No pain, no gain

I’m one of those people who quite likes new technology. People at my office would laugh at that statement, but it’s true. I just have trouble getting from one way of working to a new way of working.

Part of the problem for me, and I suspect for many people like me, is that the day job is all consuming. We are busy, and our way of working to date works for us. We view changes to that way of working with suspicion and a vague sense that any change is going to be too painful, and may not deliver the promised improvements.

I’m from the generation which used to do everything by landline and letter, so obviously I’ve experienced huge amounts of change over the last 30 years. The latest change within our business relates to our desire to remove as much as possible email communication from our toolkit. We have developed a secure client portal to communicate with our clients, this new technology is also a wonderful task management tool.

I’ve watched in awe and with no small amount of pride as our growing business developed and implemented these changes, helping our client firms to use much safer and more secure processes to manage their own and, crucially, their client’s money.

And I loved it even more because, as Business Development Director, I didn’t need to use it myself! By the time I finished communication with a client prospect, all via phone and email and meetings, I then passed the client into our transition process, and they put in place the portal for the new client.

Our guys are well versed these days in training clients to use the portal as part of their process. Clients love it. It saves them time. They can monitor activity via the dashboard we give them. And they know that communication is much more secure. All good. Wonderful.

And then….it was decided the portal was such a great task manager and communication tool that we would use it for all our own internal communication. Horror! Suddenly it was on me, and a few others.

I’ll skip ahead to the fact that I’m now using the portal happily. It’s part of my daily routine and I love it. It gives me a clear sight of what I have to do, and is fantastic for allowing people to share information (documents and comments).

The bit in between was the pain. It was like one of those psychology papers- stages of acceptance. Starts with anger and disbelief. Denial. “It won’t work for me!” Then there’s the training, and fitting that training in amongst an otherwise busy work schedule. Then finally there’s an acceptance that there is no use trying to avoid new technology- it’s going to happen.

At that point, you enter a zen-like state where you just want the pain over, and you hungrily consume the training to get back fully operational.

And now here we are. I’ll be sharing a draft of this in the office via the portal. Easily, and I will tick off the task as complete.

But there are lessons to learn, not just by me as the luddite who needed dragging into line, but also within organisations imposing new technology, systems and ways of working.

• Understand that change is feared, often without foundation, but appreciate that concern, and focus time on an internal ‘sell’ of the benefits of the new way of working
• Have a project team (or individual) in place who can provide ready support and guidance
• Listen to those being trained. If there are recurring issues of a similar nature, maybe there is in fact a small problem which needs ironing out?
• When training has been done, don’t leave it several months before fully implementing, because by then the knowledge may well have gone and it will be very costly to bring system consultants back in to do the training again.

It’s a cliché, but the only certain thing is that we will face increasing change and uncertainty. Businesses that learn how to implement change in a way which is smooth and speedy will reap the benefits. Those that don’t will, I fear, go the way of the dodo.

Alex Holt

I recently attended an interesting presentation by an accountant about the valuation of businesses, which got me thinking about something relevant to all of us. He talked about how anybody with a little bit of training could do the number crunching with relative ease, and that where they add real value is in the interpretation of what those numbers mean, the experience of doing it for many businesses day in, day out, and their unique perspective on the particular sector or industry. They provide their ‘value add’ in the strategic advice and providing information beyond the actual accounting calculations. This got me thinking about the value add of what we do as a business.

Of course, we provide Cashiering, Payroll and Management Accounting services to law firms, but the provision of day-to-day postings, bank reconciliations, setting up payments, running the payroll, or providing a set of monthly accounts doesn’t add real value – there may be a cost saving in using us, but you could get the tasks done by employing somebody inhouse. The added value comes elsewhere.

It is, to some extent, the benefit of our clients not having to worry about holiday or sickness cover again, or the time drain of recruiting, training and managing members of staff, or being able to scale up or down without worrying about the workload implications for employees. But it is more than that. We have taken on the cashroom or ‘finance’ function of 170 law firms, of all shapes and sizes, across the length and breadth of the country. That has allowed us to review how those firms have previously done things, and pick and choose the best and most efficient processes, implementing them into our standard process from which all of our clients will benefit. That, I believe, is where some of the real added value comes – it couldn’t be obtained by recruiting in-house.

In addition, the other real value add is the cyber and fraud risk mitigation. Due to the scale of our business, and our processes, payment requests go through a process that couldn’t be replicated inhouse, and avoid any ‘single point of failure’ concerns. If you have one single cashier who sets up and authorises payments, a fraudster need only obtain a single set of bank login details. Even if you have multiple cashiers to check payment details, they are all likely to be on one single network, so if a hacker ‘gets in’, they may well have all the information and access rights they need! Our processes, and the simple fact that part of the procedure is done on our network (with stringent checks and balances in place) and part on your network (for authorisation), it means that fraud risk is hugely reduced. Law firms are constantly being targeted by fraudsters, by virtue of the fact they hold significant sums of money, and the risks (and tactics of fraudsters) are ever evolving, so minimising that risk wherever possible is crucial.  Somebody recently said to me that law firms are like mini banks, but without the resources required to securely protect the money they hold. That is exactly where the added value of an outsourced providers such as The Cashroom comes in to play.

