Stacy Kildal is an internationally recognized expert in QuickBooks Online and voted by her peers as one of the Top 100 ProAdvisors. In 2015, her blog was named as one of 15 Essential Sites for Accountants. LeanLaw asked her to weigh in on how small law firms can better manage their invoicing and accounting.
What financial information should an attorney be reviewing to ensure her practice is fiscally healthy? With what frequency should this data be looked at?
I think the basic financial information that attorneys should focus on is similar to any business. They want to make sure they’re reviewing their Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet, any accounts receivables, payables reports and IOLTA transaction reports.
If a principal attorney were to look only at one report, which is the most important?
If required to maintain an IOLTA account, review the IOLTA account and any sub-accounts to ensure that you’re not “borrowing” from it, or co-mingling firm funds with client funds.
We have a slew of clients moving into QuickBooks Online from non-QuickBooks accounting platforms. What guidance can you offer to help them manage this migration.
The best bit of advice I would give is to find a QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor that specializes in setup and conversions. At Kildal Services, we have been doing these conversions since 2004, and have written a few articles to help the do-it-yourselfers.
Given an inherent bias that folks have who use QuickBooks desktop over QuickBooks Online, what do you say to those considering moving online? Is the bias valid?
Over the last 2-3 years, this bias has all but disappeared – per Intuit corporate communications, approximately 70% of businesses new to the QuickBooks franchise are choosing QuickBooks Online. We rarely see the push back on moving online.
What makes QuickBooks Online a better tool for small law firms?
The same things that make it a great solution for any business; always on access, no need to upgrade or create back ups, multiple user access, the ability to attach documents to transactions, client accounts and vendor accounts.
How is QuickBooks Online affecting the accounting community? Is it changing how bookkeepers and accountants interact with their clients?
QuickBooks Online is absolutely changing things. Because we have the ability to work remotely much more easily than ever before, we’ve been able to expand our prospective clients from local businesses to anyone globally that uses QuickBooks. With the automation, it’s enabling us to move from data entry and being reactive to becoming proactive, trusted advisors.
Good bookkeeping seems to be about repeatable workflows. How do you get an organization trained when you start working with them?
We have some training documents on how to work with QuickBooks, but we also work directly with the client to determine how they work, then customize our training to suit their needs.
You know if your billing system is inefficient. How much time does it take to get invoice out, how much time are you losing for not tracking time properly, not getting paid on time, how many outstanding invoices do you have?
At LeanLaw, we want you to know that there are tools to help you. Still, a tool alone won’t fix this. You need to commit to modernizing your billing workflow, upgrade the tools you use and ensure you have a trusted advisor to help with the process.
Accountants like Stacy are accessible remotely and can bring back extra time, money and peace of mind into your life. It’s time to get your accounting modernized and it’s not that hard.
For more information about Stacy, click here.
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