Whether you’re billing by the hour for a trial or a flat fee for a contract, a common struggle is the unpaid invoice. You're stuck chasing fees, working through the dispute, and losing billable hours in the process. An unpaid invoice strains the client relationship and occupies mental energy you would rather spend elsewhere. Here are five tips to improve your billing process before it costs you.

If you own or run a law firm, you have to juggle clients, meetings, and the daily challenges of managing your team. With so much competing for your attention, firm finances may feel secondary, but building a financially fit firm is essential to your practice’s stability and success.

Fee sharing is a common part of doing business for many law firms. When handled well, this practice not only leads to better client outcomes but can also open new revenue streams and improve efficiency across the board.

Opening and managing a law firm is an exciting venture that also comes with significant financial considerations. Creating and maintaining a SMART budget is crucial and will increase your potential to become profitable more quickly.

Check fraud, particularly “check washing,” has increased significantly over the past year. Here are some tips to protect yourself from this scam.

To best manage your lawyer trust account, think of and care for your trust account the way you would take care of your dog. You attend to its particular needs, such as physical and mental stimulation, dietary monitoring, and health check-ups. These steps for owning a happy and healthy dog reflect similar methods for maintaining a sound trust account.

The type of program you use to track your time and calculate your bills will vary depending on your specific practice and firm goals. In focusing on software for billing, you have your choice of options, but you should consider the variety of features available when making the decision which to use for your practice.

Financial industry leaders expect that many people, both consumers and business owners alike, will continue to favor mobile banking options over traditional banking post-COVID. Take some time to learn the mobile options offered by your bank so you can make optimal use of their features.

As business continues to dwindle for some law firms, they are laying off associates and staff, imposing pay cuts, and taking other measures to minimize the financial impact caused by the pandemic. The pressure to stay afloat may tempt lawyers to relax their billing practices, ramp up fee collection efforts, and even hoard billable hours. Working from home can also lead to careless billing practices as the line between work and family life begins to blur.