Fully 4 years after their introduction the ‘new’ Accounts Rules continue to offer many relaxations of which we can still take advantage, but there are some alterations that might need to be addressed if we are to remain compliant and yet operate our businesses with as much ease as possible.

The SRA have been increasingly ‘muscular’ in their new regulatory approach and fining firms for breach, not only of acting without integrity but also of breaching specific provisions, most notably around Rule 3.3 and the offering of banking facilities.

Resources have been published and updated – and there some alterations that have been imminently pending for some months now - and offer some thoughts on the measures the regulators would be looking for in the systems and procedures firms should have in place.

This live two hour course is presented by Trevor Hellawell and will cover the following topics:

• An outline of the new Rules
• The key mistakes under the ‘old’ regime
  • Can we bill before we do the work?
  • How do we describe ‘disbursements’ in our bills?
  • Are we charging the right VAT?
  • Dealing with residual balances on Client Account ledgers
  • Can we avoid paying any interest to clients?
• Suggestions for improvement in 2024
• Recent enforcements and penalties
• Offering of banking facilities – new case studies and examples
• Reconciliations – what, who and how?
• The particular issue of clients’ own accounts under Rule 10
• Duties of the COFA – what should our relationship be with our reporting Accountants?
• Key checklists and benchmarks
• Other frauds and scams to avoid

Price: £199 + VAT for the first delegate. This is a per organisation price, so up to 10 of your colleagues from the same organization can participate at absolutely no extra charge, even if they are viewing it from a different location or at a different time. So, of course, if there are 10 of you the cost per delegate would be just £19.50 each.

For smaller firms with 4 or less partners, the price is £99, which is for a single place with no additional free places

Fee-earning and administrative staff would both benefit from this very practical updating course 

Trevor Hellawell is a solicitor and legal training and management consultant working with major law firms, local law societies, many legal training providers and other clients. Until going freelance in 1999 he was a full time lecturer with the University of Law, ending his career as a Principal Lecturer at the York Branch. Until recently returning to the freelance arena, he was Head of Law Programmes at BPP. Throughout his career, he has lectured extensively on the Accounts Rules, Professional Conduct, Management skills such as Client Care, Time Management and Appraisals, Financial Services matters, including Money Laundering, as well as mainstream academic law subjects. He was formerly a member of the Law Society’s Planning and Environmental Law Committee and is the author of the Environmental Law Handbook, now in its seventh edition.

Important Notes about Booking

1. Payment can be made by credit or debit card or alternatively by invoice. The option to pay by invoice is below the pay by card option in the booking form

2. If you have more than 10 delegates then extra delegates are £20 each. Contact us at info@legaltrainingconsultancy.co.uk to arrange this

3. If you don't have the complete list of who will be attending you can book for those that you know will be attending and add the others at a later date

4. If you would like to submit questions in advance please send them to info@legaltrainingconsultancy.co.uk

5. Please ensure that, when booking, you get colleagues' email addresses entirely correct as failure to do so will probably mean that they will not receive joining instructions

The Legal Training Consultancy

The Legal Training Consultancy is a full-service training consultancy with a large portfolio of conferences, courses and trainers. Over the years we have been responsible for putting together a vast number of law and management related conferences, webinars, seminars, videos and e-learning modules. Altogether more than 2000.