FWO Chartered Accountants

Name: FWO Chartered Accountants
Author: FWO Chartered Accountants

Strategic financial partners for law firms. We combine deep legal industry expertise with insight led advisory to help you grow your firm with confidence.

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FWO Chartered Accountants is a specialist accounting and advisory firm working exclusively with law firms across Australia. As strategic financial partners, FWO helps Smokeball clients turn practice data into meaningful financial insight, supporting better decision-making around profitability, cash flow and performance. Through education-led advisory and their MiNumbers reporting platform, FWO helps Partners and Practice Managers get more value from their data resulting in improved profitability and stronger cashflow.

Testimonials

Stephen Pyman
Director

We’ve grown our business 500% since working with FWO CA. They’ve done far more than keep the books. They’ve kept us accountable, pushed our thinking, and guided our decisions with clear, commercial advice. FWO know law firms inside out, and when they tell you what to do, you listen
Greg Dickson
Director

FWO CA have helped us increase income and profitability by at least 25% in two years - without adding to our expenses. Their advice is practical, proactive, and perfectly aligned to the legal industry. FWO gave us the confidence to make hard decisions and has played a significant role in transforming our performance
Nicole Shenfield
Director

Matt and the team at FWO CA are more than accountants. They’re strategic financial partners who genuinely understand the legal industry. They’ve helped us clarify our purpose, improve productivity, and navigate leadership change with confidence. I wouldn’t go anywhere else
Elizabeth Fairon
Director

FWO CA has been instrumental in shaping the growth of my firm. From navigating major tax challenges to guiding strategic expansion. FWO’s advice goes beyond numbers; they understand how law firms actually work. With MiNumbers now helping our team track performance in real time, we’re more focused, confident, and on track for YOY growth

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Law firm specialisation

FWO works exclusively with SME law firms, bringing deep understanding of legal practice economics, fee earner performance and partner dynamics. This sector focus means advice is grounded in the realities of running a law firm, not generic business theory.

Structured advisory framework (Grow Your Firm)

The Grow Your Firm framework provides a clear, staged pathway from financial clarity through to strategic growth. It brings structure, accountability and consistency to financial management, ensuring firms move beyond reactive reporting to disciplined, forward-looking decision-making.

Smokeball Integration Capability

FWO works alongside Smokeball to help firms translate operational data into meaningful financial insight. Rather than training software, FWO interprets practice activity through a financial lens to improve profitability, cashflow and overall performance.

MiNumbers reporting platform

MiNumbers is FWO’s integrated reporting platform that connects practice management, payroll and financial data into one structured view of performance. It provides consistent visibility over capacity, budget, profit and cashflow to support informed leadership decisions.

Ongoing financial management support

Beyond annual compliance, FWO provides structured financial management throughout the year, including budgeting, forecasting, reforecasting and performance reviews. This ongoing oversight helps law firm leaders stay accountable, adapt to change and maintain momentum toward their goals.

Education and thought leadership

FWO develops practical resources, playbooks and workshops to strengthen financial capability across the legal sector. Through books, webinars and industry partnerships, FWO helps law firm leaders build confidence and improve financial discipline and performance.

Our Team

Matt Schlyder photo

Matt Schlyder

Director

Matt is the Founding Director of FWO Chartered Accountants and the creator of the Financially Well Organised philosophy. Known in the profession as “The Lawyers’ Accountant”, Matt has spent more than 35 years advising professional service firms, with a deep specialisation in supporting SME law firms across Australia. He helps Principals and Practice Managers strengthen profitability, improve cash flow, and make confident decisions through clear, practical financial leadership.

Matt is also an innovator in financial technology. He developed MiNumbers, a dynamic fee earner budgeting and reporting solution that integrates Xero financial and payroll data with practice management system fee earner data to produce accurate, objective budget vs actual performance reporting. His approach is personal, targeted towards outcomes, and designed for time-poor professionals who need the right numbers, in the right format, to drive sustainable profit and cash flow growth.

Gulshan Gupta photo

Gulshan Gupta

Associate Director

Gulshan is an Associate Director at FWO Chartered Accountants who helps time-poor Principals and business owners make confident decisions using clear, accurate financial insights. With lived experience in a family business, he understands the day-to-day pressures, trade-offs and risks that come with running a business. Gulshan works closely with SME law firms and other professional service firms, supporting them to strengthen profitability, improve cash flow and build sustainable growth. His approach is practical and big-picture, combining strong compliance foundations with forward-looking advisory that helps clients understand the drivers behind their numbers and take action.