Top 4 FAQs

January 22, 2013 By Bill4Time Staff Leave a Comment

Our customer support team is dedicated to providing quick and friendly assistance to Bill4Time users. For every issue, from the nuisances to the panic attacks, they cheerfully fix our problems and send us on our way. For once, it’s time that we help out our customer support team! To make both their and your lives easier, here are some of the most frequently asked questions and their solutions.

How do I add a contact to a project?
Have you added this contact before to a different project? If not, go to the specific project, click the grey Contacts tab in the middle of the page, and click Add Contact. If you’ve previously used this contact, take a look at our Knowledge Base to find out how to assign them to a different project.
How do I charge a retainer?
Charging a retainer is done differently based on how the retainer was added. To see all the different ways you might charge a retainer, click here.
Can I download a backup of all my data?
Yes you can! The administrator can download a backup at any time by first clicking Settings in the top right corner of the screen, then the System tab, and then the Export Data button. From here, you click the “Create Zip File” link, and then “Download Data File.”
How do I link my Bill4Time calendar with another program?
From the blue Scheduling tab, click the drop-down Tools menu. Click “Link Calendar”, and then copy the URL that appears in the pop-up window. Determining where to paste this depends on what type of calendar you’re using. Here are instructions for Microsoft Outlook, Google Calendar, and Apple’s iCal.

Whenever you need help with anything, our Knowledge Base is a great place to start looking for solutions. It has step-by-step answers to our most common questions. In addition, our Ideas & Feature Requests board is the place for you to submit, comment on, and vote on ideas from all of our users on how Bill4Time could be improved. Head on over to the Knowledge Base to find the full-length solutions to these problems and hundreds more!

Going Green for the New Year

January 7, 2013 By Bill4Time Staff Leave a Comment

Have you started on your New Year’s Resolution yet? If you’re like me, your resolution is going to require months of dedication and perseverance. But that gratification is months away! Even if that’s not the case, we’ve got a simple New Year’s Resolution that you can feel good about today: go green with paperless invoicing!

It won’t take much effort, and you’ll be helping preserve the world for generations to come! That’s got a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? Bill4Time has two features that you can use to reduce your carbon footprint:

Email invoicing. Are you still printing your invoices and mailing them to your clients? Welcome to 2013! After you finalize an invoice, click on the Email icon on the right side. You can select the From, To, and CC addresses, and send your invoice off in just a few clicks.
Online payment. While sending checks by mail may seem pretty simple, it can get even easier. Bill4Time supports payment through PayPal, so encourage your clients to sign up! It’s secure, simple, fast, organized, and most importantly, paperless!

Happy New Year from Bill4Time!

‘Tis the Season for New Features!

December 20, 2012 By Bill4Time Staff Leave a Comment

It’s that time of year again, and Bill4Time is spreading the holiday cheer with a wave of new features!

Personalized login pages. Logging in just got a little bit easier, and a little bit classier.

Save a few clicks by using our handy new shortcut. Just type (your firm ID).bill4time.com into the address bar, and it will take you right to the login page. To make you feel a little more at home, your company’s logo is displayed at the top.

If you do not have your custom logo on your account, click here to learn how to upload one.

Specify your “From” address. You’ve always wanted your email address on your invoices. We have too. No more invoices@bill4time.com. Just you and your firm.

Change invoice templates on the project level. Use different invoice templates on different projects for the same client. Customization just got one level deeper.

To change the invoice template for a specific project, first open up the Project Details page. Select the Invoice Presets tab near the middle of the page. If you can see the template list, but cannot select one, you need to change a few settings. Here are step-by-step instructions to change invoice templates on any level.

Do you have more ideas that could make Bill4Time better? We want to hear from you! Head on over to support.bill4time.com, and in the top right under Knowledge Base, you can see our Ideas & Feature Requests thread. We implement new features directly from this page. Not only can you submit your own new ideas, but you can vote and comment on the ideas of others. Check in every so often to see what suggestions are floating around, and help us make your life easier!

Testimonials

December 19, 2012 By Bill4Time Staff Leave a Comment

Learn what our clients have to say about Bill4Time!

“I capture more time and can present detailed descriptions of that time for billing purposes.” —Keith Turner, Turner Law Firm“My motto is: “Be brief, be bright, be gone.” Bill4Time allows my team to work that way with our clients! We provide security services to a broad range of clients and our engineers are on the road non-stop. Bill4Time allows us to immediately and accurately track our time while in the field right on an iPhone. Since implementing this solution, our detailed record keeping has vastly improved. We no longer have a problem with “missing” time entries because time is entered at the time of service while still at the client’s location. In addition, we accurately capture expenses at the time of the expense, and send out our invoices by e-mail with just a few clicks. Bill4Time has immediately paid for itself many times over! It is simple to use (be brief), intuitive (be bright), and gets the job done quickly (be gone)!” —Paul G. Lewis, T & M Protection Resources, L.L.C.

