Senior Revenue Controller

Team Summary

Our Finance team is responsible for ensuring accurate financial operations and plays a crucial role in managing the Firm’s financial health. Our team handles a wide range of financial activities including financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, taxation, partner compensation, payroll, treasury and cash flow management to support the Firm’s strategic goals. We are responsible for inventory management including billing and collections, and analysis of client, matter and timekeeper profitability. We oversee statutory accounting and ensure compliance with financial regulations and standards. The Finance team also prepares financial statements, reports and analysis to provide insights into the Firm’s financial performance. We work closely with other functions to monitor expenses, optimize financial processes and implement cost-saving initiatives. Through meticulous financial management and strategic planning, the Finance team ensures the Firm’s financial stability and supports its growth objectives.

                                                        

Position Summary

As a Senior Revenue Controller, you will manage revenue and credit control for a designated group of London partners. You will work closely with partners, matter managers and Finance colleagues to review WIP and accounts receivable, prepare invoices, support collections and deliver accurate billing and cash forecasts. You will also help ensure compliance with Firm policies, VAT requirements and Solicitors’ Accounts Rules.

 

This role combines strong revenue control expertise with sound commercial judgment and the confidence to work effectively with partners, clients and colleagues. Your ability to understand detail, resolve issues and keep billing and collections on track will directly support the London office’s financial performance.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Responsible for meeting with partners and matter managers on a regular basis to review and discuss all WIP and AR balances, documenting outcomes and following up on agreed actions.
• Assume ownership of a complex portfolio of partners, matters and clients within the London Revenue team.
• Act as an escalation point for complex billing, rate, client terms and matter-management queries.
• Provide detailed commercial analysis and insight in relation to realisation, lock-up, profitability, billing performance and cash collection.
• Identify and escalate opportunities for process improvement, training requirements, system issues and enhancements to working practices across the Revenue team and the assigned practice section(s).
• Provide additional support to the Revenue Manager during periods of high workload or absence and in relation to complex revenue-control matters.
• Drafting and engrossing invoices ensuring that they are compliant with firm policy and regulatory requirements. Ensuring signed copies are filed against the matter on 3e.
• Regularly reviewing all WIP balances to ensure that all appropriate actions are undertaken to ensure it can be billed on a timely basis, including regular fee updates.
• Regular review of all aged A/R balances, preparing and agreeing action plans to aid in timely collection. Updating billing and collections tools with discussions and actions taken.
• Assisting with collections of all accounts receivable for designated partners. Utilizing central credit control where necessary.
• Preparation of monthly and quarterly cash collection and billing forecasts for agreed partners in discussion with Finance management and Regional Section Heads.
• Supporting the firm’s key client program for a designated number of clients by: acting as a central point of contact for billing and collection matters; providing regular reporting on financials to Client Accounts Managers and Lead relationship partners; working with Client Accounts Managers to ensure that global fee arrangements are correctly implemented and followed.
• Working with PAs, Revenue Assistants and operations team in Manila to ensure that billing matters are dealt with on a timely basis.
• Maintaining a continuous open dialog with the partners and clients.
• Consulting with managers / billing partner regarding variations to standard terms, agreement of discounts and rate amendments.
• Performing regular and ad–hoc reporting and projects for clients, partners and management.
• Assisting with compliance with the Solicitors’ Accounts Rules, in particular the rules surrounding earmarking of funds and residual balances.
• Ensuring VAT and other local taxes are correctly reflected and accounted for.
• Monitor matters to ensure that:
  • Correct task codes maintained on matters;
  • Rates remain consistent with the estimate/engagement letter agreed with the client;
  • An immediate flag is raised when estimates are close to being exceeded and have been exceeded;
  • WIP updates for specific time periods are available upon request by the relevant fee earner;
  • All discrepancies are identified as soon as possible (e.g. whether abrupt changes in WIP are caused by fee earners recording time late vs. a discrepancy in the system);
  • Fee earners are recording their time to correct task codes and in a timely manner;
  • Any errors and discrepancies which are identified are corrected in a timely manner; and
  • Interim or final invoices can be raised in a timely manner, based on specific instructions from the fee earner, without affecting the remaining WIP and existing task codes.
• Ensuring any write offs of time or AR, time transfers and rate adjustments are actioned promptly.
• Assist with the review of aged WIP preparing summary reports at client/matter/partner level for review and processing write offs in line with firm policy.
• Ensuring internal systems are kept up to date with latest WIP and AR information and that required tasks are diarized and followed up.
• Reviewing unallocated cash and BOAs and ensuring correctly allocated in a timely fashion.
• Working on any other matters or projects raised from time to time.
• From time to time when needing additional support, delegating to and supervising the work of billing specialists both in London and Manila, to make sure bills are completed to the highest possible standards.

