Question 1

Can you show what each practice area, partner and client earns after write-offs and collections?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Alehar follows each matter from the hours recorded to the hours billed and the cash collected, and reports profit by practice area, by partner and by client after associate salaries, support staff and office costs. Partners see where the profit leaks between the timesheet and the bank, which practice areas earn their keep, which clients cost more than they pay and where the firm should price differently.

Question 2

Two partners retire within three years. Can you plan the buyout so it does not starve the firm?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Alehar forecasts the firm's cash through the retirement dates, with the capital to be repaid, the drawings of the remaining partners and the lock-up the firm carries, and shows what the firm can fund from profit, what needs a bank facility and what the timing should be. It prepares the numbers a lender will test and arranges the facility under its Raising Equity or Debt service.

Question 3

We are in merger talks with another firm. Can you prepare our numbers and assess theirs?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Alehar prepares what each practice area and each partner earns after write-offs and collections, the cash tied up in unbilled work and unpaid bills, and which clients would follow which partners, and sets those against the other firm's figures as they come in. The partners see what each side brings and what the combined firm would earn. Alehar runs the process under its Selling your Company service.

Question 4

We want to open in a second city with a local firm. Can you show what the partnership would cost?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Alehar models the arrangement on its terms: the profit share, the capital each side puts in, the overhead the new office carries, the conflicts it creates and the exit terms, against what the same capital would earn growing the existing office. The partners see what the office has to bill before it pays its way and how the partnership terms need to change before they commit.

Question 5

The bank wants a three-year forecast before it renews our line. Can you build one the partners will stand behind?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Alehar builds the forecast from billed work, unbilled time, the payment history of each client and the cost base, with drawings and the capital account set against it, and tests it against a slower year. The partners review it before it goes to the bank. Alehar prepares the lender pack and handles the renewal under its Raising Equity or Debt service.

Question 6

Clients want fixed fees and expect AI to make everything cheaper. Can you price so we keep the margin?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Alehar works out what each type of matter costs the firm to deliver, lawyer by lawyer, so fixed fees are priced on cost rather than on the hours the work used to take. It shows which fixed-fee matters run over, how much billable time is written off before the bill goes out and which discounts are worth giving. Where AI cuts the hours, the review shows how much of the saving the firm can keep.

Question 7

Can you set partner drawings against the profit the firm is actually making?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Alehar forecasts the year's profit month by month from billed work, unbilled time and the cost base, and shows how much can be drawn now and how much should wait until the cash is in, so the firm stops borrowing to fund drawings. When the compensation formula is up for a vote, Alehar models what each version does to each partner's share before the discussion starts.

Question 8

Would an outsourced or virtual CFO suit a law practice with several partners?

Accepted Answer

Yes, for most partner-run law firms and legal practices. An Alehar partner, backed by a team, reviews profit by practice area, lock-up, drawings and new matters with your partners each month and brings more support when the firm borrows, merges, opens an office or hires from another firm. Partners get what they would look for in a virtual CFO, a fractional FD or an interim CFO. Your accountant still does the books and the year end, and Alehar works from the same ledger.

Fractional CFO for Law Firms

What law firm partners tell us

Why law firms work with Alehar

A partner who is accountable

A complete team, not a single hire

Month to month, without lock-in

The same partner for the raise or the sale

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