Above all, a law firm is a business. As is true in any business, measurement is critical for success – but where should you start? KPIs and metrics reporting provide a valuable opportunity for lawyers to better manage their time, resources, and revenue – but effectively leveraging KPIs in your practice requires a keen awareness of patterns in your books and a well-crafted strategy. At CPN Legal, we focus on tracking law firm KPIs to help attorneys better strategic business decisions. To learn more about how we can help, consider contacting us at (513) 334-5076 today.

About CPN Legal

We are a nationally recognized business consultancy specializing in law firm accounting and bookkeeping. Founded in 2011 by two entrepreneurs with a passion for helping law firms grow and sustain their competitive edge in the legal industry, we have since evolved into a team of nearly 30 experts who treat every client’s business as though it was their own. We strive to provide friendly, white-glove service to empower lawyers to scale their practice and achieve success in all areas of their lives.

What Are KPIs?

Key performance indicators, or KPIs, are quantifiable measurements of performance over a certain period. Generally, KPIs are tied to specific goals and important objectives, providing businesses with an idea of their progress. While different businesses track different metrics based on their industry, KPIs are always integral for understanding how a company is performing and how that performance can be further improved.

Why Are KPIs Important?

KPIs are important because they help you not only define your goals but allow you to break your business objectives down into smaller, measurable milestones. Using the quantifiable data provided by KPIs, you can better assess different areas of your business and align your team around a central goal. In essence, KPIs help your business move forward strategically.

What Are the KPIs that a Law Firm Should Track?

Tracking law firm KPIs ensures that you and your team are working to achieve meaningful, tangible, and consistent results. They can help you understand which clients are adding to or reducing your profits and which marketing expenses are beneficial for generating leads, for instance. Even if you are already tracking some KPIs, there are likely other metrics that you should consider monitoring and quantifying to improve your law firm’s health. There are a few KPIs that our experts recommend all law firms track, such as:

Client acquisition, development, and satisfaction KPIs like average case resolution time, client satisfaction scores, number of referrals, and cost per acquisition.

  • Financial KPIs including billing accuracy and consistency, length of accounts receivable, operating account balance, and revenue billed per month.
  • Productivity KPIs such as billable hours, utilization and realization rate, and number of cases managed and resolved successfully.
  • Marketing KPIs like landing page conversion rates, social media engagement, and marketing cost per client.

Regardless of which KPIs you chose to track, it is important to acknowledge that these metrics mean nothing out of context. The type of legal practice you run, your lifestyle objectives, and your firm’s stage of growth are all factors to consider when selecting which KPIs to monitor.

What KPIs Can CPN Legal Help Monitor and Quantify?

At CPN Legal, we emphasize the value of KPIs in all areas of our consultancy, and often rely on these metrics to spur progress in other areas of a law firm’s workflow, financials, and productivity. Our team of KPI specialists will work with you to develop a KPI monitoring and quantification strategy that optimize your unique business objectives.

By leveraging customized financial, productivity, and profitability reporting when tracking law firm KPIs, we can help you gain clarity on:

  • Utilization rates, which refer to the percentage of an employee’s working hours that are billable.
  • Relevant ratios, to help to determine how much money you should delegate to different areas of your practice such as marketing, hiring, etc.
  • Profitability based on specific revenue sources, cash flow, and EBITDA.

What Other Metrics Can CPN Legal Help Calculate?

We tailor our KPI strategy to meet your needs, meaning there is no one-size-fits-all approach to how we monitor and quantify these metrics. Some of our clients benefit greatly from analyzing bonus calculations and compensation, while others gain more value from evaluating client satisfaction and loyalty KPIs. Metrics can be a critical tool for your law firm’s growth, but it is essential to use them thoughtfully and in conjunction with other metrics. At CPN Legal, our goal is to help you gain a competitive edge in the market, and we will partner with you to determine the right way to get there.

Why Does a Law Firm Need to Track KPIs?

The demands of the legal industry are constantly growing and evolving, underscoring the importance of tracking law firm KPIs to ensure accountability, predictable, and measurable performance in a highly competitive industry. Ultimately, KPIs are a valuable tool for law firms to make strategic, data-driven decisions regarding the growth and success of their practice, leading to better business outcomes.

How Can a Law Firm Use QuickBooks Online and Clio to Track KPIs?

Legal accounting and bookkeeping software like QuickBooks Online and Clio are indispensable resources for lawyers who wish to track their KPIs and connect them to key business objectives. The advantages of Clio’s Manage Firm Dashboard multiply when connected with QuickBooks Online, allowing law firms to track and organize their KPIs all in one place. At CPN Legal, we help clients get started with Clio, monitor their KPIs using the most up-to-date software tools, and integrate Clio & QuickBooks to streamline your law firm’s accounting.

DOWNLOAD THE GUIDE “GETTING STARTED IN CLIO: THE FIRST 30 DAYS”

Hiring CPN Legal to Help

Law firms require smart business tools to grow. At CPN Legal, we leverage our combined decades of experience in law firm accounting and bookkeeping to help law firms monitor and quantify the right KPIs to facilitate their growth. By tracking law firm KPIs, we provide lawyers with crystal-clear visibility of their revenue, margins, and all other metrics that may prove useful to their legal practice. To discuss your KPI strategy with our team of experts, consider connecting with us at (513) 334-5076 today.