Strategic Year-End Financial Planning for Law Firm Administrators

Join us for a insightful and entertaining presentation with Elaine Nielsen, CPA, and Karie Rivkin, CLM. Both have extensive legal management and accounting experience. Sessions with these two are always some of our most popular, so be sure not to miss this one!

As year-end approaches, thoughtful financial planning can help law firm administrators navigate budget season with confidence. Join our panel discussion to explore key topics including income and expense budgeting, year-end bonuses and compensation planning, forecasting for the new fiscal year, and strategies for balancing firm goals with operational needs. Panelists will share practical insights, lessons learned, and best practices to help administrators make informed financial decisions and position their firms for a successful year-end close and strong start to the year ahead.

About our speakers:

Karie Rivkin, CLM, is the Chief Financial Officer of Eichelbaum Wardell Hansen Powell & Muñoz, P.C., a Texas-based law firm with four Texas offices. With more than 25 years of experience in legal management, she oversees accounting and finance, human resources, technology, operations, risk management, and strategic planning. An active member and volunteer leader within the Association of Legal Administrators (ALA), Karie is passionate about advancing the legal management profession through education, credentialing, and sharing practical solutions that help law firms thrive.

Elaine Nielsen, CPA is the Finance Director at Armbrust & Brown and has more than 30 years of experience in law firm finance. An active member of the Association of Legal Administrators (ALA), she has served on the board as Treasurer and chaired several committees.

Elaine oversees the firm's budgeting, profitability analysis, banking and credit relationships, accounting operations, technology initiatives, software upgrades, and 401(k) plan administration. She is committed to improving processes, leveraging technology, and enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of the finance department. Known for her analytical skills and attention to detail, Elaine particularly enjoys developing financial models and reporting tools in Excel.

Budgeting and Beyond: Strategic Accounting, Financial Analysis, and Best Practices

• Understand how financial statements support budgeting decisions by connecting profitability, cash flow, balance sheet position, receivables, WIP, and profitability reports to management conversations.
• Build a more useful law firm budget by using historical data, conservative revenue projections, staffing assumptions, payroll costs, benefits, and recurring expenses.
• Design a chart of accounts that supports decision-making by using GL accounts for budgeted and reconciled items while relying on vendors, labels, fields, and categories for deeper tracking.
• Evaluate technology and insurance spending strategically by reviewing vendor spend, subscription usage, renewals, cost per attorney or employee, coverage gaps, healthcare costs, and risk exposure.
• Use budgeting as a year-round management tool by comparing actual results to budget, asking better questions, monitoring trends, and adjusting plans before small surprises become expensive surprises.

Continuing Education Credits:

CLM® Application Credit: 1.0 hour(s) of Organizational Development (OD).

CLM® Application Credit for Functional Specialists: 1.0 hour(s) in the subject area of Financial Management (FM) towards the additional hours required of some Functional Specialists to fulfill the CLM application.

CLM® Recertification Credit: 1.0 hour(s) in the subject area of Financial Management (FM)

 *This Lunch & Learn is for Austin ALA members, their guests, and business partners assigned to sponsor this event*

Our business partner sponsors for this month's luncheon are:

Important Reminders About Parking:

Park in the Procore Tower Building Garage at 221 W. 6th Street. Entrances are on 5^th Street and Colorado Street. When you exit the garage, be sure to pick up a discount ticket at the meeting to receive the discounted $10.00 parking rate.