How to use Heard: Master Therapy Practice Finances (2026)

Quick Start

This guide covers every Heard feature:

• Getting Started — Create your account and connect your practice bank data
• How to Use Bookkeeping — Monthly books handled by a team that knows private practice
• How to Use Taxes — Federal and state filing included in your plan
• How to Use Payroll — Automatic salary runs with tax withholding built in
• How to Use S Corp Election — A break-even check before you change your tax status
• How to Use Support and Community — Direct contact with humans plus a peer community

Time needed: 5 minutes per feature

Also in this guide: Pro Tips | Common Mistakes | Troubleshooting | Pricing | Alternatives

Why Trust This Guide

I have run Heard inside a working private practice for over a year and tested every feature covered here.

This tutorial comes from real hands-on use, not vendor screenshots.

Accounting concepts barely shift in a decade, but the tools around them change every year.

Heard is accounting software built for one job: keeping therapy practices financially organized.

Most therapists only ever touch the monthly reports.

That is a disappointing use of a platform that can handle far more of the work.

This article shows you how to use every major feature.

Every section breaks the steps down with screenshots and practical tips.

Heard Tutorial

This How to use Heard tutorial walks through each part of the platform, from your first login to the settings that separate casual users from confident ones.

Heard

Stop losing evenings to spreadsheets. Heard pairs bookkeeping, tax filing, and payroll with accountants who work only with therapists. Your books stay current and your questions get real answers.

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Getting Started with Heard

Before any feature makes sense, finish this one-time setup.

It takes about three minutes.

These steps ensure your first month closes without surprises.

Here is what the first month actually felt like:

Now let us walk through each step.

Step 1: Create Your Account

Go to the Heard website and click Get Started.

Enter your email, your state, and your practice type.

The sign up flow asks whether you are a sole proprietor, an LLC, or already an S corp.

✓ Checkpoint: Your inbox should hold a confirmation message within a minute.

Step 2: Connect Your Business Bank Account

Link the account your practice actually uses for deposits and expenses.

Heard reads transactions only. It cannot move your money.

Connect your business credit card in the same screen if you carry one.

✓ Checkpoint: Transactions from the last 90 days should appear in your dashboard.

Step 3: Finish Onboarding With Your Team

You get matched with a bookkeeper and book a short onboarding call.

Bring last year’s tax return and your current entity paperwork.

Set your fiscal preferences in settings before the first close.

How to Use Heard Bookkeeping Tool

Bookkeeping lets you hand off your monthly books to accountants who only work with therapists.

Most therapists lose hours every month sorting charges they barely remember. Clean books are the foundation for every other financial decision you make.

Here is how to use it step by step.

Step 1: Open the Transactions Tab

Click Transactions in the left sidebar.

Every synced charge and deposit lands here first.

Step 2: Review the Categories Your Team Assigned

Your bookkeeper sorts various types of practice expenses into the right categories.

You only confirm the ones flagged as unclear.

Here is what this looks like:

✓ Checkpoint: Every transaction shows a category and no red flags remain.

Step 3: Close the Month

Click Confirm once the flagged items are cleared.

Your profit and loss report updates the same day.

How to Use Heard Taxes

Taxes lets you file federal and state returns without hiring a separate tax preparer.

Tax season is where a disorganized practice gets expensive. Keeping filing inside the same platform prevents the handoff mistakes that create real concerns later.

Here is how to use it step by step.

Step 1: Open the Taxes Dashboard

Select Taxes from the sidebar to see your current year status.

Quarterly estimate due dates sit at the top.

Step 2: Upload Your Documents

Drop in 1099s, prior returns, and any personal income data.

Missing documents show as a checklist, so nothing gets lost.

Here is what this looks like:

✓ Checkpoint: Your document checklist reads complete with no missing items.

Step 3: Approve and File

Your preparer drafts the return and sends it for review.

You approve inside the dashboard, and they file federal and state.

How to Use Heard Payroll

Payroll lets you pay yourself a reasonable salary on a schedule that runs itself.

