Nick Timmings, Petersfields LLP
Long-time Quill client, Petersfields LLP, utilises the full range of software and outsourcing services from its trusted supplier. Subscribing to Interactive for case management and document management, Pinpoint for outsourced cashiering and Payroll for outsourced payroll and pension management, Quill provides a complete back office support structure for the busy twin-site law firm.
Nick Timmings, Partner at Petersfields, comments: “By relying on Quill for all our main software and service needs, we have one monthly payment, one point of contact and one primary store of our electronic files. It’s so convenient and so much easier to run our business in this totally integrated way.”
In terms of Interactive, Petersfields was first introduced to Quill’s software by way of a printed software guide and they now use Interactive for case management with add-on links to Microsoft Word and Outlook for advanced document management capabilities.
“We’ve created a library of template documents in Interactive, available to all staff, for each of the common stages within our area specialisms,” explains Nick. “Enhanced by cloud access, this allows employees based at both Cambridge and Haverhill to progress matters from either office, at home or on the move. With staff routinely moving between locations and occasionally working remotely, Quill gives us the technology platform necessary to operate in this truly flexible manner.
“Having been aware of security breaches affecting some cloud solution companies, it was vital to ensure that our data would be completely secure. We know Interactive is safe. Of equal importance is the integration with Microsoft Office so that everything – emails included – is captured and stored within our matter files. Post is scanned onto the system too. Interactive literally hosts hundreds of our documents.”
The benefits of Interactive’s comprehensive digital storage facility are manifested not only in remote working capabilities and cybersecurity, but also in substantial reductions in hard copy filing.
“Our policy is to put every piece of paperwork onto Interactive,” continues Nick. “Sometimes this is a manual process involving scanning of inbound correspondence and other times it’s automatic because Interactive detects emails displaying the case reference and automatically files correctly. We avoid printing documents as much as possible and have destroyed lots of paper records. We do still maintain off-site storage, as dictated by legal requirements, but overall our storage requirements are now smaller than before. In the old days, we’d sometimes have to retrieve documents from storage when preparing court bundles which inevitably took time. Now we can find and print documents straight from Interactive. It’s instant and takes a fraction of the time it used to.”
In addition to Quill’s software suite, Petersfields receives outsourced cashiering and payroll support from its one-stop-shop provider.
“With Pinpoint, there’s always someone covering our accounts and we’re always compliant with regulatory guidelines,” concludes Nick. “These are likely to be the two biggest headaches of any law firm operating an in-house cashiering function whereas we don’t even have to think about it. The same applies to payroll. There are none of the usual concerns about staff absence or compliance.
“The latter – compliance – is a big issue in relation to payroll. The introduction of automatic enrolment pension reform impacted every single company regardless of size. With Quill’s payroll service, we simply set up our pension scheme with Nest then authorised our Quill payroll clerk to do the rest. Quill sorts out our pension contributions and advises of any changes to these, assuring absolute compliance with stringent pension rules throughout.”
