Changing Your Time and Billing System - Made Easy
By Tom C. Davis, CPA.CITP (July 20, 2009)  

A substantial amount of partner time and other high-value resources are spent on practice management.  Most firms use time and billing systems that are decades old and are following procedures and processes that have not been modified in years.  These systems cannot provide the high-quality, easily accessible operational and strategic information needed by practitioners to manage their firms and provide timely and high-quality services to their clients.

Over the next few years, many firms will make a move to one of the new practice information systems that are available today, or in a future release.  The tools from Thomson-Reuters, CCH, WSG, Commercial Logic, and other vendors will offer many new features for Time and Billing, Relationship Management, Service Management, and Scheduling.  They will integrate with other applications used by the firm, and will have extensive customization features for collecting information needed by the firm and presenting it for use.

These new tools are designed to present information on-screen and in an on-demand fashion, making it easier to access for strategic and operational use.  The Relationship Management features of the new systems will  provide a centralized repository for all information about everyone the firm does business with.   This will improve communications with the entities and help the firm collect and retain valuable information about clients, prospects, centers of influence and others.  Improved Service Management features will provide firm-wide inventories of services that will greatly reduce the management time needed to provide timely service to clients.  These tools will also offer budgeting and service workflow tools that will allow firms to plan and manage more effectively.  The Scheduling features will make it possible for many firms to have centralized, firm-wide short-term and long range scheduling systems that work efficiently.

The new features offer many benefits, but they can only be achieved by making some significant changes in the information that firms collect, and by revising the ways we collect and use it.  This means that firms will not be able to simply convert their existing systems to the new software.  Some suggestions for implementation: 

• Planning is Critical – the new systems are complex.  In order for your system to be configured correctly for data collection, it’s key to develop the process for gathering the information.  Your firm must then know what it expects to do with this data.

• Conversion May Not be Wise – your existing system has been around for many years.  It’s just like an attic – there’s a lot of junk in it.  Most existing systems make it almost impossible to clean up legacy information.  If you convert the junk, you may find you have a cluttered new system that makes it hard to get the information you need.  Additionally, some of the basic components of a practice system such as service codes, project types, etc. may need to change, in order to meet the firms need for information at the department and service product levels.

• Report Customization Is a Must – one of the most beneficial aspects of the new systems is the ability to provide information in different formats, for different users, for different purposes.  Identifying information needs, developing the reporting to meet the needs, and then providing on-demand access, will greatly increase the use and importance of the practice system information.

• Training – after you have done the planning, converted the data, and built the reporting infrastructure, you will train your team members on the procedures, requirements and expected use of the new system.  The emphasis here is on training, not education.  This is important to achieve a consistent, uniform use of the practice system.

There are many opportunities for improving firm efficiencies (and profitability) with the new generation of practice management products.  Be warned that your firm will have to change at every level, in order to achieve these benefits.  Take this as an opportunity to aim high and make a substantial improvement in firm operations – it will be worth the effort many times over. 

Tom Davis has written a series of articles on transitioning time and billing system which can be found at:

•   Time for a Change (February 20, 2008)

•   Implementing Tomorrows Tools-Work Codes (May 20, 2008)

•   The Art of the Bill (July 20, 2008)

•   Art of Billing a Fixed Fee (November 20, 2008)

Tom C. Davis, CPA, CITP is a partner at Bowen, Phillips, Carmichael, Davis & Sims and President of Knowledge Concepts, Inc., the developers of FirmWorks.  Contact him at tdavis@bpc-cpas.com or 229.316.2811.

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