Things to consider when looking for a legal cashiering service
When looking for a new product or service, conducting research is vital to ensure not only that you get value for money, but also you can enjoy the best experience possible by finding the provider most suitable for your specific needs.
Whether you are searching for a hotel, holiday destinations, the latest gadgets or kitchen appliances, you need to do your research, and the same is true for legal cashiering services.
So, what things should you consider when looking for a legal cashiering service?
Consider a providers reputation. Speak to current customers and read testimonials or case studies on their website. However, a company isn’t only judged on the service it provides to current customers, but how it deals with customers who wish to leave. Enquiring about this will give you the whole client experience. Plus, an ex-client can give you the honest answers about how professional the outsourcing company is when it comes to separating and terminating the contract.
Can the company work with your current set-up/practice management system? The last thing you want is to find out you have to spend a small fortune implementing new systems in order for the outsourced legal cashiering to work. The Cashroom has a totally system agnostic approach, meaning that firms don’t have to change their systems before benefiting from the service.
Another factor to consider is how quickly the set up can be up and running, reducing the impact it has on your firm. The Cashroom’s legal cashiering service hits the ground running by getting set up quickly with no downtime or disruption.
Ask questions around your contract. Find out if you’re tied in for a period of time, have early repayment charges if you decide to leave etc. But also find out who ‘owns’ and houses the financial data, and the implications of retrieving this if the contract is terminated. Ironing these terms out at the beginning of your relationship is crucial to ensure the smooth running of the legal cashiering service.
Establish who will manage your account and be your specific point of contact. The last thing you want is to be pushed around from pillar to post if you need to speak to someone about an issue that needs resolving asap.
Maintaining compliance with regulators as well as providing a high-quality service should be the top priorities for your outsourcer. Here at The Cashroom we don’t just have a grasp of accounts, our cashiers also possess appropriate qualifications and an in-depth understanding of regulation rules, for example, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Handbook, SRA Account Rules, The Law Society of Scotland Account Rules etc. Also, it’s vital to ensure the outsourcer can explain/show how they adhere to data protection regulations, such as GDPR. Again, this should be set out in detail in the Contract.
It’s no secret that law firms are a particular target for cyber criminals, so it’s imperative to find out what defences an outsourced legal cashiering firm have in place.. At The Cashroom, we offer a secure end to end encrypted online portal to allow internal and external stakeholders to communicate and share information. We also hold an industry leading Cyber Essentials Plus Certification.
Communication is key in any relationship with an outsourcer. So, establishing how you can remain in contact with them is vital. At The Cashroom, we provide an online portal, eliminating email and enabling everyone to know where tasks are up to. All requests are clearly tracked and monitored and can easily show an audit trail if required. Having a clear and concise system, helps to ensure deadlines are adhered to and communication is clear for all concerned.
Finally, if you’re considering outsourcing other areas of your firm, it may be worthwhile to see if your outsourcer provides these services as well. This will help to streamline your processes and ensure you’re only managing one supplier. Here at The Cashroom, as well as providing legal cashiering, we also offer management accounts, payroll services, and compliance and efficiency audit reviews / support to law firms across the UK.
If this blog has whet your appetite, and you’re intrigued to learn more about the services The Cashroom could provide, or you’d just like to ask a few questions, please contact us.
Our contact details can be found below.
If you are regulated within the English and Welsh markets, then please contact:
Alex Holt E: alex.holt@thecashroom.co.uk T: 07817 420 466
If you are regulated by the Law Society of Scotland, please contact:
Gregor Angus E: gregor.angus@thecashroom.co.uk T: 07875 598 593
The news is regularly showcasing headlines about companies experiencing cyber breaches, as criminals refine their skills, finding sophisticated ways to get their hands-on personal data and intercept financial transactions. So when was the last time you reviewed your law firm data security?
It is not surprising that more law firms are turning to portal technology to protect client and business information given the increased vulnerabilities to email communication.
detailed plan for the future. Sure, there were appraisals and performance reviews which set goals, and identified areas for improvement, but they were concerned more with performing better in your current role, rather than planning and preparing for future roles, and areas of interest. Have a think for moment – does your firm have a plan for developing its key people for the future?
So, perhaps there is some food for thought here for discussion at your next Partners meeting. Do you have the same people in mind to take over the reins, and how are you going to equip them with the skills to do so? I would suggest putting a realistic plan together, with clear and achievable objectives, put it in to practice as soon as possible, and keep in regular dialogue with the people involved. They will likely be motivated by the opportunity, bringing better engagement immediately, and more seamless business continuity and succession into the future.
