Many practices offer pro bono work for certain clients, but that doesn’t mean you don’t want to work for free by accident. Unfortunately many attorneys let income slip through their fingers by not keeping careful track of their expenses with law office billing software.
An attorney’s hourly rate is the core of most legal invoices but expenses are a vital part of practice fees as well. If your policy specifies that expenses will be paid by the client, as most agreements do, then every expense dollar not recorded in law practice management software is effectively a dollar of lost income.
Unrecorded expenses become more serious if the case involves trust accounting. Since every transaction must be recorded, even a single undocumented expenditure means the account will not balance and the law practice could even face legal penalties for mismanagement.
Software such as Easy TimeBill allows attorneys, paralegals and other law office personnel to enter expenses and link them to particular clients and matters. If multiple people are working on a case, each entry will be recorded in a central location so any invoices produced will include all expenses. The software integrates with our trust accounting product, Easy Trust, so entered expenses can be reconciled with other transactions in the escrow account.
The best way to ensure expenses are recorded in law office billing software is to ensure the process is easy and convenient. Attorneys should never feel expense tracking is a chore because they will be tempted to procrastinate and that increases the likelihood of unrecorded fees. We’ve designed all of our law practice management software products to be as straightforward and intuitive as possible so users can enter information without going through page after page of dialogs or puzzling through confusing menus.
Not all law expenses occur in the office and the new cloud version of Easy TimeBill allows attorneys in the field to record expenses right away. Users with a laptop or tablet have access to client information anywhere they can find an internet connection. Enter expenses as they happen rather than recording a pocketful of crumpled receipts back at the office.
Don’t gamble with your practice’s expense money. Rely on Easysoft Legal Software law office management software to make case administration fast and simple.