Paying yourself properly matters more than most new practice owners expect. Payroll turns it into a background process you never have to think about.

Here is how to use it step by step.

Step 1: Turn On Payroll in Settings

Payroll unlocks once your S corp election is active.

Sole proprietors take owner draws instead, which is normal.

Step 2: Set Your Reasonable Salary

Enter the salary figure your accountant recommends.

The tool calculates withholding and the employer portion for you.

Here is what this looks like:

✓ Checkpoint: A pending pay run appears with the correct net amount.

Step 3: Run the First Cycle

Pick a pay schedule and click Run Payroll.

Filings and deposits happen automatically after that.

How to Use Heard S Corp Election

S Corp Election lets you see whether an S corp would actually save you money before you file.

S corp status is oversold online. This feature is real problem solving with your actual numbers, not general advice recycled from a forum.

Here is how to use it step by step.

Step 1: Open the S Corp Calculator

Find it under Tax Planning in your dashboard.

It pulls your real revenue instead of asking you to guess.

Step 2: Compare the Two Scenarios

The screen shows self-employment tax against S corp tax side by side.

Payroll and filing costs are already subtracted from the savings.

Here is what this looks like:

✓ Checkpoint: You can see a clear break even number in dollars.

Step 3: Request the Election

Click Request Election if the numbers favor the switch.

Your team prepares Form 2553 and tracks the deadline.

How to Use Heard Support and Community

Support and Community lets you ask a person your money questions instead of guessing from an article.

Software cannot answer every question about your practice. Sometimes you need a person who will listen to your situation, and Heard treats its customers as practice owners before software users.

Here is how to use it step by step.

Step 1: Message Your Team Directly

Use the chat panel in the bottom corner of any screen.

Replies land in one business day during normal weeks.

All communication stays inside the platform, so answers never get buried in email.

Step 2: Search the Resource Library

Watch the short training videos or read a guide before you write a message.

For example, the deduction resources cover home office rules that trip up telehealth providers.

Here is what this looks like:

✓ Checkpoint: Your message shows a read receipt from your bookkeeper.

Step 3: Join the Therapist Community

Request access to the private member group from your settings page.

Other practice owners answer questions the help docs skip.

Heard Pro Tips and Shortcuts

After a year of steady use, these are the habits that saved me the most time.

None of these techniques are hidden, but almost nobody uses them effectively.

Small habits improve your monthly close more than any single shortcut.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Hidden Features Most People Miss

• Transaction rules: Teach the tool to categorize recurring charges once, and it repeats the logic forever.
• Report exports: Send a clean profit and loss to a lender or landlord in two clicks.
• Owner draw tracking: Separate personal transfers from real business spending so your margins stay accurate.
• Deadline reminders: Turn on email alerts in settings and never miss a quarterly estimate again.

Heard Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake #1: Mixing personal and practice spending

Mistake #2: Treating the dashboard as read only

Mistake #3: Electing S corp status too early

Heard Troubleshooting

Problem: Bank connection keeps dropping

Cause: Your bank rotates security tokens, and multi factor prompts expire quietly in the background.

Fix: Reconnect from Settings, then approve the prompt on your phone within sixty seconds.

Problem: Transactions are missing from a past month

Cause: The initial sync usually pulls a limited history window rather than your full account.

Fix: Export a CSV from your bank and send it to your team through chat. They import it manually.

Problem: Your S corp election was not accepted

Cause: Form 2553 has strict deadlines, and late filings need relief language attached.

Fix: Contact your team immediately. Late election relief is often available, but only if you move quickly.

📌 Note: If none of these fix your issue, Heard support responds through the in-app chat. Raise billing or data concerns there too.

What is Heard?

Heard is accounting technology built for therapists, counselors, and other mental health professionals in private practice.

Think of it as an accounting firm and a bookkeeping app sharing one login.

Therapists work inside healthcare, where patient care comes first and paperwork comes last.

The platform serves a narrow community on purpose.

General tools serve many industries at once, so they rarely understand how a therapy practice earns and spends.

Heard shapes its services around the way a small clinical organization actually runs.

