Practice management & economics
In short: The total days of fee income tied up in unbilled work and unpaid invoices.
Lock-up combines WIP days and debtor days. It answers a single question: how long does it take for work done to become cash in the bank.
Reducing lock-up usually means billing sooner and more often, collecting by Direct Debit, and closing jobs promptly rather than chasing harder at the end.
Lock-up is the clearest single measure of a practice's financial health, and the one most firms never calculate.
General information for UK practices, not legal, tax or regulatory advice. Rules change — check current GOV.UK guidance and your professional body before acting.
Start with the workflows that cause the most chasing, then bring leads, AML, proposals and clients into the same calm operating system.
Accounting firms run on deadlines: VAT returns, payroll, confirmation statements, accounts and Self Assessment. Recording every job as a task, with an owner and a date, is the simplest way to make sure nothing is missed.
HMRC and Companies House charge penalties for late filing. A task for every deadline, with an internal date before it, gives the team a buffer.
Recorded tasks mean work continues when someone is off sick, on leave or has left the firm.
Subtask checklists make every job follow the same steps and reviews, whoever does the work.
Filters by owner, status and deadline show at a glance what is late, what is due and who needs help.
Written and reviewed by Waqas Sagar ACA FCCA FMAAT, Chartered Accountant with 18+ years in practice. Founder and MD of Accotax, an ICAEW, ACCA and AAT regulated London practice that has served over 5,000 clients, and founder of Remindoo. Guidance is general; check current GOV.UK and professional body guidance for your firm.
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“The biggest benefit is having clients, tasks, deadlines, workflows, proposals and communication all organised in one place.”
“During my trial, the team were absolutely amazing. They helped onboard my clients, set up my settings and made sure everything was ready for me to use… they made the whole process completely stress-free.”
“It brings client information, tasks, recurring deadlines, workflows and reminders together in one place, giving us much better visibility across the team.”
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