Law firm finances explained so that you know how law firms operate in a commercial context and what they need to do to succeed financially.
Who is it for?
Suitable for trainees, lawyers, partners and business support staff interested in developing their commercial awareness and looking to improve their understanding of law firm finances.
- PSC Elective accredited
- PEAT 2 accredited
- Recommended for SQE Gap training
Course content
E-learning overview
Our short e-learning courses are designed to stand alone or to complement our live online and face-to-face courses. They focus on the fundamentals of effective financial management – profit, cash, managing cash flow, time recording and how transaction management affects how quickly your firm gets paid and its profitability.
A realistic case study allows you to assess the impact of different approaches to time recording, billing and managing cash.
You will look at law firm key performance indicators and try some basic calculations to help you understand how you can change your behaviour and contribute more effectively to delivering excellent financial results.
Content
There are three modules.
- Cash is King – the importance of managing cash flow
- How are law firms funded?
- Why is managing cash so important?
- Lock-up explored
- Managing WIP and debtors
- What can you do as a fee earner to improve cashflow?
- One More Hour – time recording and profitability explored
- How does recorded time impact on profitability?
- Why is increasing chargeable time recorded important?
- Can you record more time without working longer hours?
- What can you do to improve your law firm profitability?
- One Transaction, Four Bills – four different billing scenarios for one transaction
- Four different outcomes
- Chargeable hours vs. fixed fee
- Well managed or not?
- Tracking costs and keeping clients updated
- Calculating KPIs – Margin, Recovery and Lock-up
- What can you do to improve financial outcomes?
Outcome
As a result of completing these e-learning modules you will:
- Explore the challenges of law firm funding
- Explain why ‘cash is king’
- Improve your understanding of key performance indicators (KPI)
- Appreciate the importance of ‘total’ time recording
- Recognise that managing work in progress (WIP) and debtors is crucial for good cashflow
- Develop your commercial awareness of the legal sector
- Contribute more effectively to the day-to-day operations of your firm
Format
3 short e-learning modules each taking 20-30 minutes.
Delegates
Trainees, lawyers, partners and business support staff interested in developing their commercial awareness and looking to improve their understanding of law firm finances.
Duration
3 modules 20-30 minutes each
