How Can My Law Firm Automate Legal Billing?
For many lawyers, legal billing isn’t their favorite part of running a law office, but it still needs to get done. Putting off billing tasks can snowball into cash flow issues and accounts receivable going to collections.
One way to sidestep this issue is to automate as many parts of the legal billing process as possible.
Time tracking
If your practice management system comes with an integrated time tracker, use it. Capturing time as it happens ensures that the billable work you do for clients ends up on the invoice.[1]
It’s also a helpful tool for analyzing profitability and areas for improvement within the firm.
Batch invoices
The days of drafting one invoice at a time are over. With the help of your integrated time tracker, you can generate hundreds of invoices in a few clicks. Not only does this save firms a substantial amount of time, but it also helps the language on invoices stay more consistent.
When invoices are ready to be sent out, that too can happen in bulk—via email or your secure client portal. This ensures immediate delivery, wherever your clients are located.
Online payments
By sending out invoices online, your firm also makes it easier for clients to pay online, too—which is more convenient than mailing a check. Use a legal-specific merchant to avoid accidental compliance issues.[2]
Integrated systems
If your practice management system offers fully integrated billing and accounting, then your firm can save more time on clerical tasks. Once a client pays their bill online, your system will automatically update in billing and accounting.
This also saves your team any potential errors from double data entry.
Automated reminders
No matter how good you are about sending out bills on time, there will always be a few clients who drag their feet about paying. When that happens, automated reminder emails about bills past due can help prompt them to pay.
Ultimately, automation can help you make significant strides in reducing the time you and your team spend on billing.
References
1. Capturing More Time and Billing It Too
2. American Bar Association Rule 1.15: Safekeeping Property