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Quarterly Market Update - Q1 2018 01-May-18Read our Quarterly Market Update for Q1 2018 - hiring trends for law firm accountancy and finance systems roles this year so far. 2018 certainly got off to a busy start! Read our latest report here: ...
Case File 6 - Senior eBilling Coordinator - Top 50 law firm 24-Apr-18Tell us a little about what your current position involves on a day to day basis: My role is primarily responsible for reviewing invoices raised for eBilling clients' to check they comply with the Outside Counsel Guidelines. I then generate LEDES files using the firms ERP system, manually manipulating as necessary and uploading the clients' chosen eBilling intermediary platform. Other responsibilities include maintaining the data held in each eBilling intermediary platform, submitting accrual information adhering the clients' deadline, Invoice rejection management and implementing the onboarding for any new eBilling clients. One of the key parts of my role is to interact with a wide range of contacts, internal (billing/credit control team, Partners, Associates, Secretaries) & external (Clients, eBilling Intermediaries). Every role has its ups and downs. What are the good, the bad and ugly parts of your current position? The Good The varied workload & continuous development of new skills, I would say I've learnt something new in eBilling every week as more and more clients move over. The Bad Not every eBilling intermediary is as good as the next, and this can sometimes be very frustrating when trying to complete daily tasks. Same issue regarding client requirements, not every ERP system can handle certain requirements so work-arounds need to be found. The Ugly Being the 'go to' person for eBilling (internal & external) can sometimes requires you handling difficult conversations/questions which are not always related to you, but you are expected to resolve. What advice would you give to someone eager to develop their career within eBilling? I think it always helps if you have an understanding of the areas in finance that surround eBilling, mainly billing & credit control, so that you understand the process from start to finish. Understanding the various LEDES formats, in depth knowledge of the file types is the key in spotting and resolving errors quickly. What is your number one tip on how to be successful in the role of a Senior eBilling Coordinator? Confidence, flexibility and good customer service. Having the confidence in knowing your subject and the ability to provide advice, with a flexible approach, helps build and develop relationships whether this is internal or external. This is always good to have as you never know when you might need a favour! If you were hiring for your team, what stands out to you when reviewing applications? Willingness & motivation to learn or develop their skills. Confidence Good eye for detail Problem solving skills – trying to find an error in a 1000 line LEDES file can be a nightmare! If you would to take part in our Secret Series, please get in touch! ...
Balance make the shortlist! 22-Mar-18We are delighted to share this amazing news with all our clients, candidates, followers and friends. We have been shortlisted in the prestigious Recruiter Awards 2018 for Best Professional Services Recruitment Agency. These awards are respected as the benchmark within the recruitment industry and profession and it’s fantastic to be recognised for all our hard work, innovation and commitment and let’s not forget what a brilliant team we have at Balance. Looking forward to the ceremony in May – watch this space! ...
Case File 5 - Senior Legal Cashier - Silver Circle law firm 21-Mar-18Tell us a little about what your current position involves on a day to day basis: Working for a silver circle law firm, the majority of my average working day is dealing with cash transactions on the office accounts side across both London and International offices and helping to oversee the work of others in the team. This includes monitoring daily receipts, account balances, funding requirements using FX where necessary and reconciliation of multiple accounts. Also ensuring any third party disbursements and counsel fees are processed accurately and in a timely manner. The role is extremely busy which can involve dealing with urgent requirements from fee earners so you have to be able to prioritise and have accurate attention to detail at all times. It can get pretty hectic at times I have to say, especially at month, quarter and year end! Every role has its ups and downs. What are the good, the bad and ugly parts of your current position? The Good A good part of my role is being given the freedom by my manager to change and develop processes to ensure everything runs in a streamlined and efficient manner. I also enjoy working in a friendly and supportive team environment – there’s a really good team spirit and frequent social events. The Bad Sometimes when you want to change and improve things, it can be difficult to change people’s mindset, especially when you have members of staff who’ve been in place for a very long time and are part of the furniture! You have to be able to deal with push back (typical in law firms) on ideas and some people (not all!) can be averse to change. This can be a challenge sometimes and something you have to overcome. The Ugly The next step up from a Legal Cashier role would be Legal Cashier Supervisor/Manager however there aren’t many of these positions that become available and any that do, unless gained through internal promotion, will usually require previous supervisory experience. Getting that experience can be a waiting game, as you can often find that people in these senior positions have been in place for 10 or even 20+ years and are very unlikely to move on. What advice would you give to someone eager to develop their career within Legal Cashiering? With many law firms at the moment looking to implement new practice management systems, it can provide the opportunity to get involved in other projects and testing, which will help to broaden your experience. Go on as many training courses as you can ensuring you are up to date with SAR rule changes, VAT regulations and other regulatory/compliance rules. Consider studying for the ILFM Diploma also, which can be a good differentiator. Also, be wary about getting comfortable and staying in the same role for many years, as there’s a danger of getting stuck. What is your number one tip on how to be successful in the role of Legal ...
Quarterly Market Update 02-Feb-18Click here to download the full report...
