Aspenhollow Business Capital, based in Olympia, WA, arranges accounting firm financing, CPA firm financing and insurance agency loans through funding partners, along with funding for consulting and engineering firms. Thurston County, WA had 420 such employer establishments in 2023 across four census codes (88 + 142 + 96 + 94, our arithmetic). This page covers receivables, hires, software and acquisitions.
| Accounting, tax and payroll firms | 88 (CBP 2023, NAICS 5412) |
|---|---|
| Management and technical consultants | 142 (NAICS 5416) |
| Architecture and engineering firms | 96 (NAICS 5413) |
| Insurance agencies and related offices | 94 (NAICS 5242) |
| Consultants with no employees | 858 (NES 2024, NAICS 5416) |
Four kinds of firm, one cash pattern
Accounting and bookkeeping practices, management consultants, architects and engineers, and insurance agencies look different from the street but share a cash cycle. Their main cost is people, and payroll can go out before invoices are paid. Invoices may go out monthly or at project milestones, and clients may pay in 30, 45 or 60 days. A growing firm that hires before the new work bills can find that growth itself creates the gap.
Insurance agencies are paid commissions by carriers, which may arrive on the carriers' schedule. The timing problem is the same.
Accounting firm loans and CPA firm financing
Accounting business loans can cover payroll before fees are collected, software and equipment, or buying another practice's book of clients. If your own statements show revenue concentrated in part of the year, a line of credit drawn ahead of that period and repaid as fees come in may fit; we have no local data on seasonal patterns, so your statements are the evidence.
CPA firm financing for an acquisition is a larger request. Partners look at the selling practice's client retention, fee history and the transition plan, and a term loan is one structure partners consider.
Insurance agency loans and acquisitions
Insurance agency financing can fund a new producer's salary before their book pays commissions, an office move, or a purchase. Insurance agency acquisition loans (and insurance agency acquisition financing generally) depend on the book being bought: retention, carrier mix and commission statements. Partners treat a book of business as an asset with a track record, not as equipment.
Consulting and engineering firms
Consultants and engineers may be paid at milestones on contracts that run for months. A firm that wins a large contract can face several payrolls before its first milestone payment. Working capital sized to the contract's first milestone, or a revolving line for repeated gaps, keeps payroll on schedule.
Which funding fits which need
| Need | Option | Paperwork a partner tends to want |
|---|---|---|
| Payroll ahead of billings | Working capital | Accounts receivable aging, bank statements |
| Recurring gaps through the year | Line of credit | Twelve months of statements showing the pattern |
| Buying a practice or book | Term loan | Seller's fee or commission history, retention |
| Moving offices or fitting out a new suite | Term loan | Lease and build-out budget |
Illustrative example: a new engineering contract
A hypothetical example, for illustration only. A seven-person engineering firm signs a design contract worth $180,000, billed at three milestones. It hires two engineers at a combined $16,000 a month. The first milestone is due at month three and the client pays 45 days after invoice, so the firm carries about four and a half months of added payroll ($72,000) before the first payment. A line sized near that amount, repaid at each milestone, matches the contract.
Professional firms in Thurston County, WA
Thurston County, WA had 88 accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll establishments (NAICS 5412; 79.5% under five employees), 142 management, scientific and technical consulting firms (NAICS 5416; 77.5%), 96 architectural and engineering firms (NAICS 5413; 58.3%) and 94 insurance agencies and related offices (NAICS 5242; 66.0%) in 2023 (County Business Patterns 2023). Together that is 420 employer establishments, 71.0% with fewer than five employees (our arithmetic).
The nonemployer program, which counts businesses with no paid employees, is a separate series and is not added to or compared with the employer counts above. In 2024 it counted 257 accounting businesses, 858 consulting businesses, 184 architecture and engineering businesses and 175 insurance businesses with no paid employees (Nonemployer Statistics 2024). ZIP 98501 alone held 20 accounting firms, 31 consulting firms, 28 engineering firms and 18 insurance agencies (ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023).
Software, equipment and space
Professional firms have equipment needs too: workstations, servers or cloud migrations, plotters and survey gear for engineers, and office fit-outs. Smaller items can sit on a line of credit; an office build-out or a large technology project is better matched to a term loan with fixed payments.
What partners commonly review
- Accounts receivable aging, by client
- Business bank statements
- Contracts or engagement letters for large work
- For acquisitions: the seller's fee or commission history
- Existing debt; owner credit
Partners do not publish thresholds; client concentration (one client owing most of the receivables) is one question a partner may ask.
Related pages
Law firms have their own page. County context is on the Olympia, WA page, and all industries are grouped on the hub.
By Aspenhollow Business Capital · Updated