Collection Law Firm Financial Benchmark Report 2011

PDF Brief (30 pages)
Published: Spring 2011
$169.00

The accounts receivable management (ARM) industry is dominated by small, privately held companies and can be difficult to benchmark because there is little public financial data available.

Through a partnership with Business Valuation Resources LLC, we have arranged to bring you extensive collection law firm financial information from BizMiner that has not previously been available about the industry.

Financial Data On 85 Collection Law Firms

This report contains data from 85 collection law firms, across four size categories with revenues ranging from under $500,000 to $5 million.  Rarely have we seen collection law firm data separate from collection agency data; this is a unique set of information. 

The first section of the report provides an overview of the data across all size categories.  The second section includes six years of detailed data points (2005 through Q2 of 2010, annualized) for each size category separately.  The average for the six years in each size category was used for the overview section.

We are excited to bring you this information as we at insideARM.com have made various attempts over the years to collect meaningful financial data for the debt collection industry and know firsthand how challenging that task can be.  This is valuable data that offers agency executives an important new opportunity to benchmark your organization against your peers and competitors.

Data Gathered From Numerous Government & Private Sources

Raw data analyzed for BizMiner reports is sourced from an array of the nation's government and private statistical sources. None of these raw data sources creates the final measures reflected in BizMiner industry profiles. In total, BizMiner accesses over a billion sourced data points from eighteen million business operations for each of its twice annual updates covering a 3-5 year time series. Historical data and BizMiner algorithms are used to inform and test projections for non-reporting firms.

Data elements are sourced specifically from:

• IRS SOI Corporation Income Tax Returns
• IRS SOI Corporation Tax Book
• IRS SOI 1040 Schedule C Income Tax Returns
• IRS SOI Statistics of Income- Individual Tax Statistics
• US Economic Census of Manufactures
• US Census Economy Overview
• US Census Annual Survey of Manufactures
• US Census Annual Retail Trade Survey
• US Census Annual Wholesale Trade Survey
• US Census Quarterly Financial Reports
• US Census County Business Patterns
• Bureau of Labor Statistics Monthly Employment Reports
• Bureau of Labor Statistics Monthly Unemployment Reports
• US Census Wholesale Trade Report
• US Census Quarterly (New Housing) Sales by Price and Financing
• US Census Total Construction Spending
• US Census Retail Trade Report
• US Census Quarterly Services Survey
• Commercial Real Estate Survey
• Credit Reporting Agencies
• Business Directories

While 100% firm coverage is desirable for analysis purposes, the greatest value of BizMiner reports rests in discerning patterns of activity, which are reflected in the large samples used to develop our reports.

The overall current coverage of the databases surpasses 13 million active business operations at any point in time. As is the case with any databases this large, some errors are inevitable. Some firms are missed and specific information on others is lacking from the database. Not all information received is uniform or complete, resulting in the need to develop projection algorithms for specific industry segments and metrics in some report series.

No representation is made as to the accuracy of the databases utilized or the results of subsequent analyses. Neither the Brandow Company nor its resellers has undertaken independent primary research to confirm the accuracy of the data utilized in the Profile analyses. Neither the Brandow Company nor its resellers are responsible for conclusions drawn or decisions made based upon this data or analysis. In no event will the Brandow Company or its resellers be liable for any damages, direct, indirect, incidental or consequential resulting from the use of the information contained in BizMiner reports.

Here's What's in the Table of Contents

You'll Get the Following Financial Analysis Profile Data For Each Size Category

Income and Expense - Profit and Loss (by both $ and %)

• Cost of Sales
• Gross Margin
• Officers Comp
• Salary-Wages
• Rent
• Taxes Paid
• Advertising
• Benefits-Pensions
• Repairs
• Bad Debt
• Other SG&A Exp.
• EBITDA
• Amort-Deprec-Depl
• Operating Expenses
• Operating Income
• Interest Income
• Interest Expense
• Other Income
• Pre-Tax Net Profit
• Income Tax
• After Tax Net Profit
• Balance Sheet (by $ and %)

Assets

• Cash
• Receivables
• Inventory
• Other Current Assets
• Total Current Assets
• Net Fixed Assets
• Other Non-Current Assets
• Total Assets

Liabilities

• Accounts Payable
• Loans/Notes Payable
• Other Current Liabilities
• Total Current Liabilities
• Total Long Term Liabilities
• Net Worth

Financial Ratios: Cash Flow-Solvency

• Accounts Payable: Business Revenue (%)
• Current Liabilities: Inventory (%)
• Current Liabilities: Net Worth (%)
• Current Ratio (%)
• Days Payable (%)
• Quick Ratio (%)
• Total Liabilities: Net Worth (%)

Financial Ratios: Profitability

• EBITDA: Business Revenue (%)
• Pre-Tax Return on Assets (%)
• Pre-Tax Return on Net Worth (%)
• Pre-Tax Return on Business Revenue (%)
• After Tax Return on Assets (%)
• After Tax Return on Net Worth (%)
• After Tax Return on Business Revenue (%)

Financial Ratios: Efficiency-Debt-Risk

• Assets: Business Revenue
• Cost of Sales: Accounts Payable
• Cost of Sales: Inventory
• Days Inventory
• Days Receivables
• Days Working Capital
• EBITDA: Interest Expense
• Fixed Assets: Net Worth
• Gross Margin: Business Revenue
• Net Working Capital: Business Revenue

Financial Ratios: Turnover

• Cash Turnover (x)
• Current Asset Turnover
• Fixed Asset Turnover
• Inventory Turnover (x)
• Receivables Turnover (x)
• Total Asset Turnover (x)
• Working Capital Turnover (x)

Fixed Asset Detail

• Gross Fixed Assets
• Accumulated Deprec-Amort-Depl
• Net Fixed Assets
• Gross Fixed Assets
• Acumulated Deprec-Amort-Depl
• Net Fixed Assets

You simply won't find this level of detail on this many collection law firms anywhere else!