PCLaw’s BillFlow Manager: Is it for your firm?

PCLaw’s new BillFlow Manager can help streamline the billing process. Prior to the introduction of the BillFlow Manager, standard practice was to print pre-bill, give this to the appropriate lawyeer to review and mark-up any changes, return this to the Billing department to effect the changes who would then issue the final invoice.

In contrast, the BillFlow manager is like an on-screen control panel that lets the lawyers take responsibility for invoicing. And that can be both a strength or a weakness depending on their mindset. Great lawyers don’t necessarily make great businessmen or women. The focus is often on getting the job done for the client and other administrative matters like timewriting, billing and following up on outstanding invoices are considered an ‘annoyance‘. Yet unless you’re running a charity, these are the tasks that bring the money in the door.

Everyone has heard the catch cry “cashflow is king” and it should be obvious that the earlier your clients receive your invoices each month, the quicker you get paid. Yet often, the lawyers have to be pushed to produce invoices. Which is why I question if PCLaw’s BillFlow manager is for your firm? I see the BillFlow manager as a great tool for lawyers who are highly self-motivated and really see the relationship between timely billing and cashflow. But God made us all differently. If you’re not that kind of lawyer then perhaps having a pile of pre-bills on your desk which have to be cleared is the prompt you need to get the invoicing done each month.

Also, one advantage of pre-bills is that they can be customised. The pre-bills I set up for my law firm clients remind their lawyers to

chase past overdue balances

• indicate if a client or matter should be closed
• indicate if trust should be
  • applied to the invoice
  • transferred to another matter
  • returned to the client

One practice doesn’t necessarily fit all.