Why Fee Earners Typing Reports is Costing Your Business More Than You Think

In many UK businesses, particularly within property and professional services, fee earners are the engine of the business.

They generate revenue, they manage client relationships and they deliver expertise.

So why are so many fee earners typing reports instead of focusing on higher value work?

It is a question that often goes unchallenged, but when you look at the numbers, the impact is hard to ignore.

The Hidden Cost

On the surface, it might seem efficient for a fee earner to type their own reports. After all, they know the content best.

But typing reports is not where their value lies.

Every hour spent formatting documents, typing notes or correcting speech to text output is an hour not spent on fee earning work.

Over time, fee earners typing reports creates a significant hidden cost.

Reduced billable hours
Slower turnaround for clients
Increased pressure on already busy professionals

And often, the quality of documents suffers too. Not because of lack of expertise, but because of lack of time.

Why Businesses Still Have Fee Earners Typing Reports

Despite the clear drawbacks, many businesses still rely on this.

Common reasons include:

It is quicker if I just do it myself
We do not have enough work to justify a full time typist
Speech to text will handle most of it

In reality, these approaches often shift the workload rather than remove it.

Speech to text, for example, still requires editing, formatting and checking. All of which take time.

A Better Approach

The most efficient businesses do not expect fee earners to do everything.

They focus on using the right resource for the right task.

Instead of fee earners typing reports, they are able to.

Dictate reports quickly
Focus on client facing and revenue generating work
Deliver higher quality output without time pressure

This simple shift improves both productivity and output quality.

How Outsourcing Solves the Problem

Outsourcing typing support removes the need for fee earners typing reports altogether.

Instead of committing to a fixed cost, businesses can access professional typing support when required.

At BackupTyping, we support UK businesses by handling:

Audio transcription
Document formatting
General typing support

If you regularly work from recorded notes or meetings, using professional transcription services UK can significantly reduce the time spent reviewing and correcting documents.

For those already dictating reports, combining this with a structured dictation typing service allows work to be completed quickly without returning to a desktop or retyping content.

It Is Not Just About Time. It Is About Value

When you reduce the time spent on fee earners typing reports, the impact goes beyond efficiency.

Fee earners gain more time to:

Focus on clients
Take on additional work
Deliver higher value services

Bringing real business growth.

Rethinking Fee Earners Typing Reports

Continuing typing your own reports might feel like the easiest option.

However, it is often the least efficient.

A small change in how typing work is handled can make a significant difference to productivity, turnaround time and overall business performance.

If you are also reviewing your wider processes, it is worth considering how admin support fits into your workflow, especially during busy periods or when dealing with large volumes of reporting.

If your business still relies on fee earners typing reports, it may be time to take a different approach. Send us a sample and we will show you how much time you could save.

Call 020 7096 1663 or email us today.

BackupTyping has supported chartered surveyors since 1999 with accurate, proofread report typing and flexible turnaround options.

End Those Holiday Blues

Outsource Typing versus Getting a Temp

What happens when your trusted secretary puts in a request for holiday? As soon as it is agreed the planning starts and makes the days or weeks before a stressful time (let’s not even mention not being able to ‘switch off’ whilst away, dreading coming back to a mountain of work).

If you can find an audio typing temp who has all the necessary skills you are very lucky but even this has its drawbacks. Employing a temp means you will be paying for 7 hours a day regardless of whether or not any work is actually carried out.

If you are just handing over typing duties, will you really dictate enough for them to be typing for 7 hours each day?

If, however, you are unable to find a suitable temp and you need to spread the workload around the rest of the team, this adds pressure and can lead to delays with secretaries being overloaded.

Is there a solution that works for everyone? Absolutely.

Why Outsourcing Typing Works

Outsourcing your audio typing works best when using a market specific transcription company and is the perfect solution for holiday cover as you only pay for work actually carried out.

At BackupTyping we work with all sizes of companies; some clients use our services every day and others need us twice a year for holiday cover.

The team consists of highly experienced chartered surveying audio typists meaning there is no need to explain terminology, no need to train on layouts, all we simply need are the necessary templates and a dictation file (don’t have a dictation machine? No problem, we have you covered with our easy to use dictation app).

Whether its once a day or once a year our team are on hand when needed, let us take the strain out of holiday cover. BackupTyping are always available when needed – day and night. Here when you need us, on standby when you don’t.

We are always happy to have a Teams/Zoom meeting if anything needs to be covered in detail but rest assured you will be in a safe pair of hands.

BackupTyping provides fast, accurate and experienced transcription for property professionals - saving you time and money. Call us on 020 7096 1663 to find out how we can help you.