Qualifications

• Experience in using Elite, 3E, Aderant or similar PMS system.
• Minimum of A Levels or equivalent education essential.
• Relevant and in-depth revenue control and collections experience (a minimum of 3 years).
• Law Firm experience is desired but not essential, ideally in a top 20 firm with experience liaising with overseas offices/international clients.
• Have the ability to inspire trust and confidence from internal and external clients, in particular Partners.
• Excellent interpersonal and team working skills, ability to work effectively at all levels within an organization.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.
• Demonstrate the ability to deal with difficult situations.
• Must be self-motivated, highly organized, accurate, with an attention to detail and be able to work with minimal supervision.
• Flexible and enthusiastic with the ability to manage own workload and priorities to meet deadlines.
• Knowledge of the Solicitors Accounts Rules and VAT.
• Computer literate including at least an intermediate knowledge of Word and Excel.
• Strong numerical skills including the ability to compute rates, ratios and percentages.
• Experience in using Elite, 3E, Aderant or similar PMS system.
• Additional languages are helpful but not required.

Location

• This role is based in London.
• Our standard office hours are 09:30-18:00, with a requirement for 4 days (Monday – Thursday) in the office per week. 
• Please note that this role reports to the Revenue Manager, Finance - Revenue Management.

What We Offer

When you join us, you’ll be working directly with partners, business leaders and many other inspiring colleagues across our global network of offices. We live by our values - to be pioneering, united and human - and we believe that you’ll experience them from your first day. We will give you the support and development opportunities that will help you achieve your potential. We believe that consistent high performance merits reward and support. Our compensation package reflects your calibre as a business development professional, and our benefits are designed to support your changing needs and priorities across different life stages.

Firm Benefits 

We offer a flexible range of benefits, services and programmes designed to help support your lifestyle requirements. Some of the benefits currently available include: 

Private medical insurance 

Pension plan with matched employer contribution up to 7.5% 

Yearly wellbeing fund 

Income protection 

Life insurance 

Critical Illness insurance 

Private GP services 

Travel insurance 

Dental coverage 

Cycle to work 

Holiday purchase (available during annual enrolment) 

This role reports to

                                                        

Director, Financial Management

Equal Opportunities

White & Case is committed to creating a fair workplace. It is our Firm’s policy to recruit, employ, train, compensate, and promote without regard to race, religion, creed, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, military or veteran status, disability, genetic information, or any other category protected by applicable law.

If you require assistance and/or adjustment to participate in our application and/or interview process, please email us. We will be happy to work with you.

The Firm may modify and amend any job description at any time in its sole discretion. Nothing herein creates a contract of employment or otherwise modifies the at-will nature of employment.

The above is only a general description of the essential duties associated with this position and does not represent an exhaustive or comprehensive list of all duties.

Note to Recruitment Agencies

Our internal Recruitment team manages all aspects of lateral hiring. All agencies must have signed terms of business—specific to the relevant office—before submitting any candidates. CVs or applications sent directly to White & Case partners or employees will also not be considered formal introductions. If you have questions, please contact the relevant Recruitment team. We work with our preferred suppliers when engaging agencies.