CFO Services for Law Firms — Strategic Financial Leadership for Legal Practices

Every format covers the same legal-sector finance; they differ in time and hands-on involvement.

• Fractional engagement. One senior finance executive works with your partners part-time and owns budgets, forecasts and compensation models. Learn more about fractional finance leadership for legal practices.
• Outsourced finance function. We run the whole stack: bookkeeping oversight, month-end close, collections reporting and review of trust reconciliations. See outsourced finance for firms.
• Virtual engagement. Remote, on-demand access to a senior adviser through scheduled calls and shared dashboards, suited to smaller practices. Explore the virtual model.
• Project work. A merger, a partner buy-in or buyout, a lateral group hire or a systems migration.

• Billing and realization. We trace every hour from standard rate to collected value. Realization by timekeeper, client and practice area shows where discounts and write-downs drain revenue.
• WIP and lockup. Unbilled work in progress plus unpaid receivables equals lockup — money earned but not yet spendable. We measure lockup days, set billing-cycle targets and build collection routines that shorten the gap between work and cash.
• Cash flow forecasting. A rolling 13-week forecast covers payroll, rent, taxes, partner draws and case expenses. For contingency-fee matters, where the firm advances costs for years, we model settlement timing in ranges and size any credit line before it is urgent.
• Partner compensation and distributions. Lockstep, origination-based formula or a hybrid — we model draws, year-end true-ups and tax reserves so partners are never paid from cash still sitting in WIP.
• Trust accounting oversight. IOLTA and other client trust accounts must stay separate from operating funds. We set up and review a monthly three-way reconciliation — bank statement, trust ledger and client ledgers. Rules vary by jurisdiction, so your bar and ethics counsel remain the authority.
• Matter profitability. Fully loaded timekeeper costs and fair overhead allocation reveal the margin on each matter and fixed-fee deal, turning pricing into strategy.
• Systems and reporting. We connect practice-management software such as Clio with accounting tools such as QuickBooks and build a partner dashboard that needs no manual spreadsheets.

• WIP piles up at month-end, bills go out late and lockup keeps growing.
• Realization is falling, and nobody can say which discounts or clients cause it.
• Compensation debates stall because origination and profitability data is incomplete.
• Cash is tight right after distributions, just as taxes or bonuses fall due.
• Trust reconciliation lags or has no independent review.
• Your contingency docket is growing faster than your line of credit.
• A merger, new office or founding partner's retirement is ahead.
• Your managing partner spends billable hours on spreadsheets.

If three or more sound familiar, a short call with us will show where to start.

1. Discovery call. We reply within three hours and spend 30 minutes on your practice areas and the decision in front of you.
2. Diagnostic. In the first weeks we review billing data, receivables aging, WIP, trust reconciliation and partnership economics, then deliver written findings and priorities.
3. Dashboard and plan. We agree on the indicators partners track — realization, utilization, lockup days, matter margin, cash runway — and a two-quarter plan.
4. Ongoing rhythm. Partner meetings, forecasts and the compensation round run on a fixed calendar.
5. Scale as needed. No long-term contracts: increase our involvement during a merger and reduce it once processes run smoothly.