So, I think that’s where we can add value to a law firms business – giving them industry ‘best practice’ processes, without any break in that service at holiday/sickness/busy times, and mitigating their fraud risk. Have a think about your business, and where you really add value to your clients. Doing so is an interesting exercise in itself, and will allow you to strategically review your marketing activities. Let’s face it, no client wants to know you are a ‘long established firm, dating back to….’!! They want you to tell them what sets you apart from the firm across the road, and why they should place their business with you. In other words, what is your value add?

Gregor Angus

Whilst only in England and Wales for now, The Law Society of Scotland are currently consulting on price transparency and so this is relevant to solicitors UK wide.

Why and what is the change?

In 2016 the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) found that there was not enough information available on price transparency, quality and service to help those who needed legal support to choose the best option. Since December 2018, practices in England and Wales are now required to publish the true cost of services (or average costs or range of costs), the basis of charges, key stages of the process and probable timeframes, any likely disbursements (and if they include VAT) and the experience and qualifications of anyone carrying out the work.

Under the new rules, costs information must include the total or average cost, the “basis for your charges, including hourly rates or fixed fees”, and the “experience and qualifications of anyone carrying out the work, and of their supervisors”.

Disbursements must be included, including whether they were subject to VAT, details of the services, such as “key stages of the matter and likely timescales for each stage”, and, where conditional fees or damages-based agreements were offered, the “circumstances in which clients may have to make any payments themselves for your services”.

All costs information must be “clear and accessible” and featured in a “prominent place” on websites.

Firms must also publish details of their complaints handling procedures, including how to complain to the Legal Ombudsman and the SRA, and display the firm’s SRA number and digital badge in a “prominent place”.

How will it be monitored?

The SRA had stated that they will give firms time to acquaint themselves with new price transparency rules- but it will be proactive about those still refusing to comply. The regulator has stated that they will not be relying on reports of on-compliance and instead will perform thematic reviews to check for itself if firms are publishing the right information.

Today however a statement has been released that The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is to carry out randomised “web sweeps” of around 500 law firms over the next few months to check they are publishing fees for common consumer transactions.

Paul Philip, chief executive of the SRA, said the regulator would take a “proportionate approach” to enforcement.

“It’s a bit like people who don’t fill in requests for information. We’re saying this is not a hugely important thing, but you’re obliged to do it, so you’re forcing us into taking disproportionate action when you should just comply and move forward.

“We come up against this type of thing time and time again. I have no doubt we will end up with a rump of people who end up in the corner saying they are just not doing it.

“At that point in time we will decide what to do. We will address it in a proportionate way but in an increasingly forceful way to ensure compliance.”

What do firms think?

The SRA say that this is not about giving firms a hard time or adding more regulatory hoops to jump through. The aim is that by providing clear pricing details, any misunderstandings later in a transaction will be avoided as a result of transparent information being provided from the onset. They believe these regulations will give more people access to the legal system.

The other side of the story is that these are in-fact adding a burden onto already stretched firms. Some even say that this will add more confusion than clarity for clients.

Many firms have spoken out about the changes. Statements include some saying that the profession is facing an unprecedented level of price pressure. Some think fee information on a website will confuse clients further, saying it is much better to call and clarify what charges apply to their circumstances and find an advisor that they like. Researches have found that nearly a third of solicitors in England and Wales are prepared to defy regulations by refusing to publish clear fee information to prospective clients.

Is the regulated solicitor now constantly having to add heavily to their overheads, time away from fee earning and can they act in the best way they want to for their own clients?

Do you wonder what is coming next?

Emma O’Day, Marketing and Communications Manager at The Cashroom Ltd.

It’s that time of year again where the spring flowers are blooming, the spring lambs are being born and (for some) the spring clean is being negotiated. You may not have considered a spring clean of your IT security knowledge or corporate network security, so we have put together a few quick tips to help you remain safe online and tidy up your corporate accesses.

Leavers Process

It’s easy to get lost in a checklist when someone leaves your organisation. So much of our day to day lives are now online and individuals will have accounts and sign in credentials for numerous websites, portals and systems.

• Are you certain that all the credentials relating to your previous employees have been disabled?
• Is their email address still active?
• If you use The Cashroom can the leaver still access the Cashroom Portal?
• Can they still access your CMS/Bank accounts/other software remotely?

Cyber Attacks

Cyber-attacks are getting increasingly complex and fraudsters are always developing new strategies to try and separate you from your sensitive information. It is important that you don’t succumb to paranoia, but everyone should always try to remain vigilant when it comes to IT security.

• Be wary of spam and suspicious emails – this includes emails that look like they are from someone you normally communicate with, but the content may be asking for something out of the ordinary.
• Only open an email attachment or click on a link if you’re 100% certain of its source & you were expecting it. If you’re unsure, don’t open it.
• Look out for changes to phone numbers, email addresses and bank account/payment numbers etc. Don’t be afraid to double check any changes with the email sender but call them at a number you know exists or begin a new email chain from scratch. Don’t click reply or use the details in the suspicious email – you may end up “verifying” the change of details with the fraudster!
• When accessing the internet, check the web address has “https” in front of the address (sometimes shown with a padlock icon). The “s” means that the site is secure. Also check that the address is spelt correctly and is the usual web address that you use for that site.
• We are always told never to reuse or write down our passwords. Have you considered investing in a password management software, which can securely store and remember your passwords so that you can always have a unique and complex password every time you need one? There may also be times where you can use double authentication instead of one single password, for example a password and a fingerprint.

Social Engineering

Social engineering is an increasingly common type of confidence trick for information gathering, fraud, or system access. Fraudsters know we are savvier when it comes to dodgy looking email attachments, so they are now playing on our personalities and common human foibles. They will rely on humans wanting to help each other out or taking advantage of our natural intrigue.

