Billing Coordinator in London

Main duties and responsibilities

• WIP management and billing covering two main areas:

• Delivery of billing fulfilment:

• Proactive calculation of proposed billing amounts and necessary edits/write-offs for Partner approval.
• Draft and facilitate approval of invoices and submit to clients/Partners.
• Manage complex bill reconciliations and calculations (including supplier bills, splitting bills, discounts, disbursement allocation etc).
• Manage advance bills end-to-end procedure and ensure smooth client to office transfers.
• Manage and be a primary point of contact for all billing-related enquiries, client queries, credit notes (end-to-end), and escalate complex issues to Partners.
• Coordinate with the GSC team or other DLA Piper offices for e-bills, multi-payer matters and ad-hoc activities.
• Assist the Billing Manager and Head of Finance with ad-hoc tasks.
• Collaborate with Legal Administration teams to provide cohesive support to Partners and their clients; ad-hoc tasks, client reporting, etc.
• Support on matter master data management updates and charge-out rates changes.
• Maintain client billing details to support with and/or hand over the billing process to colleagues during holiday periods.

• Facilitate WIP review, draft bill aging and draft bill review sessions with Partners.
• Facilitate and process WIP write-offs where irrecoverable (control approval matrix) as required and agreed with the Partner, following the approval matrix.
• Ensure WIP comments against matters are recorded promptly.
• Ensure WIP is being recorded/billed in accordance with client protocols.
• Produce ad-hoc reports and analysis on specific clients to identify lock-up issues and to provide Partners with sufficient information to collaborate with their clients to reduce WIP days.

• Reviewing matter set up reports and validation of matter set up details according to newly defined processes/checklist (‘Quality Gate’).
• Consulting with Legal Administration/Partners to capture missing matter information.
• Qualitative reporting on the accuracy of information captured at matter set up with Billing Managers.
• Flag any suspicious activity by clients (subject to local regulations) through the necessary channels.
• Support with the development of new team members as required.
• Ensure compliance with firm's standards and guidelines (billing policies for multipayors, IOB, etc).
• Collaborate with Collectors on credit collection activities on an ad-hoc basis.
• Ensure compliance with DLA Piper’s Credit policy through accurate and prompt delivery of bills and credit notes.

About you

• Strong diligence and accuracy in handling client data, calculations, and invoice amendments.
• Analytical mindset and experience in running billing reports, analysing data, and taking appropriate actions.
• Excellent communication skills to collaborate effectively with multiple DLA Piper stakeholders.
• Problem-solving abilities and experience in addressing billing and VAT queries promptly and effectively.
• Teamwork and collaboration skills, with experience collaborating closely with colleagues across different departments.
• Initiative-taking mindset and experience in seeking opportunities for process improvements and applying them to enhance efficiency.
• Adaptability to changes in processes, systems, and work requirements, with prior experience in adapting to such changes.
• Ability to prioritise tasks, meet deadlines, and manage multiple responsibilities.
• Knowledge of financial systems and software used for billing and invoicing is a plus, such as SAP S/4HANA, Concur, Service Now, E-Billing platforms and MS Office Suite.
• 0-2 years of accounting or billing experience, preferably in a professional services or legal environment.
• Basic knowledge of local VAT standards and guidelines preferred but not required.
• Prior experience in ensuring accuracy and compliance in billing activities.