Financially Legal

Here's our nearly 20 page white paper on law firms shifting processing credit card processing fees to clients.

For many law firms, credit card processing fees are a sizeable item on the income statement. Because there are a variety of different types of processing fees, it can be difficult to determine exactly how much a firm is paying and how those fees can be reduced.

This event is designed for accounting and financial consulting professionals who work with and advise law firms. We will cover:

Law firms are unique. They have unique processes and strange, sometimes archaic, rules governing the way to handle money. As a result, it's prudent for a law firm to ensure that any electronic payment processor understands and complies with these rules. Below are the most important items to check.

In times like these we tend to turn to philosophers, poets, musicians, writers and artists for comfort and direction - wise minds that always have an answer for the trickiest of situations and the most uncertain of times. More specifically, Bob Dylan's "The Time They Are A-Changin'" seems more relevant now than ever.

Your old road is rapidly agin'

Please get out of the new one

If you can't lend your hand

For the times they are a-changin'

We at Confido Legal, while in full support of racial equity and civil rights, have taken a moment to reflect on what we could do to make a meaningful impact. We feel that stating our support accomplishes far less than action. Epictetus stated, "Don't explain your philosophy. Embody it." 

Written By Devon Thurtle Anderson, CEO of Financial Consulting Firm, Skepsis

When I first left my law practice to become a law firm bookkeeper and financial strategist, I was shocked to discover how many law firms struggle with cashflow.  Even more surprising was that this struggle isn’t just limited to a few seemingly rag-tag solo general practice firms.  To the contrary, when I had a chance to look under the hood at dozens of law firms’ books and financial records – including law firms I had always seen as hugely successful – I learned that almost every law firm has a cashflow problem within any given 12-month period.  So, as part of my bookkeeping and consulting services, I set out to change that.

Kim Bennett got burned by hourly billing. She lost a bunch of money and, having come up as a young lawyer in a corporate, in-house role, the model didn’t make sense to her. One day she pitched a client on a recurring monthly fee and, to her surprise, they accepted. That’s right, we’re talking subscriptions again. But where the guest from our last subscription-based law practice, Jon Tobin, uses subscriptions in more of a "one-to-many" way, helping lots of clients with a specific set of offerings, Kim has fewer what she calls “premium” subscriptions and they include more comprehensive, regular work with the clients.

Credit cards are a great way to get paid more quickly. The Clio trends report shows that firms who accept credit cards get paid 39% faster than those that don't. 

But credit cards are expensive. For invoice or trust payments where the client enters the card, rather than swiping or dipping, the cost generally hovers around 3%. Furthermore, credit cards are not the only way to provide a high-quality online payment experience.  

Shopping around for better rates can save you a few tenths of a percent, but here are two changes you can make to drastically reduce card fees while still getting the benefit of speedy payments. 

I know you didn’t go to law school to manage financials or be an accountant, but it turns out that your ability to successfully support and represent your clients is contingent upon running a sound business. And Chelsea Williams, founder and head of Core Solutions Group, is dropping some wisdom about how to manage your firm’s finances so that you can worry less about money and more about your clients. 

Subscriptions services for a law-firm? It might be what your clients are looking for.

Jon Tobin is running one of the most innovative law firms you’ve never heard of. Counsel For Creators is an LA-based law firm for creatives and entrepreneurs that sells a subscription to clients. In this episode of Financially Legal we expand upon many of the topics we cover in our 5-part series about subscription legal services (which includes a number of shout-outs to Jon) and talk with Jon about the inspiration behind his subscription legal services plan, how he made it a reality, how (amazingly) it’s morphing into a profitable, self-sustaining community, how he calls his clients "members," and what’s next for his bold firm.  

Dan Price is a big deal. Full stop. And we got him on the podcast!

Dan is the inspirational CEO of Gravity Payments. In 2015 Dan raised the salaries of each of his employees at Gravity Payments to $70,000 annually and, in doing so, he became an overnight business celebrity. He’s been on the Today Show, been interviewed by Trevor Noah, and keynoted hundreds of business conferences around the world. He breaks down how he thinks about company culture, why Gravity Payments is investing in Confido Legal, and how he thinks lawyers can change the world.

In this episode of Clio Matters, Dan discusses different ways firms are navigating the new remote work environment. He lists helpful technology resources and tells us whose ideas he's leaning on amidst the chaos (Nate Silver and RJon Robins of How to Manage a Small Law Firm to name a few).  

Our lives and livelihoods have changed dramatically over the last two weeks. We’re all hopeful for a swift and significant rebound, but proactive measures will carry the day. Action in crisis can provide a feeling of purpose and normalcy amidst the potentially overwhelming uncertainty. It can also be the difference between going under and thriving.    

There are three sets of rules lawyers need to navigate  when deciding whether to charge clients a fee for paying with a credit card:

Oklahoma Attorney General, Mike Hunter, in a recent opinion said a state ban on surcharging is most-likely unconstitutional. Surcharging is the practice of charging an additional fee when clients pay by credit card.

Clients should know what it costs law firms to accept credit cards, and those clients should have the option to save money by paying with less expensive methods. Since card brand surcharging rules prevent firms from charging more for the surcharge than the amount of the transaction, it ends up not being a money-making scheme but a clear way to communicate how much those airline miles really cost.

For many law firms, credit card processing fees are a sizeable item on the income statement. Because there are a wide variety of different types of processing fees, it can be difficult to figure out exactly how much you’re paying. It's also why, at Confido, we try to simplify this process as much as possible, primarily by offering a fair and transparent pricing structure while providing all the important information in a one-page monthly statement without the jargon. In this article we'll cover the three different categories of processing fees as well as the most commonly-used credit card processing pricing models.