Why Scenario Planning Changes Everything
Scenario planning for law firms is the practice of building three financial futures for a major decision, instead of one, so the decision no longer depends on a single guess about what happens next. For a law firm owner staring at a second office or a new associate hire, that shift is the difference between […]
Debt Vs. Cash: How CFOs Think About Big Moves
Should a law firm use its own cash or take on debt to fund a big growth move? The answer depends on three factors, not one: whether the investment generates a modeled return, what it does to the firm’s cash runway, and who carries the cost over time. A CFO doesn’t default to cash because […]
Too Many KPIs Are Killing Your Law Firm’s Clarity
Your dashboard doesn’t help you make better decisions because it’s showing you what happened, not what to decide. Twenty metrics, an hour of discussion, and everyone walks out having talked about the same three numbers as last month. That’s not a data problem. It’s a design problem, and it gets worse every time someone adds […]
Why Law Firms Can’t Measure AI ROI (And What Has to Change First)
Most law firms can’t measure whether their AI tools are actually working, and the reason isn’t the technology. It’s that the financial baseline needed to compare before and after doesn’t exist. Cost per matter, billable hours per attorney, margin by practice area, none of it is tracked in most small firm P&Ls. Without that baseline, […]
The 5 Numbers Every Law Firm Owner Should Actually Track
The five numbers that actually tell you whether your law firm is healthy this month are utilization rate, realization rate, collection rate, lockup days, and either profit per matter or cash runway, depending on how you bill. Everything else your practice management software generates is context, not a monthly must-read. If you’re not sure which […]
Why Your Law Firm Dashboard Is Hiding Your Real Cash Position
Your law firm dashboard shows revenue is up. Your bank account tells a different story. The gap isn’t a software bug or a bookkeeping error. It happens because billed revenue is not cash, collected revenue is not available cash, and available cash today is not available cash for payroll in 45 days. Standard dashboards show […]
How CFOs Diagnose a Growth Stall
When a law firm’s growth stalls, a CFO looks at three things first: realization rate, practice area mix, and whether complexity is outpacing margin. Those three signals tell you whether the firm is producing less than it should from the work it already has, taking on the wrong cases without realizing it, or growing revenue […]
How a CFO Uses the Budget to Lead Your Law Firm, Not Report on It
A CFO uses a budget as a leadership tool by reading current financial data against a forward-looking plan and producing a specific recommendation: hire now, wait until Q4, raise rates on new intake before September. A budget used only as a report tells you what happened. A budget used as a leadership tool tells you […]
Rolling Budget vs. Annual Budget: What Law Firms Actually Need
It is July. The managing partner of a seven-attorney firm has a decision on the table: bring on an associate before Q4 or wait until January. The docket is full. Revenue looks strong. They open the Annual Profit Plan built in December to check whether the cash position supports it. The model says yes. But […]
Law Firm Exit Planning: Keys to a Clean Exit
The Short Answer: A clean exit from a law firm requires financial preparation, a plan to reduce owner dependency, and a clear strategy for transitioning clients, operations, and leadership. Without those pieces in place, firm owners risk leaving value on the table or watching their practice unravel after they leave. Table of Contents Most attorneys […]
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