Improving Bottom Line with Technology

Ask not what you can do for your computer; Ask, rather what your computer can do for you

Billing, Calendars, PDA, Remote Access, & Research

Who is Speaking?

• Thorne D. Harris III – Solo Practitioner– LSBA Technology Resource Center

LSBA Technology Resource Center

• What it sounds like it is

Picture of Building

•

LSBA Technology Resource Center

• What it really is

TRC Plant & Facilities

• Numbers in Bar Journal

• 800-295-4960

• 504-822-5797

BILLING / ACCOUNTING

Get what you deserveDon’t pay more than you owe

Where does the time go? Why?

• If I write it in my calendar, do I have to write it again on the bill?– Cut & Paste– Links– Integrated ‘systems’

PC-Law Jr.

• IRS likes this one, its hard to cook the books

• Latest version now has a calendar

• Many commercial programs have links to it

• Full, made for lawyers, one-write system– Time, Billing, Trust, P&L, Gen. Ledger, etc. – $179.00 for full 2 timekeeper system– Upgradeable and networkable

PCLaw Menu Page

PCLaw Time

Sheets

PCLaw Quick Timers

PCLaw Check Entry

PCLaw Sample Invoice

Quick Books Pro

• IRS not excited – easy to change things ex post facto

• Easy to set up (there is an ‘interview’ and a business type)

• Pull out a “Schedule C” to set up your expense pigeonholes

• Trust account too, or multiples types of “income”• So you not pay self-employment tax on $ for

client meds you recover

Some more popular programs

• TimeSlips

• Time Matters (also Case Management)

• TABBS

Where am I supposed to be?

• Calendars– Lookout, oops, I mean Outlook! – Schedule +, the orphan– Lotus (IBM), ACT! (Symantec / Norton )– Time & Chaos ( isbister.com ),

and other shareware– Time Matters

Microsoft Outlook

• The Standard

• Comes with Microsoft Office

• Many features

• Easy to use stand-alone

• Need Exchange Server to share in larger environments

Outlook

You can take it with you!

• PDA = Personal Digital Assistant

• Palm Platform

• Pocket PC (Windows)

Palm Platform devices, including Visor

• Palm III = Color

• Palm VII = Wireless

• Palm Vx = Smallest with 8M

• New Color versions

• Synchronize with Outlook– Then synchronize online– Can sync directly online

Pocket PC (Microsoft OS)

• Compaq iPaq, HP Jornada, Casio,– Conduits to sync (Puma – Intellisync)– Pocket Word, Excel, Outlook– Memory hogs, expensive $500.00 +– New versions have best color screens around– Up to 64M of RAM– Battery life not as good as B&W Palm

Other PDA’s

• Franklin = inexpensive $50.00– Speller grew up, non-standard, proprietary, not

play well with others (sync)

• DaVinci = inexpensive $90.00– Palm wannabe, proprietary, not play well with

others (sync)– Blackberry – very expensive, push technology

SHARING CALENDARS

• Your internal network

• Via the Internet

Calendar Sharing on anInternal Network

• Microsoft solutions– Net Folders, MS Exchange Server, Windows

Messaging

• Lotus (IBM) solutions– Domino Server – Amicus– Time Matters

Calendar sharing via the Internet

• Synchronize to (with) / Publish on => anytime, anywhere– Yahoo.com, Intranets.com, MyPalm.com,

Visto.com, HotOffice.com, Calendar.yahoo.com

– See Internet discussion

Things you can do with a calendar/ PIM

• PIM = Personal Information Manager

• Categories (each case a category?)

• Contacts / Address Book

• Tasks / ToDo

• “Manage” by judicious naming conventions in your address book

• Sync to PDA

Can you document this bill?

• Use the “Timer”

• Back to Case Manager Links and duplicate typing!

• Back to Cut & Paste from Calendar Notes to Billing Program to Case Management?– Outlook CATAGORIES, then filter views

• What about ACT! 2000 (contact manager)?

You are WHERE? And you want WHAT?

• Remote Access to YOUR computer(s)

Tele-commuting

– Dial Up Networking (Win9x), RAS (Win NT/2000), Windows XP

– VPN, pcAnywhere, LapLink– GoToMyPC

Remote Control

• pcAnywhere, LapLink– Technical support; Mom, I’d rather do it

myself– Telecommuting – RAS– GoTOMyPC.com

File Transfer

• Get/send file, process locally – pcAnywhere, LapLink, Carbon Copy– RAS– GoToMyPC.com

How you connect

• Long distance phone dialup vs. Internet

• Security, incl. call-back

• Costs

• VPN – dedicated/expensive/fast

• GoToMyPC– Phone line or Dual DSL (Office & Home)

Building the Brief

• Research? Who does research?

CD vs. Online

• CD means you have to actually have the CD in a CD drive you can access (copyable CD)

• Online means you must have a “modem” connection

• CD tower vs. BIG hard drive

“Free” Internet vs. Commercial (pay to play)

• Your time is worth something.– LexisOne.com

• See Freebie Internet Presentation– Attached Free Internet Sites List

• LSBA.org, Solo-SmallFirms.org, ThorneDHarrisIII.com, etc.

How do you bill for internet time?

• Fee sites, free sites, combinations, CD subscription fees (apportion among clients?) i.e. your out of pocket costs

• Transaction billing vs. Time Billing • Research person’s time? Billable or

absorbed cost of yours?– Can you bill any of this as a reimbursable

expense in a contingency fee contract?

Lagniappe

• Shortcuts and Keystrokes attached for:– MS Word– Excel– Internet Explorer– Windows 98– See Materials

Keyboard CheatsWord

Keyboard CheatsExcelIE 4/5

Keyboard Windows

Questions?

• Or we could just swap jokes or stories….

Thanks!

• and …..

• THE END