About Lancaster CPA
About Lancaster CPA
A team of accountants trained exclusively in legal.
We are not a general practice CPA firm that happens to have a law firm client. Every person on our team is trained specifically in law firm accounting, trust compliance, legal billing software, and the financial operations that make a practice run. This is all we do.
Law firms deserve better than generic accounting.
Most law firms are stuck with a CPA who does not understand their industry, a bookkeeper who has never worked inside legal billing software, and a managing partner who fills the gaps by becoming the de facto controller. Trust accounting gets pushed around. Tax planning never happens. Reports do not match reality. And the firm pays more every year for a patchwork of vendors who do not talk to each other.
We built Lancaster CPA to fix that. Our model is simple: one team handles every financial function a law firm needs. Bookkeeping, trust accounting, money movement, tax planning, advisory. All under one roof, all inside your software, all owned by people who have done this inside law firms their entire careers.
When you work with us, you are not explaining what IOLTA means. You are not training someone on how Clio works. You are not coordinating between a bookkeeper and a CPA who have never met. You are handing the entire financial operation to a team that already knows what to do.
Law firm focused. No other industries.
Core platforms we work inside daily
Attorney firms our team has worked in
States with active law firm clients
Every client gets a dedicated team. Not a solo practitioner.
When you hire Lancaster CPA, you are assigned a team: a licensed CPA, an accountant, and access to advisory support. Your team knows your firm, your software, and your partners by name. If someone on our side is out, coverage continues. You never lose institutional knowledge.
Your CPA
A licensed CPA who owns your relationship and signs off on your tax return. Not an assistant. Not a coordinator. Your accountant.
Your Accountant
Handles daily bookkeeping, trust reconciliation, and money movement. Knows your software and your firm. Your go-to for operational questions.
Advisory Support
Access to deeper expertise for tax strategy, financial planning, cash flow modeling, and strategic questions. You call when you need a second opinion.
I have been on both sides of the legal and financial desk, as a practicing attorney and as a CPA. I built this firm because I watched law firms struggle with accountants who did not understand the business, software that was never configured correctly, and financial operations that fell on the managing partner's desk by default. That should not be how it works.
The team starts at the top.
Licensed CPA, attorney (JD), and MBA. One of a small number of professionals nationally who hold all three credentials.
Practiced corporate, securities, and tax law at firms ranging from 40-attorney regional practices to 450+ attorney national firms.
Elected to the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Attorney-CPAs. Provides continuing education on law firm accounting, operations, and succession planning.
Recognized in the 2023 and 2024 editions of The Best Lawyers in America (Ones to Watch), a distinction based solely on peer review.
Delivers tax seminars for the Tennessee Society of CPAs. Active member of the ABA, AICPA, and TSCPA.
Five integrated pillars. One team.
Monthly records. Strategic planning.
Everything stays on the books all year. Quarterly tax estimates. Year-round tax strategy. No surprises in April.
IOLTA compliance built in.
Three-way reconciliation, client fund segregation, trust ledger by matter. Compliance is non-negotiable.
Every dollar in. Every dollar out. Managed.
Accounts payable, trust disbursements, payroll, partner draws, and cash flow monitoring. You stop managing the back office. We run it.
We fix the software. We fix the reporting.
Trust module configuration, QuickBooks integration repair, chart of accounts rebuild, and custom reporting setup. Free audit to start.
Reports you will actually use. Decisions you can trust.
Profitability forecasting, compensation modeling, growth scenario planning, and weekly strategic meetings. Financial leadership without the full-time hire.
Four things a generalist will never offer.
We only work with law firms.
No restaurants, no contractors, no e-commerce. Every process, every report, and every recommendation is designed for the legal industry. That focus means we go deeper than any general firm can or would.
We work inside your software.
Clio, Smokeball, LeanLaw, MyCase, Filevine. We do not ask you to export reports. We do not need to learn your tech stack. We log in on day one because we already know these systems. That is where your financial data starts, and that is where we work.
We own the entire function.
No finger-pointing between vendors. No bookkeeper who does half the job and a CPA who does the other half. One team owns your books, your trust accounts, your money movement, and your tax return. One set of numbers everyone trusts.
We plan ahead, not after the fact.
Tax strategy happens year-round, not in a December phone call. Cash flow is monitored weekly, not reviewed annually. Quarterly estimates are calculated from real data, not last year's numbers. We are proactive because that is where the value is.
Serving law firms across multiple states.
We work with law firms across the U.S. If your state is not listed, reach out. We may already be working with firms near you.
"The accuracy of Knight's and his team's work has been outstanding and is a huge improvement over our previous approach. Knight has enabled us to focus more on the legal work we want to be doing and essentially outsourcing what used to be accounting and financial headaches."