FOR INDEPENDENT CONSULTANTS

I Reviewed Bookkeeping Services for Businesses Used by 38 Consultants. 31 Had No Idea What They Kept.

(They Build Financial Models for a Living. Not Their Own.)

This July I sat down with the books of 38 independent consultants billing $175 to $400 an hour. Only 7 could tell me what they actually kept within a few thousand dollars. The other 31 were running their business on a shared spreadsheet, a checking account, and a vague sense that things were probably fine.

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Real accountants Flat monthly pricing Books built for retainer income

Phoenix · August 18, 2026 · 5 min read

38 consultants. 7 knew their number.

31 of 38

could not state their real take-home

“I have been telling clients for a decade to know their numbers. I did not know mine. Amadae found $9,200 I was leaving on the table in one quarter, and now I know what I take home before the money is already spent.”

Fractional CMO · Two retainer clients, one project client, about $31,000 a month

Stop averaging your retainer income. It is lying to you.

Every consultant I reviewed had a number in their head: I bring in about $28,000 a month. Almost none were right. One averaged $28,400 across six months but actually swung between $41,000 in her best month and $6,200 in her worst. That gap is where underpayment penalties, missed retirement contributions, and August panic come from.

Do this today: Pull your last six months of deposits and write down the real high and low, not the average.

One consultant's six months, real versus average

Best month$41,000

The average she quoted$28,400

Worst month$6,200

From one consultant's deposits in our July review

Your Miscellaneous folder is not a bookkeeping system

Of the 38 consultants, 24 were categorizing more than 30% of their expenses as misc or other. One had $46,000 sitting in a category that told his accountant nothing and told the IRS even less. Uncategorized spend is unclaimed deduction, and nobody can tell you your real margin if a third of your spending has no label.

Do this today: Open your books and recategorize anything sitting in other from the last 30 days.

24 of 38

consultants had more than 30% of expenses filed as misc or other. One had $46,000 there.

Amadae review of 38 consultants, July

The famine-month tax trap nobody warns consultants about

A consultant lands a $40,000 project in Q1, sets quarterly estimates at that pace, then Q3 goes quiet between retainers. The April estimate no longer matches reality and most consultants never adjust it. A separate audit of 47 consulting retainers found 68% underpaid their quarterly estimates by an average of $9,200 for exactly this reason.

Do this today: Recalculate your quarterly estimate the moment a retainer ends, not when the deadline reminds you.

Woman working on tablet outdoors — 68% of 47 consulting retainers underpaid quarterly estimates by an average of $9,200. Feast months set a bar famine months cannot clear.

Want all of this handled for you, for one flat monthly price?

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04AMADAE

Generic bookkeeping was built for a coffee shop, not a retainer

Most bookkeeping services assume steady weekly revenue, predictable expenses, and one filing at year end. That model breaks the moment your income looks like a heartbeat monitor. Amadae tracks retainer cash flow month over month, flags the famine months before they become a tax problem, and keeps your quarterly estimates tied to what you are earning now, not what you earned in Q1. Books, estimates, and the entity conversation live in one place instead of three vendors who do not talk.

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Built for retainers or built for a storefront

	Spreadsheet	Generic bookkeeper
Tracks retainer cash flow month over month
Flags famine months before they hit taxes
Quarterly estimates tied to current income		Extra fee
Recategorizes misc and other spend		If asked
Entity structure conversation
One flat monthly price	Free

Price your summer sabbatical into your rate

Half the consultants I talked to planned a lighter August: fewer calls, a real vacation, a slower project load. Almost none had priced that time into their annual rate. They absorbed the gap and called it a slow month. If August and December are going to be light, that is a forecasting input, not a surprise.

Do this today: Calculate what four weeks of zero billing costs you this year, then add it to your next retainer proposal.

Coffee at green desk — Half of the 38 planned a lighter August. Almost none priced four weeks of zero billing into their rate.

Separate what you billed from what you keep, every month

Billing $30,000 in a month feels like winning. After self-employment tax, business expenses, and whatever your entity costs you, the real number can be $18,000 or less. Most consultants I reviewed were hiring subcontractors and upgrading software off the billed number instead of the kept number. That is how an estimated tax penalty sneaks up on someone who felt responsible all year.

Do this today: Build a two-column tracker: billed this month, kept this month. Review it before you spend.

A $30,000 month, illustrative split

Billed$30,000

Self-employment tax$4,200

Business expenses$6,000

Entity, software, insurance$1,800

Actually kept$18,000

BONUSAMADAE

Bonus: The 90-day audit that found $9,200

We ran a 90-day pilot with a fractional CMO billing about $31,000 a month across two retainers and one project, with wild swings either side. She was one of the 31 who could not state her take-home. Ninety days later her books were rebuilt around her real cash flow, her quarterly estimate had been recalculated twice as retainers shifted, and $9,200 in unclaimed expenses had been found.

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Fractional CMO

Two retainer clients, one project client, about $31,000 a month

Found $9,200 in one quarter

38 consultants. 7 knew their number.

31 of 38

could not state their real take-home

68%

of 47 retainers underpaid quarterly estimates

$9,200

average quarterly underpayment we found

$46,000

one consultant's spend filed as misc

From Amadae reviews of 38 consultants and 47 consulting retainers, July

Books that already understand how consultants get paid

Bookkeeping, payroll, and taxes from real accountants, for one flat monthly price starting at $249.

Retainer and project cash flow tracked month over month
Quarterly estimates recalculated when a retainer starts or ends
Every expense categorized by a real accountant, nothing left in misc
S-corp setup, payroll, and year-end returns included

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$249/mo

If you make $40K - $69K. Flat, no hourly bills.

Monthly profit and loss reports
Tax set-aside management
Expense categorization
Real-time financial dashboard
Business bank account connections
Invoicing and contractor payments

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Straight answers

Questions creators ask us

My income is lumpy. Can you actually handle that?+

That is the whole point. The books are built around the swing between your best and worst month, and your quarterly estimate moves when a retainer starts or ends instead of sitting at the April number all year.

I already use bookkeeping software. Why is this different?+

Software records deposits. It does not notice that a third of your spending is labeled other, or that Q3 went quiet while your estimate assumed Q1. A real accountant watching the pattern does.

Do I need an S corp?+

Maybe, usually past about $80K of profit. The intro call runs the math on your actual numbers, and if the answer is not yet, we will say so.

Find out what you actually keep

Every consultant in this audit was excellent at their real job. The books were the one thing nobody was paid to fix. Thirty minutes will show you exactly where your gap is.

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