TimeNet Law is on the move. Hot on the heels of TimeNet Law 2.0, which brought conflict of interest checking, interface refinements and a bunch of other new features and fixes, TimeNet Law 2.1 came out. TimeNet Law 2.1 was primarily a data switch-over to allow for advanced tracking of invoicing and differentiating between work in progress and billed work. We snuck in a few extra features and reports with this update as well.
Well now that that’s all out of the way, TimeNet Law 2.2 is coming out. Now you can finally see why all of these changes were necessary: Accounting.
For some firms, these features aren’t so important, but they should be. Maybe you use a Windows application for accounting. Maybe you use QuickBooks. Regardless, running reports and providing your CPAs and banks with up to date and useful information is critical, no matter how big or small your firm is.
If you have an accounting system in place that you’re dead-set on, that’s great; just ignore the mark down, write-off, and grouping features of this update, and still enjoy the benefits of advanced reporting. However, if you want to ditch that Windows application or consolidate your tools, TimeNet Law can practically run the accounting department for your law firm.
Here’s how:
1. Matter Groups. Now, you can organize Matters by grouping and relate items to one another. This allows for streamlined billing and reports. Run bills for one group at a time, organizing them however you like. All kinds of TimeNet Law reports will show these groups for easy sorting and data gathering. Quickly see, for example, how much money a specific group has made your firm.
2. Disbursements. “Additional Charges” were always meant to be disbursements, or expenses, added to a Matter. Now, you can see these charges broken up and separated from Earnings charges (timed slips and flat fee slips). See exactly how much of your income comes from Timekeepers and how much comes from Disbursements.
3. Mark Downs and Write-Offs. A Mark Down occurs before the client even sees the invoice. Bill for your time, and when it’s time to invoice, you can view all kinds of Timekeeper reports to see how people are spending their time. If you decide that a certain task had more time spent on it than seems reasonable, a mark down can be made to the slip. This mark down occurs before the slip is invoiced and the client never sees this unless you choose.
Write-Offs are exactly the same, but are logged AFTER a slip has been invoiced. If, for example, a client disputes an item and says they won’t pay that much, you need to keep track of this as a Write-Off.
Mark Down and Write-Off Reports can be generated to show your clients exactly how much they have saved over time, if they are complaining too much about fees.
4. Advanced Timekeeper Reports. Keep track of how much a Timekeeper billed, how much they spent, how much was marked down, how much was written off, and what the actual collections were down to the Matter level.
5. Reports, reports, and more reports. Billed Fees and Disbursements, Unbilled Fees and Disbursements, Statement of Account, Aged A/R, Collections, Mark Downs, Write-Offs, and more.
6. Exporting. If you need data organized or grouped in a way that TimeNet Law doesn’t have built-in, every report now has the option to Export to a comma-delimited CSV file. These files can be quickly imported into Numbers or Excel and manipulated further.
TimeNet Law 2.2 should be released within just a few days. Once it has been released, we invite you to explore the new accounting features. If anything is missing, let us know what we need to add to handle all of your accounting needs!