How One Firm Replaced Virtual Cabinet With a Single System for Documents, Clients, and eSignatures.

The Challenge: Legacy Systems, Server End-of-Life, and Growing Workflow Complexity

For over a decade, Lloydbottoms relied on Virtual Cabinet and ACT running on their local server. The system had worked well historically, but as the server approached end-of-life, the firm reached a critical turning point.

Once the server was retired:

• ❌ Key integrations such as ACT would no longer function
• ❌ Maintaining the legacy setup would require new hardware, new Windows licensing, and ongoing IT overhead‍
• ❌ The firm would still be left with separate systems for document storage and their client portal

At the same time, the scale of historical data had become a serious consideration. The firm needed to manage hundreds of thousands of documents accumulated across nearly 30 years, without losing structure, context, or accessibility.

The risk was clear: a poorly executed migration could be disruptive, costly, and damaging to client service.

Alongside the infrastructure challenge, the legacy DMS was also creating day-to-day inefficiencies:

• 🔴 Manual filing conventions that didn’t always carry cleanly across systems
• 🔴 Difficulty retrieving documents when descriptions weren’t applied consistently
• 🔴 A client portal that required logins clients frequently forgot

Lloydbottoms needed a next-generation replacement for Virtual Cabinet - one that was cloud-native, organised, simple for clients, and capable of handling their full historical archive.

The Solution: A Modern Cloud DMS That Replaced Legacy Tools Without Disruption

Lloydbottoms replaced Virtual Cabinet with Workiro - a cloud-based document management system designed to consolidate storage, collaboration, and signing into a single platform.

The priority was clear: modernise without disrupting staff or clients.

What made the transition work:

• ⚡ Assisted migration of all historic documents
  Workiro’s onboarding team supported the full transfer from Virtual Cabinet, exporting ACT-linked data, matching client codes and identifiers, carrying across historical tags (such as tax, payroll, and VAT), and resolving corrupted or invalid files in coordination with Lloydbottoms’ IT provider.

“We had a lot of help and support. Most clients went through fine - and anything that needed resolving, Workiro talked us through it.”

• ⚡ Tag-based filing instead of manual descriptions
  Documents are organised using tags rather than rigid naming conventions, making filing faster, retrieval more reliable, and ensuring everything remains client-linked and fully searchable.

“The tagging made the biggest difference. Filing is quicker, and finding things later is far easier - you’re not relying on how someone happened to name a file.”

• ⚡ A client experience that removed portal friction
  Workiro replaced password-protected PDFs and forgotten portal logins with secure, no-login access. Clients receive a secure link and can view and sign instantly, using either a simple click or a handwritten-style facsimile.

“I haven’t had anybody come back and say ‘I can’t work with this’ - it’s easier for clients than our old portal.”

• ⚡ Threaded collaboration and clear task ownership
  Documents, comments, and actions stay together in one place, with tasks clearly assigned and approvals easier to track.

“It all stays in one place. People know they need to look at it because it’s got their name on it.”

• ⚡ Integration with Bright Manager for one-click access
  Using Workiro’s browser extension, staff can open a client in Bright Manager and access all related documents instantly - avoiding duplication or cross-system searching.
• ⚡ Cloud-native reliability with dependable support
  With no servers to manage and no upgrades to schedule, Workiro reduced IT overhead while still providing responsive support when needed.

“On the occasions where we have needed support, it’s been positive - but we haven’t needed it much, because Workiro just works.”