Time Capture & Billing

So far, I have not found cost-effective software that can take the place of Time Matters, Timeslips and QuickBooks. (For big firms, check out ProLaw). But I found a solution that can replace Timeslips and QuickBooks. The program is PCLawPro Version 5.51, an integrated time and billing and accounting solution designed for law firms of up to 100 timekeepers (200 timekeepers with the SQL version coming out soon).

I discovered PCLaw while writing a time and billing feature for Law Office Computing (see February/March 2001). After five minutes of testing, I was hooked. PCLaw is the best time entry program I have seen. With the latest version, more features have been added to make lawyers’ lives easier.

There are two general ways to enter time in PCLaw. You can bring up a timesheet, enter time on it throughout the day, and post the time at the end of the day; or you can use a Quick Timer — PCLaw’s best feature. When you start the Quick Timer, a timer immediately begins running. The timer displays the amount of retainer on deposit, the unbilled fees and costs and the amount of the client’s receivable. I want this information shoved in my face and my partners’ faces every time a file is picked up.

More and more clients (often insurance companies), and the federal court in New Mexico, want bills that separate the time for each activity during the day. A bill that lists an aggregate time for the telephone calls, conferences and documents drafted on a particular day isn’t acceptable. The Quick Timer in PCLaw is the perfect time entry solution for this type of client. From a law office management perspective, it’s also the best time entry solution.

PCLaw is feature-laden and competitive in every area. The opening screen is divided into 11 tabs grouping similar functions such as “Setup,” “Time/Fee,” “Client Costs,” “Trust,” “Billing” and more. The last tab titled “Favorites” allows you to group your most commonly used functions in one place. At the end of a billing cycle, after all client costs have been entered in the “Client Costs” tab, run the pre-bill function on the “Billing” tab. Make corrections and run the bills. Client payments are recorded in the “Client Receipts” tab. Trust transactions have their own tab. At the end of the month run, the bank reconciliation from the “End of Month/End of Year” tab, make any necessary journal entries, and run financial reports (trial balance, income statement and balance sheet). End of year functions run from the same tab. There are numerous productivity-type reports listed together under the reports menu, or separated by function at the bottom of all relevant tabs.

You can pay firm expenses from the “Accounts Payable” and “Firm” tabs. PCLaw can print directly to pre-printed check blanks. The accounting solution in PCLawPro is based on the One-Write model that became popular as an accounting program in the late ’80s with such programs as One-Write Plus.

It has more of a big firm feel than QuickBooks does. But I have been spoiled by some of the conveniences of QuickBooks such as the ability to download bank information such as my firm credit card statement right into the program. After it’s downloaded, all you have to do is assign each charge to the correct expense account. However, the pros and cons are in the eye of the beholder. Some firms might not want partners to be able to download their credit card charges directly into the accounting program.

PCLaw includes a basic calendar, To-Do list and contact management screen from which you can access time and billing functions. You can bill from the calendar, but you can’t use it in conjunction with the timer. Fortunately, PCLaw integrates with Time Matters, Amicus Attorney and other case managers. Alumni offers two extremely useful add-ons for PCLaw: a Satellite Remote Module and a time and expense entry program for your Palm device called PCLaw TE. Both work beautifully. When you return to the office, they synchronize with the firm’s main database. A Cost Recovery Module ($500) and an Electronic Billing Module ($250) also are available.

Because the information it provides is so useful, I like the Quick Timer so much I wish I could open an existing time entry into it. However, that information is easily accessible with a few clicks of the mouse. But beware, to open an entry created with the Quick Timer, you must use the delay post function. The timesheet will then pick up where it left off in the Quick Timer function. If you don’t do this, the timer will zero out the original entry.

I would also like to be able to create custom reports (without having to buy Crystal Reports software and its driver). But PCLaw contains so many reports that this is more of a theoretical than a practical problem.

PCLawPro costs $1,795 for its minimum configuration of 10 timekeepers with 10 network nodes. The next five timekeepers and nodes cost $1,000, and the price goes down from there. The Satellite Remote Module costs $125 for an unlimited number of workstations, so you can outfit every lawyer’s notebook computer for a flat price. PCLaw TE costs $99 per license. With the purchase of PCLawPro, you get six months of unlimited toll-free support. PCLaw (formerly PCLaw Jr.), a single-user version for two timekeepers, costs $179 but lacks some features, such as networking, payroll and accounts payable which can be purchased separately. I consider those features close to mandatory even for a solo practitioner. Network modules for PCLaw cost $100 for the first two nodes. A demo is available at www.pclaw.com.

Price: $1,795 for 10 timekeepers

Windows 95/98/NT/2000/ME

Reviewed by Steven Schmidt, shareholder, director and president of Business & Technology Law, Albuquerque, N.M.

Oct/Nov '01 Issue

PROS
The Quick Timer presents you with relevant information about a client, and starts in the “On” position.

CONS
Can only accommodate up to 200 timekeepers. Reopening a time entry in the Quick Timer is a little tricky. The new calendar function isn’t yet robust enough to replace a full-functioned calendar.

VERDICT
This is the ultimate time management tool: sophisticated, comprehensive and highly customizable.

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Updated 09/26/01
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