The key to building efficient law firm is the smoothly going billing process. Legal billing is a time-consuming activity but with the proper tools, you can quickly organize it. The suggestions we give you below will help you, and your colleagues customize your firm’s billing and make it more structured.
1) Arrange Your Billings by Type
Recently we were approached by a firm owner who wanted to have better visibility over where the earnings of the firm come from. Imagine how convenient it would also be for your financial managers to see clearly where exactly the money is going and coming from.
What we did for our client is the possibility to customise their billings. That’s giving you the option to set types for flat charges, expenses and hourly rates, such as a business trip, representation, phone consultation, etc. Thus, helping your financial manager create reports showing precisely where the profit comes from.
Adding billing types with LegalTrek happens in only a few minutes. If you want to try it, just go to Settings ➝ Billing Settings ➝ Billing Types. From now on when you add a new expense, flat fee or hourly rate you will be able to choose from the dropdown options you’ve created.
2) Describe the Value Your Fees Represent
To smoother your legal billing, you also need to improve your collection rate. How? The answer is transparency. You will charge much easier if your billing is completely clear to a client. Hourly rates cannot help you provide transparency and value, but flat fees will help you do so.
Let me explain…
A survey about client satisfaction shows (read more here) that 69% of the 1,400 in house-respondents chose fixed fees as their preferred billing option. Other publication also shows that fixed fees are preferred to hourly fees (click on the image to see the whole infographic). This means flat fees are a fundamental part of providing value to clients but don’t forget to add their detailed description.
Source: http://www.online-paralegal-degree.org/law-future
Your clients will understand better the work you’ve put into the matter and will appreciate your efforts! Moreover, it stands to reason that more transparency keeps clients and brings you even more. In the long run, it will strengthen the connection you have and will lead to more referrals for your business.
Wondering how to add descriptions to your fixed fees? Here’s how we’ve made this quite easy!
To add a description to your flat fees, go to a particular matter, then click Edit Matter ➝ Description. From now on, the description you’ve added to your flat fee will automatically appear on the invoices, generated for the same matter.
3) Improve the Collection of Unpaid Invoices
Our last but not least tip for more efficient legal billing is to improve the collection of unpaid invoices. Collections are an important part of your law firm financial stability.
We found a way to help you with this tedious task – by setting up processes that will give you the best chance to get paid. Automatic reminders for invoices are a great way NOT to forget (or procrastinate) your unpaid invoices.
What we did for our users is to send them an email and notification in the app when an invoice payment deadline is very close. With this in mind, they can react fast and remind clients about their dues.
The processes behind legal billing are more important now than ever before, as law firms become more efficient due to technology improvements and various new business models. See how LegalTrek will help you increase your firm’s efficiency and profitability!
Reference:
Harbour Litigation Funding: Increasing demand from clients for fixed fees and risk sharing
Online Paralegal Degree: Law: The Future Is Here
