Keeping afloat in this day and age is becoming increasingly difficult, the raft of legislation which faces the legal practitioner on a daily basis in order to service clients is so overwhelming that it is too easy to lose track of the needs of day to day management.

The might of the Solicitors Regulation Authority, rightly or wrongly, is far greater than the previous regulation administered by The Law Society.

Help is not far away for the busy practitioner or accounts staff - just follow one of the above links to find out more and help protect your future by getting it right now.

Our principal has been in the legal profession since 1979, in an employed capacity with one of the top five London firms and a smaller West End practice and, since 1999, self employed providing management consultancy and accountancy services on a freelance basis. He is a Certified Bookkeeper.

With experience of SRA monitoring visits, SRA forensic investigations, VAT inspections, H M Revenue and Customs inspections, client account audits and the like  you can have no doubt that your concerns will be dealt with promptly and professionally.

Essentially SOLAID is an Internet based service to enable Solicitors or their staff to find the solutions to questions relating to their practice.

For example do you or your staff know the answer to the questions on the Q&A tab above? You may think you do, you may think that your staff do. Our experience is that few of the answers are in fact known, leading to issues with the Solicitors Accounts Rules and, ultimately, the Solicitors Regulation Authority, not to mention H M Revenue & Customs.

Leaving it to chance is costly - ignorance of the Solicitors Accounts Rules is no excuse nor will the SRA accept “I am too busy dealing with client files” as an excuse for not keeping your accounts in order.

For an annual subscription you or your staff can send an email to a dedicated email address with your query and within twenty four hours get back the right answer.

For more pressing queries there is the facility to have a response in less time on a pay per incident basis making your payment by Paypal.

YOUR VIRTUAL ACCOUNTS ASSISTANT FOR AS LITTLE AS £5 PER WEEK

Our web based services are provided on an annual subscription basis with three tiers of support.

BRONZE this is the standard service, an annual subscription enables you to email your query to a dedicated email address and receive your answer within 24 working hours during the period 09.30 on Monday to 17.30 on Friday. There are no futher fees and you can ask as many questions as you wish during the period of your subscription.

SILVER this is the same as the bronze service, the same annual subscription but with a different dedicated email address, so that you get a response with 12 working hours during the period 09.30 on Monday to 17.30 on Friday. For this service you will need to pay a small “per incident” fee. Again you can ask as many questions as you wish during the subscription period, you only pay for the answers you require more quickly.

GOLD with this service you pay the basic subscription but for answers required within four hours, via a dedicated email address pay a “per incident” fee which is double that of the silver service and recieve a telephone response. As with the silver service you can ask as many questions as you like via your basic bronze subscription but only pay extra for the urgency of your enquires.

This is a sample of recent questions we have seen from Legal Accounts Staff - do you know the correct answers?

1. I have £3.92 on client account, I know where the client lives but as this has been held for a long time and it is in respect of a Matrimonial matter, I don’t want to open old wounds - can I send this to charity?

2. Can I charge VAT on a charge which I am passing on to the client in respect of a contribution to the firms professional indemnity insurance?

3. The firm has sued a client, I have been told that the invoice to the client for recovery of the costs does not have to have VAT. Is this correct?

4. Can I charge a global figure for copying on my invoice?

5.I have not charged VAT on a train fare which I have billed to the client - is this correct?

6. How can I send 75p to a client, it will cost me more than that and the cheque probably won’t get cashed anyway?

7. We have sent a cheque to the client but it has not been cashed after six months. I know what to do with this in accordance with the Solicitors Accounts Rules but how can I stop this happening in future?

8. We have a lot of money on our client account. Our bank have told us that if we put this on a deposit account we can earn extra interest for the firm and only have to pay the current account rate to the client - is this okay?

We can also offer the following non web based services

• ON SITE ACCOUNTANCY  - INCLUDING ATTENDANCE FOR VAT AND SRA VISITS
• OFF SITE ACCOUNTANCY
• PAYROLL VIA BUREAU FACILITY
• FILE CLOSURE - ON SITE AND OFF SITE SERVICE
• STAFF EDUCATION AND TUITION
• BEST PRACTISE AUDIT

AND MUCH MORE TO KEEP THE WHEELS OF YOUR OFFICE TURNING TO ALLOW YOU TO DO WHAT YOU ARE GOOD AT - EARNING FEES BY PROVIDING A FIRST CLASS SERVICE TO YOUR CLIENTS

• ABSOLUTELY NO DISTANCE RESTRICTIONS

EXAMPLE TREATMENT OF A DISBURSEMENT PAID PRIOR TO 1 DECEMBER 2008 BUT INVOICED TO CLIENT SUBSEQUENTLY

Solicitors Accounts (Residual Client Account Balances) Amendment Rules 2008

in force from 14 July 2008

 VAT ON LEGAL AID WORK- in force from 4 July 2008

LATEST MINIMUM SALARIES FOR TRAINEE SOLICITORS effective from 1 August 2008

Our principal gave a quote for on site services for one to two days per month, at a cost of £250 per visit.

The prospective client did not take up the offer. A year later a further request for a quote was made and the same figures were provided. Again the enquiry was not progressed.

FEBRUARY 2008 - APPEARANCE BEFORE THE SOLICITORS DISCIPLINARY TRIBUNAL, FINED £20,000 AND COSTS IN EXCESS OF £9,000

SEE CASE REPORT HERE

Our principal gave a quote for on site services for one to two days per month, at a cost of £250 per visit.

The prospective client did not take up the offer.

FEBRUARY 2007 - APPEARANCE BEFORE THE SOLICITORS DISCIPLINARY TRIBUNAL, SUSPENDED FROM PRACTICE FOR 12 MONTHS AND COSTS OF £45,000 [note this is subject to appeal]

SEE CASE REPORT HERE

Our principal worked for a client in ad hoc attendance on two short occasions assisting in bringing her accounts in order. He advised the solicitor as to how she could best improve her accounting system and how our principal could assist in regularising her affairs in the future.

The solicitor chose not to take up a contract and no further contact was made.

NOVEMBER 2004 - APPEARANCE BEFORE THE SOLICITORS DISCIPLINARY TRIBUNAL FINED £5,000 AND COSTS OCTOBER 2007 - APPEARANCE BEFORE THE SOLICITORS DISCIPLINARY TRIBUNAL FINED £8,000 AND COSTS

 SEE CASE REPORT HERE