TechnoLawyer: Accounting/Billing/Time Capture

Coming today to TechnoFeature: Legal technology consultant Caren Schwartz spends a lot of time on the road. To help her capture time spent on email and phone calls on her BlackBerry, Caren used Airtime Manager's AIRTIME-A4P for a few months. In this TechnoFeature, she reviews A4P, including setting it up, daily use, and technical support. If you find yourself increasingly reliant on your smartphone, and concerned about billable time slipping through the cracks when you're out of the office, read Caren's review to find out if AIRTIME-A4P could help you and your colleagues.

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Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers a credit card processing service for smartphones (see article below), an authoring system for creating multimedia demand letters, an online backup and file sharing service, a Gmail add-on, and a clipboard manager for iPhone. Don't miss the next issue.

Make it Cool for Clients to Pay You

If you invented blogs and then sold your invention to Google, would you retire? Or would you invent Twitter instead? And if you invented Twitter, would you stop there? Or would try to reinvent credit card processing? Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Blogger and Twitter, is clearly not a man who rests on his laurels. If your law firm accepts credit cards, his latest invention may help you far more than his previous two.

Square … in One Sentence
Square offers credit card processing via smartphone with simplified processing fees.

The Killer Feature
Why start a credit card processing company? Who knows, but it seems likely that Jack Dorsey once opened a merchant account and was mortified by all the nickeling and diming on each month's statement.

Square offers a simpler fee structure. If you swipe a card in person, you pay 2.75% of the amount charged plus 15 cents. If you key in the card number (card not present), you pay 3.5% plus 15 cents.

You do not need a merchant account. There's no contract, setup fees, monthly fees, or monthly minimum. Square gives you a free mobile card reader.

Other Notable Features
The Square card reader plugs into the headphone jack on your iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, or Android smartphone (Square plans to support other devices in the future). You can also manually enter credit card numbers in the free Square app.

Square emails you a receipt of each transaction. You can log into your account using a Web browser to review transactions and create reports.

Your clients can also sign up for a Square account, enabling them to monitor their bills and payments. You can create offers to generate repeat business though these rewards probably work better for retailers (e.g., buy 10 cups of coffee and get your next one free).

What Else Should You Know?
Square processes transactions using bank-grade security, including PCI Level 1 and PA-DSS. Learn more about Square.

How to Receive TechnoLawyer NewsWire
So many products, so little time. In each issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, you'll learn about five new products for the legal profession. Pressed for time? The "In One Sentence" section describes each product in one sentence, and the "Killer Feature" section describes each product's most compelling feature. The TechnoLawyer NewsWire newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers a legal-specific credit card processing service provider (see article below), an alert service for important email messages, a network storage appliance, an eBook reader, and a legal dictionary for the iPad. Don't miss the next issue.. Don't miss the next issue.

Take Charge and Get Paid Faster

Most businesses don't think twice about accepting credit cards. They just do it because it increases sales and reduces collections. But most businesses don't have to worry about regulations — like all those ethics rules that govern law firms. For this reason, many law firms have concluded that the costs of accepting credit cards outweigh the benefits. But what if you could minimize those costs?

Law Charge … in One Sentence
Designed by lawyers, Law Charge is a credit card processing service that offers legal-specific merchant accounts designed for law firms bound by trust accounting rules.

The Killer Feature
Accepting credit cards through a traditional service provider typically involves a cumbersome process for lawyers. That's because most credit card processors remove the discount and transaction fees from the amount you charge so that you end up with less than the transaction amount in your trust account. Thus, you need to write a check in the amount of these fees and deposit it in the trust account. You may also need to write another check for the monthly maintenance fees.

As a workaround, some firms deposit all funds into their operating account, then write a check for the transaction amount and deposit it into their trust account. Unfortunately, this method may fail an audit because it commingles funds if only for a short time.

Law Charge eliminates this dilemma. Depending on the nature of a charge, you can deposit the funds to your operating or trust account. If you deposit into your trust account, Law Charge places the transaction amount in the trust. It separates out the transaction fees and deducts them from your operating account at the end of the month.

Other Notable Features
Law Charge does not charge a monthly processing fee, inactivity fee, or any other "junk fees" as Law Charge CEO and lawyer Tracy Griffin characterizes them. "Clients are holding onto their cash because they just aren't sure whats coming next in this economy. Therefore, more and more lawyers are offering their clients the choice to pay by credit card," she added.

You can process transactions in the manner that best suits your firm — point of sale terminal, telephone, fax, Internet virtual terminal, and/or your own Web site (online store). Additionally, Law Charge integrates with Clio and VLOTech, popular Web-based practice management systems.

What Else Should You Know?
Costs depend on the type of processing you need. Learn more about Law Charge.

How to Receive TechnoLawyer NewsWire
So many products, so little time. In each issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, you'll learn about five new products for the legal profession. Pressed for time? The "In One Sentence" section describes each product in one sentence, and the "Killer Feature" section describes each product's most compelling feature. The TechnoLawyer NewsWire newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Coming today to Answers to Questions: Thomas Stirewalt shares his advice for firms upgrading to Windows 7, Joseph Myers discusses the process of syncing case management software to an iPhone, Gray Strickland reviews OpenOffice, Charlotte Quiroz shares her experience with Timeslips address violation errors, and James Terry reviews PaperPort and OmniPage on Windows Vista. Don't miss this issue.

