FINANCE 001

Policy No.
Policy BILLING OF CLIENT POLICY
Purpose 1.To ensure strict compliance and accurate figures that are verifiable from
supporting documents.
2.To prevent bill shocks and surprises on the part of client.
3.To monitor and determine entitlement to grinder share and collection
incentives.
4.To provide a consistent framework for billing of professional fees and
reimbursements to clients to increase collection performance.
Page(s) 3
Date effective March 1, 2018
Applicable Service Quotation (SQ), Service Report (SR), Reimbursement Report (RR)
forms and Statement of Account (SOA):

1. POLICY

S&G promotes full compliance with all relevant billing, coding and claim reimbursement
requirements by expecting all personnel involved in billing and claims submission to
maintain high ethical standards and a strong knowledge of all laws and regulations
elated to the billing function.

2. POLICY GUIDELINES

2.1 In all instances, servicing of clients should ONLY commence upon the approval
and execution of the Service Agreement (SA) or Project Agreement (PA) or
Retainer Agreement (RA) or Engagement Agreement (EA) by our potential clients.

2.2 Walk-ins and pro bono clients should also execute the above-mentioned
agreements before servicing commences.

2.3 In no instance that any employee, handling lawyer, paralegal officer and/or
office staff, shall provide service without any approved agreement except when
the partner/s do otherwise.

2.4 Statement of Account should always have the DUE DATE clearly indicated in its
form. The due date should not be less than 5 days from the date of the SOA.

2.5 For purposes of Billing, only two forms shall be for external use, the Service
Quotation and the Statement of Account. This is for the purpose of avoiding
numerous emails in relation to billing which confuses our client.

3. POLICY PROCEDURES

3.1 Upon signing of an Engagement Agreement or Project Agreement or Service

Agreement or Retainer Agreement, the finance department is compelled to send
the client’s first Statement of Account covering the initial payment of either
acceptance fee, retainer fee, out of pocket expense deposit etc. within 3 days
from the approval and signing of any of the above-mentioned agreements.

3.1.1 The Marketing department should copy furnish and inform the finance
department whenever the above-mentioned agreement/s were already approved
by the client.

3.2 Before rendering of legal/paralegal service

3.2.1 Make sure that any of the above-mentioned agreement is already

expressly approved by the client before rendering service.
 3.2.2 Once the agreement is already signed and approved by the client but
before rendering of service, the handling lawyer and his/her team must
submit through email and copy furnish the finance department of a
service quotation (SQ) listing all possible expenses necessary in the
performance of the client’s request.

3.2.3 The SQ should include all possible out of pocket expenses (OPE) and
Professional Fees (PF) necessary in the execution of the service.

3.2.4 The handling lawyer should wait for the express approval of the client in
the same email thread for transparency purposes.

3.2.5 Once the SQ is expressly approved by the client, the handling lawyer’s
team can now proceed to serve the legal needs of the client.

3.2 After rendering of legal/paralegal service

3.3.1 After the rendition of the service, the handling lawyer or any of its team
member shall forward by email to the finance department the final
chargeable bill of the client through the SR and the RR.

3.3.1.1 Service Report (SR) is a form that lists down all professional
fees which were incurred while rendering service to the client.
This should not deviate from the agreement and SQ approved and
signed by the client to avoid mistrust between our company and
the client.

3.3.1.2 However, if there is an instance that an additional

professional fee is incurred which was not anticipated during the
performance of the service and it was not included in the SQ, the
handling lawyer must make sure that the client is properly
appraised of the additional professional fee before the sending of
the client’s Statement of Account (SOA).

3.3.1.3 Reimbursement Report (RR) is a form that lists down all

out of pocket expenses which were necessary in the execution of
the service. This should not deviate from the agreement and SQ
approved and signed by the client to avoid mistrust between our
company and the client.

3.3.1.4 However, if there is an instance that an additional out of

pocket expense is incurred which was not anticipated during the
performance of the service and it was not included in the SQ, the
handling lawyer must make sure that the client is properly
appraised of the additional professional fee before the sending of
the client’s Statement of Account (SOA).

3.3.2 Upon the receipt of the SR and/or RR by the finance department, the
latter shall have 3 days within which to issue a statement of account
(SOA) and send it to the appropriate client.

3.3.2.1 The finance department shall base the client’s SOA to the
SR/RR forms forwarded by the handling lawyer’s team. In no case
that the finance department shall deviate from the figures or
computations of the handling lawyer’s team except when there is
clear mistake of the computation, clerical errors or if there are
tax considerations.