• Examples of social engineering tricks can include a fraudster sending an official-looking announcement to the company that says the number for the help desk has changed – when employees call for help the individual asks them for their passwords and IDs thereby gaining the ability to access the company’s private information.
• Another example of social engineering would be a hacker leaving a USB stick on the floor in or around your office, possibly titled “cute puppy pictures”, “2019 promotions” or “payroll data”, hoping someone will pick it up to see what is stored on it. Malware would often then be automatically downloaded to the computer and the wider network.

We hope that this “spring clean” list is of some use. Obviously this isn’t intended just for springtime, you should use these tips throughout the year to ensure that your systems are constantly reviewed and your IT security is working well for you and your business.

For more information on cyber-attacks and social engineering, please contact your IT Support provider.

For all Cashroom clients with leavers please contact your Cashroom representative if you have any staff that need removing from the portal. If you would like more information on how to do this yourselves, please refer to the portal help icon and look for Adding / Deleting Client Users in the “How-to articles” section.

Rachel Faris, IT and Data Protection Administrator at The Cashroom Ltd

You need several key attributes to get the most out of a networking event like the Legal Sector Advisors and Suppliers conference. I spent a happy and very productive two days in September with the UK’s leading legal sector suppliers in the gorgeous setting of Ardencote Manor. The days were happy and productive because I was ready with networking powers primed and ready. There’s the obvious requirement for a cast iron constitution. The ability to remain coherent and to retain information after being plied with intoxicating slides and copious quantities of strong information.

There’s a need for a fast recovery…from the brain pain induced by constant intelligent discussion and from the dryness of mouth associated with ceaseless intellectual chatter.

On a more physically demanding note, there’s an essential element of grace and movement when negotiating the pulsating groups and knots of experts, clustered and cloistered. A swerve here. A nod and a smile there. Noting key contacts and performing a polite gentlemen’s excuse me, insinuating yourself into a group and immediately finding their rhythm.

The thing is, networking events of any sort involve perseverance, mobility, information retention and crucially action. Be prepared to politely move on from a conversation that is less relevant, but also remember at such events it is often when you stop talking shop and start just chatting that the conversation develops and relationships are formed based on far more than simply “what’s in it for me to talk with you”?

Following up on the discussions after an event is also key…it’s amazing how easy it is to just leave the event and the exciting discussions behind you, as you move onto the next gathering, or get embroiled in the day job as you emerge from the conference bubble to the mound of emails and daily grind. Try to be a little picky about follow up meetings, after all not everyone with whom you meet and share laughter and wine is a priority for action. But remember that even a meeting which is simply fun and a sharing of sector gossip can have value.

You can go to the best networking event or conference on the planet and if you don’t fully engage and follow up you’ve wasted your money and your time. Oh, and be sure to take paracetamol and Lucozade to deal with the hangovers.

Alex Holt, The Cashroom

You have been asked to do a piece of work, diligently send out your standard letter of engagement, when the client calls uttering the dreaded words…‘the fee is a bit higher than I was expecting – if you can get that down a bit, I’d be happy for you to proceed with the work’. If this situation fills you with dread, fear not! With a little thought and a proper ‘toolkit’, you can confidently go into a conversation with your client on the pricing topic in the future.

Believe it or not, armed with the right knowledge and skills, you don’t need to default to discounting your pricing when a client queries them. A number of surveys on legal and professional services fees have found that the most important factor for clients is usually not lowest price. Obviously this may vary slightly depending on work type, but other factors have consistently been found more influential. The key influences are that the prices are transparent, guaranteed and value based. So, how do you move your firm towards a better pricing model, and ensure it is consistently applied? Well, I recently attended a seminar by Nigel Haddon, a Pricing Consultant at Burcher Jennings, who had some very useful tips on this.

First and foremost, get a feeling for the clients‘ objectives – for example, how urgently does the work need done, how important is it to them, what is their risk appetite. Next, you may also want to factor in whether it is a one-off piece of work, or if there is an opportunity for repeat or volume work in the future. This, along with a clear understanding of what the work involves, allows you to consider the appropriate fee.

On the initial enquiry call, make it standard practice to buy yourself fifteen or twenty minutes to “run it past a colleague”. Next, make sure you do just that! Simply having a chat with a colleague will provoke greater challenge around your initial perception of the work involved, how long it is likely to take etc. You will probably find that eight or nine times out of ten, it is necessary to increase the price you were originally thinking of quoting.

Next, clearly set out to the client what the fees are, giving them at least two options. This part may be an entirely new concept, but hearing Nigel explain it, it actually makes a lot of sense. Most importantly, all of the options must work for you, but for sometimes inexplicable reasons, one will probably appear more appealing or better value to the client.

As an example, for a piece of work which needs to be done by the end of the week, and is of extremely high importance to the client, you could offer the following options: (1) an hourly rate of X, being a 25% premium on your standard hourly rate; (2) a fixed fee of £4500; or (3) a fixed fee of £4000 if paid upfront.

Rarely will the client walk away, or even shop around, when presented with such a choice. More likely, they will like one of your options, depending on the particular circumstances in which they find themselves.

I hope these tips are useful to you – I know they certainly make a lot of sense to me, thinking back to my days in legal practice. In addition to ensuring there is clear consensus with your client on their objectives, by taking some time to think about why you are seeking to charge certain rates, and clearly explaining them, with various options, you are less likely to get push back from the client later down the line, and even if you do, you can be far more prepared for that discussion, and confident in your justification.

