Kamron Sanders

All businesses, law firms included, need reliable, consistent systems to maintain efficiency. While traditional processes served the legal industry for decades, those manual systems may not be sufficient to meet the current demand in the market. This is especially true when it comes to the law firm billing processes. 

Manual processes for time tracking and law firm invoicing can not only create delays with payment but leave room for costly errors to both the firm and the relationship with the client.

Automated invoice approval processes are the ideal way to create efficient invoicing and billing to get your firm paid faster and create a positive experience for the client. In this article, learn how law firm billing and invoicing software can reduce the invoice approval cycle to get firms paid faster. 

What Is an Invoice Approval Process?

An invoice approval process is a series of steps that must be followed to clear an invoice. It’s essentially a checklist to create an efficient process for clearing invoices, ensuring no discrepancies between the invoice and the original documents.

What Steps Are in the Invoice Approval Process?

Invoice approval processes are adjusted to the needs of the firm, but they typically include the following steps:

Data Capture

The first step is verifying that the invoice has all the necessary information for approval. This includes the client’s name and address, the relevant dates, the legal services provided, the transaction amounts, and information about banks or financial institutions. Ideally, this information will be archived in the system for repeat clients and automated.

Invoice Verification

Verifying the invoice is the next step in the process, which involves comparing it to a draft bill for legal services. This is usually done when the matter is complete or on a periodic basis, such as monthly or quarterly.

The draft bill must be reviewed to ensure it’s accurate. You may need to adjust time increments or edit the descriptions before they can be verified, which starts the process over.

Invoice Approval

The data is assessed, recorded, and validated by all parties involved before being submitted for approval. Automated processes push the invoice through each stage, streamlining the process with notifications to alert each party of deadlines.

Payment Processing

Once the invoice is approved, it can be sent to the client for payment. An automated law firm invoice software, like Bill4Time, allows your firm to create the invoice and send it to the client via email or the client portal to complete the payment online.   

How Do Law Firms Traditionally Approve Invoices?

As mentioned before, law firms still relying on outdated, manual processes are susceptible to human errors, missed deadlines, and decreased efficiency.

Other issues arising from traditional law firm invoicing include: 

Lost Billable Time

Manual invoice approval processes are time-consuming. Legal staff can spend a lot of time comparing invoice details with client information, and preparing and sending invoices. If there are delays in payment, staff can find themselves spending an ample amount of time following up on payments.

Missing Invoices

If your law firm processes a high volume of paper invoices or even emailed or faxed invoices, it’s easy for one to get lost in the shuffle. If this happens, the process needs to be repeated all over again.

Slower Payments

Without automation, the invoice approval process can be time-consuming without accounting for the time to get paid by clients.  Invoices can sit in email inboxes or on a desk for days or weeks, extending the time before your firm is paid. 

Expensive Errors

Errors on invoices can result in billing discrepancies and poor client experience. If you overbill, it can impact client satisfaction and retention as clients may lose trust in your law firm. If it’s too low, you’re leaving money on the table. Mistakes can also occur in manual data entry, leading to inconsistencies in your law firm’s accounting.

How to Streamline the Invoice Approval Process

Bill4Time is the law firm invoicing software that helps you automate the entire billing process, from tracking your billable hours to sending invoices and monitoring your firm’s financial health, all in one place.

Automate Time Tracking for Accuracy

Tracking billable hours is one of the most time-consuming aspects of a lawyer’s day-to-day work — and error-prone. For some, more than 30% of billable time is lost because of inefficient timekeeping, which then complicates the invoicing process and negatively impacts client trust.

With Bill4Time’s legal time tracking software, you can accurately and quickly track your billable hours in real-time. Instead of spreadsheets or notepads, the tool offers a timer that you can access on your phone, tablet, or desktop to record your billable time.

You can also track your non-billable time separately for precision and accuracy. Then, whether you’re in the field or in the office, you can simultaneously run timers to record different time entries seamlessly.

Create an Invoice Approval Workflow

Automating your invoice process saves time and effort. With the project and task management features in Bill4Time, you can set up an invoice workflow that works best for your firm. You can include all the steps, associated tasks, including the parties involved, and deadline notifications to ensure nothing is missed.

