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Transform Unpleasant Client Collections Calls Into Opportunities
May 11, 2020
Today's TechnoLawyer Buyer's Guide report covers online payments service for law firms that reduces client arrearages and defaults and time spent on collections activities.
Transform Unpleasant Client Collections Calls Into Opportunities
Clients hire lawyers to advocate on their behalf. Unfortunately, lawyers often have no choice but to become adversarial with their clients when unpaid bills start piling up. Cash flow is king and a lack of it can hamper your firm's operations and growth. On average, it takes law firms 83 days to get paid according to a company with a new solution that reduces this time and reduces the risk of defaults too.
QuickFee in One Sentence
QuickFee is an online payments service for law firms that reduces client arrearages and defaults and time spent on collections activities.
The Killer Feature
You've heard of legal-specific payments solutions that enable law firms to accept ACH and credit card payments. You may even use one. Making it easier for clients to pay you can help but QuickFee goes one step further.
"QuickFee's mission is simple," says CEO Bruce Coombes. "It bridges the gap between a firm's right to be paid on time and their client's desire to pay over time."
QuickFee enables your firm to offer clients a payment plan service called QuickFee Pay Later. Clients can choose to pay your bills in 3, 6, 9, or 12 monthly installments at interest rates far below those charged by credit card companies. Interest rates fluctuate of course but as of the date of this article, the interest rate is 3.95% for the 3-month plan and 9.99% for the 12-month plan. As with any loan, clients can pay the balance anytime.
Best of all, QuickFee pays your firm the entire amount due up front when your client signs up for a QuickFee Pay Later plan. You need not wait for each installment. According to Coombes, QuickFee reduces receivables by 32% within the first year.
QuickFee began in the accounting market. Today, 25% of the top 100 accounting firms use the service. QuickFee is now bringing this service to law firms.
"With QuickFee Pay Later, we solved three related problems," says Simon Fermanis, Senior Audit Partner at PKF. "We provide our clients with an opportunity to pay by installments, which improves our cash flow and liquidity, and reduces our long outstanding debts."
QuickFee offers financing to clients via its QuickFee Pay Later service while paying law firms in full, reducing collections problems
Other Notable Features
QuickFee transforms uncomfortable collections calls into opportunities. Instead of demanding payment, you can offer clients a way to send your firm more work. There's no setup involved other than sending your client the QuickFee Pay Later link.
QuickFee also offers a companion service called QuickFee Pay Now. This is a payments platform through which your clients can pay your bills via ACH, credit card, or a payment plan. Setting up your firm's Payment Portal involves uploading your logo and choosing from several templates. You can also embed a QuickFee payment button onto your firm's invoices and website.
The service is PCI compliant, which means that QuickFee doesn't store bank account or credit card numbers. You receive email confirmations for each client payment and can also generate a report listing all transactions.
What Else Should You Know?
QuickFee vets law firms, not law firm clients. The company requires the law firms it works with to meet certain financial criteria. If a client defaults on a QuickFee Pay Later loan, your firm is responsible only for the principal (your original bill), not the accumulated interest.
Neil J. Squillante is the founder and publisher of TechnoLawyer, an award-winning network of free email newsletters for lawyers and law office administrators. Many consider TechnoLawyer newsletters the only ones they need. A Fastcase 50 award winner, Neil has a long track record of inventing successful advertising and publishing technologies and related best practices. Previously, Neil practiced commercial litigation at Am Law 100 firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher. He received his J.D. from UCLA School of Law and his B.A. from Duke University. At UCLA, Neil served as a Managing Editor of UCLA Law Review.
