Finance training for fee earners
Finance training that strengthens billing discipline and cash behaviours across your fee earners.
When fee earners understand the financial impact of everyday decisions, it’s easier to build consistent habits that support firm performance—without compromising client service. This interactive training builds shared financial understanding and turns it into practical behaviours your teams can apply immediately.
Practical financial behaviours
Our training is designed to bridge the gap between legal work and commercial reality. We help your fee earners understand the "why" behind financial targets, leading to improved:
- Time Recording Hygiene: Understanding how delayed recording leaks value and distorts firm data.
- Lock-up Awareness: Visualising the cost of trapped cash and how milestone billing benefits the firm's stability.
- Client Conversations: Gaining the confidence to discuss fees, scope creep, and payment terms early in the matter.
- Profitability Drivers: Identifying the difference between high-volume turnover and high-margin work.
At a glance
- Format: Interactive training session
- Duration: 3 hours
- Delivery: Online or in-house at your firm’s premises
- Audience: Partners and staff/fee earners (tailored to your mix)
- Pre-session: Short planning call to tailor content
- Outcome: Better financial decision-making and action points
What is it?
A three-hour finance training course, delivered online or in-house, designed to build practical understanding of profit and cash generation—and translate that into specific actions and improvements delegates can apply. These courses are often used to:
- Launch new financial initiatives and improve firm-wide buy-in.
- Spark a follow-on business improvement report based on points discussed in the session.
Typical outcomes include:
- Stronger commercial decision-making at matter level with a shared financial “language” across teams.
- Improved confidence in financial discussions with clients regarding fees and scope.
- Greater buy-in for financial initiatives, with improved behaviours becoming habitual through clear action points.
Who is it for?
This training is suitable for UK law firms of any size and can be delivered UK-wide. Recommended attendees include:
- Managing Partners and Department Heads: To align expectations and strategic goals.
- Fee Earners: To embed commercial habits in daily matter management.
- Support Staff: Where collaboration is required to improve financial outcomes.
What we cover
The session is interactive and focuses on the fundamental levers of law firm performance:
- Profit vs Cash: What really drives each in a legal environment.
- Hidden Levers: Fee earner behaviours that directly impact the bottom line.
- Commercial Decision-Making: Spotting risks early and acting before they impact margin.
- Scoping and Pricing: Avoiding avoidable leakage through better discipline.
- Billing Habits: Reducing friction in the cash conversion cycle.
- Practical Actions: Turning insights into agreed ways of working.
How it works
- Plan: A short scoping call to tailor the session to your firm’s specific priorities.
- Deliver: An interactive 3-hour session with practical examples and discussion.
- Embed: Delegates leave with clear action points to make improved behaviour habitual.
Investment and options
| Delivery Mode | Cost |
|---|---|
| Online Delivery | £300 + VAT per delegate (minimum £4,220 + VAT) |
| In-person Delivery | Additional £870 + VAT plus travel costs |
Existing Clients: A 15% discount is available.
Or email us directly at: help@armstrongwatson.co.uk
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What our clients say
We're committed to delivering the best client experience. Hear from those who have worked with us and discover how we've helped them achieve their goals.
One of the challenges in a law firm is getting everyone to understand the business and approach things from a commercial perspective. Lawyers are focussed (rightly so) on client service and often don’t appreciate the value of the support they provide. The training we had with Armstrong Watson really helped us to focus the team’s minds on the value they were creating and as a result we now have an effective pricing policy that provides clients with choice and certainty whilst recognising the value that we create through our services. The training was delivered in a way that everyone understood and could relate to by Andy who is a true expert in professional services management and finance. We all came away feeling like we’d had a morning well spent.
Gill Hunter
Managing Partner, Square One Law
The session was really useful and thought provoking. Some courses simply flag issues to us and tell us what we should avoid doing. Andy's approach means not only were we made aware of potential pitfalls with things such as billing and fee quoting but he gave us solid guidance on what we can do to not only avoid the pitfalls but to turn those potential pitfalls into positive experiences for us and the clients.
Andy's knowledge and delivery inspires confidence in his recommendations.
Steve Redmond
Gateley plc
Andy Poole and two Armstrong Watson colleagues led a day of Law South’s May 2021 conference, “Humanising the Business of Law”. This was online due to Covid but the delivery and the pace of the day engaged everyone successfully. Andy’s presentation was titled “Boosting profits and cash” and delivered to predominantly law firm partner audience of 60 delegates. Allowing for the usual range of perspectives in such a group, the feedback was overwhelmingly positive with 94% giving good or excellent for expectations being met. A typical comment was “Very clear, things we can see we do, as well as things we don't do quite so well!” The day gave a greater understanding of law firm finances, comfort in discussing financial matters with clients, improving client service and satisfaction and a bespoke set of actions to take away. We have subsequently used Andy for training courses for member firms and are happy to recommend him to others.
Mark Day
Chief Executive Officer, Law South Group Limited
We have worked with Andy over a number of years and recently he has presented a half day on financial training for partners and new partners. This has been very well received. We find Andy extremely easy to work with, very accommodating of any particular needs we may have, and his knowledge of this topic is outstanding. One quote from a delegate having attended this training was “Very good course - highly recommend to those wanting to have a better understanding of a law firm's financial performance and potential ways to improve it.
Sara Palmer
Learning and Development Manager, Law South Group Limited
The training from Andy Poole is always engaging, informative and practical. He's an expert who really understands and relates to lawyers.
Mike Parker
Wilsons Solicitors LLP
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