Are Your Invoices Making You Look Bad

In many cases the last memory your client will have of you is your invoice. That final invoice showing "Paid In Full" is typically issued after the case is resolved and all tasks are complete. First impressions are important but so are last ones, and amateurish invoices put out by some legal software programs can leave clients wondering about the capabilities your firm even if you handle the case well.

A good invoice starts with a simple layout. When it comes to financial matters, boring is good. Invoices that are too elaborate or cutesy don't give the impression of a serious and competent firm. Just because you have access to a clip art library doesn't mean you should use it. A company logo is fine; a picture of your dog not so much. We include several invoice templates in Easy TimeBill that you can use as is, or you can customize them to suit your needs.

However the production of a professional-looking invoice doesn't stop at the layout. There is just no excuse for arithmetic errors in this age of affordable law office billing software . Let the computer do the work so you know the totals are correct. Of course someone still needs to look over the invoice to ensure the charges are correct. A missed decimal point could turn a $500 charge into a $50,000 one and your client probably won't be happy to get that bill.

Easy TimeBill automatically gathers all the charges related to a matter when it produces invoice. As long as all the information has been entered into the law office management software you can feel confident that the invoices will be complete. You don't have to worry about going back to a client who thinks he's paid in full only to say, "Oops, we omitted this charge could you send us some more money?"

Don't be so focused on the numbers that you don't also look at the rest of the invoice. Have you ever billed a client for fees associated with a "divroce" or for "vankrputcy"? I certainly hope not! Always spell check to catch these kinds of embarrassing but easy-to-overlook blunders. But be sure to double check the client's name. Nothing says "I don't care about you as a person" like misspelling someone's name.

And that last point leads us to one final piece of advice: even the best legal software doesn't take the place of old-fashioned diligence and proofreading. Invoices should not go directly from the printer into an envelope or from a PDF file into email. Always look over an invoice in case the
law office management software missed something.

Customized invoices and integrated spell checking are examples of how EasySoft's law practice management software goes beyond the basic needs of the legal community. Contact us for more information on how our legal software programs make it easier than ever to run a law practice.

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