Things To Consider When Choosing Legal Billing Software

There are a number of advantages to using legal billing software, not the least of which is the sheer amount of time it saves you. However, when you start to investigate it you will find that there are quite a number of options and many of the websites promoting such software have long lists of all the features which can lead to confusion. You sit there wondering which are the important parts and which are not. Worse still, you could choose a particular software only to find later on that it is actually missing a key feature that you really need. 

This is why it is worth taking a short while to get to grips with what the software can do and whether it fits in with what you need it to do. There are certain things which are also considered “must have” and these should be incorporated into any software you choose.

One important feature is time tracking no matter where you happen to be at any given moment. This means that the software must have the ability to track time even when you don’t have internet access. This makes it easy when you are travelling and you don’t have to worry about an internet connection.

It goes without saying that your software should work perfectly on any sort of platform, whether PC or Mac, iPad, Android phone, iPhone, etc. This enables you to enter hours flexibly and allows you to work from anywhere at any time.

One advantage of billing software is that data can be retrieved instantly. When it was all on paper, that paper had to be filed. Of course, there was always the case where a document was mis-filed or lost. When you have electronic records of your client information it is a very simple matter to retrieve all that information from one place. Billing software also provides you with peace of mind because there will always be a backup in place in the event of a document becoming corrupted or lost. 

Billing multiple clients also becomes easy. As your client base grows, storing information on spreadsheets becomes ever harder. With software, records of financial details become easy to access, and bills can be generated at the touch of a button. 

Furthermore, if you are billing the same clients each month the software can be set up to generate invoices automatically. It can also take account of different fees if, for example, one partner charges more or less per hour, or different tasks are carried out at different rates. All of these variables can be factored in to your software.    

Legal billing software can also undertake the production of detailed reports which are easy to understand. This is actually a very important factor: when you have entered all your time and sent all your invoices you are able to see an overview of the whole picture. You can very simply analyse everything such as billable hours and productivity, along with revenue per fee earner. In addition, you can incorporate budgeting and project management keeping very close track of everything that is happening. 

Some years ago many people would worry about the security of legal billing software in the cloud. However, the simple fact is that your information is probably far more secure on the cloud than it would be on your own server. These providers have sophisticated password protection measures in place and your information is protected with extra layers of security. 

Many legal practices use QuickBooks, either the desktop version or online, to manage accounting and payroll. If your firm does, you will need to ensure that the billing software integrates seamlessly with QuickBooks. This means that if you write a cheque in QuickBooks for a court fee, for instance, it can automatically appear in the billing software so that it can be invoiced.

One other thing that many people do not take into consideration when choosing legal billing software is the level of customer service. You need a software provider who is prepared to spend time with you so that you can get off the ground and up and running as quickly as possible, and who will iron out any little issues that might arise while you get to grips with the software.