Solo and Small Firm Practice
Time and Billing Software:
Timeslips, PC Law or Quickbooks
February
17, 2004
| Question: I
am in the process of updating our bookkeeping and billing systems. We
are currently using an abacus and counting stones to produce our
data. Do you use either PC Law, Timeslips or QuickBooks? Do
you feel it would be more practical to just have either PCLaw of QuickBooks be
utilized for billing and bookkeeping services or do you find it better
to use some combination of these programs, such as Timeslips for
billing and QuickBooks for accounting? |
Answers:
John Ward - jbward@fgow.com
Shopped, spoke with accounting
professionals with experience with small law firms, and did some comparison
and review of a couple of articles on the subject (ABA LPM or business
section had a couple of reviews), all in connection with setting up approx.
4 years ago. Ended up with Timeslips (billing) and QuickBooks (accounting)
- as you describe. Double entry is a bit of a nuisance, but at the time
there was really no system that provided an adequate single entry solution
(although a couple claimed to). QuickBooks had (and I presume has)
a time keeping module, but it was very inadequate.
Ramp up for use of the two
programs was not significant, and I suspect that the respective interfaces
(which are good on the versions that we use) have improved since our purchase.
My practice is primarily business
focused - closely held companies, typically $3MM to $45MM in size, mostly
transactionally driven (M&A, corp. finance). Have 1-3 time keepers,
depending on the circumstances. Hope this helps, and good luck.
Jonathan Bromberg- jrbromberg@brsglaw.com
As with any piece of complex
software, I would highly recommend working with a certified consultant
and paying for a few hours of time for decent training. I think the
investment will be well worth it. We have used a consultant in our
office (Mary Molinaro of Software Basics) for training and everyone seems
to get the hang of it. Of course, some use many more features than
others, but the overall usage level and reliability is very good.
Addie Welch- addie@toad.net
I have used Timeslips for
3 years and find it very user unfriendly, very difficult to personalize
and very difficult to figure out.
Jonathan Bromberg- jrbromberg@brsglaw.com
We use Timeslips for
billing and QuickBooks for Accounting. I know that QuickBooks has
billing built into it, however, I believe that the time keeping flexibility
of Timeslips makes it more effective as the billing software for
small to medium sized firms. Also, Timeslips will integrate
with QuickBooks (though we have not done that in our office.) We
also use TimeMatters for our case, client, event, etc. management
and that integrates directly with Timeslips.
Sue Mays- SUE91355@aol.com
I have found that none of
the billing software meets my accounting needs (cash flows, cost projections,
profit statements.) Nor does the accounting software meet my billing
needs (trust account integration, timer, biller rates.) I use a combination.
(but then, I’m kind of compulsive about my financial statements…) I
use BSAPRO from Seabill for billing and QuatroPro for accounting. And
I still write checks by hand…
Joseph C. Hangarter- jch@charlescountylaw.com
I have been using Amicus to
enter time for other practice management functions with a link to PCLaw for
billing and accounting for a few years now and find the billing functions
to be very good once they are properly set up. They make billing
relatively painless. Presently you can also enter time directly into PCLaw and
the latest version includes some practice management functions. There
are strong indications that the next version of PCLaw will incorporate
virtually all of the practice management functions of Amicus, thus eliminating
the need for it. I have found Alumni Computer Group (PCLaw) to
be good to work with and to provide good quality and convenient support. A
fully integrated PCLaw might be worth waiting for but they are relatively
good with upgrades within a short time after the purchase.
Angela K. Rand- akrand@earthlink.net
I did a lot of research on
these programs in 1999, and decided to purchase PC
Law, Jr.
This program takes care of billing of all types (flat fee, contingency, hourly)
and the billing type is set up by matter and not lawyer, although you can
put in several different hourly rates for each lawyer also. PCLaw handles
all of the bank accounts, the payroll, the client list, etc. The nice
thing about it is when you are writing a check (on the computer) you can
simultaneously charge back the client or several clients. This way
you don’t have to double enter the fee, e.g. write the check then charge
back the client later when you get around to billing. There are several
security levels so if you wanted to let the administrator only write checks,
but you do everything else, that is easy to set up.