Gregor Angus, Head of Business Development Scotland at The Cashroom Ltd

I don’t want to bring down the mood…I’m no Buzz Killington….but late last year my dad died. It was sudden, and shocking and awful. For a month he was in intensive care before he passed away and so in total there were about two months of uncertainty and scheduling visits and fear and worry and support for mum and then grief and horror and emptiness.

 I promised I wouldn’t bring down the mood, so “why are you writing this Al?” I hear you ask.
Well it’s simple really. All those trite sayings. All those tropes. Those clichés. You know the ones- life is too short; seize the day; life is not a rehearsal.

They’re all true.

 My dad was a great businessman and a wonderful dad and gramps. What happened to him came out of the blue. And when he was in hospital there was a fella aged about 30 in the next bed who had also had a massive stroke. It really can happen to any of us.

So my heartfelt message in this brief blog is that we should all treat every day as precious. Do those things you’ve been putting off. Be kind to people rather than dismissive or ignorant. Try to make your world and the lives of those around you better.

I’ll end with a quote from Gladiator (not “On my mark unleash hell”…that’d be weird!). No the quote is “What we do in life echoes in eternity”.

From a business perspective if nothing else, maybe we can all work in a more collegiate, helpful and positive way. I’m going to try to do that, and to live life to the full. Dad taught me that before he died, and the full truth of his lessons only now fully hits home.

Alex Holt, Director of Business Development

For those who don’t know my background, I trained as a solicitor at Drummond Miller in Edinburgh and Glasgow. I remained there for about a year post-qualification, then moved on to Digby Brown and thereafter Anderson Strathern, before leaving practice to join The Cashroom as their Business Development Manager.

Recently, and certainly not for the first time, I was contacted by a former colleague (a 3-4 year qualified solicitor), who was having a hard time trying to figure out what direction to take her career in. I am certainly not a ‘careers adviser’, but have helped a few people through similar scenarios now, and seen some of the places that a background in law can lead, career wise, whether in or out of practice, so thought it would be worthwhile to do a short Blog series on this general topic. I hope that it helps young lawyers, to some extent, when considering their career options. I plan to break the series down to a few separate posts, covering the options within private practice, in-house and quasi-legal roles in industry, and finally some possible options out-with legal practice. So, without further ado…

Staying Within Private Practice

Of course the work within private practice as a lawyer varies hugely, from helping individuals draw up a basic Will, to corporate deals worth gazillions of pounds/euros/dollars, as does the size and type of firm, from a small high street practice in a rural village, to the vast array of global offices of a magic circle firm. The huge extent of law firms and work-types therefore brings options, and my advice would be to take some time out, perhaps while away on holiday, or with some quiet time to yourself, to note down what it is that attracted you to law in the first place and, most importantly, where you want to be in 2,5 or 10 years’ time. For example, is money a big motivator, or would you be willing to sacrifice some income to work better hours? Are you interested in living/working abroad at some point in your career, do you want to be your own boss, or do you have aspirations to bring up a family in the quiet countryside? Do you attach prestige to working for a certain type of firm, and is the title of ‘Partner’ appealing? These are just some of the factors to consider, and once you start the process, I’m sure that the pros and cons of each options will start to become a little clearer for you. It’s amazing how much of a difference writing these thoughts down will make, so make sure to do that, rather than just thinking it through in your head.

I think that once you carry out the exercise above, you will be surprised at how clearly the picture begins to form. It should start to emerge whether you are veering towards a particular work-type, location, or size/type of firm, and what you want from your work/life. Don’t worry if the picture that emerges is a far cry from your current role – you will be amazed how a strategic move to an interim role will set you up and get you the necessary experience for where you ultimately want to be. Figuring out where you want to go is the important part, and the ‘how to get there’ is always possible if you are willing to put in the time and effort.

Once you have figured out where you want to land up, it is a lot easier to plan a route there! It may be that you need to undertake some re-training in a different area of law, or that you simply need to scroll through all of your contacts, and figure out a handful of people to speak to about your goals. It never ceases to amaze me how afraid people are to ask others for help. Speak to people you know, and ask them for advice, for an introduction to a particular person, or for their feedback on things you could be doing to improve your chances of getting the role you are seeking. Generally, unless you are a particularly unpleasant person (!), friends and contacts will be more than willing to help you out.

Whether it is speaking to somebody at a firm doing the type of work you are interested in, or talking to a sole practitioner about how they manage their business because you have decided that your aim is to set up your own new law firm, people will be very willing to spare you some of their time, and pass on any tips/lessons they have learnt along the way.

I hope that helps, to some extent, in narrowing down the career path that is most appealing to you within private practice. I think that finding out what makes you tick, and aligning a job with that, is the ultimate achievement. You spend a huge proportion of your life at work, so find something that you enjoy, or at the very least, don’t dread every day!

We assist clients on a daily basis to comply with Pension Automatic Enrolment duties. We have found that clients are often confused about what Automatic Enrolment means for them. Clients are unclear about what they are required to do and when they are required to do it.

We have also provided some examples of common problems faced by several of our clients and the remedial action we have taken to solve these problems. Our main focus is always to ensure clients remain compliant with the Pension Automatic Enrolment requirements.

We have a good working relationship with the Pensions Regulator and often contact them to discuss issues on behalf of our clients.

