Industries
Clean books for the businesses where generic bookkeeping breaks down.
Slate and Summit helps law firms, residential real estate agents and brokerages, construction and remodel companies, and revenue-generating tech startups keep clean books, plan ahead for taxes, and make cash decisions with fewer surprises.
Every industry has its own way of making the books messy. Trust accounts, commission splits, job costs, retainage, burn, runway, and investor reporting all need more than transaction coding. We start with the numbers, then help you understand what they mean.
Short version
Four segments. One practical reason to call.
You need books you can trust, tax planning before the year closes, and CFO help when the next decision is too expensive to guess through.
Law firms
For managing partners who need cleaner books, trust-account support where scoped, matter profitability, partner economics, and tax planning without last-minute surprises.
Residential real estate
For agents, teams, and broker-owners who know what they grossed but need to see what they actually kept after splits, lead spend, referrals, software, mileage, team costs, and taxes.
Construction & remodel
For contractors who need job costing, WIP schedules, change order visibility, retainage tracking, margin fade review, and cash timing before the project is over.
Tech startups
For funded or revenue-generating startups that need burn, runway, ARR/MRR, investor-ready numbers, data room support, R&D credit documentation support, and CFO help before a full-time hire makes sense.
Find your fit
Choose the page that sounds most like your business.
Each industry page goes deeper into what is probably not working, what we can help fix, what you get each month, and what we do not do.
Law firms
Trust-account questions, partner draws, matter profitability, contingency timing, and tax planning can create risk when the books are stale.
- Trust-account support and IOLTA reconciliation where scoped
- Matter and practice-area profitability
- Partner economics, draws, and tax planning support
Residential real estate agents, teams & brokerages
A commission check is not the same as take-home income. Splits, caps, referral fees, lead spend, team costs, and quarterly taxes all change the answer.
- GCI, split, cap, and referral fee tracking
- Lead source ROI and team profitability support
- Quarterly tax rhythm and broker-owner dashboards
Construction & remodel companies
A job can look profitable until labor, change orders, materials, retainage, and overhead tell a different story.
- Job costing and cost-code cleanup
- WIP, change order, and retainage visibility
- Cash timing and lender or bonding package support where scoped
Revenue-generating tech startups
Your product may move fast. The books, runway model, investor update, and cash decisions need to keep up.
- Burn, runway, ARR/MRR, and budget-to-actual reporting
- Investor update and data room support
- R&D credit documentation support and CPA/EA coordination where needed
The Slate-to-Summit idea
Industry focus changes the questions, not the order of the work.
We do not build forecasts, tax plans, hiring models, or investor reports on books nobody trusts.
First, we clean up the slate: books, reconciliations, close rhythm, records, and management-prepared reports. Then we help you see from the summit: cash planning, tax planning, forecasts, dashboards, investor or lender preparation, and decision support.
- Law firms ask about trust, matters, partner draws, and practice-area profit.
- Real estate agents and brokerages ask what they actually keep.
- Contractors ask whether the job is making money before the job is over.
- Founders ask how long the cash will last and what investors will ask next.
What your industry changes
The right report depends on the decision you need to make.
A useful monthly report should not just show a profit and loss statement. It should help the owner, founder, managing partner, broker-owner, or contractor answer the next practical question.
Profitability by the right unit
Matter, closing, agent, lead source, job, customer, product, or channel. The unit changes by industry, but the point is the same: know where profit is actually coming from.
Cash before the scramble
Tax estimates, payroll, retainage, recruiting, hiring, lead spend, and fundraise timing all affect cash. The earlier you see the pressure, the more useful the conversation becomes.
Reports you can explain
The best report is the one you can use with a partner group, banker, board, team lead, spouse, or leadership team without translating accounting language first.
How we work
A simple path from messy numbers to monthly clarity.
Most engagements start with a books and cash review. From there, we scope the cleanup, monthly close, tax planning support, and CFO help that make sense.
01
Books & Cash Review
We listen for the question that made you reach out now: cash, taxes, hiring, reporting, investor pressure, partner economics, job profit, or brokerage visibility.
02
Secure setup & cleanup
We collect access securely, review the chart of accounts, request missing records, connect systems, and clean up the items that keep the books from being useful.
03
First useful close
You receive management-prepared reports, a plain-English summary of what changed, open questions, and the first useful view of where the numbers stand.
04
Monthly rhythm
The close repeats. Tax watch items, cash forecasts, dashboards, or Monthly Numbers Snapshots are added where scoped. One person prepares the work; another checks it.
Scope boundaries
What we own, and what we coordinate.
Clear scope makes the work safer and easier to understand. Slate and Summit is not a CPA firm, and we do not blur that line.
We own the recurring work in our lane
- Monthly bookkeeping, reconciliations, cleanup, and close
- Management-prepared reports and plain-English summaries
- Tax planning support and documentation where scoped
- Cash forecasts, dashboards, hiring scenarios, and Monthly Numbers Snapshots where scoped
We coordinate or refer regulated work
- Audits, reviews, compilations, CPA opinions, and IRS representation
- Tax return signing or formal tax opinions that require a licensed CPA or Enrolled Agent
- Legal advice, investment advice, broker-dealer services, cap table administration, and 409A valuations
- Fundraising, valuation, lender, bonding, tax savings, R&D credit, or runway guarantees
Industries FAQ
Common questions before you choose a page.
What industries does Slate and Summit serve?
We focus on law firms, residential real estate agents and brokerages, construction and remodel companies, and revenue-generating tech startups.
Do you take clients outside these four industries?
Sometimes. The best fit is still a growing business with real books, cash, tax, reporting, or stakeholder complexity. If the work falls outside our lane, we will say that clearly and point you toward the right provider when possible.
Are you a CPA firm?
No. Slate and Summit is not a CPA firm. We do not perform audits, issue CPA opinions, or represent clients before the IRS. We handle monthly books, tax planning support, reporting, and CFO-level guidance, and we coordinate with licensed CPA or EA partners where regulated work is required.
Why does industry-specific bookkeeping matter?
Because the useful questions are different. A law firm may need trust-account and matter visibility. A real estate team may need split and lead source reporting. A contractor may need WIP and job costing. A startup may need burn, runway, and investor reporting.
Do you work with individual real estate agents?
Yes, when the agent has enough commission, expense, tax, or operational complexity to benefit from monthly books, quarterly tax planning support, and a clearer view of actual take-home income.
Do you work with pre-revenue startups?
Sometimes, but not usually. A funded pre-revenue startup may be a fit if it has payroll, contractors, runway questions, investor reporting, or a fundraise coming up. Idea-stage startups without books, funding, payroll, or reporting complexity are usually not the right fit.
What happens first?
Start with a books and cash review. We talk through your current books, tax process, systems, reporting needs, and the decision that made you reach out now. Then we scope cleanup, monthly close, tax planning support, and CFO help where appropriate.
Next step
Start with the numbers that are keeping you stuck.
Tell us what you are trying to answer: whether you can hire, what you actually kept, where the job profit went, how long the cash will last, or why tax season keeps surprising you.
Slate and Summit is not a CPA firm and does not perform audits, reviews, compilations, CPA opinions, IRS representation, legal advice, investment advice, broker-dealer services, cap table administration, or 409A valuations.