The Institute of Legal Cashiers & Administrators (ILCA) is a non profit making professional body dedicated to the education, support and promotion of excellence for specialist financial and administrative personnel working within the legal community.

The ILCA was founded in 1978 by a small group of cashiers working in solicitors practices who believed there was a need to establish and maintain standards for legal bookkeeping – hence the motto: “Diligentia Vigilantia” – “Diligence and Vigilance”

Membership now stands at approximately 3,000 and the ILCA has established an excellent working relationship with the Law Society, the Legal Services Commission, local Law Societies, members of the accountancy profession, major banks, the computer industry and the Press.

Members have access to a wide range of benefits including; a bi-monthly magazine Legal Abacus, Advisory Helpline, Career development, Code of Ethics, Register of Vacancies, Specialised Annual Supplements and Reduced Fees on all Training Courses, Conferences etc.

ILCA Membership has five Categories

ORDINARY MEMBER - Entry level into the ILCA.

DIPLOMA MEMBER - First of the ILCA's higher grades of membership. This is attained by the successful completion of the examination plus two years experience in legal accounting. Qualifying members may use the designatory letters ILCA (Dip).

ASSOCIATE MEMBER - Only Diploma members may sit for the Associateship examinations. This grade is attained by the successful completion of three examinations plus six years experience in legal accounting. Qualifying members may use the designatory letters AILCA.

FELLOW MEMBER - This is the highest grade of membership and can only be attained by Associate members. Successful members may use the designatory letters FILCA.

AFFILIATED PROFESSIONAL MEMBER - This category is for members of relevant professional bodies such as chartered/certified accountants or solicitors. Members of this category may enjoy the full range of ILCA benefits but are not permitted to vote at AGM's.

ILCA Examinations Admission to the higher grades of ILCA membership is by qualification only. To this end the ILCA has its own structured examination scheme. Examinations are held twice a year in May and November and are all examinations are 3 hours duration.

They are:

• Diploma – this examination and is intended to test the immediate working knowledge of the accounting department.

• The Associate (three mandatory parts) – for Diploma members only – this is designed to test career students on a deeper understanding of many legal and accounting topics.

• The Fellowship – This is the ILCA’s highest qualification and is carried out by thesis on a subject agreed by the student and Training and Education Committee of the ILCA.

ILCA Correspondence Courses

Tuition for the ILCA’s Diploma and Associate examinations is available through correspondence courses. Members are allocated a tutor – contactable by post or email – who guides them through a series of exercises which includes marking their course work and offering advice.

The Diploma and Associate correspondence courses have been approved by The Law Society for between 16 and 48 hours accreditation under the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) scheme.

ILCA Training Courses

The ILCA also carries out one and two day Training Courses on subjects such as: The Solicitors Accounts’ Rules, VAT, Step 1 Elementary Legal Accounting and Step 2 Intermediate Legal Accounting. These are held at various venues around the country and all carry CPD hours.

Further details on Training Courses can be found in the Events Calendar.

Full details of the ILCA its education system and training courses can be found at www.ilca.org.uk

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