When you are the only attorney in your practice, you are also the diary clerk, the bookkeeper and the receptionist. Nobody else notices a date that nobody diarised, or a trust list that was not compared with the bank. The right software does that checking for you, on the same screens you use every day.
This article sets out what a sole practitioner should look for, in the order a week actually runs, and how Caseo does each one.
General information, not legal advice. Check the current Rules and notices before you rely on a date or an amount.
1. A diary that warns you early
A date in a calendar tells you on the day. A prescription date needs to tell you months before. Most debts, including most contract and delict claims, prescribe after three years, unless an Act of Parliament says otherwise (Prescription Act s11(d)). Our prescription guide sets out the other periods.
Look for a diary where:
- every entry belongs to a matter and a person, so you can open the file from the entry;
- weekends and public holidays are marked, because courts do not sit on them;
- overdue entries are grouped together and cannot hide among the future ones.
In Caseo, the diary has month, week, 3-day and list views. The list groups entries into Overdue, Today, Later this week and Next week. When you save a matter's prescription date, Caseo adds diary reminders 6, 3 and 1 month before it, and moves one that falls on a weekend or public holiday to the working day before.
2. A morning that starts with what is due
When nobody else opens the diary, it has to come to you. Caseo emails the person an entry is for, and the person who made it, as soon as it is saved. Every morning at 07:00 it sends a short email, "Diary for the day: how many due, how many overdue". When you open the Dashboard, today's diary shows what is due and what is overdue.
3. Trust and business kept apart from the first matter
Trust money is never paid into the business account (Rule 54.11). Money you receive for anyone is deposited intact in the trust account on the day you receive it, or on the first banking day after, on which it could reasonably be banked (Rule 54.14.7.2). Software cannot bank money for you, but it can keep the two books separate, matter by matter, so you always see which money is which.
Caseo keeps trust and business apart from the first matter you open.
4. A routine for the month
Two Rules set the monthly rhythm. You write up and balance your records, and the Rules treat you as having done so if the books are written up by the last day of the following month (Rule 54.10). Each month you also list every person you hold money for, with their balance, total the list and compare it with your trust bank account, trust investment account and trust cash (Rule 54.15.1). The list is kept with your accounting records for the seven-year period (Rule 54.15.3 and 54.9).
For a practice of one, the useful question is whether the software does the matching for you, so that the month-end is a check you finish in one sitting. In Caseo you import your bank statement and Caseo matches it against the ledger. You clear what is left, and Caseo shows a three-way check of the bank, the ledger and your clients' balances. You then sign off the month, which locks it. Our month-end guide walks through the routine.
5. The phone, for the days you are in court
You will not be at your desk on a court day. Look for a phone app that shows the diary and lets you record what happened before you leave the building. In Caseo you record the court outcome on your phone and choose the next step. Caseo diarises the new date and ticks off today's entry.
6. Someone who can see what you see
Sole practitioners are busy, and sometimes ill, away or in a long hearing. Decide now who could open the diary and the matter list: a secretary, a candidate attorney, a colleague you trust.
Your accountant needs the numbers, not the matters. In Caseo, an accountant's login reads the money screens and cannot change anything, and it comes at no extra cost.
7. One price that does not grow with you
Many systems charge per user, so the first person you hire changes your costs. Caseo is R1,000 a month for up to five people, secretaries included, and a one-person practice pays the same as a firm of five. See Pricing. If you are comparing systems, our comparison of practice management software in South Africa lists what each vendor publishes.
Questions to ask any vendor
- Will the diary warn me 6, 3 and 1 month before a prescription date, or only on the day?
- Can I keep trust and business apart, matter by matter, from the first matter?
- Does it match my bank statement to my ledger and show me my clients' balances for the month-end?
- Can I record a court outcome and the next date on my phone?
- Can my accountant log in without being able to change anything?
- What does it cost when I add my first person?
Next step
If you are still planning your practice, the Opening a practice pack is free: the steps in order, with the section or rule behind each one. Leave your email there and we will send you a firm pass, so you can open your own firm in Caseo and try the diary and the books yourself.