Secret Series - Case File 4 out now! 23-Nov-17Case Study 4 - Finance Systems - BI Reporting Manager Tell us a little about what your current position involves on a day to day basis: The majority of an average working day is dealing with requests and queries relating to our reporting information and environments. These normally come directly from Finance but we work with a variety of departments across the firm. Marketing / Pricing / Business Development / Public Relations / Compliance and direct to senior management. This varies from simple requests from frequent users and results in pointing them in the direction of a pre-existing report, checking that all of our integrated systems have up to date information and our overnight feeds and processes haven’t failed, all the way up to someone asking for a bespoke report with calculated fields. The more interesting part of the role is that we are also often asked to comment on new processes and how reporting and data can assist in making it more efficient. Finding data or providing information that others thought were inaccessible is strangely satisfying as it impresses people. Every role has its ups and downs. What are the good, the bad and ugly parts of your current position? The Good The variety of requests and learning about the decision making which is based on those requests. The finance system is often the hub of data as it flows around the organisations. Knowledge of this means we have the power to provide useful information to almost everyone in the organisation from the catering department up to the chief executive and managing partners. Knowing the secrets first is always fun, you may not know it every time but you soon learn when you are asked for a data from certain areas of the system big news might be on its way. For example a jurisdiction report on law firms you have worked closely with means some high level joint venture or merger talks are going on well above your pay grade but they are talking about what you just gave them. The Bad Users are users! They are often not Finance or Technical people, they might not understand what you are talking about when you ask for a clearer definition of their report. Even simple questions like “which currency or which period range would you like?” are met with blank looks. Often they have been asked by someone else anyway. You need to be patient and try to educate these users in the hope they come back next time with a clearer specification. Out of the box standard reporting - users believe this is a thing, management believe this is a thing... only we know there is no one report that fits all. We have developed “standard” reporting suites for users that don’t meet their needs 3 months later. The Ugly Third party requests, often requests will go from partners to secretaries to business development to various finance teams. Ultimately they come back to our reporting team, sometimes manipulated and misinterpreted like a work version of ...
Case File 4 - Finance Systems – BI & Reporting Manager, Global Law Firm 16-Nov-17Tell us a little about what your current position involves on a day to day basis: The majority of an average working day is dealing with requests and queries relating to our reporting information and environments. These normally come directly from Finance but we work with a variety of departments across the firm. Marketing / Pricing / Business Development / Public Relations / Compliance and direct to senior management. This varies from simple requests from frequent users and results in pointing them in the direction of a pre-existing report, checking that all of our integrated systems have up to date information and our overnight feeds and processes haven’t failed, all the way up to someone asking for a bespoke report with calculated fields. The more interesting part of the role is that we are also often asked to comment on new processes and how reporting and data can assist in making it more efficient. Finding data or providing information that others thought were inaccessible is strangely satisfying as it impresses people. Every role has its ups and downs. What are the good, the bad and ugly parts of your current position? The Good The variety of requests and learning about the decision making which is based on those requests. The finance system is often the hub of data as it flows around the organisations. Knowledge of this means we have the power to provide useful information to almost everyone in the organisation from the catering department up to the chief executive and managing partners. Knowing the secrets first is always fun, you may not know it every time but you soon learn when you are asked for a data from certain areas of the system big news might be on its way. For example a jurisdiction report on law firms you have worked closely with means some high level joint venture or merger talks are going on well above your pay grade but they are talking about what you just gave them. The Bad Users are users! They are often not Finance or Technical people, they might not understand what you are talking about when you ask for a clearer definition of their report. Even simple questions like “which currency or which period range would you like?” are met with blank looks. Often they have been asked by someone else anyway. You need to be patient and try to educate these users in the hope they come back next time with a clearer specification. Out of the box standard reporting - users believe this is a thing, management believe this is a thing... only we know there is no one report that fits all. We have developed “standard” reporting suites for users that don’t meet their needs 3 months later. The Ugly Third party requests, often requests will go from partners to secretaries to business development to various finance teams. Ultimately they come back to our reporting team, sometimes manipulated and misinterpreted like a work version of Chinese whispers. They can often get the credit for your ...
Quarterly Market Update Q3 2017 10-Nov-17WELCOME TO OUR LATEST LEGAL ACCOUNTS QUARTERLY MARKET UPDATE, COVERING JULY TO SEPTEMBER. The third quarter period of the year is often the most sluggish in the recruitment calendar, with the summer holiday season causing delays to selection and interview processes, and this was certainly the case in July and August. Demand for staff has risen however, and we’ve still seen a 15% increase in the number of instructions received in comparison to the second quarter period. Alongside what could be classed as healthy ‘churn’ in the market over the summer, we’ve also seen a lot of movement in the more recently emerging disciplines within legal finance functions. Pricing, eBilling and Business Intelligence roles have been a key area of focus for our team here at Balance this year, and we’re now seeing more and more individuals proactively trying to divert their careers in to these fields. High demand and short supply has led to attractive remuneration packages and rapid career advancement opportunities. Our Legal Accounts team here at Balance have long been seeking out talent from outside the legal sector who we feel can adapt to the nuances of working within a law firm environment, and over recent months we have seen far greater willingness from clients to actively consider such candidates with some great success. These individuals can sometimes be more budget-friendly with their salary expectations having been outside of the legal bubble, and can bring fresh ideas and an 'assume nothing, challenge everything' approach to firms with an appetite for change and continuous improvement. Looking ahead, the Q4 period is anticipated to be a very busy period, and likely the peak time for hiring in the calendar year. October has already got off to a very busy start with lots of new instructions through including a Pricing Manager, eBilling Manager, Group Reporting Accountant and many, many more.......more details...
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