QUESTION: With the start of the new year, we want to get our timekeeping and billing running better. We recently converted from an old time-and-billing program to Timeslips Deluxe and want to know what tips and tricks you can share to ease our transition. Would we be better off starting from scratch or converting our existing data?

ANSWER: No matter which option you choose, moving to a new timekeeping and billing program is always traumatic. Some stress comes from unrealistic expectations. When law firms choose a new billing system, some lawyers seem to think it should be as simple as switching from an old car to a new car. The success of the conversion will depend in large part on what program you are converting from and why you are converting. It is critical to choose the best match for your firm’s needs. Before selecting a new program, make sure you can articulate what is broken about your current system and what you need from the new one. This will help ensure you don’t break things during the transition that were working.

You also should carefully critique your current procedures to determine if the reasons for them still are valid. I often have encountered firms with paper-intensive file systems or requirements for multiple copies of their bills that were requirements for clients who no longer are with the firm or predated the firm’s network. Copies of bills distributed to many people in the firm no longer are necessary when everyone in the firm is connected and can access the information.

In managing a conversion, it also is important to keep things in perspective. Make sure you are not selecting a system for exceptional situations. Be certain the new system can perform well for your bread-and-butter transactions. No matter what program you select, always have the fallback of preparing a bill for an exceptional situation with your word processor.

Many firms have subsisted for many years with word processing-based billing systems. Typically, a secretary has a document for each client that is edited each month to incorporate the new time and expense charges. The advantage of this system is utmost flexibility. You can change any words, amounts or formats to suit a particular client. You can use a cover-sheet style format. You can monitor prior balances and payments — or not.

There are several disadvantages to this system. If you are showing detailed information about your time entries, they typically are recorded twice — once on paper by the attorney and once into the word processing file by the staff. You cannot prepare an accounts receivable report from information in this format. Firms with word-processed bills usually bill clients on an as-needed basis and often are playing catch-up to get time records entered. Finally, you probably are not accounting for all the lawyers’ billable time if you are relying on paper-based records.

Great expectations

In converting from a word processing-based billing system to a legal time-and-billing program like Timeslips, PCLaw Jr, TABS III or Juris, the firm should be realistic in its expectations of both the conversion and the day-to-day use of the new product. Initially, the staff managing the program must be given time to re-enter the names and addresses of current clients, along with prior balances, billing rates, bill formats, case nickname codes, and activity codes and descriptions. Additionally, the staff will need to become familiar with how the different pieces of the program fit together. For example, in Timeslips, there are four parts of the program that affect what the final bill will look like: the bill format screens within Client Information; the information on the actual time and expense slips; the Bill Layout that determines the structure, phrases and order of sections of the bill; and the Bill Sort selected for the particular bill or bills. Learning how to change these functions to produce the bill formats required by the firm takes time and training.

Most legal time-and-billing products come from relatively small companies. Over the years, I have watched many time-and-billing products make a big splash and then die a painful death a year or two later. Firms that automated their billing with products that have not been updated to the Windows environment or whose vendors have gone on to other pursuits are good candidates for moving to a new time-and-billing product. The key issues in these situations are to determine whether the data in the current system can be converted, whether it is accurate enough to bother, and whether there are critical features or reports that must be present in the new system. A useful perspective in this scenario is to take inventory of what is working and what isn’t. This will help in both the selection and implementation phases of the new system.

Appropriate to practice

Knowing what you need will help you pick the product that best matches your firm’s practice. For example, if your firm now is, or expects to be, required to submit diskette-based bills using the American Bar Association’s litigation task-based billing codes, you want to be sure the new system can prepare the proper formats. Pay close attention to how things are done and compare them to your old system. Make sure the new system improves on your existing system and doesn’t break functions that were working well. More important, make sure you compare the reports you currently have to those available in the proposed new system. I have seen firms choose Timeslips simply because they perceive “everyone has it,” only to find a report that was critical to determining their partnership distribution could not be prepared without purchasing add-on programs like Timeslips Accounting Link or Crystal Reports.