3.3.3 When the Statement of Account is ready for submission, the finance
department should email it to the client within the time allotted in
 paragraph 3.3.2 of this policy. The finance Department should ALWAYS
copy furnish the handling lawyer’s team for coordination and monitoring
purposes.

4. EFFECTIVITY

March 1, 2018.

5. DISCLIPINARY CLAUSE
Management shall have the right to institute disciplinary actions against employees
violating this policy.

5.1 For violating the period as provided in this policy, the erring employee may be
penalized as follows, to wit:
1st offense Written Warning
2nd offense Performance Improvement Plan
3rd offense Last Written Warning
4th offense Termination

5.2 For sending fraudulent/tampered/baseless Statement of Accounts to clients by

deviating from the SR/RR received from the handling lawyer’s team, the erring
employee may be penalized as follows, to wit:
1st offense Written Warning
2nd offense Termination

5.3 For sending Statement of Account to clients without copy furnishing the finance
team, the erring employee may be penalized as follows, to wit:
1st offense Written Warning
2nd offense Performance Improvement Plan
3rd offense Last Written Warning
4th offense Termination

5.4 For violating the procedures as provided in this policy but not violation paragraph
5.1-5.3 of this policy, shall be subject to the following penalties, to wit:
1st Offense Verbal Warning
2nd Offense 2nd Verbal Warning and Counseling
3rd Offense Written Warning
4th Offense Final Written Warning
5th Offense Performance Improvement Plan or Value
Improvement Plan (3-6 months)
6th Offense Termination

6. MANAGEMENT PROVISION

Management reserves the right to change this policy when the exigencies of the business
so require. The right to change the policy shall be in furtherance of the company’s
management prerogative and shall be in accordance with law.
 FINANCE 002
Policy No.
Policy COLLECTION POLICY
Purpose 1.To ensure timely collections of billable professional fees and
reimbursements of out of pocket expenses.
2.To provide a consistent framework for billing of professional fees and
reimbursements to clients to increase collection performance.
Page(s) 2
Date effective March 1, 2018
Applicable Reminder Letter Template, Follow-up letter Template, Suspension of
forms Services Template, Demand Letter Template.

1. POLICY

The Finance department is tasked to collect professional fees and reimbursements on

time. This policy shall provide a system that is efficient and aligned with current and
existing policies of the company.

2. POLICY GUIDELINES

2.1 Upon the approval of the client of the mentioned agreements in Finance Policy
no. 1, the finance department is required to email the client’s first Statement
of Account within 3 days from the receipt of the approved agreement.

2.2 The finance department is likewise required to issue official receipts for
payments made by the client. For VAT clients, the finance department is also
required to send a copy of BIR form 2307 in accordance with current regulations.

2.3 Any employee, handling lawyer, paralegal officer and/or office staff is required
to secure the permission of the Partner for Finance in case the client is listed in
the RED FLAG list before rendering of service.

2.4 Collection follow-up by the Finance Department should commence right after
the expiration of the due date as indicated in the Statement of Account. A follow
up email should be sent to the client one (1) day after the SOA’s due date.

2.5 Whenever the client asks for renegotiation of the SOA, the handling
partner/lawyer should inform the finance department of the new negotiated fees
in a timely manner. The finance department should send a new SOA and cancel
the previously issued SOA within 3 days from notice.

3. POLICY PROCEDURES

3.1 Unpaid SOA after due date without intervention of the Partner for Finance.

3.1.1 One day after due date of any SOA sent to any clients, the comptroller
should send a reminder email that the subject SOA is already due.

3.1.2 If the reminder email is not acknowledged or responded upon, the

comptroller shall make a follow up call after 24 hours from the sending
of the reminder email.

3.1.3 In case the reminder email and the follow-up call is ineffective, the
comptroller shall be obliged to send a follow-up email 5 days from the
due date.

3.1.4 If follow-up email is not acknowledged or responded to, the comptroller

shall make a 2nd and final follow-up call after 24 hours from sending of
the follow-up email.
 3.1.5 Once the 2nd follow-up call is ineffective, the comptroller shall inform the
Partner for Finance of the status of the subject SOA for appropriate
action.

3.2 Unpaid SOA after due date with intervention of the Partner for Finance.

3.2.1 Upon failure to attain the objectives of the preceding paragraphs, the
Partner for Finance shall make the necessary follow up email or call
within 48 hours from the notice of the comptroller that collection efforts
were ineffective on his part.

