ILTA Webinar November 2, 2012

Transcription

1 ILTA Webinar November 2, 2012

2 Introduction BudgetManager Randy Steere LLC

3 Part II in Series First Part was about creating matter budgets This second session will be about monitoring budgets

4 Agenda Proactive versus reactive approach to budgets Dig into the metrics What does it mean to be On Budget Communicating with attorneys Who, what, when, how often? Communicating with clients Post mortem Lessons learned approach Questions and Discussion

5 The Scenario We just got the green light to proceed with the work We have a budget that was accepted by the client We ve just started doing the work Now what?

6 Proactive Thinking Ahead Proactive vs Reactive For each task Where do we stand overall on the budget to date? How much did I budget for this task? What resources did I allocate for this task? Who is available now to assign the work to? How will we streamline this task? What is our budget strategy? Becomes a leading indicator Fewer metrics needed

7 Reactive Monitoring the Past Tell me when I am almost over budget Alerts Metrics needed to define Almost Over Budget Trailing indicators Catch issues just as a threshold is reached This is how most attorneys work currently Deep dive into these metrics

8 Metrics Could be for entire budget Could be for each phase.task code Different metric for different phases When is each metric appropriate? How does pricing model affect choice of metric?

9 Example One Phase.Task code in budget $55,100 Std Value 5,100 Fixed Fee Discount $50,000 What client will pay us Dollars have been broken down by staffing level hours 120 Junior Partner Hours 70 7 th Year Associate Hours

10 Budget to Actuals Three separate Budget to Actual concepts Firm Perspective vs Client Perspective Need to look at both How the firm s doing How the client s doing

11 Budget to Actual Firm Side What firm resources did I use compared to budget? Primarily measures efficiency of firm Hours and Dollars Always Hours Worked (not Hours Billed) Always Standard value What does over or under budget mean?

12 Budget to Actual Firm Hours Example Budgeted 190 hours Worked 117 hours so far 62% complete by hours Are we on budget? We know we re under budget but on budget? Did the appropriate people work those hours? Need to look at dollars

13 Budget to Actual Firm Amount Example Budgeted $55,100 Actual $26,200 48% complete by dollars Important to know this is STANDARD amt Are we on budget? Percent of $ is less than % of hours Good start! Good for Fixed Fee and Blended Rate Need to look at work left to do!

14 Forecast Work Left To Do Should we include unposted time? Hours only Could try to value it in some way Skews comparison of Hours and Dollars Percent complete in hours is high, dollars low Majority of our users do not include Our recommendation is not to include unposted time About 10% of our clients do include it

15 Forecast Work Left To Do Should we include forecasted time? Estimated additional time Hours and dollars? Helpful for telling client what will be billed for quarter Attorney must provide estimate Constant update needed Poor use of time About 20% doing forecasting of some type

16 Forecast Work Left To Do Should we include project status? Possible alternative to forecasting remaining work Legal project management Assign milestones to budget line item Calculate percent complete of budget from milestones Example Budget: 62% Milestones: 66%

17 Legal Project Management Project tied into Legal Project Management (LPM) Not a waste of time Not as time intensive Reuse milestones for other projects Guideline for work Hours only Early warning (leading) indicator for firm Not as specific for estimating billing Don t know who will be working remaining hours Guideline for attorney

18 Firm Side Metrics Budget to Actual Hours Budget to Actual Dollars Compare percent complete of hours to dollars Budget Complete Percent to Project Complete Percent Options Unposted time Forecasting process

19 Ramifications on Firm Side Fixed Fee Red flag as approach budget on firm side Blended Rate Efficiency important as approach budget Collar Move from Bonus to Penalty Different alert points if goal is to make the collar Tiered Alert at thresholds to each tier

20 Budget to Actual Client Side What have I billed the client versus the budget? Dollars only Billed value (for billing) Need to tell client what will be billed in next cycle WIP + Unposted WIP + Forecast Assign dollar value to Unposted or Forecasted

