If you are an attorney or legal practice manager who is feeling frustrated with trying to navigate through complicated legal billing software, you are certainly not alone.
Not only that, but there’s a good chance that if you and/or your managing partners are frustrated, your billing staff is as well.
Key Takeaways
- Billing software has become a necessity, not an option, for all law firms regardless of their size, area of practice, or location.
- In the past, all-in-one practice management software systems claimed that they had the solution to legal billing needs…but this is no longer the case.
- Now more than ever it’s important to learn and understand the differences between billing software for law firms and why some won’t work for your practice.
Regardless of a firm’s size, complicated legal billing software can be a major frustration for any legal practice.
Small and medium-sized law firms may not have the staffing or budget to properly integrate a complex system and may not be able to employ an IT person to help navigate it when problems arise.
Large law firms, on the other hand, may find that many of their attorneys and support staff are not as familiar with the inner workings of the billing system and aren’t as prepared to problem solve on their own without the help of someone else in the organization.
In either case, complicated legal billing software that is not specifically designed with your law firm’s needs in mind can result in being time-consuming and confusing for a billing staff to use. This will lead to billing errors, delayed payments and – eventually – dissatisfied clients.
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Trying to navigate complex billing software will also lead to increased staff turnover and reduced productivity, which will just continue to compound the problem.
In addition, some legal billing software may not integrate well with other software programs used by the firm, which can create additional inefficiencies and headaches.
Clearly, it’s essential for law firms to carefully evaluate the user-friendliness of any billing software they are considering and to select a system that is intuitive, easy to learn, and streamlined for maximum efficiency in the legal billing process.
Let’s look at each of these challenges and help you see why adopting a simple and straightforward dedicated legal billing software system like LeanLaw may be the perfect solution to all your billing software headaches.
What is Legal Billing Software?
Billing software for law firms has been around since the early days of computers when law firms began using technology to help them automate their billing processes and manage their various accounting needs.
The first legal billing software programs were simple, often consisting of little more than a spreadsheet program or a simple database.
However, as law firms began to rely more heavily on computers for their operations, billing software became more sophisticated, offering features such as automated invoicing, expense tracking, payment processing, and reporting.
Today, legal electronic billing software is an essential tool for firms of all sizes, and most are realizing the impact that cloud based applications can have on their attorney and staff productivity, their accounting accuracy, and their client satisfaction.
Modern legal billing software can be accessed from anywhere that an attorney or staff member has an internet connection which makes it significantly easier for a firm to manage its finances while also communicating with its clients.
Additionally, the best legal billing software programs on the market now offer advanced features such as time tracking, expense tracking, financial reporting, and the processing of secure online payments, making it easier than ever for a law firm to manage all aspects of its billing needs from a single accounting software platform.
The Case Against the All-in-One Legal Practice Software System
In the past, the majority of law firms were led to believe that in order to have the best legal billing software, they had to invest in an all-in-one practice management software system that would include billing software within the platform along with multiple other software applications that were necessary for a law firm to run and operate effectively.
These types of “all-in-one” legal software systems no longer make sense.
Thanks to huge advancements in technology, a law firm can now pick and choose what software applications they want to invest in, and what applications are already up and running in their firm.
For example, it used to be that document management software was a big selling point for large, all-in-one legal practice management software vendors.
Law firms have always needed good document management systems, as document storage is a crucial aspect of law firm operations.
With the advent of digital technology, many of the all-in-one practice management systems taught lawyers and their staff how electronic document storage was a possibility.
But with the rapid advancement in technology, more law firms are realizing that they don’t need a practice management software to store their documents for them.
With office suite programs like Google’s G Suite, a firm can safely and easily store all their needed documents by using Google Drive, since it is a secure cloud based storage system that will allow collaboration, access, and automatic backups, thus ensuring that information is easy to work with, easy to access and you’ll never worry about losing data in the event of an emergency.
How is LeanLaw Different Than Other Legal Billing Software?
