Improving Billing and Collections with ADERANT Expert
While a law firm’s public success depends on the skills of its lawyers, its financial success—and profitability—depends on how well it manages its operations. And to maximize profitability, firms need robust time and billing and financial management solutions.
An example of this is Washington, D.C.-based Arnold & Porter LLP. With more than 625 attorneys spanning over 25 practice and industry focus areas, Arnold & Porter provides its diverse and international client base with a sophisticated understanding of how law, public policy, and technology intersect with changing business environments.
With a growing client base and offices in multiple countries, Arnold & Porter realized that it needed to a new practice management system to manage its complex operations profitably. Specifically, the firm needed a solution that could help it overcome several financial management issues it faced, including:
• Billing: Arnold & Porter needed to manage its global billing operations as well as streamline and improve its existing billing processes.
• Collections: Arnold & Porter understood that cash flow is king for any law firm it needed help to decrease its collections cycle times.
• Information Access: To manage its global operations effectively Arnold & Porter needed to arm its partners with accurate, up-to-date information.
• Month-end Close: Arnold & Porter needed to close its books faster and not require its accounting team to play “catch-up” after month-end close.
After an exhaustive search, Arnold & Porter selected ADERANT’s industry-leading practice management solution, ADERANT Expert. Designed for the unique needs of law firms, ADERANT Expert is a comprehensive, fully integrated solution suite that includes powerful functionality for time and billing, financial accounting, and reporting.
Within months of being implemented, Arnold & Porter began realizing a return on its investment in a new practice management system.
Faster Billing Cycles
ADERANT Expert enabled Arnold & Porter to translate billable time into cash more quickly by improving its overall billing process, increasing invoicing efficiency, and compressing the billing cycle.
“We can post bills much faster than ever before,” said Lisanne Morales, Chief Financial Officer for Arnold & Porter LLP. “ADERANT Expert’s extensive billing functionality has allowed us to reduce our WIP-to-Bill cycle by six days.”
• Streamlines billing processes
• Shortens collections cycles
• Increases cash flow
• Improves partner visibility
• Eliminates month-end close issues
Increased Cash Flow
with Improved Collections
The comprehensive collections functionality of ADERANT Expert helped Arnold & Porter improve its cash flow by significantly reducing the time between sending a bill and receiving payment as well as collecting on more past-due invoices.
“After just six months of using ADERANT Expert, we saw a definite improvement in our collections process—and our cash flow,” said Morales. “Not only did it take us less time to collect on outstanding invoices, but we were also able to collect on more of those invoices. In fact, we reduced our overall outstanding accounts receivables balance by several percent after implementing ADERANT Expert.”
Greater Management Visibility
ADERANT Expert also provided Arnold & Porter’s partners and executives with greater visibility into firm operations. Commented Morales, “Our partners absolutely love the visibility ADERANT Expert gives them. They now have easy access to accurate, real-time information and performance metrics which allows them to more effectively manage their practice groups and serve their clients.”
No Month-End Catch Up
Another improvement Arnold & Porter noticed after implementing ADERANT Expert was that the firm’s accounting team no longer required “catch-up” time after month-end close.
“Before, our staff had to work overtime to process the WIP and accounts receivables that came in while we closed the books. Now, with ADERANT Expert, we work across accounting periods seamlessly,” said Morales
Ensuring Financial Success
ADERANT Expert has helped hundreds of law firms around the world ensure their financial success. The solution enables firms to streamline their billing practices, increase their cash flow, and improve their profitability. To learn more about how ADERANT Expert can help your firm, please visit www.aderant.com or call 888-604-2366.
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