Who Knows Where the Time Goes? Small firms can benefit from time and billing software.

Back in 2005, a technology survey done by the American Bar Association shows that 41% of attorneys in 2 to 9 lawyer firms and 53% of lawyers in firms with 10 to 49 attorneys, used time and billing software.

Why is this a big deal? Well, if you don’t capture your time:

1. You will fail to collect all earned revenue,
2. Profitability will be skewed because you did not account for all the costs associated with generating the revenue, and/or
3. Hidden costs among administrative staff involved in processing and tracking billable hours may increase.

These are real problems within small law firms. AND IN OTHER FIRMS TOO.

Many small architectural, engineering, consulting, accounting and other firms do not track hours with discipline. Some charge a recurring or fixed fee and as long as the bills are paid, they don’t worry about it. These professional are fixated on “count the $$ in my wallet,” an attitude essential in the start-up phase. Of course, cash flow is critical but so is other management information. It is the difference between treating your professional firm like a hobby business or street vendor business and like a solid concern you want to be stable and growing.

Think about this the next time you talk to a client or a prospect. It is never too late for them to use technology for its maximum benefits to their firm.

BillQuick’s Project Hierarchy

New in 2008, BillQuick now offers up to four levels in the project hierarchy for your clients. Of course, only one project per client is required, and only one level per projects. Under the client, the four project levels are:

When would a company need more than one project level?

Most commonly, an architectural, engineering or IT/computer consulting firm will break down the scope of work in a project into a second level called a Phase. Some of these professionals may follow a management style that prefers to break the scope of work down further into Segments and possibly Sub-Segments. These are the third and fourth levels in the project hierarchy.

One common scenario for use of Segments is Change Orders. Inevitably a client of an architect, engineer or consultant requests a change to the project. In a house building project, a client may ask for a small change like lighting changes in the family room or a larger change like a special small building to take care of plants for the garden at the back of the property. Rather than change the scope of the entire project, a segment is added to handle the change. This allows the architect to track the budget, profitability, etc. for the original project and for the change order separately. Change orders often are done on a time and materials basis and at premium rates.

Another common scenario is an architect or engineer may want to track Services and Expenses separately for each phase. In this case, they will create a segment for each, complete with a contract amount, budget, percent complete and other items.

In summary, segments and sub-segments are powerful features for many clients. When discussing their information requirements, be sure to ask about these project levels. With a little planning, they can add tremendous management information.

Check out the demo about the Project Hierarchy and how to set one up in under a minute.

There is no FREE BillQuick Support

When one of your clients purchase BillQuick or any add-on module, they receive 30 days of support with it. This is not Free Support. It is a start-up support contract bundled with the software and included in the price of the software.

There is no free. Free has no value.

There is no FREE!

(This advice applies to you as well as to your customers.)

Get the word FREE out of your daily business talk. Relegate it to a locked place in your modus operandi that requires at least 10 seconds to unlock while you consider the short-term and long-term consequences.

You do not provide services for free. You provide some services at no charge or choose to not charge for some work. And when you bill the client, NEVER, NEVER forget to include these items on the invoice and have it say “No Charge,” NOT “$0.00.”

When you put “$0.00″ on an invoice, it means the service has NO VALUE. What does that say about your expertise and your investment in time and money to gain that expertise? How will a client value what you do for them when you don’t?

In contrast, when you say “No Charge,” you are telling a client that the service has value but that you CHOOSE NOT TO CHARGE them for it. In other words, you did the client a “favor.” It also puts the client on notice that if they ask for too many “favors”, they can expect to be charged.

When your invoice invoice one or more No Charge items, ALWAYS include a note that explains WHY. For example, tell them you were able to absorb the change to the project this time because other parts of the project went a little better than expected. Or say the No Charge is a goodwill gesture. Or if they have referred business to you, that it is your way to say thank you.

In the same vein, if you charge less than your full bill rate or your cost, include that fact on the invoice – add a note to clearly say this. You might decide to charge less than your full rate because you want to shift part of the value of the work into goodwill for the client. Or you might decide to eat part of the cost because the task took longer than planned, and billing the full amount might raise eyebrows or make a client wonder about your competence.

Whatever the reason, document it on the invoice. Make sure they know what the discount is for (IMPORTANT: Review Page 19 of the BillQuick Reseller Handbook). Refer to it as a Goodwill Discount. If appropriate, explain that what you learned in helping them will allow you to help others. This implies you are a smart businessperson and will get your investment back many times over.

Bottom Line: “Free” has no value unless you tell the client it has value. You deliver value, thus your business talk should include No Charge and Goodwill Discount. And your invoices should always have an explanation for both of these to ensure the client knows the value you provide. They will NOT “get it” unless you include an explanation.