'll still meet with you and secure your spot for the first available start date in February.
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We start with a Kick-Off Call to get the full picture of your practice and set a defined start date, so you know exactly what's happening and when. If you need help with an EIN, banking or PLLC setup, we can help with that too.
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Yes. During your consultation, we'll look at how many months need to be caught up and how complex your books are, then give you a custom quote for the cleanup.
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No. We do our best work through an ongoing relationship where we can get to know your practice over time.
CFO Services
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Monthly bookkeeping and accounting, monthly financial reports, a dedicated Accounting Specialist, regular strategy meetings, forecasting and budgeting, a financial dashboard, the Practice Performance Tracker, compensation and payroll support, and a reasonable compensation analysis for S corp owners
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Yes. Our CFO services are built for growing practices, with forecasting, budgeting and planning for hiring and expansion.
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Yes. We help clients make these decisions all the time. Once you're a client, we'll gather the details at your Kick-Off Call; specific answers about timing and affordability come after that call and any catch-up work.
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Yes. Many owners we work with have solid revenue but aren't sure where the money is going. We'll start with a full picture of your finances at your Kick-Off Call. Bring the question with you; it helps us understand what matters most to you.
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Yes. Building sustainable, scalable clinician compensation models is one of our specialties. Specific recommendations come after your Kick-Off Call, once we understand your team and finances.
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Yes. Our team includes Certified Profit First Professionals, and Profit First setup and ongoing support can be part of your CFO engagement.
Bookkeeping and Software
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Yes. Monthly bookkeeping is included in every CFO engagement. Your CFO advice is only as good as your numbers, so we keep the books ourselves.
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No. We take over the bookkeeping so we can make sure it's accurate and give you the best financial guidance.
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Yes. Multiple entities under one owner is straightforward for us, and we price per entity.
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We use QuickBooks Online for all of our clients. If you use something else today, we'll set up a new account for you.
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We believe you should always own your financial data. Firms that use their own proprietary software keep the account if you leave. With QuickBooks Online, the account and its data are yours.
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It's yours to keep. We'll transfer the billing to you, and you can keep using it.
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No accounting software is HIPAA compliant, including QuickBooks Online. We never enter, or recommend entering, protected health information in QuickBooks. That stays in your EHR.
Tax
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Yes. CFO clients can add business and personal tax return preparation, priced by the complexity of your returns.
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Yes, for clients who add our tax services. Tax planning works best when the same team that prepares your returns knows your numbers all year.
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No. We prepare returns only for monthly clients. To be eligible for tax preparation for a given year, you need to be an active client on December 31 of that year.
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Yes. Our tax services are optional. You're welcome to keep working with your current tax preparer.
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Yes, for monthly clients who add our tax services.
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Yes. We guide clients through this decision often, and we'll let you know when it's time for an S corp evaluation. The evaluation and the election work each carry an additional fee.
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Yes, for monthly clients, for an additional fee. Mention it during your consultation so we can include it in your plan.
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Yes. Catching up on taxes is more common than you'd think, and there's no shame in it. Availability for these projects varies, and we usually can't take them on during peak tax season, so schedule a consultation to talk through the scope and pricing.
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Yes. For monthly clients, we offer IRS and workers' compensation audit support for an additional fee, including responding to letters, communicating with agencies and gathering documents. We don't provide audited financial statements.
Payroll and What We Don’t Do
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No. You run payroll in your own provider, and we provide payroll support: setup, onboarding new team members, benefits, paid time off and payroll notices. We highly recommend Gusto, which works well with our systems.
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No. GreenOak is an accounting and tax firm and doesn't provide medical billing services, including Medicaid billing.
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No. Personal financial planning is best handled by a financial planner. We do prepare personal tax returns for monthly clients who add tax services.
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We don't provide comfort letters or assurances to banks or lenders. We can prepare an informational package with your financial reports that you can share with them.
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No. We're accountants, not attorneys. When something involves legal questions, like contracts or employment law, we'll flag it and recommend reviewing it with your attorney.
Pricing and Contracts
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We don't post generic prices because they can't reflect the tailored approach we take with each practice. Pricing is monthly and based on your practice's size, and tax services are priced by the complexity of your returns. You'll get a personalized quote during your free consultation.
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Yes. Our agreements start with a 12-month term. It takes a few months to really get to know your practice, and that gives us room to show you how we can help.
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Our fees are billed monthly, not annually.
Working With Us
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Yes. You'll have a dedicated Accounting Specialist as your main contact, plus a Senior Accountant who provides additional support and oversight.
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CFO clients meet with their team on a regular monthly schedule and can email anytime between meetings.
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You can call, but email is usually best. Our work requires a lot of focus, so we don't typically answer live calls; you'll usually leave a voicemail. Email lets us look into your question with the right context first.
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We typically respond within 1 business day, sometimes 2 during our busiest times. We also have a 24/7 answering service that can take a message anytime.
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Email info@greenoakaccounting.com or call (571) 208-2065.
Julie Herres, The Book, and The Podcast
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Julie no longer takes one-on-one clients, but our team of private practice specialists can help. Schedule a free consultation to get started.
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Yes. Julie speaks at virtual and in-person events. Submit a request at profitfirstfortherapists.com/bookjulie.
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The book, the official workbook and free book resources and templates are at profitfirstfortherapists.com.
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Yes. Julie hosts Therapy For Your Money, a podcast about the financial side of running a private practice. Listen at therapyforyourmoney.com or on your favorite podcast app.