Accounting and technology may not naturally appear to go hand in hand, but Cashroom is committed to utilising technology to improve efficiency and security beyond the capability of many law firms.
Our unique, secure portal
Cashroom’s portal is a web-based, secure, and encrypted means of communication between us and our clients. The portal was initially developed to remove communication from the insecurities of email, and to protect our clients from the rising threat of fraudulent payments by using authorisation workflows. Requests are made in prescribed forms, with certain mandatory fields, to ensure all necessary information is provided in compliance with the Solicitors Accounts Rules.
Our platform is being constantly developed to become so much more than a secure communication tool, providing clear audit trails of all communications, which are searchable, allowing transparency of requests made, and their progress through to completion. Clients can access and view the progress of their requests in a visual format, in a way that emails or manual, paper-based ways of working simply cannot.
Continuous innovative development
This year we have further developed our Cashroom portal with sophisticated integrated open banking technology and integrations into four of the leading practice management systems (PMS). This creates an even more secure and risk-free payments method for firms. We committed to the importance of our expert service being delivered by good technology by investing in a full-time technology development team within the business.
Having an in-house technology team that is on hand working together with clients to deliver continuous improvements and developments in our technology is something that no other legal accounting provider is giving the legal industry.
Integrations
In June 2021 we launched our first set of Practice Management integrations where our Cashroom portal will link directly into your PMS – client matters will be updated automatically, and fee earners can easily go between client ledgers and setting up payments with clear visibility of their matters. We have successfully integrated with Clio, LEAP, Denovo and Klyant. Prior to this, we collaborated with test client groups throughout our beta testing phases. Client feedback was listened to and taken on at every stage of development.
Our expertise on numerous PMSs means that we are able to help firms optimise their processes for their own system use, helping with data flow, accuracy of data and efficiency, all as part of our standard way of working with our clients.
Allowing law firms to use Cashroom services alongside the system of their choice gives firms the benefit of our industry best processes and efficiencies, along with using the best system for the firm.
We listen to our clients
We consistently ask our client for feedback and ideas for further advances to our client portal. We have a “suggest feedback” button within our portal for easy access, we send out monthly client surveys to check in and get feedback, and we also have client relationship calls where we ask for any feedback. Listening to what our clients need and want is of the utmost importance in all our technology developments.
With some of the very large pure play volume start up legal firms, we have worked with the client to design the right automations and system processes, which we then support with our teams to enable huge volumes of work to be processed efficiently, compliantly and removing risk.
Supporting the legal sector
Following the most difficult and challenging year in 2020, the market (and particularly conveyancers) experienced the busiest months ever in March and June 2021. During the month of March alone, Cashroom successfully processed over £1.3 billion pounds of client money payments through our portal.
In June, we surpassed this with over £1.6 billion pounds of clients’ money processed through our portal. With over 230 law firms as clients, March and June were the busiest months we have ever experienced at Cashroom.
Our cashiers were under the same pressures the industry was under, however they had the tools available to them to protect their clients. Our expert cashiers processed payments using secure open banking technology integrated in our Cashroom portal. With integrations into the leading banking platforms, Cashroom can significantly reduce the risk of human error and save time when initiating payments and checking for incoming funds.
We have combined the expert knowledge of our legal cashiers and accountants with the master capabilities of our technical team. Last year could be viewed as the biggest test yet of our people and technology, and we are delighted that our clients benefited from our sophisticated technology and expert cashiering services. Combined with our expert service, our technology enables us to provide the best support possible to the industry that cannot be replicated elsewhere.
Our standard processes also protect our clients against the rising threat of fraudulent payments through the authorisation workflows we have developed and the segregation of duties our service provides. Using our service ensures that the law firm has a payment process that protects not only against external fraud, but also internal collusion and single point fraud, where a hacker only requires to obtain one set of login details.
We can deliver this industry “best practice” service to a huge range of firms who can scale their requirements up and down as required. We work with firms of all sizes, from sole practitioners to large, full-service top 200 firms. Geographically, our client base extends to all corners of the country. We continue to develop new products and services to extend the support and have plans to add integrations between our Cashroom portal and more PMSs throughout the next few years.
Taking care of our employees
We work hard to provide an industry-leading level of service, and this includes regular training and development of staff across all areas of the business. This year, we have also focused on the wellbeing of our staff – encouraging daily miles, regular emotional check-ins using a helter-skelter scale, value awards and other initiatives ran by a dedicated culture group – we place importance of our staff who in turn value our clients and provide the best support to the industry possible.
We have continued to grow as a business to support the industry. At the start of the pandemic, Cashroom had 80 employees and now we have over 110. We have been a completely remote non-office-based business throughout the pandemic and have a new “work where you want policy” offering staff the flexibility of an office or remote working.
Cashroom team performance since the start of the pandemic has been exceptional, as emphasised by the levels of client money transferred in March and June 2021. Through innovation, expertise, and professionalism, Cashroom have supported the industry through a turbulent time.
What some of our lovely clients have to say about Cashroom
Alexis Brassey, Managing Partner and Notary Public, Cavendish Legal Group, said:
“Cashroom offer an invaluable service for any solicitor’s firm. Their approach is efficient, professional, and responsive. They have allowed us to deal with rapid growth by taking on all accounts functionality.
The staff at Cashroom are highly skilled and can deal with all aspects of SAR. They are competitively priced relative to an in-house solution and have been a pleasure to deal with from the start.”
Phil Ryan, Director, Cheval Legal, said:
“We set up Cheval Legal from scratch as a specialist litigation firm, specialising in financial mis-selling claims.
From the outset we knew we would process a high volume of claims. We had to design our systems with efficiency and compliance at their core. We also needed a finance function that was flexible, resilient, and scalable. We did not think that traditional in-house function would work, so we approached Cashroom.
They demonstrated their knowledge and expertise in designing law firm financial systems. They listened to what we wanted, designed the system to fit our needs, and integrated it with their own internal processes. Throughout they were responsive, innovative, and willing to listen and adapt. This collaborative approach was key in designing exactly what we wanted.
As a result, we can now grow our business at a faster pace, with the knowledge that our finance function is in safe hands.”
This article was submitted to be published by Cashroom as part of their advertising agreement with Today’s Conveyancer. The views expressed in this article are those of the submitter and not those of Today’s Conveyancer.