Use Invoice Templates

Invoicing is a significant burden on your legal staff. With Bill4Time, you can create professional, branded invoice templates in a matter of minutes, including pre-bills, detailed invoices, and financial statements.

If you have alternative fee structures, you can set up your invoices to offer flat or fixed-rate, or percentage discounts. All invoices are branded with your logo and company details, payment terms, late fees, and currency, eliminating much of the repetitive work that goes into invoicing.

When invoices are approved, send them via email or Bill4Time’s secure, compliant client portal. With Bill4Time Payments, clients can pay their invoices conveniently with credit cards, debit cards, or ACH from any deceive. Your firm can even create custom payment plans to make larger bills more digestible for clients. 

Automate Your Firm’s Invoice Approvals with Bill4Time

If you’re ready to save time and money by ridding your firm of manual processes, Bill4Time is here to help streamline your practice. With branded invoices, time tracking for lawyers, and automated workflows, Bill4Time simplifies your entire invoicing and billing process to get your firm paid faster, reduce time wasted on repetitive processes, and improve the client experience.

Legal services can be expensive, leaving some clients unable to afford the legal help they need. Unbundled services are a popular option that helps clients pay for legal services “a la carte” at a lower overall cost.

Continue reading to understand what unbundled legal services are, how they benefit law firms and clients, and how you can get started with the help of legal practice management software.

What Are Unbundled Legal Services?

Unbundled legal services, also known as limited-scope representation, are a method of legal representation that specifies which aspects of the case the attorney assists with. Essentially, the client is hiring a lawyer to handle only parts of the case to reduce the costs.

These services may include preparing legal documents, filing court documents, or appearing in court on the client’s behalf. Clients are responsible for other aspects of their own cases.

Unbundled vs. Bundled Legal Services

Unbundled legal services allow clients to pay only for certain services they want a lawyer to complete, but the client handles various aspects of their case on their own. The specifics of how the legal tasks are allocated are outlined in a limited-scope representation agreement between the lawyer and client.

Bundled legal services, or limited retainer agreements, are arrangements that allow a client to retain a lawyer for a predetermined level of legal services. This may include legal documents, consultations, or other legal services that have a fixed price, such as financial statements, applications, contracts, or affidavits.

Both unbundled and bundled legal services offer a way for clients to take on some of their casework on their own, retaining a lawyer for tasks that are out of the scope of the average person.

Benefits of Unbundled Legal Services

Here are some advantages to offering unbundled legal services at your firm:

Access to Legal Services

Legal fees are often expensive in the best of circumstances and some clients may need legal services that are out of their reach, whether due to affordability, geographic location, or other factors. Offering unbundled legal services helps clients get legal help on an as-needed basis, taking on some of the work themselves and paying only for the services that require a lawyer. With unbundled legal service agreements, clients always have the option to retain more legal help as their case moves forward.

A Wider Client Base

Law firms can miss out on a big client base because of access and affordability. If your firm offers unbundled legal services, you can provide full-service representation for clients who choose – and can afford it – as well as clients who only seek limited-scope representation.

Beyond having a larger book of business, having a broader client base can impact overall retention and cash flow for your firm. 

How to Implement Unbundled Legal Services

Adding unbundled legal services to your law firm requires the following steps:

Understand the Ethics

The ABA Formal Ethics Opinion 472 (2015) regarding unbundled legal services states that lawyers are authorized to provide limited-scope representation under Model Rule 1.2(c). This recommends that lawyers that provide unbundled services detail the scope of representation to the client in writing. ABA Opinion 472 further states that lawyers can limit the scope of representation provided it’s reasonable and the client provides informed consent.

The rules regarding unbundled services vary by jurisdiction, however, so it’s important to check your local jurisdiction’s rules and laws, particularly for small firms and solo law firms. If necessary, seek state bar or court permission.

Check Market Gaps

The demand for unbundled services varies by the market and your practice area. When you’re planning to offer unbundled services, consider which clients may struggle with access to justice and areas of law that are rules-based or routine.

Depending on your practice area, offering limited-scope representation may not be an option for all of your legal services. For example, family law and criminal law can be challenging with unbundled legal services.

