Making sure your accounting books are up-to-date and compliant can bring up a laundry list of concerns for lawyers including reconciliations, error-free ledgers, and overall compliance. Using dated technology can make the task even harder than it needs to be, with lots of customizations needed to make your software work for the specific needs of legal accounting. Taking the approach … Read More
10 Metrics Law Firms Should Track
Like every other business, law firms should be making data-driven decisions in order to succeed. Data can provide insights to answer key questions such as to what initiatives have the most likelihood of increasing profits or where expenses can be reduced. By analyzing and reviewing key metrics, you can make informed decisions for the firm’s future. Work in Progress & … Read More
Feature Spotlight: Custom Soft Cost Import
Soft Costs refer to overhead or indirect costs which are billed to the client for reimbursement. Common examples are photocopies, printing, a postage meter, or other disbursements. Not only are these costs incurred through an outside device, but often firms use specific software to keep track of these costs as well (ex: Copitrak, Papercut). The question that’s presented here is … Read More
Ask an Expert: Basics of Billing and Accounting Compliance
The words “billing” and “audit” are often the last ones an attorney wants to hear. We spoke with Amy Reynolds of Law Office Systems on ways to take advantage of legal technology to take the pain out of running your firm, while meeting the various rules and regulations surrounding billing, accounting and the security of personal data. Maintaining compliance and … Read More
Question of the Week: How can I figure out how much my firm is actually making?
It can be hard to tell how much your firm is bringing in at the end of the day. Even if your revenue numbers are the highest you’ve seen to date, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re making more than you ever have before. To figure out exactly how profitable your firm is you’ll need to review your profit and loss … Read More
Tech Tip #264: Separate Your Firm’s Direct & Indirect Costs to Avoid Tax Liability
When handling a law firm’s accounting, you’ll need to accurately differentiate between direct and indirect costs. If you don’t, you could incorrectly increase or reduce the net income of the firm in a given tax year. This could create increased tax liability, lead to a legal accounting audit and further result in more compliance issues. A “Direct Cost” (aka Hard … Read More
Question of the Week: Can I use a general accounting program like QuickBooks® to support my firm?
General accounting programs, like QuickBooks®, weren’t created with law firms in mind but that doesn’t mean they can’t be used by lawyers. The biggest concern when using generic software is whether or not they can handle the unique needs of the legal industry and its complex compliance requirements. Lawyers can create workarounds within the program to address many of their … Read More
Question of the Week: How Can I Prevent Embezzlement at My Law Firm?
Running an effective law practice means you can’t always be involved in every single detail of the firm’s operations. If you did, there would be no time left to do actual billable work. So how do you prevent embezzlement without handling the accounting yourself? Employee theft costs U.S. businesses $50 billion every year and due to the nature of their … Read More
Tech Tip #250: Use The Right Reports to Ensure Accounting Compliance
Legal accounting, and trust accounting, in particular, has very specific rules and requirements. To make sure your firm is properly managing its books, you should regularly produce specific reports that will show whether or not your entries are accurate and in compliance. Don’t wait until there are issues and risk sanctions due to improper accounting. To simplify the process consider using … Read More
Better Business Practices for Lawyers
This month, CosmoLex is focusing on overall “Better Business Practices” for lawyers and small law firms. When you’re in charge of a law practice, it can be easy to focus on the clients and your cases, while forgetting that you also have a business to run. There can seem like a lot to manage, so we’re to help with ways … Read More