The phrase “time is money” has been used by businesses and individuals alike for decades, and while this maxim might feel a little dated, one place where it continues to ring true is in the legal field.
For law firms, time literally is money, and the ability to track their hours accurately and efficiently is crucial for legal professionals who want to work as profitably as possible.
To allow law firms to make the most of their time, we’ve created this list of key strategies that will help them set up easy-to-use, easy-to-follow time-tracking processes so they can get the most bang for their billable hour.
Importance of effective time tracking in the legal field
Billable hours fuel law firm growth. Conversely, time-tracking inefficiency directly impacts a firm’s bottom line. But why, specifically, is it so important? Let’s explore the many benefits of time tracking.
Keep your billing accurate
Accurately tracking your time helps you appropriately bill clients for your services. Instead of having to recreate your billable hours after the fact, you can capture time worked down to the precise second.
Aside from ensuring you’re paid for all your work, accurate billing helps if a client is concerned about their invoice. By recording time in detail, you reduce the chances of any financial disputes down the road and build trust in your client relationships.
Maximize your revenue
Your billable hours directly correlate with revenue. By tracking your time meticulously, you can easily identify your most profitable practice areas and services and target opportunities for growth.
Improve resource allocation
When you track your time effectively, you don’t need to deal with any guesswork when it comes to assigning tasks to the right people for the job. Having a clear understanding of how time is allocated across tasks and cases lets you see where resources are being used appropriately and where the allocation needs some fine-tuning.
Improve bandwidth
Efficient time tracking gives you insights into your team’s utilization rates. Use time tracking data to identify attorneys and legal staff who are carrying heavy workloads to avoid burnout or shift workloads to those who have capacity.
FREE Legal Billing Terms Cheat Sheet
Legal billing terms can be confusing.
TimeSolv has prepared a list of the most commonly used legal billing terms that lawyers use in routine. It's a must to have it in your pinned files, sticky notes, or however you carry your essentials while practicing.
Download our cheat sheet and get all the information you need!
5 successful time-tracking strategies to implement at your law firm
Time tracking is a crucial component of meeting your law firm’s growth and profitability goals. Follow these best practices to set up the following practices.
1. Implement a centralized time-tracking system
If you’re relying on pens and paper, spreadsheets, or time-tracking software that’s not centralized, you’re leaving yourself open to losing billable time or billing errors that damage your client relationships and cost you money.
Implementing a centralized time-tracking system minimizes costly errors and accounts for all your billable time. Bonus points go to those that offer a long list of integrations that can eliminate the need for double data entry—and the mistakes that go along with it!
Keep in mind: if you’re on the hunt for software to help you keep all of your data in one place, make sure you choose a cloud-based solution that offers bank-grade highest degree of security like TimeSolv.
2. Track your time in real-time
Waiting till the end of the day—or worse, until the end of the week—to log billable hours can lead to inaccurate billing. It’s also far less efficient.
Instead of wasting energy scratching your head over your numbers, invest in a track-as-you-work solution such as TimeSolv. With click-to-start functionality, multiple timers, and a syncable desktop app, it’s easy to capture your hours.
3. Train your team
Time tracking is like any process at your law firm: to see success, you need to train team members thoroughly.
Training goes a long way to ensuring that everyone in the firm understands both the importance of accurate timekeeping and how to do it. However, training needs to be well-designed and available in multiple formats for it to be truly effective. TimeSolv offers an in-depth knowledge base, video tutorials, and live training sessions with support staff.
4. Prioritize transparency with clients
Did you know that time-tracking practices can encourage positive client relationships?
By providing your clients with access to detailed time entries, you’ll increase transparency in your relationships. This transparency gives them peace of mind about the services you’re providing. It also underscores the value they’re receiving when they invest in your services.
TimeSolv helps law firms maintain strong client relationships through customizable invoices that highlight key details without adding extra work.
You can also increase transparency by communicating your billing practices directly and frequently to your clients. Walk clients through invoices during onboarding and ensure you’re available for questions. TimeSolv helps with this by providing client communication and collaboration tools like secure client portals. These easy-to-use portals allow clients to easily review bills and ask questions without an unnecessary trip to the office.
5. Regularly analyze your performance
Analyzing your time-tracking data regularly will allow you to identify patterns and trends that might have otherwise gone unnoticed.
This analysis can provide you with a roadmap to enhancing your operations by revealing areas where more efficient practices can be implemented, leading to increased billable hours and profitability.
(And if building reports and sorting through spreadsheets sounds like a lot of work, consider that TimeSolv’s at-a-glance dashboard views provide all the insights you need to make informed decisions.)
Ready to take control of your firm’s future and maximize billable hours?
Whether you’re a solo practice, a small firm, or a large operation, you need solutions that will help you get the job done right every time. Effective time-tracking not only ensures accurate billing but also provides valuable insights for improving your firm on an operational level.
If you’re ready to take control of your firm’s future and maximize billable hours, there’s no better partner on the path to success than TimeSolv.
From providing a centralized place to store your data and automated time-tracking to ensure you never miss a second of billable time to making it a snap for your team to work from anywhere with cloud-based access, TimeSolv has the tools you need to succeed.
Ready to see how TimeSolv can help you maximize billable hours? Sign up for a free trial today!
FREE Legal Billing Terms Cheat Sheet
Legal billing terms can be confusing.
TimeSolv has prepared a list of the most commonly used legal billing terms that lawyers use in routine. It's a must to have it in your pinned files, sticky notes, or however you carry your essentials while practicing.
Download our cheat sheet and get all the information you need!
