Case study: Osprey Approach boost efficiencies for both The Law Factory and their clients
Founded in 1990, The Law Factory LLP provide comprehensive legal accounts services for law firms of all sizes.
The Ledbury-based accounting and consultancy company have helped hundreds of businesses ease the administrative burden of back-end processes and have become an integral part of their clients’ businesses.
The Law Factory implemented Osprey Approach over 20 years ago and since then, Osprey has been a fundamental part of their business and a software solution they regularly recommend to their clients as Law Factory Business Manager, Alex Simons, explains: – “We’ve recommended Osprey for years because of its functionality, its ease of access and the efficiencies you can make by using it. Time is saved not only by our clients’ accounts departments but also by the fee earners. Those savings are then passed on to their clients – the most important people in the process for any law firm. We will have no hesitation in recommending Osprey in the future.”
Osprey Approach is designed to make managing a practice easier, which is why it is an end-to-end platform integrating everything from case management to document production, time recording, accounts, and client CRM solution. This helps The Law Factory’s clients increase efficiencies and improve profitability. Alex explains: – “…There are a lot of features like workflows and key dates that make Osprey very appealing to fee earners as they can plan their day and understand just where they are at with each case. And then the integration with Office 365 makes it really appealing to my clients because it means that they can do their job faster.”
Accessible anywhere, any time
As firms move to a hybrid and flexible way of working, they need a software solution that is flexible and cloud-based, enabling clients, cases, and accounts to be managed from anywhere. Last year, this was particularly advantageous for The Law Factory, as the whole team worked from home, but it also provides the flexibility when on the road and at court. “One of the important things about Osprey is that it’s cloud-based. We can access it from anywhere and anytime without any issues. It means working from home hasn’t been a problem for us during the lockdowns – and even when you’re not working from home, you may be visiting clients and you can still access the software from your mobile. It’s great for The Law Factory because we’re completely outsourced.”
Osprey Approach’s secure co-located servers are hosted in the UK in ISO27001 certified data centres. This gives firms the confidence that their business and client files, and data, are safe and secure.
The importance of integrated accounts
At the core of Osprey is legal accounting, which integrates seamlessly into all other areas of the case management solution. This means client and business accounts are all in one place, avoiding duplication of data and reducing the risk of errors.
Alex explains: – “At no point is the client account or the office side of the client account split from all of the business accounts. Having your accounts integrated and all in one place where you can run, post and report, with everything happening instantly, without manual synchronisation, is a massive benefit.”
Smart and effective reporting tools
The reports feature is highly regarded by The Law Factory: – “The reporting aspect, I think, is probably one of the most appealing features because every single report that you can think of is on there. If you somehow manage to think of a report that isn’t on there, you can actually build it within the report writer.”
Osprey Approach offers dedicated, all-inclusive support and training for any area of the software to ensure full optimisation and return on the solution for any firm. “You can get specialist training from Osprey to help you build a report bespoke to your firm,” adds Alex.
Efficiencies can be increased thanks to the report scheduler, which has saved The Law Factory’s clients substantial time. Osprey enables teams to build, schedule and distribute reports ahead of time so that everyone is kept updated and has visibility of the firm’s performance.
“As a cashier, in a busy firm, you want a report that is self-generating so the report writing tool, and the editability of the reporting functions is massively appealing to us.
“You can get an Accountant’s log in, and they can go in and get the reports themselves because the reports are all saved within the system. But equally, we can also send those reports to our auditing and Managing Accountants at the end of the year.”
A look into the future
Osprey Approach’s Development team is continuously implementing updates and additions to better meet the needs of firms. Regardless of what type of law a firm focuses on, Osprey Approach offers a variety of focused apps that are available for both desktop and mobile, offering the flexibility firms require. Alex is looking forward to the future of the software and encourages everyone to keep an eye on Osprey Approach: “You should be looking at the benefits of those focused apps. Osprey are only going to continue to enhance the software to make everything easier to heighten efficiency, so take a look at them and see what the future holds for you.”
