Services Involved: Proclaim Workflow Optimisation | Proclaim Development | Proclaim Accounts

Efficient billing processes are critical in fixed fee personal injury (PI) work, where margins depend on administrative accuracy and well-managed workflows. We were instructed by a PI law firm experiencing recurring delays at the point of billing due to incomplete disbursement records and inconsistent document storage.

The Challenge

At the conclusion of matters, fee earners and the accounts team were spending unnecessary time reconciling financial information before a bill could be produced.

Common issues included:

• Missing invoice copies
• Absent reference numbers
• Incorrect or incomplete disbursement values
• Documents stored inconsistently within the case history

What should have been a straightforward day-to-day billing process had become a manual verification exercise, impacting efficiency and diverting valuable fee earner and finance resource.

Our Solution: A Structured Pre-Billing Checklist

We designed and implemented a system-driven pre-billing control process within the firm’s existing Proclaim case management workflow.

The system automatically identified which correspondents had been instructed and required three mandatory data points before a bill could be generated:

1. Disbursement value
2. Invoice reference number
3. A stored copy of the invoice

Importantly, prompts were embedded into the incoming correspondence process. If documents were saved and labelled correctly at the point of receipt, the relevant financial information was captured immediately. By the time the matter reached billing stage, the necessary data was already complete.

This approach ensured that compliance and financial accuracy were achieved as part of the normal workflow, rather than through retrospective checks.

The Outcome

The improvements to the firm’s case management system were both immediate and sustainable.

Where cases were managed in accordance with the revised process:

• Billing screens required no additional manual input
• Disbursement values populated automatically
• The system generated a complete bill based on damages and recorded disbursements
• All invoices were automatically appended to produce one consolidated document

For the accounts team, all relevant financial information became accessible from a single screen, including the ability to view invoice copies at the click of a button. This reduced internal queries, improved visibility, and strengthened overall financial control across the lifecycle of the matter.

The Bottom Line

By embedding structured data capture and validation into the workflow from the outset, the firm transformed billing from a time-consuming reconciliation exercise into a streamlined, system-led process.

Accurate disbursement information was available instantly, invoices could be reviewed at the click of a button, and both fee earners and accounts staff regained valuable time. The improvement was not just administrative, it strengthened financial control and protected fixed fee margins.

Looking to Improve Your Billing Processes?

This project illustrates how relatively focused system enhancements can deliver meaningful operational improvements in fixed fee and high-volume environments.

If your organisation is experiencing delays at billing stage, inconsistencies in disbursement recording, or unnecessary administrative pressure between operational and finance teams, Legal Practice Support would be pleased to assist.

We work with professional practices across sectors to review workflows, strengthen system controls, and implement practical, sustainable improvements tailored to the way your team operates.

If you would like to explore whether similar refinements could benefit your organisation, we would welcome an initial conversation.