![\"law](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.attorneyatwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/law-firm-time-entry-process-2.jpg?resize=770%2C495&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
Table of contents<\/h3>\n\n- The Horror<\/a>\n
\n- Stop Losing Money!<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- How to Streamline the Time Entry Process<\/a>\n
\n- 1. Use an Automatic Time-Tracking Platform<\/a><\/li>\n
- 2. Make Contemporaneous Time Entry Part of Your Culture<\/a><\/li>\n
- 3. Use Billing Codes<\/a><\/li>\n
- 4. Standardize Your Billing Narratives<\/a><\/li>\n
- 5. Use Your Phone!<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- There\u2019s Value in Streamlining Your Time Entry Process<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
The Horror<\/h2>\n
One of our clients once tracked how much time she spent entering her time and applied her billable rate. How much do you think it was across a year?<\/p>\n
$30,000!<\/p>\n
Yes. This partner was spending the equivalent of $30,000 of billable hours doing her time entries. We know other attorneys who are so late entering their time that large chunks of revenue go uncollected because it\u2019s just too late to bill the clients.<\/p>\n
Stop Losing Money! <\/h3>\n
Time entry is the only way most lawyers get paid \u2026 and yet some delay and procrastinate to the point where time and revenue are lost for good. In fact, for many lawyers in our coaching programs, avoiding time entry is a major driver behind their switch to flat fees. <\/p>\n
(We talked about all this and more in our recent webinar, \u201cFearless Flat Fees,\u201d<\/strong><\/a> with the folks at AltFee<\/a>, You can catch the replay here<\/a>.)<\/p>\nHow to Streamline the Time Entry Process<\/h2>\n
The thing is, even if you switch to flat fees, you may still need to track your time while you get started, at least in a high-level way. So whether you\u2019re moving to flat fees or sticking with hourly billing, streamlining your law firm\u2019s time entry process will increase your revenue and decrease your frustration.<\/p>\n
Here are our five top tips for making the time entry process a lot less painful.<\/p>\n
1. Use an Automatic Time-Tracking Platform<\/strong><\/h3>\nSome practice management systems have built-in time trackers. We\u2019re not talking timers. We\u2019re talking smart systems that track your activity across platforms like Word, your calendar, email or meeting systems. With just a click, you can add that time automatically to a file. One our clients are finding the most useful is\u00a0Ajax.<\/a> Not only does it seamlessly track time across platforms and devices, but it uses AI to write billing narratives and assign time to files. (Use this link<\/a> and mention Gimbal in your demo and you\u2019ll get 20% off for the first three months.)<\/p>\nOther legal time trackers with AI include Laurel<\/a>, Billables.ai<\/a>, MagicTime, Bighand SmartTime, and PointOne<\/a>.<\/p>\n2. Make Contemporaneous Time Entry Part of Your Culture<\/strong><\/h3>\nA managing partner once told us his philosophy: If you\u2019re not entering your time at least daily, you\u2019re either cheating your clients or you are cheating the firm.<\/strong><\/p>\nNeither one is good. <\/p>\n
An article in the ABA Legal Technology Report warns that if you don\u2019t enter your time daily, you\u2019re losing 10%<\/a>. If you don\u2019t get it in the next day, you\u2019re losing 25%. And if you wait until the end of the week, you\u2019ll miss 50% of your time.<\/p>\nBasically, if you don\u2019t enter your time immediately, you\u2019re making up what\u2019s in your timesheets, and you\u2019re losing a LOT of money.<\/p>\n
3. Use Billing Codes<\/strong><\/h3>\nUsing a set of standard codes will speed up time entry. You can use the ABA\u2019s uniform task codes<\/a> or create your own. Bill4Time has a great article on task codes<\/a> here. Keep it simple \u2014 if your codes are too granular, people will waste time trying to figure out which ones apply and end up even more frustrated. Standard codes will keep your billing consistent and minimize the minutes you have to spend entering time and reviewing your pre-bills. Anything you do to make the process faster and easier will help you capture more time.<\/p>\n4. Standardize Your Billing Narratives<\/strong><\/h3>\nIf your system allows, create drop-down menus with standardized descriptions for your invoices. You\u2019ll likely still need to allow for some customization, but keep it to a minimum. Strive to have your narratives as standard as possible. It\u2019s much faster to choose from a selection than to write a narrative yourself, and it\u2019s easier for clients to understand.<\/p>\n
