Contingency

What Is a Personal Injury Firm's Actual Profit Margin?

The contingency fee percentage is a share of one recovery, not a margin. Advanced costs, case duration, and matters that never resolve all sit between the fee and the profit. Here's how a firm computes its own.

Do You Report Contingency Revenue Gross or Net of Costs?

Fee revenue is revenue. Recovered case costs usually are not. How the P&L should present the two so the managing partner's revenue number matches what the tax return says, and where a CPA has to decide.

When Does a Contingency Firm Recognize Revenue?

On the cash basis, when the fee actually reaches the operating account. Why accrual doesn't move the date much for contingency work, why most PI firms file cash, and what to build for management visibility instead.

Can a Contingency Firm Advance Case Costs Out of the Trust Account?

Generally no. Firm-advanced case costs come out of operating and become a receivable. Costs paid from a client's own trust funds are a disbursement of that client's money and need authorization and a balance to support them.

How Do You Account for a Medical Lien Reduction on a Settlement?

When a medical lien is negotiated down, the difference belongs to the client unless the fee agreement says otherwise. Where it goes in the books, why there is no savings entry, and what has to be provable in the trust ledger.

What Goes on a Settlement Disbursement Statement?

The line items on a settlement disbursement statement, in the order they belong, and where each number is supposed to come from in the firm's books before the client signs it.

How Do You Record a Personal Injury Settlement in QuickBooks Online?

The gross settlement goes into trust as a client trust liability, and every disbursement reduces that same liability. Here is the entry sequence, in order, and the four places it usually goes wrong.

Case Closeout Reporting: The Numbers a Contingency Firm Should See After Every Close

After a contingency case closes, three numbers tell you whether it was worth taking: fee recovery ratio, expense ratio, and case duration. Here is how to read them.

The Frozen Settlement Statement: Why a Locked Record Protects the Firm at Bar-Audit Time

A settlement statement that freezes at generation preserves exactly what the client signed. Here is why a locked record protects the firm during a trust-accounting review.

From Settlement Check to Collected Revenue: Closing the Gap PI Tools Leave Open

A settlement check arriving is not collected revenue. Here is the manual work in between, and how a QuickBooks-native contingency workflow begins to close the gap.

Six Ways Contingency Fee Math Goes Wrong by Hand (and What a Calculator Enforces)

Manual contingency settlement math breaks in predictable ways. Here are six of them, and how a purpose-built calculator keeps the statement and QuickBooks in agreement.

What PI Case Management Tools Don't Manage: The Settlement-to-Collected Gap

There is a gap between a signed settlement and collected, disbursed revenue. Here is what falls into it, and how a QuickBooks-native workflow begins to close it.

Your Case Management Software Tracks the Case. What Tracks the Money?

PI case management software tracks the matter and the litigation. The settlement math, trust movements, liens, and case profitability live somewhere else entirely.

Lien Management Is a Revenue Problem Wearing a Case-Management Costume

QuickBooks Online and PI Firms: Why the Integration Has to Work Both Ways

The Four-System Settlement Problem — and What It Costs PI Firms Per Case

What a Legal Revenue Operations Stack Looks Like for a PI Firm

What Settlement Velocity Data Tells a PI Firm About Its Financial Health

Partner Distributions at a Contingency Firm: What the Data Should Show Before You Cut a Check

Matter Profitability for PI Firms: How to Know if a Case Was Worth Taking

Cash Flow Forecasting for Contingency Firms: How to Build Visibility When Revenue Is Episodic

Lien Management for PI Firms: Where Revenue Goes After Settlement

Case Open to Cash Collected: The Full Financial Lifecycle of a Contingency Matter

The Settlement Gap: How PI Firms Lose Revenue After Winning the Case

Realization at a Contingency Firm Doesn't Work Like Hourly. Here's What It Actually Measures.

The Case Costs PI Firms Front — and the Ones That Never Come Back

What Contingency Fee Firms Lose Between Case Open and Cash Collected