FirstClass Essentials is ideal for those charities with a smaller number of legacies who still require effective legacy management software packed with key features.

FirstClass is the UK’s leading legacy management software. Originally designed by a group of six charities over 20 years ago, FirstClass has been continually developed and improved, and along with FirstClass Web, there are over 100 not-for-profit organisations using it today. With FirstClass, Clear offers a professional, efficient and easy to use program which offers a large number of benefits to charities in managing their legacy process.

As with all other versions of FirstClass, FirstClass Essentials manages the intricacies of the legacy process and has been designed to be a professional, affordable and cost-effective tool for charities seeking to maximise their income stream from legacies. The Essentials version of FirstClass offers fewer advanced features than the In-house or Cloud versions and is accessed online via any suitable PC. Clear install FirstClass and all the related software on Clear’s own secure online Microsoft Azure platform and manage the upkeep of the servers, including backups, with little or no IT support required from your IT team. The Essentials version is restricted to a maximum of 3 concurrent users from your charity.

The following features are not available in the Essentials version of FirstClass compared to FirstClass In-house and FirstClass Cloud:

  • Assets
  • Estate Accounts
  • IHT Calculator
  • Accruals
  • Emailing
  • Secure, managed servers

    Clear manage the upkeep of the servers, including backups, with little or no IT support required from your IT team.

  • Rapid access to legacy records

    FirstClass is used to keep track of all charitable legacies due and received, providing instant access to pipeline information whenever it’s needed.

  • Comprehensive contact history

    A complete contact history is maintained for each legacy, which can be updated each time a new communication is sent or received.

  • Notification wizard

    The Notification Wizard provides a simple step by step process to take you carefully through the full process of recording a new notification. The wizard has built in processes to help prevent duplicate records from being entered. It can also work with Smee and Ford electronic data and link into your charity’s CRM (only available for cloud-based CRMs).

  • Income, expenditure and estimates

    FirstClass offers you the ability to record both income and expenditure against each legacy. A history of estimated values can be entered for each legacy along with associated expected income records.

  • Unlimited customisable standard letters

    FirstClass includes the ability to use standard letter templates, which can be tailored to suit any circumstances to ensure that communications are ‘in brand’ and have the correct tone. Digital signatures can be stored in FirstClass and used within the templates.

  • Reports

    FirstClass offers an extensive set of built-in financial and managerial reports.

  • Dashboard

    The Dashboard provides a quick and easy picture of your recent legacy performance. It shows a breakdown of your Income, Target and Notifications as Month to Date (MTD) and Year to Date (YTD) and the Total Balance Outstanding. A chart shows your income received in the last 12 months against targets that have been set.

  • Timeline

    A tabular timeline view is available which shows the progress of the administration of each legacy including key milestones in the past, such as probate date, and also important dates in the future, such as forthcoming reviews and expected income.

  • Add modules at ease

    A number of modules are available to purchase to work within the FirstClass system including Legacy Prospects, In Memoriam, Will Scheme, CRM Integration (only available for cloud-based CRMs) and Smee and Ford Imports.

  • Add features and services

    Clear can also provide a number of tools and services to work alongside FirstClass including Data Imports, Data Exports, Data Migration and easy Legacy Monitor data generation. Additional costs may apply.

  • Increased accessibility

    As the program is stored on our secure online Microsoft Azure platform, it can be accessed online via any suitable PC, especially useful for those who work from home or travel out of office frequently.

  • Legacy administration

    FirstClass is quick and easy to use – legacy officers find FirstClass intuitive and a real benefit.

  • Management reporting

    FirstClass will improve the speed and accuracy of reporting and forecasting allowing for more advanced analysis of legacy income.

  • Added value

    Skilled legacy administrators ‘add value’ to their legacy income by completing their job to a high standard and by using FirstClass, administrators will increase this value. A number of charities have attempted to quantify the value added by trained legacy officers using effective legacy systems, generating a figure between 5% and 8%.

For more information on FirstClass Essentials and available modules, please see the documents in the resources section.

Other FirstClass Versions

At a glance

Lay and professional contacts

Relationship with Legator

Split income and expenditure between legacies

Multiple legacy elements associated with each legator

User definable legacy types

Legacy status of open, closed or dormant

History of estimated values and expected income

Important dates such as Last Will Date, Codicil Date, Probate Date, Date Notified etc

Multiple addresses

Aliases to record other names that the person may also be known as

Reviews Dashboard to show position of all reviews

Quick open

Recently used

Setting default categories in browsers and reports

Adding favourites to the Home screen

Built-in report to provide data for the HMRC website

Up to 30 built in browser allowing users to interrogate data

Many built in reports

Info Headers to quickly draw your attention to important information

Timeline – tabular representation of the progress of the administration of an estate

New manual notifications

Creating letters

Smee and Ford electronic notifications (for an additional cost)

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