“Tips for Hiring: Building a High-Performance Financial Team in Your Law Firm”

for Week 1 of ALA Financial Management 1

---

Tips for Hiring

A Study Guide for Legal Administrators: Understand, Assess, Hire, and Structure Finance Talent Effectively

INTRODUCTION: Hiring as a Financial Strategy

Hiring for financial roles in a law firm is not just a back-office task—it’s a strategic move that can either reinforce or unravel your firm's infrastructure. It affects cash flow, compliance, client experience, and long-term growth. Yet, many firms default to rushed hiring, unclear job descriptions, or overloading current staff simply because no one paused to ask:

• “What does this role really require?”

• “Who is the right fit for our firm stage?”

• “How can I ensure this hire succeeds?”

  
  

This article is your comprehensive guide to help you make informed, intentional hiring decisions for every financial function in your firm.

---

SECTION 1: Clarify the Need Before You Post the Job

Why This Is Crucial:

Hiring missteps often come from trying to find a “one-size-fits-all” admin who does a little of everything. In finance, that rarely works. The tasks are too specialized, and the consequences of mistakes too high.

🔍 Start with a Role Audit:

Before drafting a job post, ask:

1. What’s not getting done or causing bottlenecks?

   • Are invoices going out late?

   • Are trust accounts not reconciled monthly?

   • Are client payments delayed?

   • Are we missing state bar or tax deadlines?

     
     

2. Who is doing what now? Are they the right person?

   • Is your paralegal chasing payments?

   • Is your office manager manually calculating payroll taxes?

   • Are attorneys spending time on admin tasks?

     
     

3. What is the financial impact of these gaps?

   • Missed revenue

   • Compliance risks

   • Team burnout

     
     

🧭 Implementation Prompt:

Create a “Role Function Matrix” with 3 columns:

• Task (e.g., invoice review)

• Current owner (e.g., attorney)

• Ideal owner (e.g., billing coordinator)

  
  

Use this to clarify what you need—and who you really need to hire.

---

SECTION 2: Understand the Roles You’re Hiring For

Every finance function in a law firm requires specific expertise, behavior patterns, and tools. Here’s how to think about each.

1. Billing Specialist

• Purpose: Translates legal work into accurate, timely invoices.

• Common Tasks:

  • Pull time entries from case management software

  • Format and finalize invoices

  • Coordinate attorney reviews

  • Track billing timelines

• Key Tools: Clio, PracticePanther, Timeslips, LawPay

• Behavioral Green Flags:

  • Treats billing as a scheduled cycle, not a reactive task

  • Sends reminders to attorneys consistently

  • Spots inconsistencies in time entries or missing billable hours

• Behavioral Red Flags:

  • Waits passively for time entries

  • Reluctant to engage attorneys on overdue billing reviews

  • Sends rushed invoices with errors

2. Bookkeeper

• Purpose: Keeps your financial books clean, organized, and audit-ready.

• Common Tasks:

  • Record income/expenses

  • Reconcile bank accounts

  • Perform 3-way trust reconciliations

  • Manage accounts payable

• Key Tools: QuickBooks, Xero, CosmoLex

• Behavioral Green Flags:

  • Proactively asks for missing receipts or unclear expenses

  • Reconciles trust and operating accounts on a set schedule

  • Flags discrepancies instead of “just making it balance”

• Behavioral Red Flags:

  • Unfamiliar with IOLTA requirements

  • Only reconciles quarterly or when prompted

  • Fails to separate trust and operating fund activity

3. Compliance & Tax Support

• Purpose: Ensures your firm meets all legal, tax, and regulatory filing requirements.