Although liaising with the Pensions Regulator is not a hugely onerous task it can be an important step in ensuring our clients are compliant with their Automatic Enrolment duties. Even if an employer sets up a work place pension and begins contributing to that scheme failing to properly complete and submit the Declaration of Compliance can render the employer as non-compliant. In this situation an employer could face a financial penalty.

We are delighted to be in a position to use our Pension Automatic Enrolment knowledge to the benefit of our clients.

What our clients have to say about us

The Cashroom Ltd administer our monthly auto-enrolment scheme. Liaising directly with the provider they incorporate pension calculations within the monthly payroll. The support is crucial for compliance with our statutory obligations.

Aru Sinha- Cavendish Legal Group – London

Ardnamurchan Estates Ltd has worked with The Cashroom for the last three years initially for our payroll service but since June 2016 for the Pension Automatic Enrolment.  For a small company being able to make use of The Cashrooms’ experience with this process has ensured that we have complied with the Government Legislation stress free and with minimal additional effort.

Ardnamurchan Estates Ltd – Ardamurchan

Common Problems Faced by Clients

Not all problems faced by our clients are straight forward.

Pension Automatic Enrolment clients have approached us with various problems including:

1. Missing a Staging Date
2. Failing to set up a Pension Scheme on a Pension Provider’s website
3. Wishing to postpone a Staging Date but uncertain as to the process
4. A general lack of understanding of an employer’s Automatic Enrolment duties
5. Failure to realise that a Declaration of Compliance required to be submitted
6. Failure to realise that correspondence required to be issued to staff
7. Client changed trading name during the process

On all of the above occasions we have listened to our client’s concerns, taken the time to understand their problem and have provided practical advice to resolve the issue.

Missing a Staging Date

For numerous reasons law firms have approached us because they have missed their Staging Date for Automatic Enrolment. In these instances we have moved quickly to set the client’s pension scheme up to ensure compliance with Automatic Enrolment duties. We have engaged with The Pensions Regulator to advise that although our client has missed their Staging Date they are now taking action to resolve the issue. It is up to The Pensions Regulator as to how they wish to respond to the disclosure. However our experience has shown that by disclosing any omissions early matters can often be resolved quickly. The most important aspect is honesty and being in a position to show clear intentions to provide and contribute to a work place pension for staff moving forward.

At The Cashroom we take a proactive approach and aim to contact all of our existing payroll clients in advance of their Pension Automatic Enrolment Staging Date to prevent Staging Dates being missed.

Failing to set up a Pension Scheme on a Pension Provider’s website

There have been instances where clients have struggled to complete the required information on their selected Pension Provider’s website. Our Pension Automatic Enrolment team have taken the time to discuss each practical step with clients by telephone. We have also sent step by step instructions by email in the form of screen shots to clients to assist with the set up.

In addition we have also carried out a large part of the administrative set up on our client’s Pension Provider’s website where this has been required.

Wishing to Postpone a Staging Date but Uncertain as to the Process

We have found that a number of clients have been uncertain of the postponement process or even unaware that this was an option. We discuss how postponement works with clients and also postpone our own set up work to coincide with a client’s postponed Staging Date. This ensures that a client is not billed for our work until the postponed date is reached.

A General Lack of Understanding of an Employer’s Automatic Enrolment Duties

There have been occasions where clients have contacted us in a panic on receiving notification from the Pensions Regulator of their Staging Date. We can provide a number of factual resources to clients which explain what Pension Automatic Enrolment means for them. We have worked closely with our friends at Armstrong Watson and have produced a detailed Frequently Asked Questions document on Pension Automatic Enrolment which is available for clients. We have also researched the best online guidance notes and drafted our own blog on Automatic Enrolment. Therefore any clients who need a little reassurance and some background information are well catered for.

Failure to Realise that a Declaration of Compliance required to be submitted

Often clients are under the impression that their Automatic Enrolment duties end when their work place pension has been set up. However the final step in the setup is the completion and submission of the Declaration of Compliance. We ensure that clients are made aware of the requirement to submit this document and we can also draft this on behalf of clients if required. The deadline for the submission of the document is 5 months after a client’s Staging Date and at the very least we will send a chaser email to a client who is submitting their own to ensure the document has been prepared in time.

Failure to Realise Correspondence required to be issued to Staff

During the early stages of setting up a Pension Scheme an employer requires to write to all staff and advise them of the work place pension. Employers must write to all staff and not just those who are eligible for enrolment to advise that the work place pension will be in place.

Staff who are eligible must receive detailed guidance on how Automatic Enrolment will apply to them. Staff who are not eligible must receive correspondence advising that they have the option to opt in to the pension scheme if they wish to. Some clients are unaware of the requirement to issue staff with correspondence and accordingly we have provided advice on this. We have also drafted correspondence for clients to issue to their staff when asked.

We have a detailed Frequently Asked Questions document which we issue to all clients which is available on request by emailing our Marketing Manager Emma O’Day. (Email:emma.oday@thecashroom.co.uk)

For more information on our payroll and auto-enrolment service then please contact us today here – Contact Us

We have also provided some links to useful references below:

References:

An Essential Guide to Automatic Enrolment Link: https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/docs/the-essential-guide-for-automatic-enrolment.pdf

Detailed Guidance note for Employers Link: https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/docs/detailed-guidance-2.pdf

Full details on Compliance and Enforcement policy Link: https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/docs/pensions-reform-compliance-and-enforcement-policy.pdf

In 2015 joint parental leave was introduced. A new mother can now share her maternity leave with her partner. While this is brilliant for families to be given this option and flexibility it can make things more difficult for employers, especially small businesses.

