Matters, Time and Billing

Firms work around their practice software

Almost every professional services firm we work with has practice management software and a set of spreadsheets alongside it, because the software does not model something the firm actually does.

The spreadsheets are where the real information lives, and they are the argument for either a better fit or a custom layer.

Time capture is the highest-value piece

Time recorded at the end of the week is systematically understated. Capturing it as it happens, or reconstructing it from calendar and email activity, typically recovers three to six per cent of billable hours.

• Draft entries generated from calendar, email and document activity
• Confirmed by the fee earner in seconds, not minutes
• Matter allocation suggested from context
• Nothing recorded without a person confirming it

Matter tracking that reflects your work

1. Stages that match how your matters actually progress
2. Deadlines and obligations extracted and diarised
3. Documents linked to the matter, not to a folder someone named
4. Who is responsible at each stage, visibly
5. A view of every live matter and its state

Billing rules are where the complexity is

Fixed fees, hourly, capped, conditional, staged, with disbursements and different rates by fee earner and by client. Most firms have several of these running simultaneously.

Modelling that properly is the difference between a system that produces bills and one where someone checks every one by hand.

Reporting the partners actually use