Plaintiff/Contingent
Even if your fees are earned on a contingent basis, as opposed to an hourly basis, Smokeball Billing will still play a crucial role in your practice. Smokeball Billing can be used to send out invoices for firm costs (expenses), as well as to print checks for disbursement of settlement funds. In addition, invoicing for your portion of the settlement will allow you to generate accurate Profitability Reports.
How to Handle Settlement Disbursement
You can easily track the settlements received and disburse the funds right from Smokeball Billing. Follow these steps:
- Deposit funds into the matter's trust account in Smokeball Billing. Learn how to deposit funds into a Trust Account for more information.
- Once funds are available, you can then cut checks to your client, medical providers, and lien holders. Learn more about Trust Payments and Check Printing.
- When you are ready to take your portion of a settlement, it is important to make an invoice for any remaining advanced costs (expenses) and your portion of the settlement. The invoice is for internal use only. It will mark expenses as paid and the income data will let Smokeball create meaningful Profitability Reports for your firm. See below for a sample invoice.
Defendant/Hourly Billing or LEDES Billing
The process will be different if you are not billing on contingency:
- Learn more about hourly billing practices in Smokeball.
- Learn how to bill with LEDES/UTBMS codes in Smokeball.