BigHand is excited to release it’s latest client case study today from multi-service, mid-tier US firm Newmeyer Dillion, describing the firms use of BigHand technology to transform its financial reporting and develop increased commercial acumen throughout the firm to drive more profitable decision making.
Lisa Waligorski, Executive Director, and Kelly Hess, Controller, share how BigHand Business Intelligence and AlertManager have helped them achieve their goals.
“The flexibility and configurability behind BigHand Business Intelligence have allowed us to build custom reports for our different users, from attorneys and partners - even our managing partner, who is fully vested in this initiative,” says Kelly. “Using BigHand’s ‘cube’ data reporting structure, we have been able to have custom reports built on pretty much everything related to time and billing, including associate billable hours and workload, which helps our partners to optimize workflows; the rates associates and partners are billing for work, which allows us to maintain consistency across the firm and make sure we’re catching little things that might otherwise have fallen through the cracks.”
“In essence, it boils down to the fact that, prior to BigHand, we didn’t know what we didn’t know,” adds Lisa. “Now, through a few straightforward keyboard pushes, from a centralized dashboard that has our billing data in Aderant integrated with BigHand, we can run reports that keep everyone accountable and focused on our clients first and then our profitability. What’s more is that it’s supported a huge culture change within the firm, where we now get individual attorneys and partners coming to us and asking for rate reports and AR reports, so they’re able to be proactive and stay on the front foot when it comes to profitable client engagement.”
In addition to deploying BigHand Business Intelligence, Newmeyer Dillion has also integrated BigHand’s AlertManager solution, an alert and notifications tool that sends configurable alerts to users via email, desktop, or web interface. “The main idea behind implementing AlertManager was to get the AR information to our billing partners for the matters they’re working on; to identify any issues and support them in their collection efforts,” Kelly says. “However, it quickly morphed into a tool we’re using far more strategically as our team has become more involved in collections.”
“The solution has become a means for us to track our clients more generally,” Lisa adds. "Are we going to open this new matter when a client has a tremendous amount of outstanding debt on other matters? AlertManager has really become a very useful tool for us to better manage our matter intake in that respect.”
Newmeyer Dillion has set up AlertManager to automatically send a 30-day report if collections are outstanding, as well as a 60-day report. Outstanding payments are discussed with the billing partner and reviewed fortnightly thereafter - and if issues remain unresolved, they are escalated to the firm’s managing partner, who will then make a call on whether, for example, any new matters are opened with that client or alternative resolution is sought. In addition to enhanced insight delivered proactively and automatically, AlertManager has saved Newmeyer Dillion’s finance team a significant amount of number-crunching and reporting time - time which can be redelivered into enhancing processes to further improve the firm’s overall performance.
Indeed, one of the firm’s latest initiatives is working with BigHand to develop a profit and loss statement. Using this latest report, we will be able to easily review an expected budget on expenses versus the actuals in Aderant,” Lisa explains. “It isn’t something that we have previously been able to track, but it’s another example of where lots of seemingly small discrepancies can add up to significant sums of money that will affect our profitability - and BigHand is helping us with all these elements of profitable business operations,” she concludes.
As Newmeyer Dillion affirms, the tools and technologies that enable firms to embrace a culture of profitability are not only reserved for the larger organizations; mid-market and smaller firms with their inherent agility and fleetness of foot can rapidly make company-wide change that delivers a strategic commitment to profit.