Prepare a Limited-Scope Representation Agreement

You need a clearly defined limited-scope representation agreement that defines what’s included in unbundled legal services and the allocation of legal tasks. Informed consent is also required under the ABA Formal Opinion to ensure that clients understand the limitations and risks of limited-scope representation.

Set Prices

Unbundled services are more affordable for clients, so it’s essential that you’re offering reasonable prices for your defined legal services. Consider the competition’s pricing to establish a range for your area.

If possible, use flat-fee pricing to help clients understand exactly what they’re paying for and what they can expect to pay for the entire case. Clear and transparent prices will make your unbundled services more appealing to your clients.

Streamline Your Client Intake Process

Expanding your offering to include unbundled services means you’ll likely bring in more clients, so having a streamlined and efficient client intake process is necessary to keep your practice running smoothly.

Asking the right questions ensures you’re attracting the right clients and establishes trust from the first interaction with your law firm.

You also need a streamlined billing process that helps clients pay easily and securely. With Bill4Time Payments billing software, you can implement and manage a variety of billing models, including flat fees for unbundled services.

Native to the Bill4Time platform, Bill4TimePayments, offers firms a secure payment processor that allows their clients to pay invoices online via payment plans, the client portal, and custom payment links, all using the payment method of their choice.

Examples of Unbundled Legal Services

There are plenty of examples of unbundled legal services, including:

• Case evaluation
• Limited litigation
• Transactional guidance
• Document preparation
• Document drafting
• Negotiation advice
• Settlement evaluation
• Agreement review
• Court coaching
• Limited court appearances

For example, a divorce lawyer can help a client draft the initial filing for dissolution of marriage. From there, the client takes over.

Deliver a Better Client Experience

There are many benefits to offering limited-scope legal services for both your clients and your firm. You can provide better services to your clients and help people who may otherwise be unable to access legal help. It’s important to set yourself up for success, however, with a clear limited-scope agreement, a streamlined intake process, and smooth, simple billing with law practice management software.

One of the biggest challenges of life is balancing a career with the desire to live a fulfilling life outside of work. This also applies to lawyers – a career path that’s known for intensive work schedules. Law firms are notorious for long hours, demanding workloads, and competitive environments that aren’t conducive to work-life balance.

Lawyers aren’t immune to the stress of constantly hustling. Lawyers are at a higher risk for depression, drug and alcohol abuse, heart disease, divorce, and suicide, according to a study by the American Bar Association.

For lawyers, time – especially billable time – is a finite resource. They may find themselves sacrificing their personal commitments and free time to meet overwhelming demands at the office, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Work-life balance is achievable.

What Is Work-Life Balance?

Work-life balance is the ideal state of balance in which a person prioritizes their career demands with the demands of their personal life equally. Some of the common reasons that work-life balance can suffer may include:

• Increased responsibilities at work
• Long hours
• Increased responsibilities at home
• Having children

A good work-life balance has numerous benefits, including lower stress levels, less risk of burnout, and a strong sense of well-being. While it will never be perfect, you can find better ways to achieve work-life balance and take care of your professional and personal responsibilities.

Why Do Lawyers Struggle with Work-Life Balance?

Every size law firm faces its own unique challenges when it comes to managing operations, staff, and workload. Lawyers often double as managing partners or managers on top of their own caseload. 

This is how lawyers may find themselves working a few evenings or weekends. Before they know it, there’s no separation between work and home. 

For young lawyers, this problem can be more pronounced. They work hard now in hopes that it will pay off later, whether that’s making partner or having a smooth-running practice. But there will always be more clients, more cases, and more work, even if they can no longer work at the same volume and pace.

How Can I Help My Law Firm Staff Have a Better Work-Life Balance?

Work-life balance isn’t a box you can tick off as completed, it’s an ongoing process that should evolve with your firm. 

An important place to start is by documenting what work-life balance looks like for each staff member. You can then use this information to determine a course of action that’s flexible but committed to achieving that goal. It may not be perfect to start, but small steps and consistency can lead to results.

Here’s how each staff member should approach work-life balance:

Outline Personal and Professional Goals

Work-life balance is an individualistic process. Lawyers need to determine what’s working and what isn’t to identify patterns and develop concrete goals. These goals should be written down to keep them top of mind.

