Get an overview of your operating data: volume of files processed, most profitable files, most time-consuming tasks, amounts invoiced and not invoiced, amounts collected...
Here are some best practices to consider to improve your law firm's performance successfully:
Before diving headfirst into the figures generated by processing a law firm's files, you must ensure that your firm's management and invoicing software collects data relating to your firm's activity. The first step is one of the past. Even if the firm's invoicing does not directly depend on it (billing by package, subscription or results fees), measuring time spent, due diligence required for the files, but also other non-billable tasks (training, team management, recruitment, etc.), provides a vision of the work actually accomplished. We also highlight the hidden performances of our teams, possible resource deficiencies, the most time-consuming tasks, the most profitable ones, etc.
At the same time, it is necessary to be able to access the amounts invoiced in detail, file by file, by subject, and even by person as well as the amounts paid with the same granularity of detail. And the same goes for the fees and disbursements which are also included in the profitability calculations of a file.
Accumulating data is one thing, being able to analyze it and draw consistent conclusions is another. And few are able to do this by looking at columns of numbers. Acquire synthetic and usable overviews of this data to carry out your analysis effectively. For more efficiency, this data must be available in real-time and can be converted into graphs directly in the firm's management and/or billing solution, without exporting the data and using it in Excel or any other Business Intelligence solution.
The choice of data analyzed depends on the firm and its partners:
Observed over variable periods of time (last month, last 30 days, last 30 days, last 3 months, past year...), all this data must be able to be compared to identify trends, areas for improvement, and areas of growth.
