Fees, fees, fees

There is commonly a perception that the drive and focus of a firm is solely reliant upon fees. As long as everybody focuses on fees, all will be well.

This perception is commonly endorsed by the traditional way that firms operate. It is a truism that a firm will get the behaviour that it is seen to record, to report and to reward.

This common focus on fees therefore follows because most attention is commonly directed to:

· Recording chargeable time and fees billed;

· Reporting new client wins and forecast fees that will flow there from; and

· Rewarding the highest billers and best fee winners.

Of course increased fees are essential to the future of any professional services firm. But the future of a firm, of its reputation, of it’s attractiveness to the next generation of partners and of its credibility with its stakeholders, depends on much more than the fees generated each year.

I will return to this topic shortly.