Legal Billing Rule #11: Get a Bill Buddy

Working with someone else will keep you accountable and help get your invoicing done on-time and regularly.

A lot of changes in life are a heck of a lot easier to accomplish if you’ve got a partner helping you along. If you’re starting a diet, trying to quit a habit, or starting a workout routine, getting someone to do it with you is a great way to keep both of you on track. It’s added discipline and extra support. It can even result in synergistic gain. Picking someone to be your “bill buddy” can be a terrific way to help make sure you are getting those bills out on time.

If your firm is big enough to have a partner or two, a fellow partner is a logical choice. This is particularly helpful if you’re using a modern practice management application to help with billing. A partner-to-partner buddy system to commit to better billing practices, coupled with an agreed-upon implementation of the right practice management tool, can quickly and dramatically improve a practice and – ultimately – your entire professional lives.

A paralegal or admin can also keep you on track, though that’ll only be effective if you can successfully manage the boss/subordinate dynamic. The staff member has to feel comfortable enough holding you accountable such that they’ll actually do it. Conversely, you’ve got to be OK having your staff “ride herd” on you.

If you prefer to defer to a professional, they’re also available to help. For instance, pros like Nora Riva Bergman, Ari Kaplan, and many others are working every day with lawyers to adopt new technology and improve business practices.

A recommendation if you’re considering hiring a pro to help: The best ones always give plenty of valuable, free stuff up front in the form of webinars, e-books, articles, and the like. Plus, many (like Nora and Ari) are genuinely fun to work with and extremely well connected.

This post is an excerpt from the free e-book, Ridiculously Remarkable Legal Billing. Better billing practices improve your law firm and your life.

Related posts:
Legal Billing Rule #1: The Longer You Wait, The Less You’ll Get Paid
Legal Billing Rule #2: Clients Won’t Pay a Bill Unless They Receive One
Legal Billing Rule #3: Not Billing In A Timely Fashion Sends A Message
Legal Billing Rule #4: You’ll Poison Relationships And Scare Away Business
Legal Billing Rule #5: Don’t Cause Problems For Your Client & Screw Up Her Budget
Legal Billing Rule #6: Delaying Billing is Like Giving Away Free Money
Legal Billing Rule #7: Avoid Communication Breakdown
Legal Billing Rule #8: Predicting Your Future Income
Legal Billing Rule #9: Capture Time With Easy, Modern Tools
Legal Billing Rule #10: Beat The Procrastination Monster
Legal Billing Rule #11: Get a Bill Buddy
Legal Billing Rule #12: Standardise the Tools
Legal Billing Rule #13: Make Small Improvements Each Quarter
Legal Billing Rule #14: Rolling Out Changes and Letting Your Clients Know

Contributed by:
By Tim Baran
Rocket Matter – Complete Legal Software
Legal Productivity – Providing creative and useful insights into the business of law