Do you have all your eggs in one basket?
Getting the best from a pension
Commissioner’s Office (
Perhaps some sound advice would be to pause for breath the next time a client asks your professional view on something outside your area of expertise. Is there a colleague who may be better placed to advise? Is there another friendly firm who would look after your client for this particular matter, but not poach them for future work? Perhaps you are part of a network such as the 
knowledge, it could potentially be dangerous for a number of reasons. For example, are you up to speed with the latest cyber fraud tactics? Are you fully aware of what your employees’ rights and responsibilities are from an HR perspective? Or is trying to do your own cashiering going to land you in hot water at a compliance inspection/audit. With all of these examples, you may ‘think’ you know what you are doing, or that you can get by, but do you “know’ what you are doing? If not, the additional time you’re spending on them, not to mention the stress, probably more than justifies delegating to somebody better placed to deal with them, or outsourcing those responsibilities to experienced experts or third-party providers. That way, you can sleep at night knowing things are being done properly, that you are covered from an insurance point of you, and just as importantly, that you can focus on what you do best, whether that be generating new business for your firm, or doing fee earning work for clients. I hope there is some food for thought here, and some take away points to discuss at your next Partners meeting.
LawCare
We have witnessed significant growth and change in the legal profession over the last two decades, as organisations started to embrace the mental health agenda and recognised the need to look after those who need support with mental health issues. Momentum around mental health and wellbeing in the legal community has been particularly growing in the last few years, with many firms now rolling out wellbeing initiatives and providing training to staff in this area. Firms need to do their best to create a healthy and happy place to work, not just because it is the right thing to do but because there is a strong proven business case for it.
After all, change can bring risk, so you need to be confident that the strategy you implement will be worth it. Speaking to third party experts about outsourcing your account services should reassure you that the impact will be beneficial on your business moving forward.
3. Some employers are fortunate to have deep pockets, or access to investment cash for wellbeing, allowing them to invest in a gym in the office, subsidise gym memberships, or have personal trainers or dieticians come in to the office regularly. However, you really don’t need to go to that extent to encourage your employees to spend a bit more time moving and exercising regularly during their working day, thereby improving their wellness. How about encouraging walking meetings: a brisk 10 – 15 minutes round the block to chat through something you would normally do while sitting slumped in a meeting room to do. You will likely arrive back in the office refreshed, or at least a little more awake, and ready for the next task. Top tip – an initiative like this requires a top-down adoption, i.e. the leaders and managers of the business need to embrace it and start doing it regularly, to help instil into more junior staff that it is acceptable, and in fact is to be encouraged!
5. Finally, make seasonal events (e.g Easter, Halloween, Christmas) fun! Think about giving out Advent Calendars or Easter Eggs to all staff – not a huge investment, but definitely a morale booster – or having a dress down/up(!) day for Halloween. This can encourage interaction amongst employees, lift spirits in the office, and at the same time be used to generate some money for a charity of your choice.
Property hijackings (where criminals pose as owners) are escalating. In many cases, criminals will rent a property and steal the landlord’s post. They then use this to pose as the real owner and sell the house to cash buyers.
Information security certification (e.g. ISO 27001 or Cyber Essentials) helps to protect client and employee data. This won’t just keep sensitive data secure, it will also demonstrate to clients (and the ICO) that you take your responsibilities seriously.
At 
Outsourcing to The Cashroom has been painless. So easy to deal with accommodating everything that we need to do, when we need to do it, whilst keeping us on the right side of the vast array of regulations. 
At the same time, the total cost of employing in-house cashiering personnel is expensive. Because, in addition to wages, you also have to take the costs of recruitment, induction, training, mentoring, sick pay, maternity cover, holiday cover, pension contributions, and National Insurance into consideration.
The Cashroom offer an invaluable service for any solicitor’s firm. Their approach is efficient, professional and responsive. They have allowed us to deal with rapid growth by taking on all accounts functionality.”
The Cashroom has definitely been a good business move, not only because of efficiency but also in relation to compliance which can be daunting at times.”
We operate a business which requires efficiency and certainty of service. The Cashroom has augmented our own internal accounts team, taking control of key elements and working closely to provide a seamless service to us. 
How quickly can you get up and running?
