Capture more billable hours by using the Time Billing Software that makes it easy: TimeManager by Atlantic Associates.
Keep the time tracking process separate from billing.
The hardest, most onerous part of billing is capturing time. Why make it harder by combining that with the actual billing process? By separating the time tracking from billing, your firm would cut down on the time elapsed between the performance of service and the time tracking. Set up a policy of having your billing professional review time tracking on a weekly basis. This way, your billing administrator does not have to track down missing hours if a senior partner suspects that not all the hours are captured on an invoice.
Require all time to be entered before the end of the day
If timekeepers account for their time before ending the workday, it’s simpler for them to know how long they were at work and see if all their time has been captured. Timekeepers who do not enter their time every day typically wait until the weekend to make sure that their hours add up. Waiting this long increases the chances that the timekeeper will need to make some guesses or simply omit billable time. By choosing easy-to-use, customizable, mobile software, daily time tracking is not only less onerous, it is more accurate.
Don’t Just Capture Billable Time
Tracking all time, billable or not, can provide senior partners the insights they need to know whether firm time is being spent on low-value activities and make appropriate strategic decisions to increase billable time. Customizable time billing software like Atlantic Associates’ TimeManager will make this easier for your firm to achieve.
Make time to review a weekly routine.
Don’t wait until someone rings an alarm bill that time is missing from a certain invoice. By then, it may be too late for junior partners to recover details about the missing time. Make it part of your billing administrator’s routine to look for missing billable hours from the previous week on Mondays.
Set a weekly deadline for the closing of time entries.
After the billing administrator reviews time entries on Monday and resolves discrepancies, make sure that week’s billing gets closed out. This will ensure that timekeepers know they cannot add more entries. Instead, they’ll be more conscientious and provide a more comprehensive time tracking at the outset.
Make it worth their while to track time.
Some firms elect to pay timekeepers on commission. Commission-based compensation can be as low as 20 % or 30 % of funds collected (not the amount billed). Such an incentive can produce a significant increase in billable time.
Using the right time and billing software package makes time management much easier. TimeManager time billing software allows for hourly, flat fee, and percent finished billing, ensuring the most convenient way to track your time. TimeManager provides an easier way to stay informed of your firm’s performance with its reports feature.
