Month end with the referral spreadsheet
Your firm gets a large part of its conveyancing from estate agents, mortgage brokers and panel managers. Each has an agreement: some are paid a fee on completion, some on exchange, some nothing at all. At month end, someone in accounts works through completed files, checks the spreadsheet for who referred each one, looks up the agreement, and prepares payments.
Files with no introducer recorded are guessed at. Agents query statements. One broker was not paid for three months because their files were recorded under a colleague's name.
Why introducer tracking goes wrong
The introducer is often not recorded properly at instruction. The quote came from a portal, the client mentioned the agent in passing, and the matter was opened without the field filled. Agreements differ by introducer and change over time, so the fee due depends on the date and type of transaction.
Referral fees also need to be disclosed to the client in the way your firm's policy requires. When the introducer is not recorded, disclosure can be missed too.
| Weak point | Consequence |
|---|---|
| Introducer not recorded at instruction | Fees missed or wrongly paid |
| Agreements in email or paper | Wrong fee calculated |
| Month-end spreadsheet | Slow statements, errors |
| Disclosure not linked to introducer | Client letter may not match the arrangement |
What poor tracking costs
Introducers who are paid late or wrongly lose confidence and send work elsewhere. Accounts spend days each month reconciling. Partners cannot see which introducers produce completed files and which produce abortive ones. And gaps in disclosure are exactly what a file review should catch.
Where agreements are not clear on the file, disputes with introducers are hard to resolve.
The spreadsheet itself tends to be owned by one person in accounts. When they are on holiday at month end, statements are late, and when they leave, the knowledge of which branch of which agency is on which terms leaves with them.
How we build introducer tracking
- Introducer register: each introducer, their branches and contacts, and their agreement terms (what is paid, when and on which transaction types) are stored with effective dates.
- Capture at instruction: the introducer is recorded when the quote or matter is created, from the portal, the quote form or a required field for staff.
- Disclosure link: the client care documents include the disclosure wording your firm uses for that introducer's arrangement, so the two cannot drift apart.
- Fee calculation: when a file reaches the trigger in the agreement (completion, exchange), the fee due is calculated and recorded against the file.
- Statements and payments: each introducer gets a statement listing the files, the fees and any abortive files, and accounts get a payment list to approve.
- Introducer view: partners see referrals, completions, fall-throughs and fees for each introducer over time.
The agreements and disclosure wording are your firm's. The tool applies them consistently and keeps the record.
What month end looks like afterwards
Fees due are calculated as files complete, so month end is a review and approval rather than a reconstruction. Introducers get clear statements. Disclosure matches the arrangement on every file. Partners can see which relationships produce completed files, which helps when agreements are renewed.
Queries from introducers can be answered from the statement, not from memory.
Tick any that fit
- Referral fees are worked out in a spreadsheet at month end.
- The introducer is not always recorded on the file.
- Introducer agreements are held in email or paper files.
- Introducers query their statements or chase payments.
- You cannot easily see completions by introducer.