Getting Your Financial House in Order

In 2021 law firm finances will be the new sexy, or at least they should be after everything that happened in 2020. In today’s episode I have invited my guest Shawnna Weber to talk about ways you can crush chaos in the areas of bookkeeping and billing. In this episode we discuss: How to know it’s time to outsource some of the billing and bookkeeping. Recognizing the value of your time and determining its best use. Determining when a bookkeeper should be brought in-house. Understanding your tax obligations and the different ways taxes are paid into the system along with identifying legitimate business expenses that can be deducted. The differences between your Accountant and Bookkeeper and why you need both.   The importance of reviewing your reports for correct expense categories and charges for items no longer used or needed.   Key financial reports to review on a regular basis. Using trend reports to anticipate income and determine marketing decisions. The importance of staying proactively involved in your finances. Tips for maximizing your funds as the year comes to a close. Contact Info: Contact Information for Shawna SOCIAL LINKS https://www.edgewoodbusinesssolutions.com/ https://www.edgewoodbusinesssolutions.com/faces-of-finance https://www.facebook.com/edgybusinesssolutions https://www.instagram.com/edgysolutions/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawnnaweber/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/edgewood-business-solutions [email protected]  OFFER  We are offering a Financial Deep Dive for $999 which includes reviewing your 2020 year to date bookkeeping and making recommendations for classification and any strategies you can implement now or discuss with your CPA.   To sign up for a complimentary 15 minute call about the offer go to edgewood business solutions.as.me/financialdeepdiveintrocall   or email us at [email protected] Bio: Shawna Weber Bio:  Shawnna Weber is the host of the Faces of Finance podcast and the CEO of California based Edgeworth Business Solutions, a business consulting and bookkeeping firm that challenges the traditionally transactional model of financial management. Shawnna founded the company in 2011 with a goal of developing long lasting consultative relationships with clients that allow them to decrease their expenses while driving profitability. And in doing so, Shawnna and her team have managed over 60 million dollars in assets across their client base and have negotiated and implemented strategies saving companies over one million dollars over the past seven years. Allison Williams Bio:  Allison C. Williams, Esq., is Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Wall Township, New Jersey.  She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. Ms. Williams is a member of the New Jersey Board on Attorney Certification (NJBAC) – Matrimonial Committee, a New Jersey Supreme Court committee that determines eligibility of candidates to be certified as a recognized practitioner in the field of matrimonial law. Ms. Williams has been named a Rising Star Attorney by the New Jersey Super Lawyers franchise continuously from 2008 – 2013, and has been named a Super Lawyer by that organization for 2014 – 2019. In 2016, she was featured in the Super Lawyers publication (Williams v. The Rubber Stamp), she has been named one of the Top 50 Women Super Lawyers in New Jersey from 2017-2019 and in 2019, was voted in the Top 100 Super Lawyers in the State of New Jersey. Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017.  In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest growing companies among graduates of Florida State University. In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers.  She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money.  Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications and money management in law firms.  She received her B.S., magna cum laude, and her M.S., summa cum laude, from Florida State University. She received her J.D., cum laude, from Syracuse University College of Law.  Snip-Its: 00:19:45 (33 Seconds) - Shawnna I would say meeting with your CPA is really equally as important and that can be less frequent. But I would say at least twice a year. And a lot of people think, oh, I just need it during tax time, but sometimes by tax time, it can be a little late to take advantage of any strategies. So we say please meet once towards the end of the year and then another at tax time. And, really you want to reach out when there's any changes in your business. I mean, maybe you're looking to purchase an office space or you're adding another partner. Any major changes should be communicated so you don't get to tax time, and your CPA is like, oh, if you told me that last year, I could have helped you with that. So. 00:21:12 (50 Seconds) – Allison My accountant, so my accountant can shoot me a message and say, hey, I know that you just added three new team members and I know that you've got bonuses coming up at the end of the year or I know you're going to be doing some some gifting through the company. Let's figure out the best way to do that so that we can maximize your tax benefit. And if you have those two different professionals that don't ever communicate, the bookkeeper is on one place, the accounting team is on another place, then you as the business owner have to really be intentional about bringing your financial team together to give you advice periodically. And it doesn't take a whole lot to do that. I mean, it literally is just schedule yourself a quarterly meeting and invite them both to come and have everybody have access to the reports so that you can have those strategy sessions. Don't be passive in trying to get advice for your business. You have to be intentional about seeking that.