I have recently come back from maternity leave, in fact it was my second maternity leave in 3 years which consisted of a staged return back both times and resulted in me now working part time, both leaves were smooth transitions because my company took time to think about my leave and we were all open, honest and communicated throughout.

How can you manage parental leave?

I can’t stress enough that open communication is paramount. Between the employer, the parent to be and the team they work in as this keeps everyone in the loop. For a successful maternity/paternity transition keeping open conversation going is key.

Your obligations

All pregnant employees are entitled to paid time off for ante-natal care and can take 52 weeks statutory maternity leave. This leave can begin 11 weeks before mum’s due date. New mums are required to take a minimum of 2 weeks maternity leave. After this first 2 weeks either parent can take the leave following the introduction of shared parental leave. No more than 12 months leave in total can be taken between the mother and her partner and only 9 months of the leave will be paid. Any employee must give 8 weeks’ notice of any leave and shared parental leave can be taken in up to 3 separate blocks.

A good idea is to have a parental leave policy written up that you can give to your employee when they inform you they are going to be a parent. You also need to decide if you are going to pay statutory pay or enhanced pay. The latter can seem painful especially for small companies but it could mean bringing key staff back sooner so the investment could be worth making.

How do you deal with your employee’s absence?

This can be tricky, especially in small firms where a single person can be more fundamental to the business. However this can be a great chance for less experience colleagues to step up and assume more responsibility. If this happens though it’s a good idea to arrange regular check in’s to make sure other workers are not over-burdened. Arranging regular check in’s with a team that has a member off on parental leave is fundamental so employees can raise concerns and adjustments can be made if necessary.

If you don’t have the resource to cover the work within your business you can advertise for someone to cover the role, however you must be clear that this is a maternity cover and is a fixed term post as the new parent is entitled to return to their old post.

Return to work

Arrange a conversation with your employee to find out their needs. Often employers don’t offer this and employees don’t ask for it because they don’t want to be a further burden on their employer. A small firm may not have ‘re-joining’ initiatives in place like big companies do however if you do have fewer employees then you should have a better chance at ensuring your returning staff are comfortable and never feel overwhelmed. Again it can’t be stressed enough that open and honest communication will make everything easier.

Employee wants to return part time

When an employee requests to come back part time then you are obliged to consider this request. If you decide that you cannot grant this request then you must give the employee a good business decision not to and your reasons have to be justified.

If you do turn down a request for part time work then the employee could potentially claim against you in an employment tribunal on grounds you have failed to comply with the process or that your reasons are not a permitted business reason.

Flexible working and work life balance are key influencers in employee’s decisions on remaining with an employer. Over 3,000 professionals in the UK were quizzed by the workspace solutions provider on the importance of flexibility for today’s workers. More than nine out of 10 respondents said that, given a choice of two similar jobs, they would choose the one that offered more flexible working options. This was backed up by the survey findings, with almost one-third of respondents (32%) stating that they would have stayed longer in their previous jobs if greater flexibility had been offered. There is also the current business climate to consider. The economic uncertainty requires business to be more agile and nimble so operating with a fluid and flexible workforce, using available workspace, makes real commercial sense.

Put simply, if your businesses is not thinking flexibly then you risk a talent drain.

A massive percentage of firms will have someone going on parental leave at some point, don’t let your talented staff go elsewhere because you haven’t considered all the options and you haven’t supported your staff though this time in their life.

What if it’s you?

What if it’s you yourself a partner, manager or business owner needing parental leave? A good idea is to make a list of every task and process that you are involved in and look at your team and designate tasks, breaking down tasks will allow you to find the appropriate person for each task. You could then hold a day where you brief everyone on their roles and let your clients know and make any necessary introductions in advance. If you are going off on leave then ensure you give yourself enough time to work all this out, physically before I went on maternity leave I felt like I had a hangover for 8 months so allowing extra time for tasks was key, both of my children made surprise early appearances too so have tasks allocated as early as you can then if needed colleagues can pick up at short notice. Be open with your employer and let them know what your plans are as far in advance as you can, if you help them out then in turn they will look after you as best they can. After all, everybody loves a new baby!

If your cashier, accountant or payroll administrator is going on leave then please do not hesitate to get in touch and find out how we can help you.

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For more information on maternity/paternity and shared parental leave please visit:

https://www.gov.uk/maternity-pay-leave/overview – Maternity leave

https://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1362 – Shared parental leave

https://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1806 – Paternity leave

Emma O’Day
Marketing & Communications Manager at The Cashroom Ltd

The Cashroom Ltd provides this material for informational purposes only and specific advice should be sought. The above information is general and is not intended to be legal advice. Nothing herein should be relied upon or used without consulting a lawyer to consider your specific circumstances, possible changes to applicable laws, rules and regulations and other legal issues.

For the last few years in January  I’ve posted some thoughts on the year that’s past, and on the year ahead, and I planned to do the same again.

However, this year it’s proved to be more difficult than I thought! Twenty sixteen was a year of huge change, which has left the world in such a profound state of uncertainty, that only an “idiot” would try and draw any conclusions on what it all means or where it’s all going. Indeed, my overwhelming feeling is that many people would prefer a “do over” of 2016, rather than face the uncertainty of 2017 ….. which of course is less than helpful!