It includes these key features:

• Bookkeeping: Your transactions get categorized every month by a real bookkeeper, not a bot.
• Taxes: Quarterly estimates and annual filing are handled inside the same account.
• Payroll: Run payroll for yourself or a small clinical team without a second app.
• S Corp Election: Heard models your numbers and tells you if the switch is worth it.
• Support and Community: Message your team, book calls, and compare notes with other therapists.

The main benefit is simple. Your financial admin stops competing with your clinical hours.

That trade is a positive one for nearly every practice owner I have spoken with.

For a full breakdown, read our Heard review.

Heard Pricing

Here is what Heard costs in 2026:

Free trial: No free tier. Heard offers a free consultation call before you commit.

Money-back guarantee: Plans are billed annually or monthly, and you can cancel before renewal.

💰 Best Value: Essential — it covers the work most solo therapists actually need, and you can move up when payroll enters the picture.

Compare that against a local accountant plus separate software before you decide it is expensive.

Both plans are supported by the same accounting team, so you invest in fewer admin hours rather than more features.

Heard vs Alternatives

How does Heard compare? Here is the competitive landscape:

Quick picks:

• Best overall: Heard — nothing else pairs therapy-specific accountants with working software.
• Best budget: Wave Accounting — free books for a practice still finding its footing.
• Best for beginners: Heard — the onboarding call removes most of the guesswork.
• Best for clinical admin: SimplePractice — notes, scheduling, and client billing in one place.

🎯 Heard Alternatives

Looking for Heard alternatives? Here are the top options:

• 🚀 QuickBooks Online: The default general accounting platform. Deep reporting and integrations, but you supply the therapy context yourself.
• 🎯 SimplePractice: Built for clinical practice management. Handles notes, scheduling, and billing, with lighter bookkeeping than Heard.
• 💼 Xero: Clean interface and strong bank feeds. Popular with accountants across many industries, not therapy specifically.
• 🧠 GreenOak Accounting: Human-first accounting firm serving private practice owners. More custom, more expensive, less software.
• 💰 Wave Accounting: Free invoicing and basic books. A reasonable starting point when your practice is very small.

For the full list, see our Heard alternatives guide.

⚔️ Heard Compared

Here is how Heard stacks up against each competitor:

• Heard vs QuickBooks Online: Heard wins on therapy-specific setup. QuickBooks wins on raw reporting depth and third-party integrations.
• Heard vs SimplePractice: Different jobs. SimplePractice runs your client work; Heard runs your books, taxes, and payroll.
• Heard vs Xero: Xero is cheaper software. Heard is cheaper than Xero plus a separate accountant and tax preparer.
• Heard vs GreenOak Accounting: GreenOak gives more personal attention. Heard gives a predictable monthly price and a real dashboard.
• Heard vs Wave Accounting: Wave costs nothing but does nothing for you. Heard does the work and files the returns.

Start Using Heard Now

You learned how to use every major Heard feature:

• ✅ Bookkeeping
• ✅ Taxes
• ✅ Payroll
• ✅ S Corp Election
• ✅ Support and Community

Next step: Pick one feature and try it today.

Most therapists start with Bookkeeping.

It takes less than five minutes to create your first clean month.

Financial problem solving gets easier once your reports align with what your bank actually shows.

Develop the habit early and those skills carry into every year that follows.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Heard worth it for therapists?

Heard is worth it if bookkeeping and taxes already eat your evenings. Solo therapists earning steady income save the most time and money.

What does Heard do?

Heard handles bookkeeping, tax filing, payroll, and S corp guidance for therapists. One team manages the whole financial side of your practice.

How does Heard work?

You connect your business bank account, and Heard categorizes transactions monthly. Your team files taxes, runs payroll, and answers questions in the dashboard.

What is the accounting software for mental health professionals?

Heard is built specifically for mental health professionals. It combines bookkeeping software with a human accounting team that understands therapy practices.

Does Heard help with S corp election?

Yes. Heard models your practice numbers, shows your break-even point, and handles the filing if electing S corp status makes financial sense.