Collection is one of the most dreaded activities of a law firm. Many attorneys simply ignore overdue accounts or make only half-hearted efforts to collect, but those attorneys are unnecessarily hurting their incomes. CosmoLex legal billing software for attorneys provides powerful tools to help you improve your collection rate, but you can’t distance yourself from the collection process.

What CosmoLex Does

CosmoLex improves your firm’s collection rate in a number of ways:

• Clean and uncluttered invoices are easy for clients to understand and get paid faster than confusing and complex billing.
• Easy oversight of unpaid matters allows you to see who needs further attention.
• Overdue reminders for all aged accounts can be generated with a single click. Often a gentle nudge is all it takes to get invoices paid.

In addition, built-in retainer management tools make it easier to administer advance payments. Pay invoices from retainers. Issue low retainer replenishment requests with a click. Monitor retainers with built-in trust accounting software features so you don’t accidentally spend a retainer before you’ve earned it.

These tools will help your practice maintain a healthy cash flow, but they don’t replace one important component of the collection process: personal contact.

What CosmoLex Doesn’t Do

CosmoLex efficiently automates the billing and collection process but it can’t take the place of a personal phone call. Nobody likes making collection calls but at some point someone in your office will have to reach out to clients who are extremely behind in payments.

Don’t be aggressive. Ask the client what the problem is and when you can expect to be paid. Remember the adage about the squeaky wheel. If you are calling and other creditors are not, then you are more likely to get paid.

Know when to give in. If a client is in a difficult financial bind, it might do your practice more good to give a deep discount or even write off the entire balance than to turn the account over to a collection agency. The goodwill you show often comes back in future referrals.

CosmoLex legal office management software is a powerful tool, but a tool still needs a human hand to guide it. Balancing automated billing with occasional personal contact will greatly increase your practice’s profitability, without harming your relationship with clients.