The pipe roll for 1155–1156 has several entries which declare that Nigel was making decisions about monetary affairs and issuing writs, but later pipe rolls do not contain any such entries. It appears likely that after the initial reorganization of the Exchequer, Nigel's involvement lessened. He continued to be active, though, and obtained tax exemptions and other privileges until his death in 1169. His son, Richard fitzNeal, who is the main source for information about Nigel's career in the Exchequer, stated that he fulfilled Nigel's treasury duties when Nigel was ill. Nigel continued to spar with Robert, the Earl of Leicester, and Richard fitzNeal relays a story about Nigel and Robert confronting each other at the Exchequer over traditional exemptions of the barons of the Exchequer, or judges of the Exchequer. Among the reforms carried out by Nigel were the restoration of the "blanch farm" system, whereby a random sample of coins was assayed and any shortage was collected from the sheriff, and the restoration of collections from a swath of counties that had quit paying taxes during Stephen's reign. The most substantial change was the return to a unified system of finances, which in turn required a reconciliation of the two different systems in use by Stephen and Matilda. Despite Nigel's reinstatement to the Exchequer, and the nomination of his son as treasurer, Nigel did not enjoy the power that his uncle had wielded under Henry I. The exact date of Richard's appointment as treasurer is obscure, but it was sometime between 1158 and 1160, as he is securely attested as treasurer in 1160. The "Liber Eliensis" states that Nigel paid the king £400 to secure the office for Richard. Some historians have seen Nigel as Henry II's "minister of finance".