I use TABS3 everyday on my job. TABS3 is a billing software. Each timekeeper (attorney, paralegal, legal assistant, etc.) is assigned a timekeeper number. Linked to that timekeeper number is a billable rate. All clients are assigned a client number and within those client numbers are matter numbers. Each client/matter number is assigned an area of law number such as for litigation, personal injury, estate planning, adoptions, etc. When I enter time for my attorneys, I enter their timekeeper number, the date, the client/matter number and a description of what they did in which they are billing time. Actual costs such as filing fees, copying, court reporters, faxes, etc. are each assigned a number as well. When checks are written for these costs, the adminstrator enters those costs into TABS3 under the client/matter number. When we receive payment on a client/matter, the administrator posts those payments as well.
The key purpose of TABS3 is to produce an invoice at the end of each month for each client/matter number. The invoice lists the amount of time spent on each task, a description of the task, and a total dollar amount which is the amount of time spent times that particular timekeeper’s billable rate. It then lists costs expended on behalf of that client/matter number.
The only information I have actual access to is the name, address, and phone number for each client/matter number, who the responsible attorney is for that particular client/matter as well as how much money is owing on that particular client/matter. I can search the database by client name and then look at the list of matters under that client. If I have the client/matter number, I can go directly to that client/matter for the information I am looking for.
The administrator can run the various reports at the end of the month showing how much time each timekeeper billed and how much money was received for each timekeeper’s client/matters. From this database, reports are run by the administator at the end of the month to show the financial situation of the firm. I do not have access to retrieve this information.
I do not find TABS3 to be very user friendly. If an attorney does not send out a bill for a client/matter in a given month and does not report that they want to “hold” that bill for the month, there is no way to go back after month end closing and put a hold on that account. Therefore, you have to send the client two separate bills, one for one month and another bill for the next month. It is really frustrating. The only way to get around this is to manually combine the two bills into one using word processing.
I have used other forms of billing in past jobs in which I was able to print a prebill at any given time, make any necessary adjustments and then print the final bill. I have to have the administrator make those adjustments. If she is doing this for all legal assistants, it can take some time to get my bills taken care of. If I need a report showing all time billed, costs and payments on a client/matter for a certain period of time, I have to go to the administator. There is only one person in our office who does this. If we are getting ready for trial and need this informaiton, we need to make sure we request it on a day that the program administrator is in the office. OF course, if she calls in sick, we are just completely out of luck until she returns to the office. This again is very frustrating.
I find that the speed of TABS3 could stand improvement as well. If there are several people entering time at the same time, the system can slow down considerably. I would recommend to the database developers to do something to speed this process up. All time for one month has to be entered by noon on the first work day of the next month. Therefore, there are many users on the program from 8-noon on the first work day of the month. I am not sure if it is the developer or just our firm, but I would like to see the users of the program have more access to reports, etc. that we need from time to time. All in all, TABS3 is good. When there are problems it is usually caused by the person entering the data such as a wrong client/matter number, wrong timekeeper number, etc. TABS3, like any program, is only as accurate as the person entering the data.
