For legal and other professionals looking for a time and billing software TimeSolv is worth a look. It offers a range of features including integration with QuickBooks Desktop (windows only), QuickBooks Online, MYOB and AccountEdge. While it is offered as a cloud solution, it can also be self-hosted.
One feature I really like is the desktop app for windows or Mac users that lets you track time and expenses when not connected to the internet. When you reconnect, the data is synchronized easily. For law firms looking to out-source their billing, no need to search, TimeSolv offers this service, including legal e-billing.
TimeSolv has been around since 1999. The program was developed by Elite, a division of Thomson Reuters, but was spun off around 9 years ago. I was told it was completely rewritten in 2014 to offer the best possible experience.
TimeSolv offers the features law firms needs including conflict management checking, trust accounting and "LEDES1" billing. It also offers a calendar for tracking your schedule. This makes time capture easy.
Getting started is easy. There's a 30 day free trial, and they don't require a credit card. You put in basic information and go. TimeSolv legal offers on-boarding to help you get started, including setup of the link with your accounting program or import from Excel to load your data. While I didn't test it TimeSolv offers a backup service. Manual backup is available at any time at no additional cost. The Automatic Data Backup service ($19.95 per month) emails you a backup copy of your data on a selected schedule. This means you have control over your data if you choose to leave. While moving to a new program is never simple or desirable, it is nice to have the option if needs change.
One issue I did find is that TimeSolv set-up a long list of Task codes. While very useful for law firms doing electronic billing, the lengthy list can be overwhelming. If you want to simplify the list you have to delete them one by one.
When you setup a sync with your accounting software, everything is brought over. So you really need to do clean-up before you sync. A more efficient process to handle this would be extremely useful.
TimeSolv offers an approval process for each time and expenses, including emails to approving supervisors when appropriate. Rates are flexible and reports can be output in multiple formats to meet a range of needs.
When it comes to getting paid, invoices can be sent via email with a link to LawPay for easy online payment. This speeds collections. You can print bills and mail them, or for a small fee, have TimeSolv print and mail the invoices.
TimeSolv offers a client portal so that your clients can see invoices, payments, WIP and trust balances. This can save time as clients can see what is happening without calling.
Budgeting is a strong feature of TimeSolv. You can setup matter budget and be warned or stopped if you enter time, fees or expenses that exceed the budget. You can bill flat fees or hourly and can do milestone based billing. Payments from trust can be handled automatically if desired.
I focused on linking with QuickBooks desktop as the capabilities are a little more extensive than with QBO. Primarily it has to do with the level of detail that transfers with invoices. Data exchanged includes two way exchange for employees, clients, matters, service items and other charge items; with expenses mapped to other charge items. Time cards, invoices and payments go from TimeSolv to QuickBooks. Expenses can go from TimeSolv to QuickBooks as reimbursable expenses or from QuickBooks to TimeSolv for Billable expenses.
The setup options are extensive and you can change them later if you decide you want to turn on something previously turned off. This includes things like sending time entries from employees and contracts to QuickBooks - great for payroll; or sending time entries to QuickBooks bills to pay contractors. If you will be synching Invoices to QuickBooks I suggest you review all the options and take notes. You will probably want to go back to QuickBooks and modifying your item list before you do the first sync. You will also want to consider how payments are transferred and allocated. Depending on your firm billing needs it may be best to do this manually since QuickBooks allocates payment to invoice proportionately.
TimeSolv offers email and phone support as well as an extensive knowledge-base. If you are looking for a powerful time and expense tracking and billing system, TimeSolv is worth a look, especially if you are a law firm doing electronic billing.
Notes: 1 - The LEDES E-billing standards are globally recognized and accepted as industry-specific EDI standards for the exchange of legal E-billing information