Converting time-and-billing programs is not like switching word processors. You simply can’t take your old documents and call them up in the new program. Entry screens will be different, capacity may differ on issues like the number of reference codes, user defined codes, number of attorney rates, etc. While it would be nice, none of the major players in this arena have an import capability that lets you convert from a competitor’s product. This means you will need time to re-key vital information. Often, this occurs while your staff is maintaining the old system. Be gentle and kind to them during this transition. They are doing double duty: their normal jobs and learning an entirely new system, to boot.

DOS conversions

What about converting from DOS-based versions to currently available products? Again, the first decision is whether to stay with the new offering from the same vendor or switch to a competing product. There are arguments on both sides. A dramatically easier conversion is in store if you stay with the same vendor and merely upgrade to its latest version. However, if you have had problems with your current system and are not sure the newer version will adequately address those concerns, it may be worth the time and effort to review other products. Be warned, though, in all likelihood you will have to set up the new system manually and probably cannot convert from other products. This often makes firms stay with the same vendor unless the situation is really awful.

The first thing to do when upgrading from a DOS version of a product to its newer Windows cousin, is make sure you have an excellent backup of the data and program. While it doesn’t happen often, you might encounter problems with the new version and want to go back to the old one until the problem is resolved. Of course, these situations rarely happen when you have a good backup!

Take time when converting to review all the new functions and features that have been added to the program. If you are still using a DOS version of Timeslips, you are three versions behind the current Version 8.0. Since your last upgrade, SAGE Corp. (formerly Timeslips Corp., maker of Timeslips) has added many functions. Most, if not all, were in response to needs of users. As a result, much of what has been added eliminates the need to create work-around solutions to problems because the software can’t handle it.

For example, Version 8 includes the ability to “hide clients.” In prior versions, lawyers and other program users were extremely frustrated by the lack of options to close cases. Before Version 8, there were two solutions: archive and purge the slips for clients, then delete their nickname along with their history, address, etc. or else rename the client to ZZABCCORP so all the closed cases were displayed at the bottom of the list when running reports, etc. Neither solution was elegant or effective. Version 8 lets you mark clients to be “hidden.” This means they no longer appear on client lists and their slips are not available, but can be unhidden should the client begin new work.

Moving from the DOS version of Timeslips to a Windows version enables users to control the layout of the bills. Any fonts available on your computer can be used, graphics and lines can be incorporated, and a cover page and messages can be added.

Quality of data

The decision to convert data from one version to another vs. starting with a clean slate depends mostly on the reliability of the existing data. If names and addresses have not been maintained, if balances are wrong, and if the accounts receivable report never has jibed with your bills, the decision is obvious: Start again. Even in this scenario, you probably can salvage some information to avoid re-entering all the information.

No matter what system you are converting from, there are several issues you should address during your conversion:

· Review attorney rates and client billing arrangements. Use the conversion opportunity to streamline and limit different rates and billing options available to clients.

· If you are moving from one product to another, bill out as much as possible before converting. You can work from the final bills to determine the conversion balance. This also will give you a good handle on which matters currently are in process.

· Take some time to plan how to use the new system. Most billing programs, including Timeslips, include codes for clients, time and fee activities, and descriptions. Understand enough about the program you are converting to and how to best use these codes to fit your practice. For example: How many different time descriptions should you have? Should they be detailed such as “preparation of notice of motion” or shorter like “preparation of”? You’ll probably want to strike a delicate balance between very specific codes and having too many codes to manage.

When advising clients moving to Timeslips, or any other billing program for that matter, I tell them, “If you feel as if you are doing something the long way, you probably are, and it’s worth contacting technical support, your firm’s Timeslips consultant, or another firm using Timeslips to determine if there is a shorter and easier way to perform that task.”

Carol L. Schlein is president of Law Office Systems, a Montclair-based technology training and consulting firm. She formerly chaired the Computer and Technology Division of the ABA Law Practice Management Section and will be a speaker at the ABA Techshow conference in Chicago in March. A lecturer for ICLE, she can be reached at (973) 746-6454 or electronically on the Internet at carol@losinc.com.

Questions for Carol Schlein on law office technology may be faxed to New Jersey Lawyer at (732) 750-0010 or mailed to “Law Technology Questions,” New Jersey Lawyer, Koll Corporate Plaza, 485B Route 1, Suite 100, Iselin, N.J. 08830.