David Jorme

When it's time for tax return preparation and 1099-S reporting each January, does your firm struggle with the same time-consuming, manual process year in and year out? If you answered, "Yes," then you'll want to learn about hassle-free 1099-S and 1096 Summary reporting. Find out how to complete your 1099-S filing and reporting responsibilities as soon a real estate closing is executed.

Tracking billable hours, a variety of fee arrangements, restrictions posed by state ethics rules, and clients who dispute bills can mire your firm in billing issues and affect your bottom line.

Trust account rules vary from state to state, but one constant for attorneys or anyone working in a fiduciary capacity is the over-riding fear of running afoul of strict requirements. Take the following steps and you won’t lose sleep worrying about your responsibility to comply with complicated trust account regulations.

It’s no secret. Real estate closing documentation is time-consuming; the longer it takes, the less profitable your service is. The flat rate nature of real estate closings and volume of documents required, keep margins low, yet real estate transactions bring clients into other profitable legal services. To succeed in the low margin sector, you need high volume or must run your business very efficiently. Learn a few simple techniques you can start using now.