• Common Tasks:

  • File W2s, 1099s, payroll taxes

  • Submit state bar reports

  • Renew licenses and business registrations

  • Track benefit reporting obligations

• Behavioral Green Flags:

  • Maintains a compliance calendar

  • Builds working relationships with your CPA or vendors

  • Prepares ahead for filing deadlines

• Behavioral Red Flags:

  • Misses deadlines or files late penalties

  • Doesn’t track renewal cycles

  • Lacks knowledge of law firm-specific obligations (e.g., trust reports, B&O tax)

4. Financial Planner / Strategy Lead (Controller or Fractional CFO)

• Purpose: Turns raw data into decision-making insight.

• Common Tasks:

  • Build dashboards and KPIs

  • Monitor revenue trends and cash flow projections

  • Help with budgeting and scenario planning

  • Support hiring, pricing, and growth strategy

• Behavioral Green Flags:

  • Thinks in terms of “cause and effect”

  • Explains metrics simply to non-financial leaders

  • Uses both past (lagging) and future (leading) indicators

• Behavioral Red Flags:

  • Focuses only on reporting history

  • Struggles to interpret AR, utilization, or cash flow

  • Has never worked with law firm financial models

---

SECTION 3: Conduct Better Interviews Using Role-Specific Prompts

Hiring mistakes are often made when interviews stick to surface-level questions like:

“Tell me about your last job.” “What’s your biggest strength?”

🎙 Instead, ask scenario-based and behavioral questions:

Billing

• “Walk me through how you organize the billing process across multiple attorneys.”

• “How do you ensure invoices go out on time?”

  
  

Bookkeeping

• “How do you handle trust reconciliations? Can you explain the 3 components?”

• “What’s your process for closing books monthly?”

  
  

Compliance

• “How do you manage deadlines for tax forms and state filings?”

• “Tell me about a time you caught an error on a compliance document—what did you do?”

  
  

Strategy

• “How do you track and forecast revenue trends?”

• “What KPIs would you suggest for a solo firm growing to 3 attorneys?”

---

SECTION 4: Decide on Hiring Structure – Full-time vs. Outsourced

Factor	Best Fit: In-House Hire	Best Fit: Outsourced or Fractional
Daily client billing	✅ Responsive, high-volume tasks	❌ Too reactive for contractors
Tax compliance + reporting	✅ Admin/CFO can coordinate, CPA files	✅ CPA/Vendor specialization
Strategic forecasting	❌ Costly full-time unless firm is large	✅ Fractional CFO offers better ROI
Trust account management	✅ If daily deposits or high volume	✅ If done by expert monthly with review

---

SECTION 5: Post-Hire Success – What to Set Up on Day One

🔧 Tools and Access:

• Provide secure access to accounting and billing software.

• Give them permission-based access to bank accounts (view-only, if applicable).

  
  

📅 Set Clear Milestones:

First 30 Days:

• Complete onboarding and observe existing workflows

• Submit first draft of financial report or reconciliation

• Collaborate with attorneys or partners to clarify needs

  
  

First 60 Days:

• Lead 1 full billing cycle or monthly reconciliation

• Submit calendar of compliance deadlines

• Propose improvements to current processes

  
  

First 90 Days:

• Track 2–3 KPIs consistently

• Identify a system or cost-saving improvement

• Present a performance review of their area of responsibility

---

✅ FINAL IMPLEMENTATION CHECKLIST

Action	Done?
Role function matrix completed	☐
Job description written with KPIs	☐
Interview guide prepared	☐
Role structured (in-house or outsourced)	☐
30/60/90-day onboarding plan created	☐

---

💬 DISCUSSION PROMPTS

1. Where is your firm currently under-supported in finance?

2. Which finance tasks are being handled by the wrong roles?

3. What’s the biggest fear or obstacle you face when hiring for financial positions?

4. Which KPIs could help you evaluate whether a financial hire is performing effectively?

---

🧠 FINAL THOUGHT

In law firm finance, the wrong hire slows you down—but the right one multiplies your capacity. They help you stay compliant, get paid faster, and make smarter decisions. Your role as a legal administrator is to not just fill seats—but to build a financial ecosystem where clarity, accountability, and insight thrive.

Hire like your systems depend on it—because they do.