Summary
This blog explores how law firms can start the new year with stronger billing outcomes by improving time management practices. It emphasizes that meaningful change requires system-wide adjustments, not just resolutions, and outlines practical steps firms can take to capture time accurately, improve time entry quality, align tracking with billing models, reduce write-offs, and make time tracking easier for attorneys.
New Year, Better Billing: Legal Time Management Resolutions That Work All Year
The days are short, but the amount of time spent reflecting on the year ahead lengthens. We all desire to have an excellent new year, but it is necessary to take certain steps to truly make it happen. This is why right now is the time to think about what steps you should take to ensure that you leap into 2026 with the right type of attitude and focus. Now is the time to look at how time management (or lack thereof) has played a role in your law firm’s operations in the previous year.
Keep in mind that while you might feel like you have accomplished something simply by setting resolutions in the first place, that doesn’t truly tell the whole story. Without system-wide changes to your policies, it is going to be nearly impossible to accomplish the change that you seek. Knowing that, let’s look at some resolutions that you can set and keep in the new year.
Resolution #1: Capture Time as It Happens
It doesn’t do your firm any good to try to capture time entries long after they have occurred. The problem with this is that you and your staff will rely on faulty memories to try to reconstruct how any amount of time was spent doing what. Harvard Health emphasizes just how faulty human memory truly is:
Regardless of age, you’re unlikely to have a flawless memory. People who can remember very long lists of numbers or recall the minutiae of their daily lives right down to what they ate for lunch every day last year are exceedingly rare.
Why then would you try to use memory alone to make critical time entries? It is clearly one of the poorest options you have available. Instead, you should rely on capturing your time entries as soon as they occur.
What to Change This Year:
- Real-Time or Same-Day Time Entries – Get everyone on a system of real-time or at least same-day time entries for the most accurate records.
- Establish Mobile or Passive Time Entry Models – Allow for the mobile or passive entry of time from wherever one happens to be. This can help to create a more accurate picture of how much time is truly being consumed.
Resolution #2: Improve Time Entry Quality (Not Just Quantity)
The quality of your time entries needs to improve in the new year as well. The harsh reality is that clients may be well within their rights to push back against vague time entries and question what they are truly being charged for. This can lead to delayed payments and cause financial troubles for the firm. Instead of going down this path, it is highly recommended that you work on improving the quality of your time entries to avoid such frustrations and pushback.
What to Change This Year:
- Standardized Language on Time Entries – It should be a primary focus of your team to create a standardized means of entering various time descriptions into your billing process.
- Create Client-Ready Time Descriptions – Don’t forget to also create client-ready time descriptions that any client can easily understand. This is to say that your descriptions should make it abundantly clear how time was spent so there isn’t pushback from clients when it comes time to pay the bill.
Resolution #3: Align Time Tracking with Billing Models
Setting up time tracking policies is great, but it only works effectively when you ensure that you align the software that you are using with the way that you bill your clients. There are a few different ways that law firms tend to bill clients, including:
- Hourly Rates: Clients are charged per hour of time that the attorney invests in the case.
- Flat Rate: Client and attorney agree ahead of time on a flat rate for all services performed for the case.
- Hybrid Model: There is an agreement that lands somewhere between an hourly rate and a flat rate model.
Regardless of which model your firm uses, it is necessary to align all time tracking software with that model for best results.
What to Change This Year:
- Track Time Even on Flat Rate Matters – You still want to know how much time you have spent on flat rate matters, even though the fees remain the same.
- Align Software with Billing Styles – Work on getting your software properly aligned with the billing style that your office uses. It will help make more sense out of what could otherwise become a chaotic billing process.
Resolution #4: Reduce Write-Offs and Write-Downs
You should resolve right now to have a weekly billing review of everything that you have sent out. After all, one of the biggest reasons why attorneys lose money is that they are not mindful about sending out invoices in a timely manner. Given that reality, many lawyers end up having to write-off or write down certain fees that they should have been able to collect.
You must resolve in the new year to work on reducing your write-offs and write-downs. If you can prevent money from going out the door so readily, then you can have a more profitable firm. Early visibility of these issues can prevent them from happening in the first place, and that is what you should be striving for right away.
What to Change This Year:
- Weekly Billing Reviews – As previously mentioned, it is up to you to review your billing and invoicing processes regularly. A weekly billing review can do wonders for you and help you notice any glaring errors more quickly than you otherwise would have.
- Exception Reporting – Create an exception report for any missing or excessive time logged. You want to notice these types of things sooner rather than later, and exception reports will flag them for you and draw your attention to the issue.
Resolution #5: Make Time Tracking Easier for Lawyers
Is there resistance within the firm about your time tracking policies? If so, there is a good chance that the systems themselves are broken. Staff have already witnessed the breakdown of the systems currently in place, and they don’t want to bother with trying to learn a whole new system once again. This is why you must do what you can to make this transition as seamless as possible. Remember, everyone is likely already weary because of previous time tracking difficulties that they have encountered. Recognize that reality but also work on explaining why your new system is so important.
What to Change This Year:
- Integrate Time Tracking with Billing Tools – There is no reason that your time tracking tools ought to be separated from your time tracking ones. Instead, you should do everything in your power to get this all integrated to make things easier on everyone.
- Fewer Clicks, More Progress – Again, simplifying your processes to have fewer hurdles in the way of people who legitimately want to enter their time properly is the best way forward in the new year.
Resolution #6: Use Time Data to Manage the Firm, Not Just Bill Clients
Now is the time to use the time tracking data that you collect in a proactive way, not just a reactive one. Yes, you need that data to bill clients, but it goes beyond just that. You can also use the data to create better policies within your firm. This is to say that you can tap into the data to see where you can make more productive moves.
The data is also useful when it comes to determining which clients are the most profitable for the firm. With this information in hand, you can begin to focus more of your energy on those clients and less on things that don’t necessarily add much to the bottom line.
What to Change This Year:
- Data-Driven Pricing and Staffing Decisions – Use the data that you must make proper staffing and pricing decisions. Determine where your time and energy is best placed and use that as your guiding star when it comes to how you will set your pricing standards.
Better Billing Starts with Better Time Management
The best billing practices are always those that rely on time management data that you generate via proper time tracking entries. If your goal is to get the most out of each client interaction (and it should be), then you need to start tracking and managing your time more wisely.
Are you excited to get started? Start your 14-day free trial of LawBillity time and billing software and keep tabs on every minute of time for accurate billing.
FAQs
Why is real-time time tracking important for law firms?
Real-time time tracking improves accuracy, reduces forgotten billable hours, and ensures firms are billing based on reliable data rather than faulty memory.
How can better time entry descriptions reduce client disputes?
Clear, standardized, and client-friendly time descriptions help clients understand exactly what they are being billed for, reducing pushback, delays, and write-downs.
Should law firms track time on flat fee matters?
Yes. Tracking time on flat fee matters helps firms understand profitability, improve pricing strategies, and make better staffing decisions, even when fees don’t change.
What causes excessive write-offs and write-downs in legal billing?
Common causes include delayed invoicing, vague time entries, missing time, and lack of regular billing reviews, all of which can be addressed with better time management systems.
How can law firms use time tracking data beyond billing?
Time data can be used to evaluate client profitability, optimize staffing, refine pricing models, and make data-driven decisions that improve overall firm performance.