You may be sold on the idea that your law firm may no longer need an all-in-one practice management system.
But you may still be wondering…how is it that LeanLaw can set itself apart from other billing software systems in helping my law firm with our billing process?
Well, that’s easy!
1. LeanLaw Helps Prevent Billing Errors
With LeanLaw legal e billing software, any input errors are quickly discovered and corrected. LeanLaw software automatically verifies that all entries are accurate and complete, while flagging any potential errors or discrepancies and providing reports that enable attorneys to identify and address any issues. By helping to reduce human error, LeanLaw billing software can help streamline your practice’s overall billing process.
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2. LeanLaw Helps Prevent Delayed Payments
Delayed payments can be a real headache for your accounting department and a real strain on your law firm’s cash flow.
Though you can’t guarantee that every client is going to pay on time, having accounting features that allow clients to pay online as soon as their invoice is received is going to make a huge difference in how quickly your firm receives the money it’s owed.
LeanLaw is a legal billing software system that allows online payments to be easily received and credit card payments to be processed quickly.
3. LeanLaw Helps Prevent Dissatisfied Clients
There are probably few things more important when you bill clients than having accurate and transparent client invoices.
Clients are often skeptical of what it is their attorney is billing for…and if it is truly justified.
But with LeanLaw’s billing software for law firms, this will no longer be a concern for your practice.
LeanLaw’s billing and accounting software gives each of your clients a detailed and accurate invoice for all services rendered in a specific time period. These invoices are always easy-to-read and show that their attorney and staff are charging them ethically and fairly.
A law firm can’t exist without clients that trust them. LeanLaw’s billing software will help you reaffirm for your clients why they chose the right law firm for them.
Three-way reconciliation
Bank accounts, trust accounts and QuickBooks Online are in continuous sync and in-line with state bar standards, so you are well positioned for your weekly or monthly three-way reconciliation. That’s less time spent on your law firm’s end.
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4. LeanLaw Leads to Decreased Staff Turnover
Having a satisfied staff can prove to be just as important as having satisfied clients.
In fact, a recent study by Salesforce found that 89% of employees are more satisfied with their jobs when automation is implemented into their workflow and that 84% are more satisfied with their company when the right technology is used in their place of employment.
Not only that, but an impressive 91% of employees said that automating their workflow and implementing the right technology increased their job performance and increased their work/life balance.
The right staff is a critical part of your legal practice’s long term success. Give them the tools to make them successful too.
5. LeanLaw Integrates Easily with other Software Systems
When all-in-one practice management software systems seemed to be the best solution for a law firm, there was little concern as to whether or not the billing and accounting software was as effective as it could be.
But – now that all-in-one practice management software systems are basically a thing of the past – it’s become more important than ever to make sure that whatever legal billing software system you choose can easily integrate with the rest of the software platforms in your firm.
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From G Suite to Microsoft Office to Quickbooks Online, there is no billing software application that is able to collaborate as effectively with these systems as LeanLaw can.
LeanLaw was designed by legal professionals who know the frustrations of working with software systems that just don’t “get it.”
Let’s face it…law firms have some very specific billing needs and if a software program can’t interface easily with the rest of the workflow applications that are already set up in a firm, then what’s the point?
Choose a billing software system that’s specifically designed to work well with the other management software systems that a law firm already has in place.
Choose LeanLaw.
I’m Ready to Learn More About LeanLaw Billing and Accounting Software…What’s Next?
If you’ve done your research and are ready to learn more about what LeanLaw’s billing and accounting software can do to streamline your firm’s billing needs, then reach out to us today.
The first step? Requesting a demo is easy and can get you started toward answering the other questions you most likely still have. Choosing new software is always overwhelming, even for those who know what they’re looking for.
At LeanLaw, we understand how important it is to find the right billing and accounting software for your firm.
Getting paid is important.
Spending hours trying to figure out how to is not.
When you are looking for the best billing software for law firms, look no further than LeanLaw.
