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How Foster Wallace Plugged the Financial “Leaks.”

With Filevine and Vineskills, the firm became leaner and more profitable.

Location: Missouri and Kansas

Practice Areas: Personal Injury

fosterwallace.com

The Challenge

Foster Wallace, a growing personal injury law firm, wanted to answer a critical question that so many businesses are familiar with:

Where’s our money going?

They needed a way to identify and solve financial “leaks,” from unnoticed write-offs to inefficiencies in expense tracking and collections. Disconnected systems and inconsistent data entry made it difficult to get a clear financial picture, making budgeting and forecasting challenging. The firm sought not only better visibility but also the processes and tools to ensure every dollar was tracked, reconciled, and optimized.

The Solution

Finance Skills helped Foster Wallace build a connected financial ecosystem and streamline their internal accounting processes to track every case expense more accurately. The technology stack included Filevine for case management, QuickBooks Online and the QuickBooks Connect integration, plus their internal spend management tools.

Process improvements included:

  • More efficient data entry and cleaner case expense categorization
  • Timely and accurate settlement tracking and billing
  • Systematic tracking of Accounts Receivable (A/R) and write-offs

Building for the future:

Beyond fixing immediate inefficiencies, Vineskills worked with Foster Wallace to lay the foundation for strategic financial management, including:

  • Budgeting and cashflow forecasting
  • Implementation of key performance indicators (KPIs)

The key KPIs they were able to track and get visibility into were:

  • Lead conversion rate
  • Case acquisition costs
  • Time on Desk (TOD)
  • Income by case, referral source, attorney, and practice area/location

This created not only transparency but also a forward-looking financial framework that will keep the firm on track as it grows.

The Result

With real-time financial clarity and control, Foster Wallace was able to become smarter, leaner, and more profitable, achieving:

  • Centralized expense tracking through unified systems (check printing, reconciliations, QuickBooks Connect)
  • Reduced financial waste by identifying high write-offs, prolonged Time on Desk, and fee discrepancies per attorney
  • Organized P&L reports providing clear visibility into efficiency — especially marketing ROI
  • Monthly billing process established for predictable, consistent income
  • Renewed emphasis on collections to maximize realized revenue

The partnership evolved far beyond bookkeeping as Finance Skills became a true strategic financial partner, empowering the firm to make confident, data-backed decisions.

This case study was created by Vineskills. Vineskills offers support, training, customization, and implementation for Filevine customers.

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