Short answer: Bookkeeping for production companies in Los Angeles keeps the company books, not on-set production accounting, with every cost tagged to its project or episode. Payroll company invoices are split into wages, fringes and fees, freelancers get 1099-NEC forms, and client deposits stay unearned until delivery. Loan-out corporations get fees recorded gross, with commissions on their own lines.
Who this is for
Los Angeles is full of small entertainment businesses that are not studios: commercial and music video production companies, post houses, podcast networks, YouTube channels with staff, and loan-out corporations set up for one actor, director or writer. They need company books, not a production accountant on set. That is the gap this page is about.
What we keep track of
- Project or episode tags on every cost, so you can see what each job spent against its budget.
- Payroll company invoices from services like Entertainment Partners or Cast & Crew, split into wages, fringes and fees.
- Freelancer payments with W-9s on file and 1099-NEC forms ready in January.
- Equipment rentals, insurance, location fees and permits coded to the project that used them.
- Client deposits and progress payments held as unearned until the work is delivered.
- For loan-outs: fees from the studio, agent and manager commissions, and the owner's salary.
Loan-out corporations
A loan-out is a company, often an S corporation, that contracts an actor's, writer's or director's services to a studio. The studio pays the loan-out, and the loan-out pays the owner a salary. It is simple on paper and easy to get wrong in practice. Agent and manager commissions are deducted before the money lands. Residuals arrive in small checks months later. Personal and business spending mix on one card.
We record fees gross, with commissions shown on their own lines, book the owner's payroll from the payroll provider, and keep a clean record of reimbursed expenses. Your CPA gets a year of books that support the corporate return and the owner's reasonable salary.
Film credits, payroll companies and the books
California expanded its film and television tax credit program to $750 million a year, with Program 4.0 covering applications dated after July 1, 2025. Credit applications and audits are handled by production accountants and tax advisers. What a small company needs from its books is spending recorded by project, with California and out-of-state costs clear, so whoever prepares the claim is not rebuilding it from bank statements.
If your company is inside the City of Los Angeles, it also needs a Business Tax Registration Certificate, and entertainment businesses report gross receipts at renewal like everyone else. Keeping project revenue and pass-through reimbursements apart in the ledger makes that number easier to defend.
We do not prepare film credit applications or production cost reports. We keep the company books those depend on.
How a month works between and during jobs
- Tag costs as they land Card charges, rentals and freelancer bills are coded to a project the week they come in.
- Book payroll invoices Payroll company invoices are split into wages, taxes, fringes and fees.
- Reconcile Bank and card accounts tie to statements, and client deposits are checked against deliveries.
- Report by project You see spend against budget for each job and a company profit and loss for the month.
Catching up after a busy season
Production work comes in bursts, and bookkeeping is the first thing to slip. If the last six months live in a stack of receipts and a shared drive, we rebuild from bank and card statements first, then add project detail from your budgets and call sheets where we can.
Where we work
We keep books for businesses across the City of Los Angeles, the Westside, the Eastside, the San Fernando Valley, the San Gabriel Valley, the Gateway Cities and the South Bay.
- Alhambra
- Arcadia
- City of Industry
- Commerce
- Diamond Bar
- Downey
- Downtown Los Angeles
- East Los Angeles
- El Monte
- Koreatown
- Lincoln Heights
- North Hollywood
- Pasadena
- Pomona
- San Fernando Valley
- Santa Fe Springs
- Santa Monica
- Sherman Oaks
- South Bay
- Van Nuys
- Vernon
- West Covina
- West Los Angeles
- Whittier
- Woodland Hills
Questions
Are you a production accountant?
No. We keep company books for production businesses and loan-outs. On-set production accounting and cost reports are a different job.
Can you handle a loan-out corporation?
Yes. We record income, commissions, the owner's payroll and expenses so your CPA can prepare the corporate return.
Do you work with payroll companies?
We record their invoices and reports in your books. Payroll itself runs through the payroll company.