Billing
A Guide to Legal E-Billing Software
How many times have you had to chase down a client payment in the last few months? Five times? Ten? Those missed or late payments can interrupt your bookkeeping efforts and derail your firm’s budget. But there’s a simple solution that may reduce the stress of getting paid: using legal e-billing tools in your practice.
In our 2024 Legal Industry Report, we discovered that law firms collected 33% more from their clients by accepting online payments. That’s 33% more money in your firm’s bank account that you can use to invest in your business.
But as you start your search for the right tools, you’ll quickly discover that there are many options available. When you find the right one, it can make all the difference in streamlining billing and improving your client’s experience.
In this article, we’ll go over how you can choose legal e-billing software for your law firm and how legal e-billing software such as LawPay and MyCase can make your job as a lawyer easier, more efficient, and less prone to error.
What Is Legal E-Billing?
Legal e-billing software is a digital tool that allows your team to streamline and automate law firm billing tasks, including:
- Tracking billable hours
- Logging expenses
- Managing standard and alternative fee arrangements
- Making payments
- Processing invoices
- Trust accounting
Unlike standard billing and accounting software, legal billing software is custom-built for the needs of a legal practice. For example, bills created through legal e-billing tools include key information like the time spent on the case, descriptions for each task, and trust account balances. The result is a more detailed bill that clients can easily interpret, giving them a clear understanding of the charges.
How To Choose the Best Legal E-Billing Software for Your Firm
Choosing the best legal billing software can enhance your firm’s efficiency and ability to collect payments from your clients. Here’s how to choose the right tools for your business:
- Consider the platform’s ease of use. Make sure the platform is easy to use and can accommodate staff with different abilities. Look for mobile-friendly features and workflows that make sense to your team.
- Look at the tool’s available integrations. Integrations let you connect the legal billing software to other tools you frequently use, like time-tracking apps or customer relationship management platforms. Choose the software that supports the integrations you need to run your firm.
- Explore the tool’s other features. Some tools offer legal e-billing as one feature among many. For example, solutions that provide financial reporting can help your law firm quickly review your monthly cash flow or outstanding accounts receivable directly on the platform.
- Check out the customer reviews. Read recent customer reviews as well as reviews from tech publications. Also, ask colleagues for recommendations to help you fully compare your options.
- Be mindful of pricing. Simple legal billing software ranges in price, and higher price tags may not always indicate quality. Prioritize each program’s features and choose the software that offers the best balance between price and features you need.
LawPay customers get 72% of invoices paid within the first 24 hours. That’s why it is trusted by 56,000+ law firms. Use our free calculator to see how much you could save when switching to LawPay.
Benefits of Using E-Billing at Your Law Firm
Adopting legal e-billing software can provide impactful benefits for law firms. Below is a list of some of the biggest benefits.
- Reduced errors: Automating parts of your billing and payments process can dramatically reduce the potential for human error along with many common billing issues, like inefficient time tracking and block billing.
- Better time and resource management: By calculating, generating, and following-up on invoices automatically with software, you can free up a great deal of time for more valuable and productive billable work.
- Improved cash flow: Legal billing software allows you to quickly generate invoices after you’ve completed the work. These solutions can also help your clients make payments. For example, LawPay’s Quick Bill feature allows you to send a payment request that can be paid with one click.
- Easier data-driven decisions: The best legal e-billing software provides a range of advanced analytics. A few examples include deposit and transaction details, accounts receivables, productivity and compensation, and trust accounting. This allows you to measure the impact of different strategies, identify places where you can trim your budget, and more.
- Improved client experience: Legal e-billing software substantially reduces the burden your clients may experience as they settle their accounts with your firm. For example, they can make payments through the e-billing portal instead of having to call or mail a check. They can also easily see their account status through the platform.
- More diverse payment options: Legal billing software gives your clients more freedom in how they pay their invoices, though the payment methods available can vary from service to service. LawPay allows you to accept multiple payment methods, schedule automatic payments (whether it be a one-time charge at a future date or recurring charges), add QR codes to invoices, and much more.
Download our e-book, "Upgrading the Client Experience with Online Payments," to see how five law firms enhanced client experiences and grew their businesses with online payments.
How To Set Up Legal E-Billing
Below are steps to set your firm up for a smooth electronic billing onboarding process.
- Inform your team. Once you have a software solution in mind, let your team know that you’re switching from manual billing to electronic billing. Explain relevant process changes and how the new system can help streamline their work. Notifying your staff early can help them understand why you’re making the switch and encourage them to quickly adopt the new tool.
- Host trainings as needed. Host group training sessions to show everyone how to use your new software. This is also a great opportunity to answer one-on-one questions.
- Test the new software. Give your firm a few weeks to adjust to the new software and see how the tools integrate into your practice. Then, review what works well and what’s creating more work for your team. You may need to adjust different settings or incorporate additional integrations to fully customize the system for your firm.
How To Use Legal e-Billing Software
Though every e-billing software will have its own unique interface, most follow the same billing process. Below are practical ways your firm can utilize legal e-billing software.
- Track and record any time, fees, and expenses related to your work within your chosen legal e-billing software. LawPay has native expense-tracking and time-tracking features that can integrate seamlessly with your software, so everything is available in one convenient dashboard.
- Set up your billing structure within the platform. Some firms prefer to charge hourly, while others incorporate retainer fees and contingency fees into the mix.
- Establish your invoicing schedule. E-billing software provides the ability to generate an invoice based on data inputted into the platform. After it creates the bill, you can determine when to electronically send the invoice to your client.
- Structure your accepted payment options in the software. After your clients receive their bills online, they can make payments through the portal.
- Arrange reminders for your firm and your clients. If there’s any delay at any of these stages, you can set up the software to automatically send periodic reminders to keep things moving.
Best Practices For Successful E-Billing
Although billing software can streamline your invoicing and payment efforts, there are a few best practices you’ll want to incorporate into your processes.
- Create clear invoice requirements: Standardize your invoice templates and create a single, consistent layout for bills. If you’re using LawPay, you’ll be able to incorporate standardized invoices from customizable invoice templates and payment pages.
- Ensure accuracy with time tracking: Account for all hours worked and avoid billing for time that wasn’t spent working on a client’s case.
- Be transparent: By communicating your billing policy with clients upfront, they’ll know what to expect, what your services will cost, how they can pay you, and when they’ll need to settle any bills.
Overall, take some time to consider your firm’s needs and how you want to communicate your new billing best practices with your clients. You may want to send out an email or a digital newsletter providing information about your new invoice and payment process.
Simplify Your E-Billing With LawPay
Legal e-billing software can help you automate your time tracking and billing efforts while also making it easier for your clients to pay you what they owe. By automating these tasks, you can streamline your operation, lower costs, boost efficiency, make your customers happier, and free yourself up to focus on the invigorating challenges of your profession.
Schedule a demo and see how LawPay’s legal e-billing software can supercharge your practice.
