The Law Factory LLP

02/05/2025

Not sooner have we finished one long weekend, we leap into another!

We’ll be back in the office on Tuesday and hope you all have a lovely Bank Holiday Weekend 🌼

14/04/2025

While the income in legally aided law firms has remained the same, costs have increased significantly squeezing profit margins… so much so that they might not have even remained sustainable.

Over the course of the last 28 years this has led to two things:

1. Less qualified solicitors choosing to run legally aided law firms

2. An increase in legally aided firms linking up with charities to support income streams

Sam Keetch has worked a lot recently in a hybrid legally aided charity structure, so point 2 resonates a lot with him and the rest of The Law Factory.

https://thelawfactory.net/guides-knowledge/charityvatrecoverymethods/

11/04/2025

In honour of National Pet Day we should really share our acknowledgment to our “Head of Staff Wellbeing” - Bubbles.

A very valued member of the team and of the family!

23/03/2025

As you can imagine, we are keeping up to date on any potential decisions being made by the SRA regarding this.

Do you have any thoughts on this? We'd be interested to hear them.

"A senior executive at the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has reassured solicitors that no firm decision has been made regarding the potential removal of client accounts, as reported by The Law Society Gazette."

A senior executive at the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has reassured solicitors that no firm decision has been made regarding the potential

17/03/2025

Solicitors’ practices need to be run in a particular way because of the responsibility they have towards their clients. Not only do they provide advice on many aspects of people’s lives and businesses, but they will often hold considerable sums of money on their client’s behalf. This means they are in a position of trust, and a breach of this trust can have major repercussions. It is therefore vital that they have a legal cashier to manage their accounts for them.

But what is a Legal Cashier and what do they do?

Find out here -

https://thelawfactory.net/guides-knowledge/legal-cashier/

If you would like to ask us any questions, email [email protected]

05/03/2025

We've several articles within our Knowledge Hub on our website, but we also have versions of these that you can listen to whilst on the go with our "Lawdibles"

Our latest Lawdible explores the benefits of outsourcing your legal accounts - from ensuring things are accurate, to risk mitigation and improved Financial Management.

You can listen on our YouTube and Spotify Channels.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0eW1UuNhbK3AE9dGbYcM3p?si=2Jm1pgqTQBytY1ZB2MpVNQ

https://youtu.be/nMu9SrxlKC4

In an increasingly competitive industry, law firms wouldbenefit from seeking ways to enhance efficiency, stay compliant, plus save themselves valuable time, ...

03/03/2025

We were thrilled to recently receive this testimonial from Yasmin Halima from the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants - thank you Yasmin for your kind words, it's appreciated.

Well done to Sam, Debbie, and Scott from our team at The Law Factory for their ongoing commitment to professionalism and attentiveness.

www.thelawfactory.net

18/04/2023

Alex from The Law Factory has the following advice to share relating to but by all means - if you have any questions please feel free to get in touch!

1. SRA Accounts Rules
These should be looked at all the time, but some areas can get overlooked. Take the time now to check and see if there are any matters which are cause for concern. Look at the matter balance listing for office credit balances, disbursement credit balances, unpaid anticipated disbursements, debit balances on client account and residual client balances.
All these areas should be reviewed continuously, but they can get missed. Take the time now to put anything right before the end of year. More importantly, use the knowledge you have gained about the systems which have led to any breaches to make procedural changes and avoid them happening again.

2. Debtors
Law firms are busy places. Often bills are not chased up after they are sent out resulting in long term debtors. Get the debtors reviewed before the end of the year. Ideally the firm needs to have the funds recovered, but also needs to recognise what needs writing off and the reasons why. Then get the debtors chased down where possible and make a list of any write offs that are posted. It will help the firm have an accurate debtor’s figure moving into the new year.

3. Bank Reconciliations
The bank reconciliations should be clear every month with minimal transactions showing on the un-reconciled items list. There should also be no missing items. It is important to check that this is the case a few months before the end of year just in case there is that old nagging un-resolved query that is certain to be picked up by the auditors. Also don’t forget to check any suspense accounts that are knocking around!
Nominal Ledgers and Suppliers
Have a run through the nominal accounts for the year. The things to look out for first are mis-postings. See if there are items on the wrong account(s) and then move them accordingly. Also take the time to check if VAT has been applied correctly. Once you’ve done that, if you have a purchase ledger running for your suppliers, go through and see if it is accurate. Sometimes bills are paid but are not marked as so on the purchase ledger, sometimes bills are credited but then not entered. Essentially you need to have the purchase ledger matching the invoices which are actually outstanding. This is important for the end of year.
I also recommend checking that the previous year’s opening balance adjustments from your auditors have been posted and that all accruals and prepayments have been entered, if you are entering them throughout the year. It is also wise to check any salary journals that should have been posted through the year.

4. Chart of Accounts
This is worth looking through at least once per year. Throughout a firm’s life, accounts are opened to accommodate certain expenditure. Some expenditure is one off, some is long term. Some accounts are only temporary due to agreements ending for example. The older the firm, the more accounts accumulate if unchecked. Have a run-through the chart of accounts and close any redundant nominals. It keeps everything tidier and the trial balance becomes much easier to understand from an auditor’s perspective.

Visit www.thelawfactory.net to view our articles or to find out more about how we assist Law Firms with their accounts.

17/04/2023

Thanks so much Owen from Vermeylen Law for this lovely testimonial!

You can view more of our testimonials at https://thelawfactory.net/testimonials/

16/04/2023

For those that aren't sure what we do or who we are, check out this video or visit www.thelawfactory.net

03/04/2023

Did you know you can head over to our section on The Solicitors Group website and view a range of useful articles?

https://lnkd.in/eTgifqSb

The Law Factory LLP