If you have a small or solo practice you'll probably want a lower cost solution that focuses on time management and billing. On the other hand, if you have a very large practice, you have two choices. You can use separate software packages: Such as one for time and billing, one for document management and communication integration (such as integration with your email system and/or CRM system), and one for accounting and tax preparation. Or you can buy a large, expensive, integrated software package.
All software for law firms will have time and billing components and EnterYourHours.com mostly focuses on these components. Generally the software will create the invoices for your clients. Billing software and accounting software are two different things, however. How many accounting features you want embedded within your software is an important factor to making a buying decision. Some law firms use software that come with their own general ledger and tax preparation components. Other systems focus simple on time management and billing, and other systems integrate with a financial package like QuickBooks, Great Plains, or Peachtree. EnterYourHours.com, for example, integrates directly with QuickBooks.
There is also the features that allow members of the practice to manage matters. Some software packages allow the user to store lots of information related to a matter, such as notes, documents, and a calendaring system that gives warnings related to motions and appearances. Generally these features aren't used by smaller firms but depending on how much control you want over the process flow of your law firm, even a firm with only two or three professionals can have a system that is integrated with all aspects of matter management. EnterYourHours.com has matter management, but so we could support other industries, we use the term "projects" instead of "matters".
Most law firm software is chosen based on the features needed. The software should mimic the process flow that is currently being used. Unnecessary features will not only cost the firm money in license fees, but will also have a cost in lost productivity when employees waste tune navigating through and around unused modules. EnterYourHours.com is designed to save you time and money by providing the most important features for a wide range of law firms.
If you still aren't sure, explore the rest of our site. We have another page that talks about
legal billing software and you can learn about our
multi-task timer there. Our New User Center will help you get started, and we also have a full
software reference and a general FAQ.