The whole category in one page.
UTILISATION, REALISATION AND COLLECTION ARE THREE SEPARATE LEAKS, AND MOST FIRMS ONLY WATCH THE FIRST
Hours worked, hours billed and cash received are all different numbers. Write-offs are the silent loss — time is recorded and then quietly reduced at billing, and nobody asks why.
SCOPE THE ENGAGEMENT IN WRITING AND STATE THE EXCLUSIONS, BECAUSE CLIENTS ASSUME EVERYTHING ADJACENT IS INCLUDED
When scope grows, stop and agree the variation. Work performed and then discussed is rarely paid for in full.
RUN A CONFLICT CHECK BEFORE ACCEPTING ANY ENGAGEMENT, FROM A RECORD RATHER THAN FROM MEMORY
Identify precisely who the client is — acting for a company is not acting for its directors.
MISSED DEADLINES ARE THE COMMONEST CLAIM BECAUSE THEY ARE OBJECTIVE AND INDEFENSIBLE
Track every one in a system, not in individual diaries, and never accept work beyond the firm's competence.
CONFIRM SIGNIFICANT ADVICE AND EVERY WARNING IN WRITING, SINCE CLIENTS WHO PROCEEDED AGAINST ADVICE LATER SAY THEY WERE NEVER TOLD
CLIENT MONEY IS NEVER THE FIRM'S — SEPARATE ACCOUNTS, REGULAR RECONCILIATION, AND NEVER ONE PERSON IN SOLE CONTROL
BILL PROMPTLY AND INTERIM, BECAUSE WAITING FOR A MATTER TO CONCLUDE MEANS FUNDING THE CLIENT FOR ITS DURATION
WHEN AN ERROR REACHES A CLIENT, TELL THEM — CONCEALMENT CONVERTS A MISTAKE INTO MISCONDUCT
AND SET A LIMIT ON CONTINUING WORK FOR NON-PAYING CLIENTS, BECAUSE CARRYING ON IS THE COMMONEST WAY A RECOVERABLE DEBT BECOMES AN UNRECOVERABLE ONE