It is really important to
look into the technical service rate. PCLaw is $200/yr for
unlimited support which I use regularly, and I think that Timeslips has
a quite expensive hourly rate.
The other component of the PCLaw system
that I liked was that I could easily ascertain how many hours/month my
associates were billing out, and how much money they were actually bringing
in. Billable hours do not matter when no one is paying for them! This
was especially important because the associates salaries were based partially
on fees collected.
On the down side, because PCLaw incorporates
billing directly with the bank accounts, it is a complicated accounting
system and takes a little getting used to, and requires training of employees
that will be using it. On a scale of 1-10, I would give it a 9. If
you get it, you might want to have your accountant come in and set up the
accounting groups on it. I wish that we had, but all in all, when
the year is done I can see exactly where the money went.
Eliot Wagonheim- ewagonheim@wtlawfirm.com
We use QuickBooks for
accounting and Timeslips for time and billing. We also use
a practice management system, Amicus, which links to Timeslips and
serves as our timesheets, contact management, conflict system, file management,
and calendars.
I used PCLaw several
years ago and found it very frustrating to use- particularly for month-end
and year-end reports. Don’t get me wrong, Timeslips has
its share of problems, but I have found it easier to use, particularly
where support staff is concerned. In essence, to borrow from Winston
Churchill’s comment about democracy, Timeslips
I find is the worst billing
system in the world…except for all the others.
Finally, please note that
we do not employ or recommend the link (Timeslips Accounting Link)
between the accounting package and Timeslips. In my opinion,
there is a real danger in using it, as one program will inevitably communicate
its errors to the other. Hence, reversing an error on either becomes
a major problem with both systems.
Hope this helps. Good
luck
Lisanne Dorion- lidorion@earthlink.net
I researched this matter at
length when I returned to the US in 2001. I went with PCLaw for
convenience and cost. I have had good support and it has been a very
stable system for me.
Check out the websites and
request a demo also.
Kind regards
Gabriel C. Vine- attorney@vplaw.org
I have used Amicus for
the last two years with Timeslips for billing. It all worked
well enough, but the interface for Amicus leaves something to be
desired. I have just switched to Time Matters 5.0 Professional (including
Billing Matters 5.0 for about $510.00.) They are integrated and provide
billing and case management. Take a look at it.
Heather R. McCabe- HMcCabe@aol.com
I use Amicus and QuickBooks. I
chose QuickBooks b/c my accountant was most well-versed with it. I’ve
never had any problems.
Mark M. Brandsdorfer- mark@legalplanner.com
I concur with Mr. Wagonheim.
Our office also uses QuickBooks and Timeslips. We also
view it as the least of all evils as far as an accounting system for a law
office.
However, I also believe that the reason behind our choice is that our firm
long ago began utilizing separate accounting and time keeping systems (from
the days you couldn’t get both services in one reliable software product)
so we continued down that road as we upgraded and migrated our systems. However,
if you are starting from scratch (or are willing to do so), you might want
to start with one system that handles both (such as QuickBooks Pro)
for a trial period to see if all your needs are met with one integrated system. If
you aren’t satisfied, you can always try adding the time system like Timeslips as
part of your trial run and keep making adjustments until you are satisfied
with the results. Only after you are happy with the results would I recommend
implementing the system in actual operations.
Finally, we have not used
any other system (Amicus, PCLaw, etc.) so I can’t comment
on them, but if you choose to go the Timeslips/QuickBooks path,
we would also recommend using the accounting link between Timeslips and QuickBooks (or Timeslips and
any other system for that matter.) We tried it a number of years
ago and it was a very frustrating experience to say the least.
Anyway, I am a big believer
in this technology from when I first saw an early version of a computerized
time tracking system back in the 1980’s. From my experience,
once you get through the learning curve, you will never know how you survived
without it.
