{"id":18359,"date":"2025-04-24T10:53:12","date_gmt":"2025-04-24T16:53:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nqzw.com\/?p=18359"},"modified":"2025-04-28T10:56:03","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T16:56:03","slug":"law-firm-billing-collections-lessons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zebraworks.com\/en_gb\/law-firm-billing-collections-lessons\/","title":{"rendered":"Thriving in Turbulent Times"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\tBilling and Collections Lessons from the Pandemic-Era Recession \t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Quick Take <\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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  • In 2020, firms staffed up in billing and collections to protect cash flow, even as they cut in other areas.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>
  • Today, they\u2019re layering in automation to scale those gains\u2014without further headcount.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>
  • Firms that treat billing and collections as a core business function outperform in any market.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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    Lessons From 2020 <\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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    As we face a turbulent economic market once again, looking back at how law firms successfully navigated the pandemic and 2020 recession hold important lessons. From the 2021 Citi Hildebrandt Client Advisory:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

    \u201cThe focus on billing and collections has probably been the most common trend we have seen across the industry, and the direct impact it has had on firm revenue has been demonstrated in the positive revenue results seen this year.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

    To implement these efforts, the majority of firms added staff in billing and collections\u2014an investment that stood out against broader cost-cutting measures in areas like office space, travel, and business support. In fact, the report notes that while firms \u201cmade permanent reductions in business support staff and secretarial support,\u201d they strengthened billing teams to ensure liquidity and profitability amid the crisis<\/span>\u200b.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

    \u201cWe saw more rigor around billing and collections\u2014a primary driver of revenue growth in this challenging environment,\u201d according to Citi Hildebrandt at the time.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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    Tightening the Cash Conversion Cycle <\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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    The Advisory notes that in a year marked by economic contraction and market uncertainty, firms didn\u2019t just survive\u2014they saw revenue gains. This was not primarily due to increased demand or rate hikes. Instead, firms achieved growth by tightening the reins on the financial fundamentals. They improved realization rates, shortened the collection cycle, and implemented more disciplined billing practices.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

    Key tactics included:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

    • Daily time entry to reduce leakage.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>
    • More frequent billing with smaller invoice amounts.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>
    • Early intervention on past-due accounts.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>
    • Closer communication between finance teams, attorneys, and clients.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li><\/ul>

      \u201cThe heavy emphasis on collection efforts\u2014one of the silver linings of the pandemic\u2014has continued at pace\u2026 resulting in a 2.1% shortening of the collection cycle,\u201d the report highlighted.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

      Firms who bolstered their billing departments emerged from the pandemic with stronger financials compared to those who did not place the same emphasis on this area.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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      A Lasting Shift in Law Firm Priorities <\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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      Three years later, the lessons remain relevant. In fact, according to more recent Client Advisories, the demand for billing and collections staff has remained high. By 2024, 81% of firms had added staff in this area over the past five years, and a majority expected to continue doing.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

      This shift is more than a pandemic response\u2014it reflects a durable rebalancing of law firm priorities toward revenue operations. Rather than relying solely on origination growth or rate increases, firms are learning that cash flow discipline, paired with automation and process improvement, can unlock significant gains.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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      Workflow Solutions Over Manual Fixes <\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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      According to the\u202f<\/span>2023 and 2024 Citi Hildebrandt Client Advisories<\/span><\/i>, firms are now focusing on <\/span>operational efficiencies that improve revenue realization and reduce cost<\/span><\/b>. Billing and collections workflows are a prime target, with many firms investing in:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

      • Reconstructive time entry\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>
      • Outside counsel guidelines compliance solutions<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>
      • Invoices-to-cash workflow automation<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>
      • Client portals for improved payment experience<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li><\/ul>

        Automation enables existing staff to become more strategic in the billing and collections process.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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        Looking Ahead <\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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        As law firms prepare for the next wave of economic volatility, the blueprint is already clear. Yes, reduce unnecessary overhead. Yes, optimize office footprints. But most critically: treat billing and collections as a core business function.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

        Firms are now augmenting their billing teams with workflow automation to unlock scale\u2014delivering bills faster, accelerating A\/R follow-up, and improving cash flow.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

        Those who do will not only weather the storm\u2014they\u2019ll build a more resilient, scalable firm for whatever comes next.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Billing and Collections Lessons from the Pandemic-Era Recession Quick Take In 2020, firms staffed up in billing and collections to protect cash flow, even as they cut in other areas.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":18370,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zebraworks.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zebraworks.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zebraworks.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zebraworks.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zebraworks.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/zebraworks.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18359\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zebraworks.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zebraworks.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zebraworks.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zebraworks.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}