Promote Accountability

For your staff to achieve their goals, they need to be accountable to someone. Have your staff share their goals and meet with them once a month to discuss their progress. This will allow you to assess any bottlenecks in their progress and support them as needed. 

Consider Alternative Work Schedules and Styles

Not everyone is suited for a traditional 9-5 schedule, and more and more lawyers are seeing the value in hybrid schedules. Part-time and flex work are also options to give staff more control of their workday. They’ll be more productive when they are working but still have the freedom to balance the responsibilities in their personal lives.

Provide Time for Rest and Relaxation

Making time for self-care can minimize the effects of lawyer burnout. Self-care looks different for everyone, but the general needs include activity, good nutrition, and adequate sleep – all the elements of taking care of yourself.

For this to happen, staff may need some time away from work as needed. Give your staff time off to travel or engage in hobbies or family events. While they may be out of the office, they will come back with new perspectives and renewed focus.

Designate Time for Different Tasks

Few things are as disruptive to productivity as checking your email or phone every few minutes to stay on top of communications with clients or case developments. This not only hurts productivity in the office, but it can seep into personal time and prevent them from being in the moment.

Make sure each lawyer strategically organizes time for emails, case correspondence, and client communication. Instead of responding to each message or email individually, lawyers should set aside an hour or two each day at specific times to address any correspondence. 

Here are some more quick tips for managing tasks:

• Block off focus-time
• Learn strong time management
• Prioritize tasks with deadlines
• Avoid overcommitting to tasks

Ditch the Electronic Leashes

Most everyone carries a digital device that keeps them tethered to work, blurring the boundaries between work time and free time. As more firms embrace digital transformation and automation to make running a law firm easier, less expensive, and more efficient, the downside is that it keeps lawyers “always on,”

Instill boundaries to allow your staff to truly unplug. It’s common for lawyers to sneak in some time on weekends or during vacations to get ahead, but it’s important that they understand that they need some distance in their personal lives.

Use Legal Technology

Cloud-based technology like Bill4Time can help law firms reduce the time spent on administrative tasks and keep everything in one centralized location. Having law practice management software can help you maximize billable work, automate the client intake process, and obtain electronic signatures to get more done in less time.

Achieve Work-Life Balance at Your Firm

Improving work-life balance not only benefits your lawyers, but it can have tremendous advantages for your firm. It’s a work in progress with small steps toward prioritizing work and personal lives equally for more satisfaction and fulfillment.

Once you complete a case, your work isn’t quite over. You still need to get paid for your legal services, though this can be a struggle for many law firms.

Late payments, missed payments, or collections can stall your firm’s cash flow and create a lot of time-consuming administrative work. Much of this work can be avoided by standardizing your billing and invoicing process. Having invoice templates and invoice email templates can save your firm time and get you paid faster, while also building stronger client relationships

What Is the Importance of Legal Invoice Email Templates?

The greatest benefit of an email template is saving time. Instead of typing an email every time you send an invoice, you have most of the information ready to go — all you have to do is include client information.

This is especially useful for law firms since staff will save time by only having to pull the client’s contact information and review it for proper formatting. A template is useful for sending invoices to multiple clients as it ensures that the invoice alerts are consistent.

With a basic template in place, you simply personalize it to the client with their name and other relevant information.

What Should Be in My Legal Invoice Email Templates?

Your email and invoice should include all the information necessary for your client to process the payment.

Your invoice template should include:

• Your business details, such as your name, logo, and contact information
• Invoice number
• Client’s full name and contact details
• Invoice date
• Due date
• Amount due
• Itemized list of services with a breakdown of rates
• Any applicable details like terms and conditions and available payment methods

The invoice email should include:

• Invoice number
• Due date
• Amount due
• Payment instructions that are clear and easy to follow
• Completed work
• A notice if payments are past due and options to resolve overdue balances
• The attached invoice

Your invoice templates should make it clear and easy for the client. Traditional billing practices like paper invoices or paper checks can delay payments and even create obstacles for the client to pay. 

With Bill4Time Payments, your firm can accept online payments and include custom payment links on the invoices automatically. This allows your clients to quickly and conveniently pay their bills using the method they choose on a secure and private portal. 

