Attorneys who manage their own practice or firm know the importance of billing their clients. If you don’t bill your clients, you don’t get paid, you can’t pay your bills, and before long you’re looking for a job working for someone else at their firm.
You’ll never say it to a client, but billing clients is an extremely important part of your business. That’s why you need to find a legal billing system that can save you time and eliminate costly errors that could result in leakage or even worse — ethics violations.
Much like anything else, technology can play a major part in making billing at your practice more efficient. The problem is there are several billing solutions and software out there that your firm could potentially use. How do you choose the right one?
Here are a few things you should look for when selecting a legal billing system:
The Ability To Easily Capture All Billable Activity & Expenses
Your firm needs a legal billing system that can capture time and expenses as they occur. When you start tracking your time and expenses on a napkin or loose piece of paper it’s easy to lose track or enter it incorrectly later on. Selecting a legal billing system that allows you to track the time you spend on a matter on the fly ensures that you will bill the client for all of the work you do for them.
You’re A Professional Your Invoices Should Look It
It’s a safe bet to say that your clients have more bills to pay than the ones that you send. It’s easy for bills and invoices to get lost in the shuffle. Make sure your billing system allows you to customize invoices so your clients know exactly where the bills are coming from, so they can make their payments in a timely manner.
Choose A Legal Billing System That Helps You Stay On Top of Collection Issues
A professional invoice will only get you so far when it comes to getting paid. It’s unfortunate but inevitable that collection issues with your clients will arise over time. Try to find a legal billing system that makes it easy to send low retainer reminders and overdue invoice notices. This will ensure that your clients know when they need to pay you.
Credit Card Payments For Attorneys
There are still many lawyers out there who don’t accept credit card payments. This is unfortunate since more and more people have turned to plastic or online payments to handle their bills. Find a legal billing system like CosmoLex that allows you to receive payments via credit card over the phone or online. Your clients will be thrilled.
Make Sure Your Legal Billing System Can Be Easily Integrated With Your Accounting System
Too many law firms have a difficult time bridging the gap between their legal accounting and billing systems. These are two systems that must be in lockstep with each other. Both systems utilize similar sets of data, by integrating the two you will reduce data entry errors and the possibility that your firm will run into accounting and ethics violations.
Learn How CosmoLex Gives Law Firms Everything They Need in a Legal Billing System.
CosmoLex is the one practice management system that addresses these unique needs law firms have pertaining to their billing systems. Check out this quick overview video of legal billing issues and how they’re addressed in CosmoLex.
