Legal Bookkeeping is a niche area. There are often a lot of misperceptions about legal cashiers and so, we've tried to answer a few of the most popular queries.
My software company can do my bookkeeping - why do I need a legal cashier? If you want to spend the time sending 'stuff' to the software company - scanning each piece of paper into the computer and filing it away or boxing it up, sending it off and receiving it back and filing it away, or just inputting the data and then filing it away - then use a software company who will do your bookkeeping remotely. The only major drawback, is that you are tied in to them, and if you don't want that software anymore, then you have no files, no records - nothing! A cashier would be working more personally with your law firm. What is the benefit of having a legal cashier to come on site and do my book-keeping for me? An extra body in the office can 'hold the fort' if you have to dash out to go to court, or see a client. You can build a lot of goodwill with on-site cashier who'll be looking out for your firm and telling you if anything looks amiss.
What does a legal cashier do?
A legal cashier / legal bookkeeper looks after the bookkeeping for solicitors / lawyers / barristers / anyone working in the legal profession.
How is a legal cashier different from a bookkeeper?
The term 'legal cashier' and 'legal bookkeeper' can be used interchangably. In effect, they are the same people. The main difference, is that a legal bookkeeper is in a niche field, looking after the books of people working in the legal profession, whereas a 'normal' bookkeeper, is looking after everyone elses bookkeeping.
Both types of bookkeepers need to know their debits and credits. But in addition, for legal cashiers, they need to be aware of office accounts and client accounts and to be familiar with the Solicitors Accounts Rules (SARs), and how to treat different items coming through the accounts.
How do you become a legal cashier?
You should consider joining the Institute Legal Cashiers and finding out more about the legal cashier training available and what the course syllabus is for their exams.
Do you have any opportunities for a trainee legal cashier?
No. Applicants to us need to have bookkeeping experience, as we normally work on-site at the clients premises, and so cannot 'train' you on the solicitors site, as that wouldn't be fair to the client.
What are the job opportunities that I can expect after completing the legal cashiering training course with you?
Legal cashiers are in demand, but doing a course or gaining qualifiactions is only a small part of it. When faced with qualifications or experience, clients generally want both - but experience carries more weight. A course will improve your employability prospects, but essentially, its the experience which wins the day. You'll have a very good idea after the end of the course, but you can't learn "10 years experience" in 1 day.
Do you also provide job placements?
No, we're not a training college. We're not a recruitment agency. We have clients who want competent cashiers. Our cashiers are under our help and guidance...so we can't do a '1 day' course, and promise someone a job at the end. In fact, if a solicitor believes in you, then they might send you on the training, and that'll be a better way to approach it. Find a solicitor to work for, and ask for training. We can help to support you in your role.
Do you have evening classes for the legal bookkeeping courses?
We're flexible on the course times and dates. It all depends on demand and what the delegates want.
Where can I get a copy of one of your books?
Online from Amazon, our Publishers or our e-shop and all good bookshops!
Do you have a legal cashier vacancy?
Yes! We have legal cashier jobs in London predominately, but because we're not an agency, we don't list them on our website. As a new job comes in, we allocate it to one of our team. If you want to join our team, just email in your cv to jobs@boogles.org - we'll be interviewing from now to Christmas, because we're growing and extending the network.
Do you have part time legal cashier jobs?
We have part time cashiers in our team and some who work full time. We all have a portfolio of clients, and everyone has a responsibility to look after those clients. Sometimes it'll be working on-site of the client, and sometimes, it could be in the Boogles office - because we're doing the books remotely.
Do you have a legal cashier job description?
The legal cashiers job would vary by the client. If you are interested in working for us, and have either limited experience in one field, but a lot of experience in another, we would still be interested in hearing from you. It could be that we could use your experience and just train you up on the bits that you were less sure on. No-one is ever left to just 'get on' with it. Support is always given, but we do need our legal bookkeepers to be bringing something to the table with them.
What does a legal cashier do?
A junior legal cashier and senior cashier between them could do the following:
- Bookkeeping for Client and Office account transactions
- Processes receipts and payments
- Petty Cash
- Posts bills
- Transfers between accounts
- Interest calculations
- Bank reconciliation’s
- Reports
- Month End routine procedures
- VAT return
- Payroll
If you are a fee-earner, solicitor, lawyer, who is doing all of the above yourself, or you are not satisfied with the way it is being done now, then please contact us, to see how we can be of some help.
How are you different to other legal bookkeeping companies, in the market?
Unlike some other companies, we understand the needs of clients, and we carry out this work on site. We can collect and return, but our research and feedback has proved that clients prefer to have the work done on-site. So this is what we do. We win new clients because we do what we say we can do, and we do it well.
The service we offer is essentially:
We’ll pop in and assess what we think you need and give you a quote
- If you are happy to go ahead, we'll do an audit of your bookkeeping system
- We'll implement our Boogles legals bookkeeping system - and document it
- Your system will be SARs compliant
- Ongoing, we'll come in and do your bookkeeping
What legal bookkeeping software do you recommend ?
They all have their own quirks, vary in their ease of use, costs vary and some can grow with your practice, others will need replacing when you get a lot bigger. The quality of the help desk support and the training available can also vary too – is there any point in having a system so complex that no-one knows how to truly use it, and your on the phone daily to the help desk because it just keeps doing odd things? But Perfect Books is certainly worth a look!
What legal bookkeeping software is there?
There are a lot of different legal bookkeeping software on the market. To name a few:
- Opsis
- Proclaim Accounts
- Perfect Books (see partner links below)
- Mountain
- Solicitors Own Software (SOS)
- Cognito
- Partner for Windows (TFB)
- Alpha Law
- Quill
- Access Legal Systems
- Osprey
- DPS Software
- Law Byte
- StrongBox
I'm a solicitor, and I think my bookkeeper isn't any good. What can you do for me?
You can call us in confidence, and we can either train your existing bookkeeper, OR look at how we might be able to offer you a more satisfactory solution. We're not miracle workers, BUT we can help you.
I'm a solicitor. Why should I use Boogles, and not just find someone myself?
You can go and find someone yourself. But the challenges you are likely to face are:
- They'll start squeezing you in around other clients / commitments
- If they're ill / on holiday / don't feel like it ... your work won't get done
- You are not a qualified bookkeeper, and thus don't really have the experience of 'knowing' when someone knows, and when they're pretending that they can do the job
- Self employed people can be very precarious - and if you are just one of 2 or 3 clients, arguably, they should be on your payroll, and you should be paying their tax and NI - if the Inland Revenue come and inspect you, you could hgave a problem
- We're jolly good at what we do - one call, and your problem becomes ours, not yours
- Interviewing and finding staff can take ages... meanwhile, your firm will suffer because you won't be getting any work done
- We are professionals... so you get proper terms of business with us, an invoice and you can pay by debit or credit card... we're not cowboys, but regulated, insured and licensed professionals.
What are your credentials?
We were shortlisted (final 5 out of 14,500 nominations) in Nov 09 for the LUCAS "Best Bookkeeping Practice" awards, by the ICB. Rest assured, we've been in this business a while, we know what we're doing... your books will be in great hands.