But in an attempt to give us all something to think about I would like to point you to a US National Intelligence Council Publication entitled “Global Trends 2030: Alternate Worlds” https://publicintelligence.net/global-trends-2030/  . It was published in 2012, which probably makes it even more interesting now. In particular, it puts forward 4 alternate worlds in which we might live come 2030. Four years on their “Stalled Engine” scenario, seem particularly prescient. They didn’t get everything right (in their scenario Europe’s collapse was triggered by Greek’s exit from the Euro), but the picture they paint is chillingly familiar.

However, on a brighter note, the Cashroom grew throughout 2016, and no doubt will continue to grow through 2017. This year we have a lot planned.

• In January we will go through our yearly Cyber Security Audit. I know this is a “hot topic” for many of you and it is for us too.
• In March we’re attending the LegalEx conference in London, the first of a number of events we’ll be attending
• We’re also running a number of evening events across the UK for our “friends” and contacts
• We have a number of more formal seminars planned throughout the year, covering topics from cyber security to preparing for regulatory inspections
• We will continue to try and send you interesting and informative articles and thoughts as we come across them. Our last email bulleting had a 76% open rate, so we must be doing something right!
• And finally, during 2017 we hope to move all our existing clients onto our bespoke client portal, which will revolutionise the way we communicate with our clients. More on this shortly.

An exciting year ahead.

David Calder
Managing Director

Probably both….and here’s why.

The MoJ has confirmed its intention to push on with increasing the small claims limit to £5000 in England and Wales. (https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/law/breaking-news-moj-will-press-on-with-5k-small-claims-limit/5058818.article).
For context, I’ve been in and around the personal injury legal sector for over twenty years. I qualified in 1993, finishing my ‘articles’ at a ‘Plaintiff’ department (ask your grandad) and then joined a very large defendant law firm. There’s no doubt looking back that the seeds of what is happening now were planted all those years ago. At that time the insurance sector was not as well organised, and the costs charged by both sides bore little resemblance to the sort of costs paid on straightforward RTA cases today.

We probably need the music from the Hovis advert playing in the background at this point… when I were a lad, there was no fixed fee for personal injury, there was no portal, there was no real restriction on use and choice of medical expert. It was pretty common that each side’s costs were higher than the agreed compensation for the injured party. In the end, something had to give and the last twenty years has seen the steady erosion of a legal sector that the insurance industry felt was a gravy train, backed by increasingly tight regulation around costs and processes.

I was at the Modern Law Claims conference this year, and for most of those in attendance that day, today’s announcement will not have come as a surprise. The key note speaker that day was Jack Straw and he received a less than warm welcome as he put forth his strongly held views against in particular the claimant RTA sector. Many of the lawyers at the event said to me that they thought the small claims increase was inevitable. However, many were defiant about the future of the claimant legal sector.

The firms and people that I admire in the personal injury sector have always been those who push at the boundaries. The ones who innovate and react with agility and commerciality to challenges such as this one. Already we are seeing firms whose bread and butter has traditionally been the RTA sector using their highly trained staff and high quality case management systems to seek out and process other less threatened types of claim. It is often quite rightly coupled with a broader review of their business strategy, spend and efficiency (which is how we often end up talking to them), but the key is that they have realised that standing still at the moment is simply not an option.
There are some incredibly bright and driven individuals in and around the low end personal injury sector, and those bright minds are turning to new markets and new business practices.

There is little doubt that many law firms will suffer as a result of the proposed changes, and indeed the defendant sector will feel that bite too due to its symbiotic relationship with the claimant world, however I’m sure that over the next year, structural changes and identification of new markets will see many firms evolve and thrive in the new world.

Alex Holt
Director of Business Development at The Cashroom

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I recently attended a legal conference in Edinburgh, when one of the speakers was former solicitor, turned business adviser, Michelle Peters (The Business Instructor). Like me, Michelle has practiced as a solicitor, so knows the issues and challenges law firms face, and provides very practical advice and tips you might want to consider putting in practice to maximising profits at your firm, or perhaps for that new law firm you are always talking about setting up!

Michelle challenges the traditional mind-set that to increase profits you must get more new enquiries. She says that this is only one aspect to look at. Instead she talks about the 7 ‘Profit Zones’, and that you should spread your efforts across all of them, as a marginal improvement across a few areas, results in significant overall gain. This makes a lot of sense, in the context of my last Blog, and the Team Sky philosophy of marginal gains.

So what are these ‘Profit Zones’:

1. Getting more enquiries

Of course, this is one means of maximising profits, and should always form part of your plan / strategy, but it should certainly not be your only strategy.

2. Better conversion ratio

Think about how your receptionists answer the phone to new enquiries. Are they polite / welcoming? Do they always get the persons’ name, contact details and the nature of their enquiry? Do they know all the areas of law your firm can offer advice on? Do they have enough information to answer basic questions the enquirer may have? Think about reviewing these things and spending some time explaining to whoever answers the phone or email enquiries, just how important their role is. Improving the conversion of enquiries positively impacts the bottom line, without you having to get any new/additional enquiries at all.

3. Increase the frequency of work (for existing clients)

Straightforward when you think about it – does your client know the other services you provide? Will they instruct you for other things? If not, think about using a service such as Client Communications to keep in touch with your clients, keep them up to date with all the services you provide etc. That way, they are more likely to come back to you when next faced with a legal issue.

4. Increase the size of transactions

The common example of this is when doing a conveyancing transaction for a client, explaining to them that now might be a good time to write a Will. However, there are countless opportunities to do additional work for clients, just don’t be afraid to ask for it!

