Attorney Financial Reporting

The topic for our weekly meeting on Wednesday at the Accountant's Law Lab, our private invite-only group, is attorney financial reports and compensation reporting. What reports does an attorney need or require?

The last couple of new clients that came our way had a specific requirement for reports. We figured out that both attorneys had signed up for private coaching and were asked to provide a particular set of 22 reports to the coach every month. Yes, I said 22!

When working with the attorneys, we asked them why they needed specific reports? Their answer was, "the coach told us we needed to bring them, and I don't know what these reports are even for." These reports may be part of the coaching program and where our attorneys were in the process of being coached.

Some of the reports we provide are:

1. Balance Sheet

2. Profit and Loss

3. Cash Flow Report

4. Payroll Reports

5. Custom Compensation Reports

6. Report on Attorney Performance

These came out of Reach Reporting, a tool we use for higher-level reporting for our mid-market with attorney-clients.

If you get a client like this that has signed up for some coaching, they are usually enjoyable to work with and want to get very educated on their financial position. I use this as a teachable moment. If the attorney wants to understand why they're being asked to hand in reports, it's a good time to tell them what the report information will provide them.