Fixed fees may be increasingly common but that does not mean a firm should abandon the timesheet.  Accurate time recording by staff and principals, and an adequate time reporting system, will provide invaluable management information for the practice.

The management information from your time reporting system will allow you to manage business performance as well as guiding your billing.  A well run system will provide the business with information on:

• Staff productivity by individual, department or service type
• Profitability by client
• Profitability by service type

Management information will be useless as a tool for decision-making if time is not accurately recorded by staff and partners.

Some firms have a culture of under recording chargeable time.

This could simply be because staff are not aware of the importance of accurately capturing time spent and do not spend enough time on the timesheet.  It could, however, be deliberate in a practice where write-offs are common and fee pressure intense.  There could be staff loyalty to longstanding clients or a lack of confidence and leadership from the partners in tackling fee discussions with clients.

Whatever the cause, the issue needs to be addressed.

Articles, books, ebooks and surveys on time recording and management information from the Library and Information Service.

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