21 Client Perspective Example Budget: $50,000 Actual Billed: $21,400 Billed + WIP: $26,329 What does over or under budget mean? Guideline for billing Take into account pricing model Need accurate WIP + Forecast number Discounts at billing not accounted for

22 Client Side Include more accurate WIP Discounts, Tiers, Collars, Writedowns Doesn t happen at time entry Reduce WIP by some percentage Price out forecasted hours Does NOT measure profitability or efficiency Where do we stand in regards to our agreement with the client

23 Budget to Actuals There are a lot of factors to consider!

24 Profitability Realization How much did I give away from my standard price Combines firm and client side metrics Starts from Standard Value that could be Billed Subtracts what was actually billed (and AR writeoffs)

25 Realization Example Assuming we stayed on budget Std Value: $ 55,100 Billed Fixed Fee: $ 50,000 Assume no AR writeoffs Realization = 5,100 or 90.74% Let s say we went over budget Std Value: $ 70,000 Billed Fixed Fee: $ 50,000 Assume no AR writeoffs Realization = 20,000 or 71.43%

26 Realization Not helpful until work is billed! Really need engagement to be complete Depends on pricing model Depends on final bill many times Trailing indicator!

27 Profitability Margin What was final profit over and above costs Starts from overhead cost for each hour worked Direct and Indirect Cost Rate Expected margin from budget Client Budget (Hours * Cost Rate) Actual margin Profitability cost rates are more art than science Trailing indicator depending on pricing models

28 Margin Example Assuming we stayed on budget Billed Fixed Fee: $ 50,000 Cost of Hours: $ 24,900 Assume no AR writeoffs Margin = $25,100 or 49.8% Let s say we went over budget Billed Fixed Fee: $ 50,000 Cost of Hours: $ 32,000 Assume no AR writeoffs Margin = $18,000 or 36%

29 Adding a Timeline Use Budget to Date concept Allocate budget over time Know where budget should be right now Rather than only in total Custom date ranges becoming common Align by task

30 Budget to Task Alternative to Budget to Date If tasks are fairly quick Bill by task not date range Might allow more predictable bill Apply pricing model per task

31 Actual to Client Revenue Budgeting Client Revenue Payment schedule of client If client is paying on a fixed schedule Meaningful for certain type of work Ability to slow or speed up work to match revenue Even push some work to next year

32 Communicate with Attorney Who Typically pricing specialist Can interpret status Could be: Project manager Legal assistant Associate

33 Communicate with Attorney How Alerts or popup notification Portal pages Reports/Inquiries Direct Discussion

34 Communicate with Attorney What Status of project Firm hours and dollars Current billing status Current pricing model Ramifications For profitability Projections for client billing Based on pricing model Discuss next steps/strategy

35 Communicate with Attorney How often Daily Monthly When alert fires off Scheduled meetings

36 Communicate With Entire Team Discuss budget strategy What is pricing model we are using What does that mean for them Current status Ideas for efficiency Good time to forecast How will we execute upcoming tasks?

37 Budget vs. Evaluation AFA model vs. yearly production budget Built in tension Must understand dynamics within your firm Need to record honest hours Don t pad or leave out hours just to look good

38 Communicate With Client Who Typically Billing Attorney Could be project manager

39 Communicate with Client What Project summary Status of legal work Budget vs actuals (client side) Avoid firm side details Forecast Strategy Expected path forward

40 Communicate with Client How Bills Reports/ s Discussion Extranets portals

41 Communicate with Client When During Billing Project status report Consistent approach Not just bad news Scheduled meetings Negotiation points in project When major event happens After each phase Change in case

42 Experience Repository Perform post mortem Required if over budget Lessons learned Document for future use of budget Possibly turn budget into a template

43 Experience Repository Profile budgets for future use Codes based on type of work Size of case Which side did we represent Specific aspects of project Ability to search prior budgets

44 Questions Additional Ideas

45 BudgetManager Randy Steere LLC