Legal Ease Bookkeeping, LLC

06/03/2026

If you're a bookkeeper thinking about taking on a law firm as your client, this is for you! One of the key things that you need to know is that law firms are not just like other small businesses. In this article, Legal Ease founder Brandy Derrick shares why understanding the specifics of legal accounting is essential before taking on a law firm client.

Law firm bookkeeping requires key questions about trust accounting, retainers, client costs, and reconciliations before onboarding clients.

06/02/2026

June is the time to make intentional decisions that set your firm up to finish the year strong!

The firms that close out December in a healthy financial position almost always have one thing in common: they didn't wait until Q4 to start paying attention. They used mid-year as a checkpoint to look at what was working, cut what wasn't, and made small, strategic adjustments while there was still enough runway to matter.

If you haven't done a mid-year financial review yet, this month is the time. Pull your P&L, look at your labor costs, check your accounts receivable, and compare where you are today to where you expected to be at this point in the year.

What you find might surprise you. What you do now will determine how your firm's financials look in December!

05/29/2026

Your P&L should be giving you answers, not generating more questions.

If you're regularly looking at your profit and loss statement and walking away more confused than when you started, that's usually a sign of one of a few things.

➡️ Your chart of accounts may not be set up in a way that reflects how your firm actually operates.

➡️ Expenses may be miscategorized in ways that make it hard to see where your money is really going.

➡️ The report simply isn't being reviewed with enough context to make it useful.

A P&L that works for your firm tells you which practice areas are carrying their weight, where your overhead is heaviest, and whether your collections are keeping pace with your expenses. It should feel like a tool instead of a puzzle.

If yours isn't doing that right now, the fix usually isn't as complicated as it seems. It starts with making sure your books are structured around the way your firm actually runs.

05/27/2026

When payroll starts rising faster than revenue, it is one of the most important warning signs a law firm can get.

It doesn't always feel urgent at first, but if a few months have passed after hiring someone and the revenue has not caught up, that gap is worth taking seriously.

Here is why it matters ➡️ Payroll is your largest fixed expense. Unlike discretionary spending, you can't easily pause it when cash flow gets tight. That means a firm that lets labor costs outpace revenue for too long is essentially borrowing from its own future stability.

If your numbers are trending in that direction right now, the best time to address it is before Q2 closes. Pull your payroll as a percentage of revenue for the last three months and see what the trend line looks like. What you find might surprise you.

05/25/2026

Most attorneys didn't go to law school to become financial experts, but when your bookkeeping is being handled by someone who does not understand how law firms operate, the gaps it creates can cost you.

Trust accounting, IOLTA compliance, billing cycles, contingency fees, and revenue recognition in a law firm don't work the same way they do in other businesses. And a generalist bookkeeper might keep your books clean on the surface while missing the details that actually matter for a firm like yours.

Specialized law firm bookkeeping means fewer surprises at the end of a quarter, cleaner financials when you need them, and a clearer picture of where your firm actually stands. If you have been dealing with questions you can't get good answers to, that is usually a sign it is time to make a change.

05/20/2026

If you are only tracking one KPI this quarter, make it labor cost as a percentage of revenue.

It is one of the clearest indicators of how efficiently your firm is operating. When that number is trending in the right direction, it usually means your team is productive, your billing is tight, and your growth is sustainable. When it starts to climb, it is often the first sign that something underneath the surface needs attention.

Here is a simple way to think about it: if your revenue is growing but your labor costs are growing faster, your firm is working harder without actually getting ahead. That is the kind of pattern that is easy to miss when you are busy, and expensive to ignore.

Pull that number today. If you are not sure what you are looking at or what it should be for a firm like yours, reach out and let's take a look together.

05/18/2026

Your law firm's hiring plan should never start with a job posting. It should start with your payroll data.

Before you bring on a new associate, paralegal, or support staff member, your numbers need to tell a story that supports that decision. Payroll is typically the largest expense at any law firm, and adding to it without a clear financial runway is one of the fastest ways to put pressure on your cash flow.

Here's what to look at before you hire:
➡️ Is your current revenue consistent enough to support a new salary long term?
➡️ What is your labor cost as a percentage of revenue, and where will that number land after the hire?
➡️ Do you have a clear picture of how long it will take a new hire to contribute to billable output?

Hiring with intention starts with knowing your numbers. If your books aren't giving you the clarity you need to make that call confidently, let's talk!

04/28/2026

Slow collections don’t just affect cash flow. They affect how confidently a firm can hire, invest, and plan.

Here are three ways to improve collections in Q2:
✔️ Invoice consistently. Delayed invoices usually mean delayed payments.
✔️ Make payment expectations clear up front. Most collection issues start at intake.
✔️ Review A/R weekly. The longer an invoice sits, the harder it is to collect.

If collections have been sluggish, April is the right time to tighten the process before Q2 picks up speed.

04/23/2026

A lot of attorneys assume the only way to increase profit is to raise rates. In practice, the fastest improvements usually come from tightening what’s already happening inside the firm.

My team put together a blog on this, and it walks through the operational changes that tend to move the needle first. It’s a good read if you want to protect your margins in Q2 without changing your pricing.

Increasing your law firm’s profitability doesn’t always mean you have to raise your rates. For many firms, there is significant opportunity to improve the bottom line through operational efficiency…

04/21/2026

Annual payroll totals can hide problems. Month-to-month payroll trends show them early!

When you review payroll monthly, you can spot changes that impact profitability right away. A small increase in payroll taxes, overtime, benefits, or contractor spend can quietly push labor percentage higher even if headcount hasn’t changed.

Month-to-month comparisons also help you connect payroll to revenue timing. If payroll stays flat but income fluctuates, cash flow pressure often shows up in predictable places. The earlier you see the pattern, the easier it is to plan around it.