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Coming today to Fat Friday: Sarkis Babachanian reviews Daylite and Billings for practice management on a Mac, Fred Pharis reviews Copernic Desktop Search, Paul Purdue reviews PracticeMaster for document assembly, Laura Calloway reviews Casemaker for legal research, and John Banker shares more business lunch etiquette. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive Fat Friday
Our most serendipitous offering, Fat Friday consists of unsolicited contributions by TechnoLawyer members. You'll no doubt enjoy it because of its mix of interesting topics and genuinely useful knowledge, including brutally honest product reviews and informative how-tos. The Fat Friday newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Coming today to Answers to Questions: Jason Havens discusses why and how his firm switched to Macs, J Homel shares his strategy for handling retainer fees, Ruth Laura Edlund explains how to best use Time Matters Messenger, Frank Lanigan reviews DictaNet for phone dictation, and Simon Kogan discusses dual monitors. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive Answers to Questions
Do you believe in the wisdom of crowds? In Answers to Questions, TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers. This newsletter's popularity stems from the relevance of the questions and answers to virtually everyone in the legal profession. The Answers to Questions newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers an accounting and practice management system (see article below), a mobile dictation and transcription app, a hosted service for processing eDiscovery documents, a Google Apps add-on for collaboration, and brainstorming and mind mapping software. Don't miss the next issue.

Can Your Billing and Practice Management System Do That?

Times are still tough. Law firms like yours need every possible operational advantage. This means getting paid faster and with greater operational efficiency. So put your existing software products on the witness stand and give them a thorough cross examination. For example, can your billing and accounting software process credit cards? Can your practice management system integrate with a hosted Exchange server? Do you know which clients are profitable and which ones are a financial burden?

Tabs3 and PracticeMaster version 15.3 … in One Sentence
Software Technology's Tabs3 and PracticeMaster version 15.3 comprise an integrated suite of software products that offer billing, practice management, check writing, and general ledger and trust accounting.

The Killer Feature
Paper or plastic? You may want to start asking your clients this question, paper referring to a check and plastic referring to a credit card.

The new version of Tabs3 can process credit card transactions in both the general ledger and trust accounts depending on how and when you process payments and retainers. The new trust accounts integration enables you to comply with ethical rules required by your state bar.

Also, Tabs3 uses First National Merchant Solutions (FNMS) for processing and settlement. Thanks to the installed base of Tabs3 users, Software Technology has worked out favorable discount rates. FNMS deposits your credit card transaction into any bank account you choose. Thus, you need not open up any new bank accounts.

Other Notable Features
Software Technology also focused on email integration in version 15.3. PracticeMaster has integrated with Outlook and Microsoft Exchange going back several versions. However, the new version of PracticeMaster now integrates with hosted Exchange servers, which an increasing number of small and midsize firms use.

Generally, PracticeMaster offers client and case information, shared calendars, conflict checking, customizable data entry forms for specific practice areas, time tracking, document tracking, instant messaging, and integration with CompuLaw Court Rules.

Notable Tabs3 features include batch exporting of bills to individual PDF files, reports that rank clients by billings, WIP, write offs, and more, flexible billing options for virtually any arrangement, and compensation rules for fee distribution.

What Else Should You Know?
Pricing for Tabs3 starts at $295. Pricing for PracticeMaster starts at $150 (Basic) or $295 (Premier). Learn more about Tabs3 and PracticeMaster version 15.3.

How to Receive TechnoLawyer NewsWire
So many products, so little time. In each issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, you'll learn about five new products for the legal profession. Pressed for time? The "In One Sentence" section describes each product in one sentence, and the "Killer Feature" section describes each product's most compelling feature. The TechnoLawyer NewsWire newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Coming today to Fat Friday: Entertainment lawyer Mark Klarich discusses the future of the music industry and the way we consume music, Caren Schwartz reviews the Acer Aspire 4810T-8480, John Townsend reviews Chrometa, Robert Maize discusses the INTERWRITE as a possible alternative to the iPad, and Tom Trottier reviews the Backblaze Pod for mega data storage. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive Fat Friday
Our most serendipitous offering, Fat Friday consists of unsolicited contributions by TechnoLawyer members. You'll no doubt enjoy it because of its mix of interesting topics and genuinely useful knowledge, including brutally honest product reviews and informative how-tos. The Fat Friday newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Coming today to Answers to Questions: William Shilling describes his almost paperless, cloud-based law practice, Kristi Bodin discusses the key to client happiness when using fee retainers, Vusumzi Msi reviews Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred and explains a WordPerfect workaround, Steven McNichols reviews Norton GoBack, and Wesley Profit reviews NOD32 Antivirus software. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive Answers to Questions
Do you believe in the wisdom of crowds? In Answers to Questions, TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers. This newsletter's popularity stems from the relevance of the questions and answers to virtually everyone in the legal profession. The Answers to Questions newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Coming today to Answers to Questions: Mike Maple reviews Pro Tempus practice management software, Simon Kogan reviews CaseMap, Caren Schwartz compares Garmin and TomTom GPS PNDs, and also provides some GPS PND purchasing tips, Jennifer Stiller reviews PDF Converter Pro 5, and Steve Loewy reviews Timeslips and how he resolved its address violation errors. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive Answers to Questions
Do you believe in the wisdom of crowds? In Answers to Questions, TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers. This newsletter's popularity stems from the relevance of the questions and answers to virtually everyone in the legal profession. The Answers to Questions newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.