A recent conveyancing survey conducted by InfoTrack and Today’s Conveyancer found that over 70% of respondents had missed charging disbursements to clients, resulting in their firm often being left out of pocket as a result of avoidable circumstances.
The results of the InfoTrack survey highlighted the issue of lost disbursements within firms, which were commonly attributed to fragmented processes. Within the same survey, 60% of respondents are receiving multiple invoices with 45% of respondents noting that they were using 5 or more websites to complete their conveyancing transaction.
The survey revealed that 50% of firms who had missed charging disbursements said it was due to bookkeeping errors, showing that using a variety of suppliers and systems makes reconciliation difficult and can influence the bottom line for many firms.
Scott Bozinis, CEO of InfoTrack, comments: “The results demonstrate that with over 60% of conveyancers receiving multiple invoices for any given matter, it is possible to miss disbursements. It is clear that accessing multiple websites for a single matter makes it difficult to keep on top of billing. A consolidation of the process is required to simplify the day-to-day conveyancing tasks in order to maximise revenue and time. The key to combatting these missed disbursements is through the use of technology which reduces the number of websites that need to be visited, relieving administration and bookkeeping headaches.”
Scott continues: “InfoTrack technology enables conveyancers to improve the process by consolidating all the key tasks into a single platform, including electronic AP1 and SDLT forms, Contract Packs and Conveyancing Searches. Using our technology means firms receive a single, combined monthly bill making the bookkeeping of disbursements, such as AML checks and indemnities, simple.”
Heather Cameron, Marketing and Communications Manager at Today’s Conveyancer, stated: “It is clear from these results that in an already demanding role, dealing with many third parties all at once and errors like missing charging disbursements are as a result of insufficient processes in many instances. The fact that almost 74% of those surveyed feel undervalued by their client’s reveals just how high a client’s expectation really is on their conveyancer.
“We know the SRA in their most recent Risk Outlook, made it clear that they are looking to firms to innovate their processes through their use of IT to deliver a more streamlined approach to legal services; with the right IT practices, errors like this will diminish.”