Clients can pay in just a few clicks whether they use eCheck or a credit card. You can also enable Bill4Time’s user-friendly client portal where clients can view invoices, pay online or review documents. 

Example Legal Invoice Email Templates

If you’re not sure how to write an invoice email, here’s an example template to inspire you:

Subject: Invoice [number] Due on [date]

Dear [client name],

I hope you’re doing well. Please see invoice [number] for [completed work] attached. The balance of [amount due] on this invoice is due by [date]. You can make your payment online via eCheck, credit or debit card. If enabled, we also welcome you to use your client portal to view and pay your invoices and review your payment history. 

If you need to make other payment arrangements, please contact our accounting department at accounting@lawfirm.com 

Please reach out if you have any questions or need clarification regarding your invoice.

Best regards,

[your name and email signature]

This invoice email template is brief and clear, free of unnecessary details or conversation. Usually, this is appropriate for most clients, but use your discretion to determine how much additional information to include.

If you wish to include a personalized greeting, you can put it in the body of the email. This helps to set your firm apart from others and will make your client feel like they have a more engaging experience.

Automating Invoice Templates with Law Firm Invoicing Software

The standard invoicing process can be time-consuming, especially when you consider tracking billable hours, payments received, payments due, and what accounts need to be sent to collections.

Legal billing software like Bill4Time helps you automate the process of creating invoices and emailing them to your clients, giving you benefits like:

Improved Cash Flow

Your collection time will improve when you shift from manual processes to efficient automated invoicing. In Bill4Time, you can set up automated invoices and payment reminders, and accept online payments — all proven tactics that help law firms get paid up to 70% faster.

Better Client Relationships

Automated law firm invoicing also supports the attorney-client relationship. Clients get the benefit of predictable invoicing and self-service payments through a secure portal, while you can be relieved of the stress of chasing down late invoices. You can also generate a thank-you email to improve the relationship and get feedback.

Minimized Human Error

No matter how careful your staff is, mistakes can happen. Legal billing software automates the intricacies of data entry, time tracking, and billing calculations. Bill4Time allows lawyers the ability to set multiple timers so they capture time as they switch between cases. Features like this help to minimize inaccurate invoices, billing disputes, and overpayments. You can track cash flow in real-time to get a clear view of your firm’s financial health.

Create a Custom Template

It only takes a few minutes to create professional branded invoices. In Bill4Time, you can customize your firm’s invoice with all required components, like your rates or fees, and even add your logo.  

Increase Workflow Efficiencies

Create batch invoices, apply payments to current invoices, or create invoice summaries to customize your workflow. Schedule your invoices to send automatically or recurring, so the clients you bill each month get their invoices on the payment schedule outlined in your legal billing policy at intake.

Send Reminders

You can set up invoice reminders to nudge clients with overdue invoices. These can also be templated to make the process quick and simple. Schedule your reminders to go out a week before the invoice is due and once a due date has passed. These simple reminders will keep you and your clients accountable for the payment schedule. 

Build Strong Client Relationships with Legal Invoice Template Emails

A well-written and timely invoice email is a crucial step in establishing a strong relationship with your client and getting your bills paid on time. Custom invoice templates with invoice email templates using legal billing software streamline your law firm’s invoicing process and ensures you don’t have a lot of revenue in limbo.

Law firms often require a lot of specialized support staff to keep things running smoothly. A legal billing specialist works closely with lawyers, paralegals, and other staff to make the billing process run smoothly and ensure the firm is getting paid.

Legal billing specialist careers are growing. Find out if this is the right career for you.

What Is a Legal Billing Specialist?

Legal billing specialists are support staff responsible for creating and maintaining legal bills for the firm’s clients. They work with support staff and lawyers to ensure all the necessary information is included on each bill.

Depending on the firm, legal billing specialists may be responsible for tracking down past-due payments from clients or third parties. This may involve sending letters, making calls, or pursuing legal action for past-due accounts.