5. Use Your Phone! <\/strong><\/h3>\nMost practice management platforms allow for mobile time tracking. Clio<\/a>, MyCase<\/a>, TimeSolv<\/a> and Toggl<\/a>, for example, allow you to track time on your phone when you\u2019re away from your desk, in court, at a client meeting or working remotely.<\/p>\nThere\u2019s Value in Streamlining Your Time Entry Process<\/h2>\n
Improving your time entry process is an exercise in reducing the friction that keeps you from entering time right away. But if you still feel like you don\u2019t have time to record your time when you\u2019re finishing one task and moving to the next, you may need a mindset shift. Go back to tip No. 2 and remind yourself that if you don\u2019t record time immediately, you are losing money.<\/p>\n
Taking a minute to enter your time is not wasteful \u2026 it\u2019s a revenue-generating activity.<\/p>\n
\nMore Process Improvement Tips<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n- Law Firm Intake: 3 Tips to Save Time and Convert More Clients<\/a><\/li>\n
- New Client Onboarding: 5 Tips to Win Over New Clients<\/a><\/li>\n
- Time to Build Your Team: 5 Steps to Improve Your Hiring Process<\/a><\/li>\n
- From Hire to Higher: 6 Ways to Improve Employee Onboarding<\/a><\/li>\n
- Got a Process for Your Processes? Create Law Firm SOPs in 5 Easy Steps<\/a><\/li>\n
- The 5-Minute Matter Review: A Weekly Ritual for Project-Oriented Law Firms<\/a><\/li>\n
- Three Legal Project Management Tips for More Profitable Flat Fees<\/a><\/li>\n
- Email Delegation for Lawyers: 7 Steps to Reclaim Your Time<\/a><\/li>\n
- Lawyer Conflict Checks: 5 Tips to Tune Up Your Process<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\nImage \u00a9 iStockPhoto.com. <\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.attorneyatwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/AttorneyatWork-Logo-%C2%AE-2021-1.jpg?resize=372%2C106&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\nSign up for Attorney at Work\u2019s daily practice tips newsletter here<\/a> and subscribe to our podcast<\/a>, Attorney at Work Today.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Streamline your time-entry process and you will stop losing money. Karen and David Skinner have five tips to help you fix it now. The post 5 Tips to Make Time Entry Less Painful for Lawyers appeared first on Articles, Tips and Tech for Law Firms and Lawyers. If the billable hour is a zombie we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-145811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal_matters"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145811\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- \n
- Stop Losing Money!<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- How to Streamline the Time Entry Process<\/a>\n
- \n
- 1. Use an Automatic Time-Tracking Platform<\/a><\/li>\n
- 2. Make Contemporaneous Time Entry Part of Your Culture<\/a><\/li>\n
- 3. Use Billing Codes<\/a><\/li>\n
- 4. Standardize Your Billing Narratives<\/a><\/li>\n
- 5. Use Your Phone!<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- There\u2019s Value in Streamlining Your Time Entry Process<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
The Horror<\/h2>\n
One of our clients once tracked how much time she spent entering her time and applied her billable rate. How much do you think it was across a year?<\/p>\n
$30,000!<\/p>\n
Yes. This partner was spending the equivalent of $30,000 of billable hours doing her time entries. We know other attorneys who are so late entering their time that large chunks of revenue go uncollected because it\u2019s just too late to bill the clients.<\/p>\n
Stop Losing Money! <\/h3>\n
Time entry is the only way most lawyers get paid \u2026 and yet some delay and procrastinate to the point where time and revenue are lost for good. In fact, for many lawyers in our coaching programs, avoiding time entry is a major driver behind their switch to flat fees. <\/p>\n
(We talked about all this and more in our recent webinar, \u201cFearless Flat Fees,\u201d<\/strong><\/a> with the folks at AltFee<\/a>, You can catch the replay here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n
How to Streamline the Time Entry Process<\/h2>\n
The thing is, even if you switch to flat fees, you may still need to track your time while you get started, at least in a high-level way. So whether you\u2019re moving to flat fees or sticking with hourly billing, streamlining your law firm\u2019s time entry process will increase your revenue and decrease your frustration.<\/p>\n
Here are our five top tips for making the time entry process a lot less painful.<\/p>\n
1. Use an Automatic Time-Tracking Platform<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Some practice management systems have built-in time trackers. We\u2019re not talking timers. We\u2019re talking smart systems that track your activity across platforms like Word, your calendar, email or meeting systems. With just a click, you can add that time automatically to a file. One our clients are finding the most useful is\u00a0Ajax.<\/a> Not only does it seamlessly track time across platforms and devices, but it uses AI to write billing narratives and assign time to files. (Use this link<\/a> and mention Gimbal in your demo and you\u2019ll get 20% off for the first three months.)<\/p>\n
