Together with professional services firm Crowe Horwath, the Australasian Legal Practice Management Association is running its second annual New Zealand Legal Industry Financial Performance Benchmarking Study. The inaugural study provided law firms across the country with valuable insights into their performance as measured against peers, with this year’s study set to deliver further understanding of progress over time.
“The results from this study are informative and provide a compelling and visual insight into how each firm has performed and how this performance stacks up against similar firms, and year-on-year. It is a crucial management tool for NZ law firms – and it is completely free to participate,” says Sheryll Carey, ALPMA NZ president and general manager.
ALPMA and Crowe Horwath, are therefore again encouraging local law firms to participate by providing data from their FY15/16 financial results. Not only is participation free, but all entries are anonymous.
Participating in the research helps New Zealand law firms understand how they measure up on key indicators of financial performance, such as profitability, work in progress days, debtor’s days, interest expense, labour cost, rent, and working capital, says Crowe Horwath Auckland principal Glen Gernhoefer.
“The first year of this study provided a benchmark for comparing performance across legal practices. Many participants used the results to identify areas for improvement, and put in place strategies for improving performance in these areas. With the second iteration of the study, we will be in a position to provide year-on-year comparisons to see the impact of those strategies.”
Additionally, firms can measure if they have realised their full potential and understand the gaps that need to be addressed to achieve peak performance, gain insight into the NZ industry’s financial performance expectations for the coming year, while anticipating the financial future for individual firms.
For those legal practices which are participating for the first time this year, Gernhoefer says comparisons with peers provides practice managers with benchmarking results to assess performance using a number of filters including state, practice type and size. These results can then be discussed with partners to interactively compare performance against that of similar companies, delivering relevant and meaningful benchmarks to work from and realistic goals to aim for.
The study is also well established in Australia under the same partnership and, by using Crowe Horwath’s proprietary Open Measures system as a common analysis platform, allows cross-border comparisons with the trans-Tasman market.
Carey adds that the results of the inaugural study were well-received by the local legal fraternity. “Although now only in its second year, this study has proven its value which will cumulatively increase as further data is gathered and analysed on an ongoing basis.”
Firms can participate by providing data from their FY15/16 financial results into the online survey .
To view a copy of last year’s report, please contact us.
For further information, please contact:
ALPMA: Nicki Hauser, national marketing & BD manager
Tel: +61 410 439 276 Email: n.hauser@alpma.com.au
Crowe Horwath: Glen Gernhoefer, principal, Business Advisory
Tel: +64 9 300 5781 Email: Glen.Gernhoefer@crowehorwath.co.nz