A report by YouGov, for the legal services consumer panel has found that fixed fees for probate work have grown from 12 to 30 per cent over the last year. This is according to the panel’s annual tracker report.
In light of this, it is essential that Solictors maximise the efficiency of probate transactions and set accurate fees to cover costs and deliver an acceptable profit margin.
Redbrick Solutions [1] is one of the UK’s leading, expert suppliers of law firm software. Several hundred law firms across England and Wales use their probate case management system, Redbrick Practice Management and most report that it reduces time spent on administrative tasks by at least 40% compared to the manual method of working.
The system offers many benefits, but most notably, Redbrick Practice Management will facilitate automatic production and management of estate accounts to STEP standards. It automatically calculates IHT totals and distributable cash on account and has tools built in which help guard against over distribution. In addition, time consuming forms such as the IHT 400 are completed automatically which greatly reduces the amount of time and work required to finalise them.
Also available, Redbrick Business Intelligence is a legal accounting package that provides powerful information to help firms understand their costs and develop strategies to ensure sustainable profitability. Reports include:
- Billable and unbillable hours – make sure you are maximising your billable time.
- Premium / write-off on invoices per Matter – compare the original unbilled time recorded and the invoiced amount, then use this data to understand if you are writing off work in progress or not billing in a timely fashion.
- Activity Report by Fee Earner – detailed daily performance by fee earner, ensure you have the right people carrying out the right tasks.
- Office Debtor Age Analysis – see where fees are not being paid in a timely manner, and recognise repeat offenders.
- Unbilled and Pending Disbursements – a snapshot of how much work in progress has not been billed and pending disbursements per matter. Use this to focus on profitability and productivity.
- Key Performance Indicators – set targets for each fee earner and monitor them to understand how each member of the team is performing.
- Fee Target Progress – daily or weekly analysis of each fee earner’s progress towards achieving their fee target enables proactive management of productivity.
These reports can be set up to run automatically and be emailed direct to your inbox as frequently as you require. Redbrick Business Intelligence ensures you have powerful, accurate business information at your finger tips, but removes the hassle of generating that data.
Please call 0845 166 2629 or visit redbricksolutions.co.uk to find out how Redbrick Solutions could help you deliver more profitable matters across your business.