New: Short-Term Cash Flow Feature for Xero Users

Posted on October 6, 2020October 6, 2020 by Devon

Skepsis Technologies would like to welcome our current clients to Xero’s new feature, Short-Term Cash flow. This feature allows you to project your business cash flow for 7 – 30 days all in one place! You can access this new feature by going to the Business Menu. Then, in the dropdown menu, select Short-term cash flow.

Would your law firm like access to short-term cashflow projections and other game-changing financial insight? Schedule a consultation with Skepsis today.

Short-term cashflow management is a key step in building a healthy law firm, including one that can weather everything from pandemics to your own vacation. Not only is that key data point critical for law firms, but the visualization is what gives that data meaning.

Screenshot of how Xero helps law firms project short-term cashflow

“Once you’re capturing all the right data in Xero, you’re in a great position to track your cash flow and build a robust buffer against unforeseen bumps.”
Andy Muir, Xero Advisor

How does it work? The short-term cash flow feature takes relevant data from your Xero account, including bank account data, bills, and invoices, to give law firms an up-to-date view of the firm’s cash flow, all in one place. Using this data, it projects available cash 30 days into the future, showing the impact of existing bills and invoices if they’re paid on time. This helps firm owners make strategic and client-centric decisions about how and when to follow up with invoices, the hidden costs of using the wrong vendors or holding on to the wrong clients, and more.

Skepsis Technologies works exclusively with law firms, because our owner is a lawyer. We’ve been in your shoes, and we we’ve weathered the storms. Your law firm has untapped potential – our job is to find it and tap it.

It’s Good To Be Back!

Posted on July 24, 2018July 24, 2018 by Devon

Big news from Skepsis! After taking a year off to travel, we’re back at it – back to helping our clients, particularly law firms, with their bookkeeping. This means that you, my fellow solo/small firm practitioner, again have a bookkeeper you know you can rely on – and who can handle the unique ethical and technical aspects of your trust accounting. I can’t tell you how much fun, and how exhilarating, it has been to be back in the saddle, helping law firms with their bookkeeping and trust accounting.

If you haven’t yet had a chance to try out our bookkeeping services, now is the perfect time, as we’ll be offering discounts for new clients between now and the end of the year.

What’s so unique about Skepsis?

I’m, Devon, the owner of Skepsis, and a licensed attorney, just like you. That means I know trust accounting like other bookkeepers don’t. I supervise our small team of bookkeepers very closely, including personally managing and reviewing your trust accounting each month, so you can be confident that Skepsis’ bookkeeping services meet or exceed the standards your bar card requires you to maintain. I have presented on the topics of ethics and trust accounting at numerous CLEs across the country, including national webcasts, and authored dozens of articles that have helped attorneys across the country go mobile and manage their firms better. I am licensed in Washington, Oregon, and California, although I provide bookkeeping services for firms nationwide.

More About Devon. I was an attorney and partner in a national, complex commercial litigation firm for over 11 years. During that time, I succeeded in not only resolving numerous complex commercial cases, but also, during my time as Managing Partner, I grew our firm from two attorneys to five; increased firm profitability; and implemented a paperless office. That, in turn, allowed me and my employees to improve our work-life balance, and work effectively whether we were in the office, in court, at a client’s office, or on the beach in Tahiti. Now, in addition to Skepsis, I continue to run my own law firm focusing on serving small to medium businesses and insurance matters.

What Can Skepsis Do To Improve Your Practice, And Improve Your Life?

If you have any questions about how to grow your practice, or how to manage your existing practice more efficiently and effectively, Skepsis can help. Some of the services we offer for law firms include:

Bookkeeping, including client trust accounting and compliance
Solutions for paperless and mobile offices
Website design and management
Solutions and strategies customized for your practice to work more efficiently and increase profitability
Private in-house CLEs, including ethics credits, regarding practice management and work/life balance
Flat fee solutions for bookkeeping, trust accounting, and more, so you can manage your expenses better, and more profitably.

Would you like to find out more about what Skepsis can do for you, and what our services cost? Set up a call today.

Setting Up Washington Payroll In Xero

Posted on December 18, 2016April 8, 2017 by Devon

One great thing about Xero is that its payroll services are included in most plans at no additional cost. And using Xero’s wizard, setting up payroll is fairly simple and straightforward. But Washington, like many other states, has some payroll nuances that you’ll need to be prepared for as you run through payroll setup in Xero.

Step 1: Set Up Your Chart of Accounts For WA Payroll.

First, make sure you have at least the following accounts already set up in your chart of accounts:

Liability Accounts

Payroll: Wages Payable
Payroll: Federal Employment Tax Payable
Payroll: FUTA Payable
Payroll: WA UI Payable
Payroll: WA Workers Comp Payable

Expense Accounts

Payroll: Wages Expense
Payroll: Federal Employment Tax Expense
Payroll: FUTA Expense
Payroll: WA UI Expense
Payroll: WA Workers Comp Expense

Step 2: Set Up WA Unemployment Tax.

