Law firm leaders understand the concept and importance of profitability. Nevertheless, in many practices, expenses and revenue are not reviewed on a regular basis. While your firm may be focused on other aspects of maintaining business, it is imperative that steps are taken to ensure your firm continuously reviews its finances and expenses.

In recent years, an alarming number of law firms of all sizes have failed. It is important to understand what happened with these firms and install certain procedures to avoid similar circumstances. These procedures should help any firm to thrive in the near-term and long-term future.

The goal of all law firms is to be profitable, but achieving that goal can be difficult for some lawyers. Generating income is, obviously, the first step towards making a profit; of course, income can only be generated if billable hours are accurately recorded and invoiced to clients, and if payments for those invoices are collected. Moreover, all firms, no matter their size, must spend money to make a profit. The transactions of money flowing out of the firm are recorded as expenses in the firm’s accounting system. Profit is determined by the amount of income that exceeds a company’s expenses incurred to generate the income itself. Therefore, it is important for all businesses, especially law firms, to control operating expenses, which in turn requires timely and accurate accounting, organization and analysis of financial information.

Picture this: a new client retained the firm, timely work was performed, invoices were prepared and sent to the client and yet those invoices remain unpaid. Sound familiar? Many law firms have very high accounts receivable balances that are aged over 120 days and these high and aged invoices directly affect the firm’s overall financial health. While it may be daunting to try and collect payments that are long overdue, many times, it requires no more than a simple conversation or the adoption of credit card payments.

Measuring the productivity and profitability of your timekeepers is rarely straightforward. There is, of course, the hourly rate and total billable hours for any given matter, but that fails to look at all the different variables: differing rates by matter or client and time spent on the matter that can’t be billed to the client (or is eventually written off).

Electronic, or LEDES billing is a necessary, and often dreaded, process at many law firms. Between enforcing timekeeping with the appropriate LEDES codes, generating invoices that are in alignment with the client’s requirements and successfully submitting these invoices to various clearinghouses, e-billing can be time-consuming and downright frustrating for the back-office. With Zola’s advanced LEDES…

Law firms work with dozens, or even hundreds, of different vendors each month. Without the right tools, tracking all of the contracts, invoices and tax information for these companies can be a full time job. Zola Suite’s robust vendor management tools help firms efficiently manage all invoices and outgoing payments (including the ability to cut checks and even associate expenses with a matter). Zola’s dedicated Vendor Reports provide a holistic view of all payments, outstanding balances, expenses to be passed along to a matter and tax information.

Zola Suite’s Split Billing Feature allows users to divide the invoiced amount for services and expenses on a singular matter between multiple parties. Users can set unique rates for each client and split percentages independently for fees and costs. Once Split Billing has been configured on the Matter-level, users can generate invoices as usual. Using the previously-entered percentages, this tool generates a unique invoice for each billing client listed with its own unique invoice number. Each invoice will include the Matter, as well as each individual billing clients’ contact information.

In many firms, “succession planning” is important, but not urgent. It is human nature to deal with tactical issues and delay any strategic initiatives, but many professionals do not have an end-goal in mind. Many believe that they will “die at their desks.” However, no one can remain in a leadership role forever. Succession planning is a critical component to maintaining and growing the business by maintaining current talent and developing future leaders. It is a continuing process and has to become part of the culture.