ProVantage 7.1

By Denise Yancey

As reviewed in the July/August 2005 issue.

Time and billing software in a law office primarily is used by attorneys and paralegals to correctly bill clients for the time and costs of the legal work done on a client’s specific case. However, ProVantage 7.1 time and billing program is the next step on the scale, taking that time and billing information and using it for the day-to-day accounting and reporting aspects of the law office.

ProVantage’s well-designed “Fee” screens let you go from the timekeeper’s view of the work done on a matter to a view of all the fees associated with that matter sortable by date or date range, including billable and nonbillable work. “Conflict” screens let you search for possible conflicts between potential clients and the firm. Trust accounts are easy to set up and can be accessed as needed by anyone using the program.

ProVantage’s strongest suit is its collection of predesigned reports that come standard with the program. These allow analysis of all aspects of the firm’s practice by its management at any time, and the range of choices of these useful reports is amazing. The Client Portfolio, in particular, could be a valuable tool to rank the firm’s clients by a variety of parameters — from most to least billable hours in a year, to those consistently paying in full and on time. These reports deliver accurate information to those who need it. There are several billing arrangements available — e-billing, value billing, split and task-based billing.

On the other hand, I didn’t see this program as the most useful tool for the actual timekeeper — the attorney or paralegal — to enter work. The focus of the program is more on client management than time or case management. However, if used in conjunction with another time and case management program, this could be useful for law office management.