The Added Value of Outsourcing your Finance Function – and it’s not what you think

Every law firm requires compliant legal accounting and so effective accounting for law firms is critical to your firm’s success.  

To ensure your firm’s financial statements are accurate, complete, and up to date, you need to have expert legal cashiering. To get a true financial representation and meet your obligations to your firm, clients, and your regulator, your firm also needs clear, accurate legal accounting. Legal cashiers and a well-run accounts function is critical to business transformation and growth. 

Legal cashiers are invaluable to firms – but they come at a cost. Recruitment costs and salaries are one thing, but firms then must fund training, have adequate office space, incur NI and pension payments etc. There is much more to consider than the annual salary cost alone. This is the first reason why many firms have the idea to turn to outsourcing as a solution – it is assumed to be a cheaper option. Now while this is absolutely true in many instances, costs can actually be saved – the most crucial factor is the value added. Especially during the current climate, hiring staff across the board is not easy. The last 12 months have been a lot smoother for many law firms, especially compared to the first year of the global pandemic, meaning growth is back on the agenda. This is where the quality of your firm’s financial information is so important – are you getting the financial information you need? 

 Weighing up the costs  

In ILFM (The Institute of Legal Finance & Management) revealed in their 2022 Legal Accounts Salary Survey, the average salaries for legal cashiers, which may surprise some firms. In London, the ILFM salary benchmark shows that a Head Cashier average salary is £42,500 and a Senior Cashier would be £33,000. In Northern regions, an average salary for a Cashiering Manager/Supervisor is £36,000. Taking a London Senior Cashier salary as an example, plus NI (£3,298) plus pension (£803) would come to an annual cost to the business of £37,101. This is before you even consider holiday/sickness cover, the support of a wider team of experienced cashiers, payroll staff, management accountants-chartered accountants etc.   

ILFM reported in 2022 75% of Legal Cashiers have been given pay rises in comparison to 37% last year, this is partly down to issues with recruitment, staff wellness and staff retention. All of which, are no longer worries for a law firm when outsourcing their finance function.  

The Value of Outsourcing  

Additional Resource  

Outsourcing your legal cashiers adds additional resource to your firm. Not only do you have additional resource, but you cut the need to use senior staff members for administrative tasks. You have the correct individual with the relevant skills completing the right task. At Cashroom, we have the capability to scale services up and down dependant on your firms demands, meaning spikes in activity are not a problem.  

Holiday/Absence cover  

Using Cashroom, you no longer have to worry about holiday/absence cover. Our qualified and experienced legal cashiers and accountants complete accounts throughout the year. Holiday, sickness and parental leave becomes our problem, not yours, giving you one less thing to worry about as a business owner. Further to this, working with Cashroom, you will have a team of cashiers working on your account who are contactable 9-5 throughout the working week to deal with your needs. Additional to your dedicated team you will benefit from a dedicated account manager who you can liaise with, ensuring you still have that relationship with your accounting department.  

Business Transformation & Continuity 

Outsourcing to Cashroom means you can spend more time developing and growing your business. Fee earners can spend more time fee earning and generating revenue for the firm. Freeing up fee earners time also benefits your clients, improving client care and satisfaction as your fee earners are able to dedicate more time to their imminent needs. Business continuity is guaranteed when outsourcing to cashroom, our team of cashiers allows us to ensure your finances are kept up to date and monitored daily.  

Compliance with your regulators  

At Cashroom, we place a great importance on compliance with Solicitors Accounts Rules and your regulators. You can be confident your accounts are of a high standard and exceed compliance guidelines when outsourcing your finance function to Cashroom. Furthermore, if you are worried about upcoming audits and your compliance, we can support you with preparation. 

Reduce Risk, Ensure Compliance, Increase Efficiency  

Outsourcing part of, or your entire finance function allows your firm to stay ahead of the curve. Through outsourcing, you can react to market changes, challenging times and instantly react to changing client demands. You can have confidence in your compliance and security, reduce risks for your firm and clients as well as accessing unique technology which will transform your finance function. Cashroom also recently became the first outsourced provider to develop and implement open banking functionality into our client portal, reducing risk further and increasing the speed at which your cashiers at Cashroom can complete incoming funds and more. You can read more about our developments here.  

Cashroom uses innovative processes, smart technologies and a fresh perspective to untangle the legal accounting complexities for law firms. Control your finances and remain compliant with a complete audit trail of transactions with Cashroom. 

Cashroom provide outsourced legal accounting services to law firms throughout the UK. Formed of more than 140 legal accounting experts, we provide remote services to over 280 firms of all shapes and sizes. We have a unique insight into the requirements of the legal sector, with directors who have held partnership roles within large law firms, as well as senior members of staff who have worked within finance teams in a variety of legal practices. We utilise technology to improve efficiency and security beyond the capabilities of all but the largest firms.