Merely months after I left high school, I was determined to get straight into the business world and gain experience that would open doors anywhere I go. I applied to start as a junior for The Cashroom. Now, over seven years later, I am a qualified legal cashier in a team servicing 28 clients – still with The Cashroom.

On a daily basis, I am responsible for ensuring that our client’s books are up-to-date. This is achieved by ensuring all transactions from the previous day have been posted to the client’s Practice Management System (PMS). We would then do a bank reconciliation on the PMS using their bank statements. The bank reconciliation will highlight any omissions or errors. Oh, and our clients do not all use the same PMS. There are several large businesses in the UK which provide a wide range of different systems. Compared to an in-house cashier, this means that my colleagues and I must be able to use and adapt to these systems.

legal cashierOnce these daily tasks have been done, we then focus on queries from our clients and ensuring any ad-hoc tasks are completed. This can range from our regular compliance checks (credit balances not moved in two months for example) to preparing a purchase ledger payment run. Different practice management systems are not the only challenge that we face. Our clients work in various locations and practice different types of the Law.

We also deal with various projects outwith the general cashiering tasks. For example, one of our clients may decide to move from one PMS to another. These changes can provide a lot of benefits to our client, but the changeover is not a simple procedure. As the cashiers, we need to analyse the data on the current system and work with the new provider to ensure it is dealt with correctly on the new system.

Another example would be to assist with a Law Society inspection. Whilst most practice units keep the prospect of an inspection in mind, it’s not always at the top of the list. This can make an inspection notice a stressful process. It is our role as cashiers to provide all the reports that an inspector will need and to assist with any queries or issues raised during the inspection. This allows the practice unit and its staff to focus on their work.

But I am more than just a cashier! Over the years I have expanded into several areas of the business. I volunteered to help our Service Transition team, joined a steering group for The Cashroom’s own web-based Portal, organised our ambitious social committee with colleagues, and accepted a place in The Cashroom’s Future Leadership Programme.

No day at The Cashroom is the same as the last. One day I could be helping my team ensure that all our clients are being serviced with the highest quality of care. The next, I could be in and out of meeting with the Portal developers making sure we are always innovating and deploying new features for our colleagues and clients.

There is no satisfaction in staying in the same place. That is why I push my limits each day to expand my knowledge base. A example of this would be voluntarily undergoing training with some of the UK’s best-selling practice management system providers for example. Doing this allows me to do my daily cashiering work with full confidence and assist our clients to unlock their system’s full potential. You may not be surprised to hear, that’s not all the training I do, I also help train juniors who start the same way that I did over seven years ago. My experience in all the aforementioned areas, combined with my personal journey through the same route that they are on, guides our newer staff in the right direction.

As you can see, there are many different aspects to my role as a Legal Cashier at The Cashroom, and it is the variety and great experience I get from all of these that keep me motivated at work on a daily basis.

 

Kyle Stratton, Legal Cashier

The Cashroom Ltd