Experienced Billing Officer

The role of the Billing Assistant will be to support Partners and Fee Earners with delivery of billing activities. As part of our global Finance team, the Billing Assistant owns the critical element of the service-to-cash process and one which is essential for the business in hitting revenue and cash targets.

As a Billing Assistant, you will engage with Fee Earners at every level, as well as acting as the bridge between DLA Piper and the client when required to ensure invoices are raised and issues with invoices are speedily resolved. You will manage all quality control aspects of the end-to-end billing process, matching Partner and client expectations to our own internal policies which allow us to manage risk. The role will work closely with our Legal Administration stakeholders who are in a critical, client facing and Partner support position.

Main duties and responsibilities

Key areas of responsibility:

WIP management and billing covering two main areas:

•           Delivery of billing fulfilment:

o          Proactive calculation of proposed billing amounts and necessary edits/ write-offs for Partner approval.

o          Draft and facilitate approval of invoices and submit to clients / Partners.

o          Manage complex bill reconciliations and calculations (including supplier bills, splitting bills, discounts, disbursement allocation etc).

o          Manage advance bills end-to-end procedure and ensure smooth client to office transfers.

o          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.

o          Coordinate with the GSC team or other DLA Piper offices for e-bills, multi-payer matters and ad-hoc activities.

o          Assist the Billing Manager and Head of Finance with ad-hoc tasks.

o          Collaborate with Legal Administration teams to provide cohesive support to Partners and their clients; ad-hoc tasks, client reporting, etc.

o          Support on matter master data management updates and charge-out rates changes.

o          Maintain client billing details to support with and/or hand over the billing process to colleagues during holiday periods.

•           WIP monitoring, maintenance, and control:

o          Facilitate WIP review, draft bill aging and draft bill review sessions with Partners.

o          Facilitate and process WIP write offs where irrecoverable (control approval matrix) as required and agreed with the Partner, following the approval matrix.

o          Ensure WIP comments against matters are recorded promptly.

o          Ensure WIP is being recorded/billed in accordance with client protocols.

o          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.

You are also expected to support on day-to-day Service to Cash activities:

•           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

• 3-5 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.
• Proficient in English.
• 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 Ee Suite.