3.2.2 The Partner for Finance or any of his/her authorized representative other
than the comptroller shall make the necessary assessment of the status
of the subject client by communicating with the latter why there is a
delay of payment.

3.2.3 When assessment is ineffective because of the client’s uncooperative

behavior, the Partner for Administration shall recommend that the client
be tagged as RED FLAG client.

3.2.4 When the assessment is due to causes other than the uncooperative
behavior of the client, the finance team should make the necessary
adjustment with the supervision of the Partner for Finance.

3.2.5 The necessary adjustment should be made in reasonable time as

instructed by the Partner for Finance.

3.3 Unpaid SOA after 30 days or unpaid SOA amounting to more than fifty
thousand.

3.3.1 When the procedures in 3.1 and 3.2 is ineffective in collecting the amount
due as indicated in the subject SOA, the Partner for Administration shall inform
the Executive Board that the subject client is in RED FLAG.

3.3.2 The Executive Board shall make the necessary decision whether to
suspend our services and/or send necessary demand letter.

4. EFFECTIVITY

March 1, 2018.

5. MANAGEMENT PROVISION

Management reserves the right to change this policy when the exigencies of the business
so require. The right to change the policy shall be in furtherance of the company’s
management prerogative and shall be in accordance with law.
 FINANCE Policy 003
No.
Policy COLLECTION INCENTIVE PROGRAM
Purpose 1.To motivate every team to promptly collect outstanding balances from
clients.
2.To provide an incentive program for extra effort.
3.To monitor and determine entitlement to grinder share and collection
incentives.
Page(s) 2
Date effective March 1, 2018
Applicable forms

1. POLICY

To establish a uniform policy and methodology to calculate incentive payments to teams

for the collection of cash or cash equivalents for services provided to clients.

2. POLICY GUIDELINES

2.1 A five (5) percent incentive shall be given to the team who handled/serviced the
paying client.

2.2 The (5) percent incentive shall be computed as follows, to wit:

2.2.1 5% of the Professional Fees actually paid.

2.2.1.1 Professional Fees includes Acceptance Fees, Pleadings fees,

Retainer Fees, Appearance Fees, Hourly fees, Success Fees and all other
fees as indicated in the signed EA, RA, PA and SA.

2.2.2 5% of the Out of Pocket Expenses actually paid

2.2.2.1 Out of Pocket Expenses includes, Tariffs, transportation

expenses, communication expenses, filing fees, photocopying expenses,
printing expenses, meal expenses and all other expenses as indicated in
the signed EA, RA, PA and SA.

2.2.3 less Value Added Tax and other taxes remitted to the Government.

2.3 Any unknown deposit or payment shall not merit any incentive until the finance
team would be able to accurately identify the client who deposited the said
payment.

2.4 The incentive is not for the individual employee but for the entire team. The
distribution of the incentive shall be under the discretion of the Partner.

3. POLICY PROCEDURES
3.1 The Partner shall initiate collection strategy for his/her entire team. When the
team was able to collect any amount for professional fees and/or out of pocket
expenses, the Partner should inform the finance team that the client already
deposited the said payment.
3.2 The Finance team shall verify the deposit made by the client. The verification
should be with actual proof such as the deposit slip.
3.3 When actual cash is paid, the finance team is obliged to credit such payment as
soon as cash is already received by anyone from the company.
3.4 When check is received for payment, the finance team shall credit the payment
to the appropriate team when the check is already cleared and credited to the
company’s bank account.
 3.5 When payment is already credited to the appropriate team. The Finance
department shall make a monthly report to that effect.
3.6 An up to date monthly report shall be made available to every team for
transparency purposes.
3.7 Cut-off of the incentive shall be bi-monthly specifically every 15th and the last
day of the month.
3.8 Pay-out for the incentive shall be given every payroll cut-off date.
4. RETROACTIVITY

4.1 Any collection of payment from March 1, 2017 shall merit the above-stated
incentive provided that the Finance team may accurately identify the client who
actually paid. The Partner shall be in charge in distributing the shares of his/her
team members.

4.2 Any collections of payment form Paladins of Leadership and Wisdom Inc., shall
also merit the above-stated incentive provided that the Finance team may
accurately identify the client who actually paid. The partner in charge shall be
in charge in distributing the shares of his/her team members.

5. EFFECTIVITY

March 1, 2018.

5. MANAGEMENT PROVISION

Management reserves the right to change this policy when the exigencies of the business
so require. The right to change the policy shall be in furtherance of the company’s
management prerogative and shall be in accordance with law.