Back-office operations for professional practices.
I take the administration behind your practice, get it working properly, and write it down so it keeps working. You book the hours you need. Nobody has to manage me.
Administration that doesn't live in someone's head.
Most small practices run their admin on memory. Someone knows which client hasn't been invoiced, which file is short a signature, which registration is due next month. It works until that person is flat out, on leave, or gone.
I write it down and build it properly, so the work happens because the system says so rather than because someone remembered. When a person is away, nothing stops.
You get documented processes your own team can follow, and a shorter list of things only you can do.
How I work with a practice.
Most clients start with a review or an administration retainer, then move up as the systems take hold.
Operations Review
A paid diagnostic, and the usual starting point. Two to three weeks going through how your practice runs.
- Workflow and process mapping
- Systems and subscriptions audit
- Where time and money are leaking
- A costed, prioritised roadmap
Fixed fee. Credited against a build or retainer that follows.
Practice Administration
The back-office work itself, in booked hours against defined processes. Scheduled in advance, never on call.
- Invoicing runs and debtor follow-up
- Client and matter onboarding administration
- Document preparation and file management
- Compliance registers and renewals
- Supplier and subscription administration
Monthly retainer. Three tiers of hours, invoiced in advance.
Systems & Automation
Building the thing that makes the administration smaller. Fixed fee, defined scope, staged payments.
- Practice management setup and migration
- CRM and pipeline design
- Workflow automation and intake forms
- Online payments, booking and websites
- Reporting that fits on one page
Quoted on scope. Optional maintenance afterwards.
Operations Management
A fractional operations manager for your practice. For firms that need the function owned rather than the tasks done.
- Ownership of process and systems
- Monthly reporting to the principals
- Vendor and software management
- Documented procedures your team can follow
Monthly retainer. Minimum three-month term.
Also available through me
Brought in when the work calls for it, rather than sold as standing services.
Bookkeeping
Petah Blanch, a qualified bookkeeper, keeps your accounts reconciled and current: bank reconciliation, accounts payable and receivable, and transaction coding. She maintains the ledger so your own registered BAS or tax agent can prepare and lodge the BAS. We are not registered BAS or tax agents and do not provide BAS services.
Quoted on scope.
Custom software
Matthew Gulliver builds what a practice can't buy or configure: client portals, secure document exchange, systems that talk to each other, and internal tools that don't exist off the shelf. Scoped off the back of a review, never sold cold.
Quoted per project.
Stabilise, systemise, step back.
The aim is for you to need fewer hours from me over time, not more.
Stabilise
I start with what's costing you money right now: work that hasn't been billed, registrations that have slipped, the process that only half exists. You get a written picture of where things stand, and the leaks closed.
Systemise
Then I rebuild it. The right tools set up properly, the repetitive steps automated, and the rest written down so it survives leave and staff changes. You get documented procedures your team can follow.
Step back
As the systems hold, the hours come down. Most practices keep me on a smaller maintenance retainer; some keep me running operations outright. Either way you stop paying for work the system now does by itself.
The things practices ask first.
Including the awkward ones. If something isn't here, ask.
Getting started
How do we start working together?
Most practices start with an Operations Review. I spend two to three weeks going through how your practice runs, then give you a written picture of what's costing you money and what I'd do about it. From there you decide whether to take on a retainer, commission a build, or do nothing.
Why is the Operations Review paid?
Because it's about sixteen hours of real work, and because a free audit is a sales pitch with a clipboard. If you go on to a build or a retainer, the fee is credited.
How quickly can you start?
Usually within a fortnight. Retainer work starts on the first of a month; reviews and builds can start sooner.
Money
Is there a minimum term, and how do I cancel?
Administration retainers run month to month. Operations Management has a three-month minimum term. Builds finish when the project finishes. Notice periods are set out in your engagement letter, agreed before you sign anything.
How and when do you invoice?
Retainers are invoiced in advance on the first of the month and payable within seven days. Projects are part on acceptance, with the balance on milestones agreed before work starts. One-off work is 14 days.
How the work happens
Who actually does the work?
I do the operations, systems and administration work. Petah Blanch, a qualified bookkeeper, handles bookkeeping. Matthew Gulliver builds custom software when a job needs it. I scope and coordinate the whole engagement and am your point of contact throughout.
Do you work remotely or on site?
Remotely, almost entirely, which is why I can work with practices anywhere in Australia. I'm based in Newcastle and happy to meet in person if you're local, particularly at the start. I don't provide on-site cover or staffing.
What software do you work in?
Xero for accounting, Google Workspace and Microsoft 365, and whichever practice management system you already use. On the legal side that's usually LEAP, Actionstep, Smokeball or Clio; in allied health, Cliniko, Halaxy or Zanda. If you're on something else I'll learn it.
What happens to my confidential information?
I work inside your systems under your own access controls, so your data stays where it is. Confidentiality terms are part of every engagement. Nothing is offshored: the work is done in Australia, by the people named on this page.
The honest limits
What don't you do?
I don't answer phones, take messages, or provide reception or front-of-house cover. I don't handle mail or provide a business address, and I don't have meeting rooms or office space. I don't lodge BAS or tax returns, and I don't do trust account work of any kind. This isn't a virtual assistant service: I don't sell hours of availability or commit to response times. I take defined processes, fix them, and run them to a schedule you can plan around.
What happens if you're sick, on leave, or unavailable?
Everything I run for you is documented as I go, so the work can be picked up rather than reconstructed. You'll know a fortnight ahead of any planned leave, and we agree in advance what pauses and what gets covered. I don't take on more retainer work than I can cover.
Do you have professional indemnity insurance?
Professional indemnity and public liability cover will be in place before any client work begins. A certificate of currency is available on request.
One place to bring it all.
You deal with me. I scope the work, bring in Petah or Matthew when the job needs them, and stay across the whole engagement.
Sarah Blanch
Eight years managing the operations of a Newcastle serviced-office business: systems, process design, pricing, reporting and the administration behind all of it. Your point of contact from the first enquiry onwards.
Petah Blanch
Petah has been keeping books for small businesses and professional practices for decades. She keeps your accounts reconciled and current, and maintains the ledger so your own registered BAS or tax agent can prepare and lodge the BAS.
Matthew Gulliver
Most of what a practice needs is a matter of setting existing tools up properly, and that's my work. When a practice outgrows what can be configured, Matthew builds it: client portals, secure document exchange, systems that talk to each other.
Start with a conversation.
Fifteen minutes on what's slowing your practice down, and a straight answer on what I'd do about it. Use the form below.
- Based in
- Newcastle, NSW
- Working with
- Practices across Australia