5. Boosting profit margin

The automatic thought when this is mentioned is inflating fees. However, that doesn’t have to be the case, unless of course you are entitled to do so because you are a specialist in a particular area, you are advising on a particularly unusual or high value matter, or perhaps there is increased risk involved in some way. The other ways to boost profit margin are to find ways to become more efficient at doing the work by, for example automating parts of the process, and / or lowering the costs of doing the work. An example may be having less expensive resource doing parts of the process.

6. Get more referrals

This increases your profit margin due to the fact that it costs you far less to get a new client by way of referral (or additional / repeat work from an existing client) than it does to win new work. The marketing / business development spend and time in gaining new work can all be saved by getting good introductions / referrals. One tip – ask clients for introductions or referrals. You’ll be amazed how often they will do so, when asked!

7. Improving client lifetime

By this we mean how long they stay as clients. This ties in with No. 6, in the sense that it is far cheaper, and therefore more profitable, to keep getting instructions from existing clients. The main reason clients leave is because they don’t think the firm cares about them. Again, think about keeping in touch with your clients and letting them know that they are important to you and asking them to keep instructing you.

So there you are! Maximising profits does not just mean getting lots of new enquiries, or spending loads of money on marketing. Although this will obviously help, if done in the right way, it is only one of a number of factors that can and should be considered.

Gregor
Business Development Manager at The Cashroom

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As someone who is certifiably sports mad, I was delighted to attend a keynote talk from Fran Millar, Director of Business Operations and Head of Winning Behaviours at Team Sky, at the recent Lawshare Annual Conference in Manchester.

Fran spoke about many interesting aspects of the Team Sky organisation, but I thought one of the most relevant to share was about the team’s ‘culture’. She believes that is one of the key differences that makes Team Sky that little bit better than all the rest. They even have name for it: ‘Winning Behaviours’.

Team Sky recently spent a lot of time involving everyone in the whole organisation, from Chris Froome, to the mechanics, to the chef, to the bus driver, etc talking through every aspect of their culture, and which parts are good and contribute to their success, which are bad and should be stopped, and so on. The outcome was a ‘code’ by which they live, giving them the optimum environment for success. So, what is this ‘code’, and how might it translate to your team/organisation?

                 ‘Winning Behaviours’

SELF

This is the principle that taking ownership of things for yourself, is key to human success. Giving power and control to the athletes and people in their organisation makes them feel empowered, and helps get the best out of themselves. Even in circumstances where some of their athletes give that control immediately to their coach, the athlete has bought more into the training, race schedule etc, as they have been empowered to give the control to the coach.

TEAM

This piece of the ‘code’ is that working in a team environment creates the optimal environment for success/productivity. The belief must be that the team is made up of people, including your ‘self’, and that your role is crucial to the overall success. Fran spoke of how no single member of Team Sky is bigger than the team itself. If that is the case, you won’t have winning behaviours. At Team Sky, they will select a slightly less well performing athlete/member of staff who is ‘all in’ for the team, over somebody performing at a higher level who is out for themselves.

PERFORMANCE FIRST

This is the principle that if somebody within the team is doing something that is not contributing to the performance, they shouldn’t be doing it. Team Sky have an ‘Outcome Focus’ where they only start something if they know what the intended outcome is. That way, they can identify the milestones along the way, and track progress against those. Therefore, if you are ever doing something that does not contribute towards achieving those tasks/milestones, you should stop doing it as it is not contributing to the desired outcome.

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT / MARGINAL GAINS

This is possibly the aspect of the Team Sky philosophy/culture you have heard of. The idea is that to have a consistently high performing team, you should be constantly looking at every aspect of what you do, to identify each tiny aspect that could be done slightly better in some way. Everybody could be 1% better at their job tomorrow, if you made that an objective for them. If everybody in your organisation is 1% better tomorrow, the organisation or team as a whole becomes significantly better.

One example from Team Sky is their routine at hotels while competing at races around the world. The Tour de France, Giro d’Italia etc require every team to stay in the same/allocated hotels, some of which are better than others! So, Team Sky have a strict routine of going in to the hotel, stripping out the rooms completely and deep cleaning them, before using the same pillows, sheets, duvets etc as the riders have at home, in their own bed. This helps them to sleep and recover better after each stage of the race. In marginal gains philosophy, does that make them win the race? No. Does it help win the race? Yes. The principle of continuous improvement is to keep looking for these marginal gains.

COMMUNICATION

This is a crucial element of the culture of any winning / high performing team. You may have the best plan in the world, but you need to tell the people in your organisation about it. If your people don’t hear about something, they will assume the worst! That is just human nature. Often Managers or Partners in a business take the view that ‘we don’t have anything to tell them yet, we haven’t made a decision’. Simply tell your team that – it will contribute to a higher performing, more engaged and motivated team in a small way, as they feel informed/empowered. A marginal gain if you like.

To conclude, I think there is a lot that businesses of all types can learn from the Team Sky culture and philosophy. There is no doubt that planning and implementing these values/approaches into the core of your organisation would take time and effort. However, I hope you agree it is worth the investment. It has certainly worked for a start-up cycling team, in an ultra-competitive elite sports environment, who have used these ‘Winning Behaviours’ to dominate on the world stage year after year. If it’s helped them, it’s probably going to help your business too.

Gregor
Business Development Manager at The Cashroom Ltd