The Institute offers a structured and progressive career pathway designed to equip your support team with the skills and qualifications essential for legal finance and practice management. Our programme is widely recognised across the industry and has become the preferred choice for firms seeking to strengthen their Finance & Compliance teams and therefore better supporting you as COFA.
Empowering Your Support Team Through Professional Qualifications
• Modular Certification: Each certificate can be completed independently or combined to achieve full Institute Professional Qualifications.
• Flexible Learning: Our correspondence courses support diploma and fellowship examinations, offering a flexible study model that fits around professional and personal commitments.
• Dedicated Tutor Support: Students receive personalised guidance, feedback, and encouragement from experienced tutors throughout their learning journey.
• Recognition of Prior Learning: We can assess existing qualifications to determine eligibility for exemptions, helping streamline the path to certification.
By investing in your team’s development through the Institute, you reinforce the integrity and resilience of your COFA responsibilities.
Diploma Level - ILFM (Dip) - legal finance and compliance qualification
This diploma suits those relatively new to legal finance who would like to understand more about the role of legal cashier and advance their career. The diploma qualification comprises two certificates:
- Bookkeeping for Legal Finance Professionals; and
- Legal Finance Compliance & Accounts Rules
Together these provide a sound, comprehensive and practical knowledge of how to maintain solicitors’ internal records and how to comply with regulatory Accounts Rules.
Fellowship Level - FILFM - Legal finance & management qualification
Students who have been awarded the diploma can register for the fellowship qualification (FILFM), which comprises four certificates:
- Accounting for Legal Finance Professionals
- Financial Management
- Tax for Legal Finance Professionals; and
- Legal Practice Management
To gain the fellowship qualification, candidates need to pass both certificates 1 and 2 plus either certificate 3 or 4.
Candidates have up to 18 months to complete the coursework and enter for each examination, which comprises a formal three-hour, hand-written paper. Examination sittings are held twice a year: students wishing to take the exam locally will be required to pay any additional costs incurred.
- Certificate in Accounting for Legal Finance Professionals (CA)
- Certificate in Financial Management (CFM)
- Certificate in Legal Practice Management (CLPM)
- Certificate in Tax for Legal Finance Professionals (CTAX)
For the ILFM Fellowship qualification you need to have completed 3 Certificates.
Any of the Fellowship certificates can also be studied as a standalone option.