The pitch
“I heard from Dan that data sits across several systems and that reporting is a challenge. This is something we can solve. CW Heartbeat draws on all the data we already have, brings it together in one place, and puts the right information in front of the right people.”
Layer 1
Source Systems
Layer 2
CW Heartbeat
Layer 3
Report Engine
Layer 4
Report Types
ELITE 3E
Financial Management
API
Practice Management System
Matter & Case Management
API ETL
iManage
Document Management
API
Microsoft 365
Productivity & Comms
API
HR Platform
People & Workforce Data
ETL
Telephone System
Communications Analytics
ETL
CMS
Client Management System
API ETL
Risk & Compliance Platform
Governance & Risk
API
Other Systems
TBD - Listen Phase
TBD
Acquired Firm
Finance Platform
Financial Management
ETLPractice Management System
Matter & Case Management
ETLRisk & Compliance Platform
Governance & Risk
ETLDocument Management Platform
Document & Matter Files
ETLHR System
People & Workforce Data
ETL
API
→
ETL
PulseCW Heartbeat
Centralised cloud data warehouse.
Refreshed continuously throughout the day.
Refreshed continuously throughout the day.
AzureAWS
Single unified data model
Continuous ingest via API & ETL
Audit trail and data governance
Report-level access control
Table-level access control
Acquisition data layer
Target Firm
Held in a separate table. Not merged with CW data until integration is formally approved.
🔒 Staged - pending integration
HEARTBEAT DB RECORDS
1,247,832
TDS
→
Microsoft Fabric
Connects to CW Heartbeat and generates interactive, drill-down enabled reports.
Interactive dashboards
Drill-down reporting
Real-time data refresh
Role-based access
Self-serve analytics
Excel & Power BI export
→
Financial Reports
Revenue · WIP · Billing
£ Financial Reports
WIP
WIP by Fee Earner
WIP by Department
Aged WIP
Unbilled Disbursements
Billing & Revenue
Fees Billed by Period
Fees Billed by Fee Earner
Realisation Rates
Revenue Trends
Lock-Up
Lock-Up by Department
Lock-Up by Partner
WIP Days
Debtor Days
Debtors
Aged Debtors
Overdue Invoices
Collection Performance
Bad Debt Reporting
Profitability
Profitability by Matter Type
Profitability by Partner
Gross Margin Analysis
Client Money
Client Ledger Balances
Dormant & Residual Balances
Operational Reports
Matters · Workflow · Compliance
⚙ Operational Reports
Matter Management
New Matters Opened
Matters Closed
Matter Volumes by Team
Average Matter Closure Time
Workflow
Outstanding Tasks
Pending Approvals
Stalled Matters
SLA Breaches
Inactivity
No Activity 30/60/90 Days
Dormant Matters
Matter Age Analysis
Compliance
Missing AML Checks
Missing Risk Assessments
Outstanding Due Diligence
Regulatory Exceptions
Service Delivery
Matter Turnaround Times
SLA Performance
Complaint Trends
People & HR Reports
Headcount · Absence · Turnover
👥 People & HR Reports
Headcount
Headcount by Team
Headcount by Office
Team Growth Trends
Vacancy Analysis
Absence
Annual Leave
Sickness Absence
Bradford Factor
Absence Trends
Turnover
Starters & Leavers
Attrition Rate by Team
Exit Reason Analysis
Business Development
Pipeline · Clients · Sectors
📈 Business Development
Pipeline & Clients
Matter Pipeline by Sector
New Client Acquisition
Revenue by Client
Cross-sell & Referral Tracking
Repeat Business Rate
Productivity Reports
Time · Utilisation · Output
⏱ Productivity Reports
Utilisation
Fee Earner Utilisation
Time Recording Compliance
Chargeable vs Non-Chargeable Hours
Output
Matter Output by Team
Productivity Benchmarks
Work Distribution Analysis
KPI Dashboards
Executive · Practice · Operational
🎯 KPI Dashboards
Dashboards
Firm-Wide KPI Dashboard
Practice Group Performance
Partner-Level Scorecard
Office Comparison Dashboard
IT Service Performance
Real-Time Operational View
Why use a Data Warehouse and MS Fabric instead of ELITE?
The case for reporting outside your core practice management platform
01
Centralised accessSecure
One reporting platform for the whole firm. Finance, operations, HR, BD and productivity data in a single place - with consistent formatting, access controls and governance. No more pulling reports from five different systems and reconciling them in a spreadsheet.
02
No ELITE access requiredEfficiency
Partners, practice group leaders, HR and BD teams can access the reports they need without ever touching ELITE. Fewer licences, fewer support requests, lower risk of errors in the source system. The right people get the right data without needing the full platform.
03
Due diligence and acquisitionsStrategic
When Clarke Willmott acquires another firm or conducts due diligence, their data can be ingested into a separate layer of CW Heartbeat without any access to ELITE. Financial and operational data from the target firm can be modelled, compared and reported on independently - then formally integrated once the decision is made.
Glossary
Plain-English explanations. Click any underlined term to jump to its definition.
API - Application Programming Interface
⌄A live, automatic connection between two software systems. When one system updates, the API passes that information to another in real time. Think of it as a telephone line between two platforms that is always on.
ETL - Extract, Transform, Load
⌄A process that pulls data from a source system (Extract), cleans and restructures it (Transform), and loads it into the warehouse (Load). Used where a live API is not available. Typically runs on a schedule.
Continuous Ingest
⌄Data flowing into the warehouse on an ongoing basis throughout the day. As source systems update - a new matter opened, a bill raised, time recorded - that data is captured and sent to CW Heartbeat automatically.
Data Warehouse
⌄A single organised database holding data from many systems. Reports run against the warehouse, not the source systems - so reporting never slows down the platforms people use every day.
Report-Level Access Control
⌄Controls which reports a person can see. A practice group leader sees their team data. The SLT sees the firm-wide view. Access is assigned by role and reviewed centrally.
Table-Level Access Control
⌄Controls which parts of the database a person can query, even when using self-serve tools. Sensitive fields such as salaries are masked or excluded by default.
Microsoft Fabric
⌄Microsoft's unified analytics platform. Connects to CW Heartbeat and turns raw data into charts, dashboards and reports. Supports drill-down, self-serve analytics and scheduled distribution.
Drill-Down Reporting
⌄Click a number in a report to see the detail behind it. Total revenue, then by matter, then by fee earner. The data is all there - drill-down lets you navigate it interactively.
Self-Serve Analytics
⌄Authorised people build their own reports without asking IT - within the boundaries of their access permissions.
Azure & AWS - Cloud Infrastructure
⌄The two leading cloud computing platforms. CW Heartbeat runs on cloud infrastructure: managed, backed up and secured by the provider, meeting compliance standards required for legal data.
TDS - Tabular Data Stream
⌄A Microsoft protocol that handles the transfer of data between applications and SQL Server databases. It manages queries, authentication and results securely over a network connection, using TLS encryption. In CW Heartbeat, TDS is the channel through which the report engine retrieves structured data from the warehouse.