For those law firm leaders who understand the value of running their firms like businesses, fiscal year-end financial planning is an exercise these business-savvy leaders have no choice but to engage in. Without financial planning and the ongoing monitoring of financial performance, firm leaders are gambling—blindly—that their firms will stay afloat in the coming year and beyond, no matter what their competitors, the economy, and society throw at them.

Financial planning also complements a firm’s strategic planning. The former helps a firm determine what is possible with the latter. Whether a firm is looking to move into new markets, invest in its marketing or infrastructure, bolster its headcount, or do something else entirely, the strength of a firm’s financial footing, and its ability to predict how that footing may change over time, will determine how much a firm can execute on its strategic vision.