In this instructional video, Linda Ardisani of Ardisani Bookkeeping walks bookkeepers and accountants through the essential intake conversation with an attorney client. She emphasizes starting with rapport and letting the attorney describe their problems, then systematically uncovering critical details needed to provide an accurate quote for cleanup or ongoing services. The core questions cover the attorney’s practice area, current accounting software (QuickBooks, Xero, CosmoLex, etc.), whether they handle trust accounting or IOLTA accounts, and their biggest pain points such as accounts receivable or remote‑work challenges. Ardisani also advises probing desktop versus cloud platforms, assessing the attorney’s comfort with the software, and determining training or support needs. Throughout, she stresses positioning the bookkeeper as the accounting expert while respecting the attorney’s legal expertise, and she points viewers to her blog, a Facebook group (QB Community Live), and direct contact options for further assistance.
Chapters
Hi there, Linda Ardisani, Ardisani Bookkeeping. This week is about the attorney-client conversation with the accountant. What do you ask? Or the bookkeeper. What do you ask? What questions do you ask to kind of funnel in some of the information that you're going to need to be able to produce produce a proper quote to them for ongoing services or even for just cleanup. And cleanup can always be very interesting, and I will get into that in a future blog post because what we've seen through these few years of really specializing in working with attorneys— I've been working with attorneys a lot, a long time, but since we've been really diving into doing this repeatedly, and this is the only kind of client that I now take, We've seen a lot. So really just getting the conversation going with the attorney, you know, hi, Mr. Attorney, how are you? Or Ms. Attorney, how are you? You know, how can I help you? Any client— this is a great tip for any client that you have— let them talk. Let them tell you their problems and what they're trying to achieve, the reason they're calling you, right? You want to find out exactly what their pain points are. This is something that it takes a bit of practice because you want to jump in and tell them every single thing that you know and how you can help them. But you really don't know until you do that investigatory conversation, finding out exactly what their pain point is, what they're looking for from you, and really dive into the details that are necessary. With law firms and attorneys, you really need to know what's the practice area. So that could be the first question, and you start to use the terminology with them. They're going to understand that you have the expertise and knowledge to work in the industry. So what is your practice area? They'll answer the question. Maybe they say it's family law. Oh, that's interesting. It's been really busy with family law. You know, right now being in the time of COVID it's been an interesting time for you. And most of the attorneys that we're working with, family law has been very busy. You can let them tell you all about that. Then ask them what are their pain points? What software are they using now? It's a great question. Are you using QuickBooks? Xero? Are you using another platform? Are you using something totally law-specific that has no other outside piece like a Cosmolex? So you want to ask what apps they're using. If they say QuickBooks or Xero, find out if they're tracking their trust accounting, if they have trust accounting, and are they tracking it in an outside app. There's thousands of outside apps, and you can even look inside my blog post to kind of get a little bit of information on them because I've done some reviews on the more popular ones. But find out what the software is. Fake it till you make it. Don't let them know that maybe it's brand new software to you. They're all basically the same. They all kind of work in the same way. If they're cloud-based, they're a certain way. If they're desktop-based, they're a certain way. If it is a desktop program, while you're talking, you can always look it up online. If it's desktop, explain to them that you want to move them to your workflow and that this— see if you can open that door of conversation, because most likely they're going to tell you, you know, you can ask them, How is that working out for you? If they're desktop, using a desktop software. How's that working out for you now when everybody's working remotely? And get that, the details out. What is their pain point? Many times their pain point's accounts receivable. They'll even say to you, I don't even know what anybody owes me. I don't even know where that is. It could be the IOLTA account. I hear that a lot. And I don't think my IOLTA account is right. And that's a big concern for them because they might be sitting back and saying, I know it's wrong. And I know how important it is that it's right. And they're looking for an expert to help them with that. Sometimes they're looking for someone just to say— and we just had this happen the other day— can you train me? Can you train me how to use the software? And that's when you start to have that conversation like, when are you doing this work? Is it 10 o'clock at night that you're doing the bookkeeping or accounting work? You know, we had a client say, well, I, you know, I don't really know bookkeeping that well, but I've studied it. So they may have gone on to YouTube or something like that and studied the industry. but it's not the same as someone who's been doing it for 25 years. And you're gonna have to convey to them that, you know, you're the expert in this and that they're the expert in what they do. Do they really wanna be doing their accounting when they're really tired at the end of the day? So start to have that dialogue. And I give you some more tips in the blog post as well, but start to have those conversations to help you move towards getting that first attorney client. I would love to hear from you if you have your first attorney client. Certainly we'll be here to help you if you, if you need my help. We have a great Facebook group, QB Community Live. I can definitely help you there. Join us and we'll work to help you get through that experience. If you're an attorney and you're like, I need somebody that knows their stuff, please contact us. We are here to help. And you can just reach us right here through this blog. It'll ping back to my website, fill out the contact form, or give me a call directly. And on that note, I hope you all have a wonderful, wonderful week. Bye now. Bye.