There are two places you’ll need to set up Washington-specific aspects of your payroll. The first is in Settings > Payroll, and then on the “Taxes” tab. Scroll down below the heading for “Federal (FED)” and click the down arrow next to “Washington (WA)”. (If you don’t see Washington, that means you have not yet added a work location in Washington. Do this on the “Work Locations” tab.)

After you click the arrow, the Washington panel will open. Scroll down to view the entire panel:

Enter your “WA ES Reference Number.” This is the ESD number shown in the upper right corner of your letter from the Employment Security Department setting up your ESD account:

Next, enter your WA UI Rate. This is something the Employment Security Department will send you annually. Here’s an example notice, with the WA UI Rate circled:

The next field is the WA EAF rate. That’s found on your same tax notice, here:

Finally, choose your liability and expense accounts. If you used the list we set up at the top of this post, your WA UI & Surtax Liability account will be Payroll: WA UI Payable; and your WA UI & Surtax Expense account will be Payroll: WA UI Expense.

Click save, and the UI component of your payroll is all set up!

Step 3: Set Up WA Workers Comp Deductions.

Next you’ll have to set up the second Washington-specific component of your payroll, which is the WA Workers Comp deduction. In Washington, there are two components to the state-provided workers compensation program: (1) an employer-paid portion; and (2) an employee-paid portion. The employer portion is not natively supported in Xero payroll, so it will require an extra calculation each time you run payroll. The employee portion will be set up as a deduction.

To create that deduction, select the “Pay Items” tab in your Payroll Settings screen. On the left, click “Deductions:”

To the right, click “Add,” and select “After Tax Deduction.” A window will pop up – fill in the following:

Deduction Name: WA LNI

Standard Amount: [Leave Blank]

Company Max: [Leave Blank]

Liability Account: Payroll: WA Workers Comp Payable.

Click Add.

You’ve now set up your WA Workers Comp tax withholdings, and your Washington-specific payroll setup is complete.

Would you like help setting up your payroll? Contact us today!

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Reconciling Client Trust Accounts In Clio

Posted on November 22, 2016February 4, 2019 by Devon

Performing an ethics-compliant, three-way trust accounting reconciliation in Clio is easy when done correctly.

Step 1: Ensure Your Individual Clio Trust Balances Match Your Bank Statement

First, make sure you’ve received your bank statement for the month. Reconciling with Clio works best when you receive a paper or PDF bank statement, rather than a download of transaction listings. Using the actual bank statement, it is easier to compare balances.

Print a Trust Listing Report. In Clio, select the tab for Reports, then click Trust Listing. Settings for the report should be as follows:

Uncheck “Show clients with zero balance”
Select the button for “All Clients”
Select Practice Area: All
Select Date Range: Custom: Leave the start date blank, and set the end date as the date of your statement
Output Format: CSV
Click “Generate Report”

The report will automatically download, and you can typically find it in your downloads folder. Move it to your trust reconciliation file, and save it there. Now open it.

If you have more than one trust account, you’ll have to delete all the other trust accounts from this report, so that only the trust balances for the account you’re reconciling remain. If you don’t have more than one trust account, skip this paragraph. To do this, sort Column B (the Account column) A > Z. (Place your cursor in Column B; click the Data tab; and click the button.) Delete all lines in the spreadsheet that contain any account other than the one currently being reconciled. Do you agree with me that it would be nice if Clio’s report feature would let us select a certain account so we don’t have to do this deletion step? Please email them and let them know.

In Cell E1, enter the following formula: =SUM(D:D) Hit enter. The number Excel spits out in the cell should equal the Ending Balance on your bank statement. When it does, the first of your three reconciliations is complete.

Step 2: Ensure Your Bank Account Activity Report Matches Your Bank Statement.

Print a Bank Account Activity Report. In Clio, select the tab for Reports, then click Bank Account Activity. Prepare your report with the following settings:

Trust Accounts: Select “Specific Account,” and choose the correct account
Select Practice Area: All
Select Date Range: Last Month (unless your bank statement doesn’t run with the calendar month, in which you’ll select “Custom” and enter the same dates as your bank statement)
Check the box for “Include Opening Balance”
Do not check the box for “Display Matter to Matter Transfer Transactions”
Output Format: PDF

Click “Generate Report” to download it, move it to your reconciliations folder, and open it. Ensure that the opening balance matches the opening balance on your bank statement. Ensure the closing balance also matches your statement. Finally, check to ensure that all transactions showing on your bank statement appear on your report (which they should, if the opening and closing balances match).

Step 3: Ensure Your Bank Account Activity Report Balance Matches Your Trust Ledger Balance

If you’ve performed the two steps above and the ending balances match, then this step is already complete: compare the total balance on your Trust Ledger Report (which was calculated in Cell E1 in Step 1) with the ending balance in your Bank Account Activity Report. When these two balances match, your three-way reconciliation is complete.

Not currently using Clio? Try it for free.

Skepsis would love to perform your monthly trust reconciliations for you, whether or not you’re using Clio. Please email email us at [email protected]. Gain more great insights by subscribing to our newsletter below.