Profit First for Lawyers The 2 Choices That Sabotage Law Firm Profits
“Remember, your bookkeeper is a bookkeeper, not a mindreader, and it is the height of entrepreneurial immaturity for a law firm owner to criticize a bookkeeper for not knowing what is nearly impossible for a bookkeeper to know without speaking to the owner of the business.” – RJon Robins, author of Profit First for Lawyers
When law firm owners make these two critical choices, they wind up sabotaging their profitability:
- Nitpicking irrelevant bookkeeping details.
- Avoiding their bookkeeper altogether.
Both choices are a strong indicator that you may be afraid of profit. Avoiding the bigger questions about your firm’s financial reality results in poor strategic decisions. As we’ve heard in previous episodes, numbers tell a story and your bookkeeper is specifically qualified to help you understand what the story means for your business. The solution is engaging maturely with the financial information needed to make profitable decisions.
To follow along with RJon’s narration from segments of the Profit First for Lawyers book, go to Chapter 16 which begins on page 153.
Key Takeaways:
- Nitpicking bookkeepers about pens vs. pencils while missing bigger financial issues may indicate profit avoidance
- Avoiding your bookkeeper leads to inaccurate financials and bad business decisions
- Schedule regular meetings with your financial professionals and actually show up (and come prepared)
- Ask what stories your numbers tell about your business, not whether expenses are perfectly categorized
Resource: Profit Leak Assessment
The Profit Leak Assessment is a practical, on-demand course to help law firm owners find thousands of dollars in potential profit leaks. Karli teamed up with Evelyn Aucoin, Financial Literacy and Strategy Expert with How To Manage A Small Law Firm to create this resource for law firm owners. Click the link below to start plugging the profit leaks in your firm. Your future self will thank you for it!
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