How to populate the Completion Statement

Smokeball offers a fully automated Completion Statement feature for Purchase, Sale, Remortgage, and Transfer matters. This guide will help you understand how to enter data in your matter to make the most of this functionality.

The example below is for an England Purchase matter. While the Completion Statements vary slightly between matter types, the overall process remains consistent.

Video guide

Prefer to watch a video? Watch our Completion Statement training video below:

Enter matter data

The Completion Statement is set up to avoid double data entry. To maximise the benefits of the automated Completion Statement, ensure that all relevant data is entered (once!) in the correct fields. This minimises duplicate data entry, improves record accuracy, and enhances integration with automated documents and partner systems.

While it’s best practice to enter all matter-related data, the screenshots below focus specifically on the fields required to generate your Completion Statement document.

Property Details

In the Property Details screen, enter:

• Address: This populates in the heading of the Completion Statement document.
• Nature of Property (e.g. Residential/Commercial): Required for the Stamp Duty calculation.
• Tenure (e.g. Freehold/Leasehold/Commonhold): Required for the Stamp Duty calculation, and also in Leasehold matters to calculate the leasehold apportionments.
  

For Leasehold properties, go to the Property Details > Leasehold Details tab to enter leasehold-specific data. Enter the:

• Payment Amount;
• Frequency of Payments; and
• Date Made Up To/Final Payment Date
  for each of the leasehold charges (Ground Rent, Service Charge and Buildings Insurance) to calculate the leasehold apportionments

Completion Details

In Completion Details screen, enter:

• Purchase Price: This will populate directly on the Completion Statement precedent, and is used in calculating the balance due from/owing to your client. It is also required for the Stamp Duty and Land Registry Fee calculators.
• Deposit: Appears as a completion statement Receipt.
• Fittings & Contents: Appears as a completion statement Receipt.
• Exchange Date: This populates directly on the Completion Statement document.
• Completion Date: This is required for calculating stamp duty and leasehold apportionments, and populates directly on the Completion Statement.
• Stamp Duty: Appears as a completion statement Expenditure.
• Land Registry Fee: Appears as a completion statement Expenditure.
  

Tip: Stamp Duty and Land Registry Fees are automatically calculated but should be reviewed for accuracy.

Lender + Mortgage Details

Enter the Lender Contact Card, then open the Mortgage Details sublayout to input:

• Gross Mortgage Advance
• Deductions (if applicable)

This will calculate the Net Mortgage Advance, which appears as a receipt in the Completion Statement.

Enter Time & Cost Recoveries

The Completion Statement automatically incorporates the Legal Fees and Cost Recoveries entered in your matter. See Billing and Client Accounts for more information on billing in Smokeball.

Fees

Enter all relevant fees for the matter, including:

• your professional fee
• any additional matter fees such as Leasehold property fee or Lender fee

The total of the billable fees appears as "Legal Fee" in the Completion Statement Expenditure.

Tip: Set up Activity codes for your standard fee entries to save time and avoid manually entering the fee information every time.

Cost Recoveries

Add all cost recoveries, such as searches, checks, or insurance policies, for the matter.

Matter cost recoveries can be selected to be included in the completion statement Expenditure.

Tip: If you Connect InfoTrack to Smokeball, cost recoveries for each InfoTrack order will be created automatically, saving you time manually entering each of these expenses.

Calculate your Completion Statement

Open the Completion Statement screen to enter final completion statement amounts including:

• Sale Proceeds
• Money on Account
• Allowances
• any additional expenditure or receipts that do not form part of the data entered above.

You will also be able to choose the Cost Recoveries to include in your completion statement by selecting some or all of the entries from the Cost Recovery drop-down. These items directly reflect the cost recoveries already entered on your matter, you do not need to manually enter them again as additional expenditure items.

The Completion Statement screen provides a clear summary of all expenditures and receipts, serving as:

✅ A summary of all amounts included in the Completion Statement
✅ A live calculator to view the balance due from/owed to the client
✅ A tool to ensure all amounts are accounted for before completion

🚫 This screen is not:

• A replacement for entering data in the matter.
• An invoice or substitute for billing.
• Designed for manually entering numerous expenditures—most items should already be entered in your matter or Time & Cost Recoveries.

Generate your Completion Statement document

Once all data has been entered and Completion Statement screen reviewed, you are ready to generate your Completion Statement document! 

1. Select Forms & Precedents.
   
2. Navigate to the Pre Completion folder for your matter (e.g. Purchase > Pre Completion).
3. Double-click on the 'Completion Statement' precedent.
   

The document will open in Word, reflecting all reviewed expenditures, receipts, and totals from the Completion Statement screen:

For Leasehold properties, generate the 'Apportionment Statement' precedent for a detailed breakdown of leasehold fee apportionments:

By following these steps, you can confidently use Smokeball’s automated Completion Statement feature to streamline your Conveyancing matters and ensure seamless Completion Statement generation.