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Kill Bill

How technology can help small firms bill more effectively.

When it comes to making their billing processes more efficient, small-firm lawyers have a dizzying array of software applications from which to choose. Increasingly, these programs are within the reach of a small-firm lawyer’s budget.

One of the best-established programs on the market is Tabs3, the flagship product of Software Technology Inc., which was founded way back in 1979 (the high-tech equivalent of the Paleozoic Era).

At about US$300 a year, Tabs3 claims to have about 425,000 users in small to mid-size law firms. Its software more or less paved the way for today’s legal billing program marketplace, with tools that allow you to keep a running tally of your billables while reminding you of when to bill, and more importantly, who is and who isn’t paying up.

Another popular option is the Canadian-created, but now U.S.-owned, PCLaw program. Recently snapped up by LexisNexis, PCLaw has itself snapped up most of the industry’s top awards over the past couple of years, thanks to its focus on firms of ten employees or fewer.

In addition to offering accounting features that automatically generate bills, account receivable slips and deposit slips, PCLaw boasts some of the easiest time-recording functions on the market, according to Toronto technology lawyer Alan Gahtan.

“If you have three or four or ten different matters you’re working on during a particular day, you just set them up and click on a timer, and it keeps track as you switch between things,” says Gahtan. “It’s pretty good for productivity, and it reduces the amount of time that you forget to mark down.”

PCLaw also has a suite of accessories that allow you to manage your documents, contacts, banking records, law society journals and, as bonus; it keeps track of GST and PST. But it comes at a cost: entry-level installations run about US$750. Yet when you consider the cost of a secretary or admin assistant, it becomes a more attractive option, Gahtan notes.

“It’s a huge help,” he says. “I mean, someone could probably do most of what this program does, but the amount of time you’d have to spend to replicate all the functionalities is enormous. I can’t imagine someone running a practice without using something like this.”

— Brad Mackay

Neither the author nor the CBA should be construed as endorsing any product or website listed in this article. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CBA. In this document, any reference to "jurist" or "lawyer" includes, where appropriate, "Québec notary".