Other legal time trackers with AI include Laurel<\/a>, Billables.ai<\/a>, MagicTime, Bighand SmartTime, and PointOne<\/a>.<\/p>\n
2. Make Contemporaneous Time Entry Part of Your Culture<\/strong><\/h3>\n
A managing partner once told us his philosophy: If you\u2019re not entering your time at least daily, you\u2019re either cheating your clients or you are cheating the firm.<\/strong><\/p>\n
Neither one is good. <\/p>\n
An article in the ABA Legal Technology Report warns that if you don\u2019t enter your time daily, you\u2019re losing 10%<\/a>. If you don\u2019t get it in the next day, you\u2019re losing 25%. And if you wait until the end of the week, you\u2019ll miss 50% of your time.<\/p>\n
Basically, if you don\u2019t enter your time immediately, you\u2019re making up what\u2019s in your timesheets, and you\u2019re losing a LOT of money.<\/p>\n
3. Use Billing Codes<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Using a set of standard codes will speed up time entry. You can use the ABA\u2019s uniform task codes<\/a> or create your own. Bill4Time has a great article on task codes<\/a> here. Keep it simple \u2014 if your codes are too granular, people will waste time trying to figure out which ones apply and end up even more frustrated. Standard codes will keep your billing consistent and minimize the minutes you have to spend entering time and reviewing your pre-bills. Anything you do to make the process faster and easier will help you capture more time.<\/p>\n
4. Standardize Your Billing Narratives<\/strong><\/h3>\n
If your system allows, create drop-down menus with standardized descriptions for your invoices. You\u2019ll likely still need to allow for some customization, but keep it to a minimum. Strive to have your narratives as standard as possible. It\u2019s much faster to choose from a selection than to write a narrative yourself, and it\u2019s easier for clients to understand.<\/p>\n
5. Use Your Phone! <\/strong><\/h3>\n
Most practice management platforms allow for mobile time tracking. Clio<\/a>, MyCase<\/a>, TimeSolv<\/a> and Toggl<\/a>, for example, allow you to track time on your phone when you\u2019re away from your desk, in court, at a client meeting or working remotely.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s Value in Streamlining Your Time Entry Process<\/h2>\n
Improving your time entry process is an exercise in reducing the friction that keeps you from entering time right away. But if you still feel like you don\u2019t have time to record your time when you\u2019re finishing one task and moving to the next, you may need a mindset shift. Go back to tip No. 2 and remind yourself that if you don\u2019t record time immediately, you are losing money.<\/p>\n
Taking a minute to enter your time is not wasteful \u2026 it\u2019s a revenue-generating activity.<\/p>\n
\nMore Process Improvement Tips<\/strong>:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Law Firm Intake: 3 Tips to Save Time and Convert More Clients<\/a><\/li>\n
- New Client Onboarding: 5 Tips to Win Over New Clients<\/a><\/li>\n
- Time to Build Your Team: 5 Steps to Improve Your Hiring Process<\/a><\/li>\n
- From Hire to Higher: 6 Ways to Improve Employee Onboarding<\/a><\/li>\n
- Got a Process for Your Processes? Create Law Firm SOPs in 5 Easy Steps<\/a><\/li>\n
- The 5-Minute Matter Review: A Weekly Ritual for Project-Oriented Law Firms<\/a><\/li>\n
- Three Legal Project Management Tips for More Profitable Flat Fees<\/a><\/li>\n
- Email Delegation for Lawyers: 7 Steps to Reclaim Your Time<\/a><\/li>\n
- Lawyer Conflict Checks: 5 Tips to Tune Up Your Process<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\nImage \u00a9 iStockPhoto.com. <\/p>\n
\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\nSign up for Attorney at Work\u2019s daily practice tips newsletter here<\/a> and subscribe to our podcast<\/a>, Attorney at Work Today.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Streamline your time-entry process and you will stop losing money. Karen and David Skinner have five tips to help you fix it now. The post 5 Tips to Make Time Entry Less Painful for Lawyers appeared first on Articles, Tips and Tech for Law Firms and Lawyers. If the billable hour is a zombie we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-145811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal_matters"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145811\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- New Client Onboarding: 5 Tips to Win Over New Clients<\/a><\/li>\n
- 2. Make Contemporaneous Time Entry Part of Your Culture<\/a><\/li>\n
- How to Streamline the Time Entry Process<\/a>\n