Having previously worked for one of the UK’s largest volume conveyancing law firms, Adam Cheal left to establish his own practice in 2015 with plans for expansion. In the intervening two year period, Adam’s growth ambitions have been realised.
Choosing Quill’s [1] outsourced legal accounts service, Pinpoint, at the outset lessened Adam’s back office responsibilities so he could concentrate front office.
“During those first months in operation, I was a sole practitioner,” explains Adam. “As such, I would have had to manage everything. Without Quill’s support, that is. I signed up to Pinpoint from the word go to take away a substantial workload and give me time to focus on matter management and business development.”
Unlike other outsourcing companies, Quill provides legal accounts software, Interactive, alongside the service.
“Quill’s pretty unique because it provides both,” continues Adam. “That’s what drew me in. My only obligation is to submit daily e-chits. From that point on, my Pinpoint cashier does everything. With the Interactive software, I can instantly view reports on my current financials such as profit and loss, ledger transfers, nominal balance sheets and VAT. It’s an all-round solution which affords me central control of my business.”
Pinpoint has guaranteed cashier support within the working day. Interactive is accessed from the cloud for even more business continuity advantages.
“The always-cover arrangement is so important”, adds Adam. “If my cashier’s off work for whatever reason, her deputy covers instead. Also, 24/7 software availability is brilliant because I can catch up during any spare moments at home. If I need technical assistance, I just have to call the Quill team to help me out. They manage the system so I don’t have to. That’s another thing less to worry about. All of this is very comforting to me as the director of a busy practice.”
Throughout his first 12 months in business, Adam used a standalone case management system which didn’t integrate with either Interactive or the Microsoft Office suite. Difficulties arose as Adam began recruiting staff.
“Currently I employ three fee earners and three support staff, with another employee joining imminently,” states Adam. “When it was just me, running disparate systems wasn’t much of an issue. I did have to duplicate tasks but I could just about cope with it. Following expansion, though, suddenly it became impossible to link our people, files and data together. So we looked at alternative suppliers and selected Redbrick Solutions.
“With Interactive, Redbrick Practice Management, Outlook and Word, I have complete integration. When we set up a matter in Redbrick, it automatically filters through to Interactive’s accounts. Redbrick’s Outlook integration means that emails and files are intelligently attached to the correct file in the case management system, whether inbound or outbound. When we create a letter in Word, it pre-populates data fields from Redbrick and Interactive. It’s seamless and a huge time saver, especially for new starters who are now able to pick things up quickly.”
Touching upon the costs of his outsourced support agreement and core systems, Adam comments: “Pinpoint pricing’s based on transaction levels. The busier you are and the more work’s required from your cashier, the more you pay Quill. This happens in reverse when you’re quieter. As time’s progressed, business has become pretty hectic so my costs are obviously higher than they were in the beginning. Compared with the cost of appointing another staff member, I reckon it’s £13k to £14k cheaper with outsourcing. That’s how much I’m saving every year owing to Pinpoint.
“Redbrick is cost effective too. We pay per transaction with minimal installation costs. This means no upgrade, maintenance, training or support costs, effectively future proofing our firm.”
In his parting statement, Adam recommends both suppliers as a joint package: “Quill and Redbrick are great to deal with. I already advocate their combined outsourcing and software solutions to other firms. At Fletcher Longstaff, our expansion’s set to continue, and Quill and Redbrick are the best foundation from which to grow.”