LexisNexis – Time Matters- Time Matters 5.0

Client relationship management focuses
on contacts and clients, storing
common information as well as virtually
anything else a firm wants. The
same is true for projects. Customization
features include field labels, field
types, calculated fields, form layouts
and more. In both areas, phone calls,
notes, events, to-dos, notes, billing
records, web research, e-mails,
faxes, instant messages, attached
documents, mail/courier/ delivery
tracking, and other types of records
can be attached to a client, contact
or project, providing a complete
relationship record.

Document management supports paper
document scanning, automatic document
naming, sorting, and full text and
keyword indexing. In addition, templates,
merges, text from Time Matters’
formattable clipboard, HotDocs,
and more can be stored as document
records. The program’s version
control integrates with Word and
WordPerfect. Documents can stand
alone or be attached to clients,
projects, etc., and display on a
separate tab. Time Matters offers
automatic indexing and full text
search of documents (in many file
formats) and *.PDF files.

Another function is Personal Journal,
a fully customizable personal information
manager. Users can define what information
(tasks, appointments, etc.) to manage
on a day-to-day basis. “Views”
of the information, such as Today,
This Week, Next Week, and so on,
can be defined for more efficient
organization. Also, users can add
the Navigation Bar to a Personal
Journal for one-click access to
any part of Time Matters.

Time Matters’ basic time &
billing system captures time and
expenses on project forms while
doing web research, etc. It supports
unlimited bill rates and billing
items. Rates can be global (all
activities billed at the same rate),
by contact, by project, by staff
member, or by task code. Simple
invoices based on time and expenses
can be generated. The Report Writer
and Invoice Designer helps users
create invoice formats. Time Matters
does not support time & billing
features like recurring invoices,
progress bills, AR management, statements,
payments, etc. For these, the company’s
Billing Matters or another time
& billing package is required.

INTEGRATION – 5 Stars

Time Matters integrates with Billing
Matters, Timeslips and other time
& billing packages. Bi-directional
integration with Microsoft Outlook
allows synchronization with many
devices, and two-way synchronization
with home and remote offices, laptops,
and Palm and Pocket PC devices is
also built-in. In addition, the
program integrates with QuickBooks.
Through the Time Matters Billing
form, information can be passed
to QuickBooks to produce invoices.
Time Matters also imports/exports
data to/from specific applications
(Timeslips, Tabs3, ACT!, GoldMine,
etc.) as well as programs supporting
the *.CSV and dBASE III file formats.

REPORTING – 4 Stars
Time Matters offers good reports,
including an Inactivity Watch report
that notifies management when a
project has not been active for
a period of time. Inactivity could
mean the client relationship is
at risk, or that a project should
be archived. On-screen alerts are
available too. In addition, Time
Matters supports custom listings,
pulling virtually any data desired.
As well, the built-in report writer
can produce more sophisticated reports.

EASE OF USE & LEARNING CURVE – 5 Stars

Time Matters’ feature-richness
(even without robust time &
billing capabilities) carries a
high learning curve. A consistent,
intuitive user interface combined
with a CD full of multimedia tutorials
(which cover most areas of the program),
live and web-based training courses,
and excellent Help and manuals should
slide users down the learning curve
quickly. Speed is very good. The
Enterprise version uses the Microsoft
SQL Desktop Edition or Microsoft
SQL Server data-bases.

RELATIVE VALUE – 4.5 Stars
Time Matters provides virtually
everything needed for managing a
practice – other than a built-in
robust time & billing package,
which can be remedied by using the
company’s Billing Matters
time & billing program. While
more capabilities can be gained
through links with other packages,
going outside of Time Matters means
working with a different user interface,
which can lower productivity.

2004 OVERALL RATING: 4.5 Stars

This review examined the following
key areas:

Features – Does the product offer remote processing capability? Is it

designed for online use? Does it have features that
can help your firm become more productive
and/or more profitable? Does it
give you better control over scheduling
or perhaps provide reports on profitability
in a variety of formats? Is the
calendar/scheduling functionality
flexible? Does it offer color coding
by employee or activity? Can group
calendars be displayed? Can e-mail,
notes, phone calls and time tracking
all be attached to a project? What
about document management and document
tracking? Can you use predefined
documents and attach them to each
client’s project?

Integration – If you rely on other products, can the time and billing

product provide or accept data to streamline operations, such as integration with Outlook?

If your firm relies heavily on Outlook for contact management, having the contact

information shared between Outlook and your time and billing product can be valuable. If you

use other products by the same vendor, can information be shared between them?

Reporting – Does the program offer extensive and flexible analytic

reporting that provides information about
productivity and profitability of
staff, clients and services to facilitate
management decision making. Does
it offer customized reports?

Ease of Use & Learning Curve – Does the program offer intuitive, on-screen

entry of time as well as on-screen, on-demand billing? Can the product be tailored and/or

customized to meet your firm’s needs and the way you like to manage your firm? Can the

program conform to your practice? Does it offer real-time updating of data? Does it provide

an easy-to-enter timesheet? Is information readily accessible? Does the program provide

unlimited number of clients, staff and engagements?

Relative Value – What is the cost of the program? What are the renewal

costs? This is a subjective opinion of whether the program and its range
of features, etc., is worth the
cost. It also examines the size
firm that would find the most value
from the product.