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For law firms, tracking billable hours and managing employee time is crucial. Choosing the right time and attendance system can streamline these processes and provide valuable analytics and insights. In this blog post, we'll examine the key features law firms should look for in a time and attendance system and review some of the top options on the market today.

The Importance of Time Tracking for Law Firms

Billable hours are the lifeblood of most law firms. Accurately tracking, recording and reporting billable time is essential for proper client billing. Beyond this, understanding how employees are spending their time can help law firms improve productivity, identify inefficiencies, and ensure tasks are properly delegated.

Manual time tracking via paper timesheets can be tedious, error-prone and make it difficult to extract meaningful data. Modern time and attendance systems provide automated and seamless time tracking integrated with powerful reporting and analytics. This makes managing billable hours and gaining insights into how time is spent much simpler.

Key Features to Look For

When evaluating time and attendance systems for legal environments, there are a few key features law firms should be on the lookout for:

• Time tracking against clients, matters, projects or tasks - Lawyers and other billable staff need to be able to assign time to specific clients, matters, projects or tasks for proper billing purposes.
• Flexible time entry options - Time can be entered through mobile apps, web portals, computer widgets or kiosks depending on staff needs and preferences.
• Budgeting and scheduling - The system should allow time budgets to be set for specific matters and compare scheduled time against actual time spent.
• Rules to flag overtime or excess hours - Configurable rules can flag when employees log excessive hours or overtime so it can be reviewed and addressed.
• Reporting and analytics - Robust reporting allows close analysis of time entries, billable hours, realization rates and more. Reports can be generated on demand or scheduled.
• Integration capabilities - Time data should integrate seamlessly with billing and accounting software like Quickbooks or Xero.
• Access controls and security - Employee access to time tracking and reporting features can be restricted as needed, and data should be encrypted.

Top Time and Attendance Systems for Law Firms

Now let's look at some of the top options on the market that are designed specifically for legal environments:

TimeSolv

TimeSolv is a robust legal-focused time and billing software. Key features include:

• Time entry against clients, matters, projects and activities
• Configurable time entry rules and notifications
• Real-time visibility into work in progress
• Customizable reports and dashboards
• Integrates with accounting, document management and practice management software

TimeSolv is designed by lawyers for lawyers. It provides an array of features tailored to law firms for accurate and efficient time capture and analysis.

Tabs3

Tabs3 is an all-in-one legal practice management software that includes integrated time billing capabilities. Key features include:

• Capture time in a "free format" for fast entry
• Pre-built time and billing reports
• Export data to accounting systems
• Setup custom timekeeper security settings
• Utilize templates for frequently used time entries

Everything is managed in one system including billing, accounting, calendaring and case management. Tabs3 is a good option for small to mid-sized firms looking for an integrated solution.

BigTime

BigTime is a legal-specific time and billing software built on a robust BI platform. Key features include:

• Time entry via web, mobile,calendar integrations and more
• Visual data analysis with interactive dashboards
• Powerful reporting builder
• Automated WIP and trust accounting
• Integrates with Office 365, Gmail, QuickBooks and more

Robust BI and analytics capabilities make BigTime stand out. It provides deep insights from time and billing data using interactive dashboards, giving law firm managers powerful visibility and decision-making capabilities.

Choosing the Right System

When selecting a time and attendance system, law firms should carefully evaluate their specific needs and priorities. Factors like number of employees, billing requirements, workflows, integration needs, reporting needs, budget and more will determine the best choice. Law firms should look for systems built specifically to support legal environments versus more general solutions. Test driving options with free trials is recommended before making a decision.

Automated time tracking integrated with robust reporting provides game-changing visibility for law firms. Choosing the right time and attendance system can significantly enhance a firm's profitability, efficiency and insights into how time is spent. Legal organizations that are still relying on manual processes can greatly benefit from upgrading to a modern time and billing software solution tailored to their needs.

Implementing a New Time and Attendance System

Once a law firm selects a new time and attendance system, careful planning and execution is required for a successful implementation. Here are some best practices to ensure a smooth rollout:

• Build a dedicated implementation team - Bring together stakeholders from IT, HR, accounting and legal staff to oversee the rollout.
• Set a detailed implementation schedule - Create a comprehensive project plan and timeline for setup, testing, training and go-live.
• Customize the configuration - Take time to configure billing rates, time codes, rules and notifications to match the firm's needs.
• Integrate with other software - Ensure proper integration with billing, accounting, document management and other systems.
• Provide adequate training - Train all staff, especially billable employees, on time entry procedures and usage of the software.
• Monitor time entry compliance - Check that employees are entering time properly in the early stages and provide retraining as needed.
• Import historical time data - Migrate existing time entries from previous systems for continuous analytics.

Following best practices for implementation can help law firms quickly achieve user adoption, maximize the value provided by the time and attendance software, and minimize disruptions to daily operations.

