Reports that agree with each other
Trial balance as at any date, every matter's position on one line, fee earner performance, and a firm overview whose total is the sum of the rows beneath it rather than a second number.
What financial reports does a UK law firm need?
A firm needs a trial balance as at a date for audit, matter balances to see every file's position, fee earner performance covering time recorded, billed and collected, and a firm overview for month end. Writford builds all four so the firm total reconciles to the rows below it.
- Can I get a trial balance as at a past date?
- Yes. The trial balance answers as at a chosen date and for a specific client account, which is what an auditor asks for and what a three-way reconciliation is signed off against. A report that can only answer for right now cannot do either.
- Can I see every matter's financial position at once?
- Yes. Matter balances puts every matter on one line with its work in progress, billed, outstanding and client funds, with an ageing toggle rather than a separate report.
- Why is matter ageing a toggle rather than its own report?
- Because it is the same report with one extra question, how old is the money. Keeping it as one report with a switch means the two can never drift out of step, which is what happens when a system ships them as two screens.
- Does the firm total agree with the fee earner figures?
- Yes, by construction. Every figure in the firm overview is composed from the report module that owns it, so the firm total is the sum of the rows below it rather than a second number derived independently. Two independently derived totals eventually disagree.
- Can I report on fee earner performance?
- Yes. Performance covers time recorded, billed and collected per fee earner for a chosen period, as a summary, a table and a chart.
- Can I export a report?
- Yes, reports export to CSV so they can be handed to an accountant or worked on outside Writford.
As at a date, for the account an auditor actually asked about
A trial balance that can only answer for right now, totalled across every client account together, is not the report an auditor wants. Writford answers as at a chosen date and for a specific client account, which is the form a three-way reconciliation is signed off against.
- As at any date, not only the current position
- Per client account rather than every account added together
- The form a three-way reconciliation is signed off against
- Exportable for the accountant
Every matter on one line, with ageing behind a switch
Work in progress, billed, outstanding and client funds for every matter, on one line each. Ageing is a toggle rather than a second report, because it is the same report with one extra question. Systems that ship the two separately end up with two reports that quietly disagree.
- Every matter's position on a single line
- Work in progress, billed, outstanding and client funds together
- Ageing as a toggle, so the two views cannot drift apart
- Sort and filter to find the matters that need attention
The firm total is the sum of the rows beneath it
What a partner reads at month end. Every figure is composed from the report module that already owns it, so the firm total is literally the sum of the fee earner rows below rather than a second number worked out a different way. Two independently derived totals agree right up until they do not.
- One period, one page, for the month-end conversation
- Every figure composed from the report that owns it
- The firm total reconciles to the rows by construction
- No second version of the truth to explain away
Recorded, billed and collected, per fee earner
The three numbers that are not the same number. Hours recorded is not the same as hours billed, and hours billed is not the same as cash collected. Writford shows all three per fee earner for the period, as a summary, a table and a chart.
- Time recorded, billed and collected side by side
- Per fee earner, for any period
- Summary, table and chart of the same figures
- The gap between recorded and collected made visible