This article is part of a six part section on finance. The pages in this section will take you through the basics of trust and general accounting, including a sample Chart of Accounts for a solo or small law firm, some comments about buying accounting software and some accounting tips.
To help you with the ongoing task of financial analysis in your practice, we have provided two sets of financial forms, one for the solo practitioner and the other for the small law firm.
The forms can be filled out by support staff, who should be able to gather the information needed with minimal interference in their day-to-day activities.
There are two types of forms,
- reviews, which focus on past fiscal periods
- plans, which focus on the future
The forms assume you will review your financial affairs as follows:
- a Weekly Cash And Credit Review (this form can be used for a mid-month review if you feel you don't need to review this information every week)
- a comprehensive Monthly Review
- a Monthly Plan
- a comprehensive Annual Review
- an Annual Plan, which is used to set targets for the firm's budget
Note: Feel free to modify these forms to fit your management information needs.