Regularly reviewing your firm's financial situation and accounting health is an important part of running your business. Not only can this help you spot discrepancies easier and remain compliant, but getting an overview of unpaid client invoices, monthly expenses, net change of money in and money out, and net income and expenses is a key part of running a successful business.
This feature is just one component of Clio Accounting. Learn more about the other features by reading the articles listed below. We recommend starting with "Clio Accounting: Basics and Guidelines to Get Started" and routinely reviewing the recommended guidelines list to stay on top of your accounting and bookkeeping.
Navigate the dashboard
Your firm's Dashboard provides a bird's eye view of your firm's financial status, allowing you to view trends quickly and get an understanding of your firm's financial health. It includes the following sections:
- Bank accounts:
This section shows a summary view of your operating, trust, and credit card bank accounts. For each account, you can view the running balance in Clio Accounting and the number of new bank transactions that need to be reviewed (categorized and matched). Click the three dots next to a bank account's name and select Review transactions to start the bank feed review.
- Accounts receivable:
This section shows the running balance of your accounts receivable (i.e. the total outstanding balance from all outstanding client invoices), the number of invoices that have been fully paid in the current month, and the number of total invoices with amounts owing to date. Click View to go to the Accounts receivable tab, where you can view outstanding balances by client.
- Operating expenses:
This section shows this month's operating expenses and the percentage change compared to the previous month. Click View to go to the Operating expenses tab to view your firm's created, matched, and reconciled operating expenses.
- Hard costs:
This section shows you the hard costs for review, and any yet to be invoiced. Click Review to go to the Hard Costs tab, where you can view invoiced and to be invoiced hard costs. When reviewing hard costs, click the blue text to go to the corresponding area in Manage.
- Profit and loss:
This section shows the net income (income minus expenses), total income, and expenses for the last two months. Click View to go to the corresponding report.
- Accounting best practices:
This section provides accounting tips, with weekly and monthly checklists that highlight key accounting tasks. This tool is designed to help you get a better understanding of accounting and how to stay on top of your books each week and each month.