Ashcombe

Architecture

How the office is put together

Two rooms, one register. The client office and the practice office read the same relationships, engagements, and matters, with different permissions.

Client office

Sees only their household: shared matters, released documents, approved briefings, and their own instructions.

Practice office

Directors work a book. The manager sees every matter, approval, procedure, vendor, and fee note.

Administration

Personnel, stages, templates, rules, and the audit. No client room and no relationship desk.

System

Rooms

Client, director, manager, administrator

Register

Clients, engagements, matters, tasks

Rule engine

Notices, holds, flags, audit

Record

Documents, briefings, fee notes, history

Client roomShared registerPractice roomRules sit on the register and decide notices, holds, and the audit.

Business flow

  1. 1

    Enquiry

    A name, a household, and a director.

  2. 2

    Review

    Conflict check and a preliminary note.

  3. 3

    Terms

    An engagement, a fee label, a renewal.

  4. 4

    Onboarding

    The letter is filed and the first matter opens.

  5. 5

    Administration

    Tasks, papers, decisions, approvals.

  6. 6

    Briefing

    A summary is approved, then delivered.

  7. 7

    Renewal or close

    The engagement continues or is closed.

Data flow

  1. 1. A client writes a request, or a director opens a matter.
  2. 2. The matter takes a stage, an owner, a due date, and a client summary.
  3. 3. A procedure can add tasks. A decision moves the stage and, if the rule is on, notifies the client.
  4. 4. Urgent completion waits for the practice manager.
  5. 5. A briefing is assembled from visible matters, approved, then placed in the client room.

Rule engine

  • When a matter moves to awaiting direction then the client office is notified.
  • When an urgent matter is marked completed then it waits for approval.
  • When work is urgent then it stays on the attention list.
  • When a stage changes then the audit records it.

An administrator can switch a rule off. The register then behaves without that step.

ClientDirectorManagerAdministrator
Own matters and briefingsYes———
A book of clients—Yes——
Whole register——Yes—
Approvals and fees——Yes—
Stages, rules, personnel———Yes