The haysmacintyre professional practices team advises many firms of solicitors, some of which are very large but most have between five and 50 partners. Many of the issues facing surveying practices are also faced by solicitors, but there are also many additional issues where our advice and experience is sought.

For example, the increased mobility within the legal profession (which is often restricted within property and financial professions) means that employment advice is frequently sought from our financial experts as well as firms of legal advisers. Smaller practices may find it helpful to outsource their PAYE and P11D processes to the team at haysmacintyre or to seek consultancy advice during investigations or where remuneration and reward systems are being considered generally.

Solicitors practices will be reassured to learn that haysmacintyre has dedicated tax experts to deal with both the firm and individual partners’ affairs and even specialists in areas such as VAT. Recent changes in tax regulations – such as for work in progress and during mergers or acquisitions – make access to up to date specialist tax advice more important than ever. Smaller firms without their own private client teams will find that the strong relationships they build with our tax team means that they feel comfortable recommending their valued clients to our teams when tax expertise is required.

The staff who work with our solicitor clients are familiar with the Law Society’s Solicitors Accounting Rules (SAR) and the other special requirements of managing client monies. We also produce – on occasions – profitability benchmarking studies which is based on information published within the legal media and enable small and medium sized firms to consider various performance improvement approaches with our experienced advisers.

The partners within our private client team are experienced with dealing with all aspects of partners’ financial matters and work closely with the consultants at haysmacintyre financial planning when advice on pensions, investments and insurance is required. We have specialist services for those who are newly admitted to the partnership to help them become familiar with the rather different taxation requirements and we also offer a confidential “look before you leap” service for those considering changing firms but need objective help in comparing the financial status of different types and sizes of practice.

The partners within our professional practices unit are frequently asked to attend partner meetings and conferences for our clients – both to provide interpretation and support on regular financial reporting matters but also on broader management topics such as remuneration, mergers and other strategic developments. We are located conveniently at the Holborn end of Chancery Lane which makes our offices easily accessible by solicitors in the City and the West End.