Encouraging Employee Usage and Compliance

For a time and attendance system to work effectively, lawyers and other billable employees need to embrace it and enter time consistently and accurately. However, changing habits and workflows can sometimes meet resistance. Here are some tips for encouraging employee adoption:

• Communicate benefits - Explain how the system will save time and effort for billing and provide insights to improve individual and firm performance.
• Provide proper training - Thoroughly train all employees on time entry procedures close to go-live to cement understanding.
• Send reminders - Use email, chat or text reminders to prompt employees to enter time if they fall behind.
• Gamify usage - Develop friendly competitions between attorneys to see who logs time most promptly.
• Tie to performance reviews - Make proper time entry compliance a factor in periodic performance evaluations.
• Monitor and address issues - Pay close attention in the first few weeks to catch and resolve any usage issues early.

Gaining user buy-in and enforcing compliance from the start prevents time tracking from falling by the wayside. This encourages good habits that will continue to pay dividends down the road.

Conclusion

An effective time and attendance system tailored for legal environments can transform how law firms manage and leverage billable hours. Key features like time tracking against specific projects, robust reporting, configurability and analytics provide invaluable visibility and insights. When selecting a solution, law firms should closely evaluate their unique needs and priorities. Following best practices for implementation and encouragement of employee usage helps ensure a successful rollout. In today's highly competitive legal market, law firms can gain a real competitive advantage from streamlined time tracking and data-driven insights provided by modern time and attendance software.

Common Time Tracking Challenges for Law Firms

While time and attendance systems provide many benefits, law firms can still encounter some challenges in execution. Being aware of these common pain points can allow organizations to proactively address them:

• Inconsistent time entry - Billable employees procrastinate on entering time or forget to do it altogether. This leads to inaccurate records.
• Lack of categorization - Failure to correctly categorize time against clients, matters, projects makes reporting and billing difficult.
• Insufficient training - Not adequately training employees on proper time entry procedures leads to non-compliance.
• Technology issues - Spotty internet, software glitches or insufficient end-user devices hampers time capture.
• Process inefficiencies - No defined processes for approving timesheets, correcting errors or processing unbillable time.
• Change resistance - Employees used to old routines resist learning and adopting new time tracking processes.

Being proactive and having mitigation strategies for these common challenges can help ensure they do not severely impact time tracking compliance and benefits realization.

Tips for Law Firms New to Time Tracking

For law firms that have relied on manual time tracking and billing, implementing a modern time and attendance system represents a major change. The following tips can help ensure a smooth and successful transition:

• Phase rollout in stages - Gradually roll out the system to different practice groups or departments over time.
• Set expectations upfront - Clearly communicate time entry requirements and procedures from the start.
• Incentivize participation - Offer rewards or recognition for employees who achieve high compliance rates.
• Solicit feedback - Ask for input from users to improve processes and fix pain points.
• Provide ample training - Have both formal training sessions as well as on-demand resources available.
• Be patient - Recognize that adoption will take time and need ongoing support.

The early days of implementing any new system come with growing pains. Law firms should recognize that changing engrained habits and processes does not happen overnight. With proper expectations, training, support and patience, firms can successfully navigate initial time tracking challenges.

The Future of Time Tracking Technology

Time tracking technology for law firms continues to evolve with new innovations and capabilities. Some emerging trends include:

• Artificial intelligence - AI can automate time capture, provide smart reminders and analyze data for insights.
• Speech recognition - Voice commands and dictation can allow for faster time entry on the go.
• Predictive analytics - Systems can better forecast future time and staffing requirements using data patterns.
• More mobility - Time can be captured on a wider array of mobile devices like smartphones and tablets.
• Tighter integrations - Deeper integrations with billing, calendaring, document management and other systems.

Emerging capabilities like these will help streamline time tracking processes and provide law firms with more robust analytics and intelligence. Legal organizations should keep an eye on the latest developments and consider if upgrades to their timekeeping systems are warranted to leverage new benefits.

Best Practices for Law Firm Time Tracking

Following best practices for time tracking can help law firms maximize the accuracy and efficiency of their time and attendance system. Some top tips include:

• Enter time daily - Require attorneys to log time entries each day tasks are performed.
• Categorize diligently - Ensure all time is tagged to the appropriate client, matter, project or case.
• Standardize time increments - Only allow time to be logged in precise increments like 0.1 hours.
• Highlight unpaid time - Require staff to specify if any time is unbillable or written off.
• Automate reminders - Use system notifications to nudge about missing time logs.
• Review logs frequently - Have managers examine timesheets often to identify any issues.
• Make billing easy - Time data should flow seamlessly into invoices with minimal effort.

Following standardized best practices removes inconsistencies and enhances compliance. Law firms should train all employees on ideal processes for time capture and entry into the system.

Key Takeaways

Here are some key takeaways for law firms considering time tracking software:

• Robust time tracking and analysis is crucial for law firms to enhance profitability.
• The right software provides efficient time capture, reporting and integration capabilities.
• Look for systems built specifically for legal environments and workflows.
• Careful change management and training is key for driving user adoption.
• Ongoing compliance monitoring and process refinement is important.
• Continued innovation in timekeeping technology can further boost efficiency and insights.

By leveraging user-friendly, purpose-built time and attendance systems, law firms can elevate their financial performance, productivity and data analytics. Recording every billable minute and analyzing time data unlocks significant opportunities for legal organizations seeking to maximize success and profitability.