“Time Tracking – I have been using the Bill4Time app for sometime now and getting my time in without sitting at the computer has been great.” —Steven Chou

“Before transitioning away from a large firm into my solo law practice, I asked other attorneys for advice on the challenges ahead. Most of them told me that their biggest headache was keeping up with billing without a billing department and a secretary to chase billables to be entered. I acted carefully and read a number of reviews from the ABA and other legal sites before choosing Bill4Time. The iPad application makes all the difference in saving me time and making sure I capture my hours. Yesterday I had a long day in court followed by a drink with colleagues. If I hadn’t logged my hours in via iPad during breaks in the proceedings, I’d have missed much of the detail.” —Cynthia Monaco, Law Offices of Cynthia Monaco

“What’s to be said about billing software other than it should work? Bill4Time works even when I’m out of the office. They have the mobile apps for when I am away and need to track time. Good product.” —David Finns

“Very useful. As the owner of a small business, it helps me a lot—tracking time [hours] and recording my daily expenses. Like it!” —Dolores Tobin

“I have been using Bill4Time for a while now and started using mobile recently. Definitely a time saver.” —Janet D

“I wasn’t aware that the app worked offline. I was surprised to put my expenses in while on a flight home.” —Brandon Marcellus

“I love that I can log in from anywhere.” —Anita Chiesa, Law Offices of James D. Rush

“I can be billing from the beach if I want.” —Dawn Marie Bates-Buchanan, Bates-Buchanan Law Group, P.A.

“Excellent app…Now easy to make time and expense entries when on the go.” —Paul Richler

“Totally easy to use, smooth transition for me! Would recommend highly.” —Monica Tuttle

“Works great—happy user, thanks.” —Desmond Jett

“I needed a solid billing system. I tried many and finally came across Bill4Time. They had the features I need and more. This software can do it all but I can’t. I needed a little help and the customer service was right there on the phone with me walking me through the software. I didn’t even given them my credit card yet! It’s been eight months now and I couldn’t be happier.” —Adam

Customer Service Goes Social

October 25, 2012 By Bill4Time Staff Leave a Comment

Our society today is obsessed with the Internet. We can shop, read the news, watch TV, and talk to our friends without having to change out of our pajamas. Of course, the shining star of the Internet craze is Facebook. Facebook recently achieved a remarkable milestone – 1 billion active users. That’s right, 1 in 7 people on the planet has a Facebook account.

Customer service is no exception to the Internet craze. Using social media as a platform for customer service is easy and convenient for both you and your customers. It brings your business directly to their fingertips. They can share their concerns with your entire customer base, and get instant, personalized responses from you.

Your Facebook and Twitter pages are the portals straight into your office. Are you using them to their full potential? Here are some tips to maximize the customer service experience for your customers:

Instant reply. The reason customers use Facebook to contact your company is because it’s convenient for them. If you don’t respond right away, then they should have just called your support line. Try to respond within five minutes.
Mind your mannerisms. Your brand has a personality, and so do all of your employees. Try to maintain a consistent personality (of course, one that is helpful and friendly) in your interactions so that customers associate it with your company. Whether you’re playful and casual, or completely professional, make sure to stick to it.
People like talking to people. If you have multiple people using the same social media account, each person can sign their responses. It reminds the customer that they are interacting with a real person.
For example: “I hope this helps! Feel free to let us know if you have any further issues. –Brian”

Do you have any tips on using social media for customer service? We would love to hear them! Just post them in the comments section below.

The 3 Golden Rules of Google AdWords

September 6, 2012 By Bill4Time Staff Leave a Comment

We’ve all seen them. Many of us have even clicked on them. But you look at them with a completely different perspective.

They’re the advertisements on the side of Google’s search results, and you want them to be yours. Setting up a Google AdWords account is easy, and getting your ad displayed a few times isn’t terribly hard, either. But to reel in significant new business, you’re going to have to step it up a notch.

1. Vary your keyword types.
Google provides an excellent guide that thoroughly describes the different types of keywords, and what they do for you. Study it. If you have many broad match keywords and very few of the other types, you’ve got a problem.

The more broad match keywords you have, the more your ad will be displayed when it’s irrelevant. Cut down on these, and your ad will only appear when it’s really being searched for. Because your ad will only be seen when it is relevant, your clickthrough rate will gradually improve, thus raising your overall ranking.

2. Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket.
Let’s say you have one ad group. It has all of your keywords, and all of your different advertisements. While this method seems organized and logical, unfortunately it is not the most effective. Google will eventually select your “best” ads, and only display those, regardless of which of your many keywords was searched.

Users need to see that your ad is exactly what they’re looking for in a split second, or they will move on. This means that your ad should have as many of their keywords as possible. For example, if I search “12 megapixel camera,” I’m probably going to click on the ad that says “12 Megapixel Cameras!” rather than “Name Brand Cameras!”

The best way to accomplish this is to have many ad groups, with fewer keywords (maybe including some of those exact match keywords you learned about in tip #1), and ads that closely match the keywords. So instead of a “Cameras” ad group, you would have “12 Megapixel Cameras,” “SLR Cameras,” “Point-and-Shoot Cameras,” etc.

3. Direct users to landing pages.
Just because somebody clicked your ad, it doesn’t mean they’re committed. Now they are at your website, where once again, you must captivate them before their attention span wears thin. Most users could probably be directed to your homepage, but some may want something more specifically targeted to them. Direct different audiences to pages that emphasize the features best suited to their needs. It may even be worth your time to make a special landing page that cannot be reached from anywhere else in your website.

The success of your AdWords campaign is a direct result of how much you put into it. Take time to plan out your ads and ad groups. Research your keywords. Lastly, track the success of your ads and keywords, and update them accordingly.

Follow these guidelines, and with a little luck, the clicks will start pouring in! For more tips, tools, and articles, check out this handy post by Richard Ball.