Module 4

Getting paid: terms, money on account, credit control and difficult debts

Lawyers often find it harder to ask for money than to do the work. They feel that it is awkward, that it will damage the relationship or that the client will think them grasping. The result is a firm that does the work, issues the bill and waits, while the debt ages and the chance of collecting falls. Getting paid is not a favour that the client grants. It is part of the service, agreed at the start and managed throughout. This module covers how to make payment likely before the work begins, how to use money on account within the rules, a routine of credit control that is firm and courteous, how to handle a disputed bill, the limits that professional rules put on what you may do about an unpaid client and the point at which to stop chasing. It ends with the culture that makes all of this easier.

General education on law-firm finance, using invented firms and figures. It is not accounting, tax, financial or legal advice. Rules on accounting, tax, client money, insurance and fees differ between countries and change: take advice from a qualified accountant and check your regulator’s current rules.