Improving financial performance

This subtopic contains information and guidance on improving the financial performance of a law firm. It covers:

•
how to predict fee income and an appropriate level of overheads for budgeting—see Practice Note: Predicting fee income and expenditure
•
the importance of good time recording and assessing time recording methods across the firm—see Practice Note: The importance of good time recording
•
planning work to improve efficiency and meet client expectations on costs—see Practice Note: Delivering client services more efficiently
•
the importance of having, and acting on, good management information—see Practice Note: The importance of good management information
•
why the financial awareness of your staff is important and how it can be improved—see Practice Note: Raising the financial awareness of your staff

Predicting fee income and expenditure

Like any other business, a law firm needs some budgets each year so:

•
it can properly control its income and expenditure, and, as a result
•
reduce the risk of the final profit not being in line with expectations

It is worrying how many firms do not have budgets and when challenged the

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