Month: August 2026

My Toyota Saga

Posted on by chimp

I used to own 2008 Toyota Camry Hybrid, which I loved. Ok, to be honest the love, like the original paint, may have faded over time. But, it had been such a great car that I had driven it about 2 years longer than I had originally planned. As I watched the odometer roll towards 100,000 (and the end of my warranty) I thought to myself that it was probably time to start looking for a new car.  With my busy schedule and dread of the car buying process, I decided to wait until the spring.

Suddenly, the mileage was 100,882 miles… and you know what happened next

Without warning, all kinds of bells and whistles went off.  I got an error message; “Danger, Hybrid Engine System Check”!?

A quick look at the owner’s manual told me it was not good news, so did the look on the service manager’s face when I brought the car to the dealership.

I got an estimate for over $4000 in repairs to replace the hybrid battery system. Now what ?! Do I repair the vehicle, or buy a new while I’m in a bind? This “if it aint broke, don’t fix it” mentality came back to haunt me.

At Borek Consulting Group, we have always told our clients that we will continue to support their software programs – supported or not – for as long as we are able. We continue this commitment to our clients.

Based on my experience with my car, however, we realize that it is imperative to our clients’ success that we are clear about the risk of using an unsupported version of software. It may mean

  • Extra costs for time spent researching issues and consulting with colleagues to find a solution (since technical support will not be available).
  • Increased costs for upgrading to a supported version
  • Unplanned downtime due to your program not working.
  • Living with software bugs or workarounds

In the worst case scenario, there may be a domino effect of needing to upgrade multiple systems – hardware, operating systems, practice management software, billing software, etc., at a most inconvenient time.

If you would like Borek Consulting Group to review your options, please reach out to us. We will be happy to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of your current system and help you to create a timeline that suits your budget – and your tolerance for risk

Is There a Better Way? Tell Us Where it Hurts

Posted on by chimp

The doctor is in: Tell us where it hurts, and we might be able to help you!

If, when you are doing your routine tasks, there are certain processes that are down right painful and drive you crazy – let us know what those “pain points” are! There may very well be a setting or a preference or workflow that can make your life easier.

For instance:  In one of our firms, an administrative fee of 3% is charged as a percentage of fees. Each month, the billing administrator would manually calculate this charge with a calculator. We were able to configure a feature that calculated the percentage automatically to the invoice, saving time and headaches and potential calculation mistakes. The time it took to configure this solution was far less than the time it took to the billing administrator to do the calculations.

At another office, the book keeper would print out a list of the month’s receivables, then handwrite the name of the client, their phone number, and the date of the last bill, before giving it to the attorney for his review and action. The bookkeeper saved hours of time when we added a preference to include this information automatically in the report.

In another firm, the team wanted to get automated reminders of tasks. We were able to configure this with the timing that they wanted and needed to get their work completed.

So, the next time you are doing a process that feels very manual, take a moment to evaluate the steps you are taking. If there’s a point that you usually say “if only this part was easier!”, maybe there is! Give us a call, let us know, and let us help make process – pain free!

Reasons to Bill Your WIP Routinely

Posted on by chimp

WIP (also known as Work in Progress) represents time or costs that have not yet been billed through your billing system. There are many reasons to make sure you are billing routinely, and we’ve included some of the top reasons below:

1) More clarity about your KPIs: Without billing, you may have no idea what your actual WIP and A/R is – and therefore not realizing your income correctly. Both your A/R (or general retainer) may now be over or understated;

2) Client communications – if clients are not kept up to speed and the first bill they get is when they owe more money, that can be an unhappy surprise. Billing on a routine basis allows for more frequent communication. It’s human nature (and optimistic) to assume that things will take less time and cost less not more. By billing more frequently, the client is up to date on the balance that remains of the retainer and will not be shocked when asked for additional funds

3) Less effort during billing process – constantly ignoring your client work in progress until they may have several months worth of billing is far more time consuming to edit.

4) More profitable: When time is “stale” there is often an inclination to reduce or credit the billing, anticipating client objections or dissatisfaction with the delay. By billing more routinely, there is less likelihood that these types of credits will be needed.

5) Cash flow: Often when time is “fresh”, clients are more willing to pay an invoice, especially if work completed produced a favorable outcome. Time from more than 45 days in the past will prompt client questions and oftentimes concern.

Breaking Up is Hard, but Not Impossible, To Do

Posted on by chimp

We occasionally get a call from a client that it’s time for a member (or members) of a law firm to move on, however, someone has to get custody of the database – or “who gets my clients”?”

This is not an impossible task. It does, however, involve some planning. Depending on what software you are using and what information you will ultimately need we can assist with reports and exporting of data.

Some considerations to keep in mind:

1) Core data is generally easier to extract and most products have a method to do so. Examples include client/matter addresses, names, communication information, practice areas, even custom information.
2) Historical data can be limited, and in some cases unneeded or unwanted. Oftentimes a starting balance is all you need to move forward.
3) Separating data can be difficult unless you have some selection criteria – is it a particular date range, responsible attorney, custom field? Identification of this is key