By Legal Futures Associate Quill
For employees, holidays provide an opportunity to relax and recharge their batteries. But busy periods such as school breaks, Christmas, Easter and other holidays can also increase the workloads of law professionals and their staff.
One pivotal role that can leave law firms in such a lurch is the legal cashier. Keeping up with the increased volume of transactions while ensuring accuracy can be a daunting task.
To help you manage this busy period, we’ve compiled eight essential tips to ensure your legal cashiering runs smoothly during peak holiday periods. From prioritising transactions to streamlining processes, these tips will help you stay on top of your workload and ensure your clients receive the best possible service. Don’t let the holiday rush overwhelm you – follow these tips and make the most of this festive season.
What is a legal cashier?
A legal cashier is a specialised type of bookkeeper for law firms responsible for the accounting and finance functions of a solicitor’s practice, including client and office accounts.
Legal cashiering plays a critical function within the law firm, ensuring the accurate and compliant handling of financial transactions, safeguarding client funds, and maintaining the financial integrity of the law firm or legal organisation.
What are the risks of losing your legal cashier?
When this skilled employee is on annual leave, sick leave or has left the position, law firms are at risk of service disruptions, accounting errors, or delays.
Read on to discover our top tips on how to manage staff holidays during busy periods, avoid stress and anxiety and, importantly, keep your legal practice running without disruption:
- Plan in advance: Start planning for the holiday season well in advance to avoid the last-minute rush. Assess your staffing needs, estimate your expected volume of postings per month, evaluate workload patterns from previous years, and determine the duration for which you’ll need outsourced support.
- Identify a reliable outsourcing partner: Look for a reputable outsourcing company that specialises in legal cashiering support, like Quill. Evaluate their experience, expertise, and track record in providing temporary staffing solutions. Assess how easily they can work with your existing legal accounts system and ask how they keep abreast of the latest financial regulation rules. Consider their ability to handle peak periods and ensure smooth cash management processes.
- Establish clear communication channels: Effective communication is crucial when working with an outsourced team handling your money. Clearly define your expectations, standard operating procedures, SLAs and reporting mechanisms. Provide detailed instructions regarding your electronic chits, reconciliation processes and any specific requirements unique to your business.
- Handover, training and onboarding: Collaborate with the outsourcing partner to develop a comprehensive handover and plan. Ensure that you’ve communicated key details to your temporary legal cashier and you feel confident that they understand your protocols, security measures, and customer service standards. Conduct regular check-ins and provide ongoing support to address any questions or concerns.
- Data security and confidentiality: Protecting sensitive financial information is vital. Ensure that the outsourcing partner has robust data security measures in place such as secure data transmission protocols, multi-factor authentication (MFA), encryption, and access controls. Sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to safeguard your business and customers.
- Regular performance monitoring: Implement a system to monitor the performance of the outsourced team. Define key performance indicators (KPIs) and establish reporting mechanisms to track their progress. Regularly review the team’s performance, provide feedback, and address any issues promptly.
- Contingency planning: Despite careful planning, unexpected situations can arise at any time of the year. Ensure your outsourcing provider has robust backup plans, redundancy measures, and service level agreements (SLAs) in place to ensure uninterrupted support, even during peak holiday periods. Better yet, see whether your outsourcing partner can let you purchase extra support days so you have a ‘bank’ of credit available to use when emergencies crop up.
- Seamless integration: Integrate the outsourced cashiering team seamlessly into your existing operations. Provide them with the necessary access rights, systems, and resources required to carry out their duties effectively. Foster a collaborative environment and encourage communication between your in-house and outsourced teams.
Remember, preparation is key to a successful holiday season. By leveraging temporary outsourced legal cashiering support, you can better manage increased demand, provide excellent customer service, and ensure smooth operations during peak periods.
Want to learn more about Quill’s outsourced legal cashiering services? Get in touch!
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