ABS diary | Next year...

2013, what will this year bring. Well I have already dealt with tax, year end, auditors, the vat return, partnership tax, new staff, staff appraisals, charities accounts and we are still in January!

I have had numerous emails from IT companies with regards to the upgrade of our computer systems and we are about to embark on the Conveyancing Quality Standard, which needs immediate attention.

Santander have now made the Conveyancing Quality Standard a condition of being on their panel. Despite having recently sent emails to us to say that you have to apply for the Standard by the end of March, they have now taken this back, and you now have to have obtained the Standard by the end of March. Our conveyancing partner has challenged this but to no avail, so the pressure is on.

It is becoming apparent that being a three partner firm with an excellent claim history will not be enough for some lenders. Despite HSBC having been our bank since 1932 they unilaterally removed us from their panel without notice. They now require us to have the CQS and they will not accept a firm with any less than four partners. We have retained most of our existing clients who are purchasing with HSBC mortgages, but we have inevitably lost some. This is mainly due to HSBC solicitors costs which are an extra expense for our clients and the inevitable duplication of work.

Every member of staff is waiting with baited breath for the new IT. It will need to be in place before the end of June because the training will need to be well underway before the start of the school summer holidays. A lot of our staff have school-age children so there is a scramble for time off during this time, so the holiday chart takes an awful lot of planning and there will be no time for training.

This time last year JWS were in the latter stages of the ABS application. This was time consuming and stressful. I spent the latter part of 2012 telling my assistant that things will calm down in the next year. She has worked with me for ten years now and always says 'well it hasn't slowed down yet'. I am now telling her that peace will return by the end of August!

The point I am trying to make here is that the way legal services are going it is always going to be hard work and a struggle. Every year there will be a new project, more red tape, new rules and regulations and more and different competitors so it is extremely important to keep on top of things.

You need a strong team and by team, I don't just mean partners and fee earners, I mean secretaries, personal assistants and all support staff too. The partners of any business need to work together and have a plan which sets out clearly the expectations for the coming year. Every business should have a business plan. An up-to-date business plan is a requirement for the ABS application.

Business plans need to be realistic and achievable. As a practice manager I still consider these to be uncertain times for the smaller firm. There may be a further recession so the temptation is to tread water, but there are great changes ahead for the legal sector and your business plan will have to include an element of 'speculate to accumulate' within it, otherwise there is a real risk of being left behind. Your business plan should be periodically updated. For a sustainable plan you need to factor in your cash flow situation (profit does not always mean cash), risk management, and a make contingency plan.

If you need to help or advice to prepare your business plan there is information on the SRA website and for financial matters your accountant may be able to help.