We have been using The Cashroom’s services for three years now. We brought them in to provide a secure, efficient, compliant cashiering function to support our growing business with their flexible resource model. 
In the Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2019, conducted by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS), 32% of UK businesses had reported a cyber security breach in the last 12 months. Over a third admitting this breach led to a loss of data or assets.
‘Fraud the Facts 2019’ report highlighted that email (malicious redirection) fraud has become a lucrative business. Fraudsters use emails to convince a home seller or law firm to change their bank details before a payment is made resulting in £123million lost in 2018.
We do not have a ‘system’ or software that we use, we simply access the accounts part of your existing Practice Management System remotely. So, all you need is a legal practice management system of some sort, and a means of us accessing it remotely. We also have a secure client portal which all of our clients are on, creating a secure environment for both The Cashroom and client to communicate without the cyber risks of email. This also avoids having to protect sensitive data via email. Training can also be given to ensure you are comfortable when using the portal.
We allocate each client to a cashiering team, headed up by a very experienced senior cashier, essentially your ‘Head Cashier’. They will have a small team of people who will work with your firm, in order that holidays, sickness cover etc, are not a problem for you. You will get to know the two or three people working with your firm very quickly, and build a relationship with them. You can pick up the phone or send a query via our secure client portal to these selected people at any point and be ensured that someone will always be about to help.
change makes the difference between whether you sink or swim. One way that savvy firms are choosing to adapt is by outsourcing essential business tasks, like legal cashiering.
Maximise your resource: Benefit from a cost based on the actual activity and skill level your firm requires, rather than having to fund sufficient senior cashiering resource to deal with complex, high-risk elements, while using that same resource to carry out the more mundane, junior tasks. 
addressing. According to research 66% of solicitors feel high levels of stress in their jobs, and each year in the UK, 70 million workdays are lost to mental illness.
Almost half of all the calls received (48%) were made by legal professionals with less than five years’ qualified experience. The Junior Lawyers Division’s resilience and well-being survey also found a huge number of younger legal professionals struggling with work related mental health issues. This research clearly shows that the well-being of people in the legal sector spans all knowledge ranges and doesn’t discriminate between the newly qualified and the more experienced lawyer.
40% reduction in new buyer enquiries. Although the net balance figures for March, April and May were slightly more buoyant with only a -26% net balance of new buyer enquiries. It’s clear that buyers are reluctant to declare an interest in property until October 31st when they know what the country is doing next.
There is light at the end of the Brexit tunnel, and we’re not talking about deal or no deal. Reports have suggested that transactions are slowly starting to pick up. The number of approved sales per branch were eight in April, an increase on the seven per branch the previous month.
I recently ran Manchester marathon. I wasn’t fast, and I wasn’t last – 3hr 31 min to be precise – but sometimes the time is irrelevant . I ran a marathon in 2014 (Edinburgh) and have run the distance a few more times at the end of Ironman triathlons (pre-– children!), but this time around was a little different. I haven’t slept much in the last few months (see earlier reference to children!), and had a busy few months at work and at home, so training was ‘minimalistic’ to say the least. However, aside from a ‘moment’ a few weeks before race day, I knew that I could get round alright. It wouldn’t be a PB, but I would complete the distance. And that’s when I realised that something had changed in the last few years – my perspective. Being able to run a marathon on minimal training was now my ‘new normal’, and I think there is a lesson in that: what you perceive as your ‘normal’ can vastly change over time, and your limits are almost certainly not where you think they are.
You don’t need to go in all guns blazing, signing up to climb Mount Everest next week, but decide what it is you want to achieve, and start taking small, incremental but consistent steps towards it, building momentum as you go. Those daily, weekly or monthly steps towards the goal, over time, are what make the difference. Once you have that consistent practice, what once seemed like a pie in the sky idea will come clearly into view, and be more than achievable. And once achieved, your perspective will have changed, in a positive way, forever. Even if your goal was to start a new business, and it wasn’t ultimately successful, going through the process, and making that your ‘new normal’, will change your outlook, and help you believe that it is not beyond your capabilities should a better opportunity arise in the future.
So, while I would encourage you all to run a marathon – I truly believe anyone can do it with the right preparation and dedication to training – your goal may be something quite different to that. The same principles apply though: identify what it is you want to achieve, commit to it, then train for it in a deliberate and consistent way. Very philosophical I know, but life is short, so set about doing the things you have always wanted to do. And remember, nothing changes if nothing changes.