Certificate in Cashiering & Accounting in Legal Practice

Introduction

The finance department of a law firm is responsible for managing the day-to-day financial operations of the business. This includes bookkeeping, preparation of balance sheets, cash flow reports, financial statements, record keeping, and reporting. The department also manages payroll, accounts, and internal audits, ensuring compliance with the SRA Accounts Rules.

Nearly all firms that handle client money will have a legal cashier, or in larger firms, a team of finance professionals covering areas such as credit control, billing, compliance, management accounting, and cashiering.

This new introductory level full-day seminar is ideal for new starters or those returning to legal practice and accounts. It will provide you with a hands-on understanding of legal finance and how this function supports and safeguards the wider legal practice.

Led by expert speaker Darren Whelan, this session goes beyond theory and will provide you with an opportunity to take part in practical exercises and case studies based on real-world scenarios and engage in round-table discussions.

What You Will Learn

This course will cover the following:

• The role of the legal finance professional/cashier - key responsibilities including managing client and business funds and supporting compliance
• Double-entry bookkeeping - an overview of the fundamentals of double-entry bookkeeping, including how transactions are recorded and balanced in the accounts
• Client, business, and petty cash accounts - explore the differences between these accounts, and how to record and reconcile them properly
• SRA Accounts Rules - an overview of the Rules and essential compliance requirements
• Banking procedures - how to manage banking tasks such as lodgements, withdrawals, transfers, and reconciliations
• Disbursements and recharges - how to record and recover client expenses, ensuring transparency and compliance
• Practice management software and reporting - how this supports accounting, reporting, and tracking financial performance
• The reporting accountant and the annual audit - the role of the reporting accountant and the purpose of the annual audit
• The regulator and investigations - an insight into how regulators review accounts and what finance professionals need to know to ensure compliance