Some of the day-to-day responsibilities include:

• Compiling billing statements
• Generating invoices
• Reviewing legal documents for accuracy
• Reviewing past due accounts and setting up payment plans
• Reviewing account status and activity to ensure compliance with state laws regarding lawyer licensing requirements
• Determining whether services have been performed or fees incurred according to legal ethics standards
• Collecting past due accounts receivable by contacting clients or working with a collection agency
• Tracking time and attendance using timekeeping systems
• Managing the process of submitting claims to insurance companies as needed
• Preparing and filing court documents

How to Start a Career as a Legal Billing Specialist

Legal billing can be a challenging career to get into. Some law firms require an accounting or business background with a bachelor’s degree. There are still opportunities for legal billing specialists with an associate degree or no degree, however, as long as they have experience with billing.

Some vocational schools offer coursework in legal billing or online courses, which can help you gain the necessary skill set for the job. Some of these skills include:

• Accounting knowledge 
• Computer literacy and the ability to learn a legal time tracking and billing system
• Attention to detail
• Communication skills, both written and spoken
• The ability to multitask and work in a fast-paced environment
• Exceptional organizational skills
• An understanding of the confidentiality and gravity of the legal industry

Legal billing specialists may get their start in an entry-level position at a law firm, but you have the option to open your own legal billing business. Law firms outsource a lot of the administrative work, including billing, and this option gives you the flexibility to choose your workload, hours, and clients.

Running a business isn’t for the faint of heart and requires high attention to detail and organization. You will need business acumen and marketing skills to get your name out there and attract law firms seeking your services.  

Job Market Outlook for Legal Billing Specialists

Legal billing specialists’ salaries can vary according to their experience and education, the size of the firm, and the location.

According to ZipRecruiter, the median salary for legal specialists is $55,013 annually, which is approximately $26.45 an hour. Annual salaries may be as high as $77,000 or as low as $27,500, but the majority fall in the range of $45,500 to $63,000. The top earners can make $71,500 annually.

The job outlook varies across the country. Like other industries, the legal industry is shifting toward technology to handle repetitive or time-consuming work, including billing.

This can be an opportunity and not a barrier. While the role of legal billing specialists may change and evolve, they still serve a crucial role at medium- and large law firms. Legal billing specialists should become proficient with legal billing software to adapt to the job market changes.

How Legal Billing Software Supports Legal Billing Professionals

As mentioned, legal billing software is essential in automating and streamlining some of a legal billing specialist’s work, but that doesn’t mean the role is being replaced entirely. Instead, it’s changing and offering new and different opportunities.

A legal billing solution like Bill4Time offers an affordable, efficient, and easy process for law firm timekeeping and billing.

Saves Time

The most valuable asset in virtually every profession is time — we all want to get more done in less time. Billing and invoicing take a lot of time and require administrative skills, which is why law firms hire legal billing specialists.

These professionals are tasked with filling out invoices manually — a process that’s time-consuming and error-prone. With Bill4Time, you can save client details and create invoice templates to expedite the invoicing process in the future.

Minimize Errors 

The manual process of invoicing is vulnerable to errors that can lead to delays in the payment process, poor relationships with clients, and billing disputes. This often falls on the legal billing specialist.

Effective legal billing software can be used to standardize the billing process and compile all the data — ensuring that there are minimal errors. Invoicing takes less time, clients are happier, and the firm gets paid faster.

Automated Accounting and Payment Reminders

Automation is a helpful resource for law firms to limit repetitive billing procedures. You can automate the billing process for recurring payments, subscription models, or other alternative payment arrangements and free your time to focus on mission-critical tasks.

Streamlines the Payment Process

The traditional slow-moving billing and payment process can take a toll on overall revenue and cash flow. Legal billing specialists or other support staff have to create and check invoices, send them to the clients, then wait for the payments to come in.

A faster payment process that caters to client experience means your firm will get paid faster. Bill4Time allows your firm to offer a modern payments solution with our built-in payments solution, Bill4Time Payments. Easily add custom links to client invoices or enable the client portal where they can view and pay their invoice anytime, anywhere.

Simplifies Reporting

Reporting is an ongoing process that all law firms should prioritize to make more informed decisions about the health and profitability of the firm. Bill4Time makes reporting simple with exclusive reporting functionality to track billing, cash flow, expenses, projects and matters, billable hours, and more.

Legal Billing Software for Legal Billing Specialists

Whether you’re considering a career as a legal billing specialist or you’re already working at your own firm or a large law firm, learning the ins and outs of legal billing software is a must for the future of your career.