Law firm timekeeping software, or custom time capture?
Clio or MyCase timekeeping, or TimeSolv, is enough for most small firms. Custom capture pays when billable work slips through email, calls and documents.
The short answer
For a small law firm, the timer built into Clio, MyCase or PracticePanther, or a tool like TimeSolv, is usually enough; custom time capture pays when billable work happens in tools that timer can't see.
A timer records what a lawyer remembers to start. Packaged tools now go further than that. MyCase prompts you to log time when you send an email or upload a document. Smokeball AutoTime records activity in Word, Outlook and Smokeball, then creates the entries overnight. If your work happens inside tools like these, buy before you build.
Custom capture is for the firm whose work runs through tools the package doesn't read, such as a separate document system or a phone platform. When lawyers there still rebuild the week from memory, the gap is what the timer can see, not the timer itself.
Packaged timekeeping and custom capture, side by side
| What decides it | Packaged timekeeping software | Custom time capture |
|---|---|---|
| Where an entry starts | A timer, a manual entry, or activity inside the vendor's own apps | Activity your systems already record: calendar events, email threads, document history, the phone log |
| What it reads | Its own apps, plus the integrations the vendor lists | Read-only access to the sources you choose, scoped to the matters you choose |
| What it writes | Time entries in its own system, then invoices built from them | Only time entries a lawyer has approved, posted to the matter in your practice system |
| Review before billing | Entries can be edited before the invoice goes out | Nothing posts until the lawyer approves, edits, merges or splits the draft |
| Getting started | Switch it on, set rates and codes, train the team | Built, then accepted milestone by milestone against written criteria |
| If you change practice system | Your history moves through the vendor's export | Calendar, email and document capture stays as it is; the matter lookup and the posting step are rebuilt for the new system |
| Best fit | Firms whose work happens mostly inside one practice system | A firm whose billable work is spread across systems the package doesn't read, and whose week still gets rebuilt from memory |
What the packaged timekeeping tools actually do
An ABA Journal overview by Nicole Black splits the market in two. One side is time tracking built into practice management or billing software. The other is stand-alone tools. Some platforms, the column notes, include passive tools that work in the background. If one of these sees where your work happens, it's the simpler answer.
- 01Practice-system timers: Clio, MyCase and PracticePanther all include time tracking inside the practice system. MyCase runs up to three timers at once. PracticePanther keeps a timer in the side bar that runs while you move around the app, and entries marked billable go on the invoice. MyCase's Smart Time Finder passively tracks activity in MyCase and lists billable actions that have no time entry yet.
- 02Standalone time and billing: TimeSolv and Bill4Time are both built around legal time tracking and billing, and both log hours from mobile devices as well as the desktop. TimeSolv lists links to QuickBooks, Xero, NetDocuments, Dropbox and LawPay, and to AI time-tracking tools such as PointOne; Bill4Time connects to QuickBooks and Box and logs hours from your calendar.
- 03Passive capture inside a practice system: Smokeball AutoTime tracks emails, documents, tasks and RingCentral calls. It runs every night and creates entries for the previous day, which you can edit before invoicing.
- 04Capture add-ons: WiseTime records activity into a private timeline and posts only the activities you choose into PracticePanther, ready for billing.
Packaged timekeeping software
Where it wins
- Nothing to build: the timer already sits beside the matter and the invoice
- You get mobile apps, support and updates with the subscription
- Passive options exist inside some packages, such as Smokeball AutoTime for Word and Outlook
- Time and invoice live in one system, so there's no sync to break
Trade-offs to weigh
- A timer counts only what someone remembers to start
- Passive capture sees the vendor's apps and listed integrations, not every system your firm uses
- A standalone tool beside your practice system puts time in two places unless they sync
- Firm rules for narratives, activity codes and increments have to fit the vendor's settings
Custom time capture
Where it wins
- Drafts come from what the record already shows: the meeting on the calendar, the reply in the thread, the edit to the document
- It reads across systems a package doesn't, including your own document system or phone platform
- Approved entries post into the practice system you keep, so billing and trust accounting stay put
- Your narrative style, activity codes and approval rules are written into it
Trade-offs to weigh
- It's built, not switched on, and it needs maintaining as source systems change
- Every source needs access the firm approves, and some systems expose less through their API than others
- Lawyers still review each draft, so it saves rebuilding the week, not judgement
- For a firm that works inside one practice system, it repeats what the package already does
What custom time capture reads, and what it writes
A custom capture layer keeps reading and writing apart. Reading is broad and read-only: calendar events, email threads, document history and the phone log, for the matters you choose. Writing is narrow. It posts one thing only: a time entry a lawyer has approved. That entry goes to the matter in Clio, MyCase, PracticePanther or the system you run, through that system's API where it offers one.
The approval gate is the part that decides whether lawyers use it. We run that same pattern in PeopleMuster, the HR and project platform our own team uses every day. Time is logged daily by project, with approvals and a configurable logging window, and hours logged in timesheets feed utilization reports by project and by department. That's project delivery rather than legal billing, and the mechanism is the part that carries over.
- 01Reads, without changing anything: calendar, email, document history, phone log and the matter list
- 02Proposes a draft entry with matter, duration and narrative, which the lawyer edits, merges, splits or deletes
- 03Writes only the approved time entries, to the matter in your practice system
- 04Leaves alone: trust accounting, invoices and anything a lawyer hasn't approved
How to choose between timekeeping software and custom capture
Start with one question: where does your billable work actually happen? Ask two or three lawyers to list last Tuesday's work, then check which of those tools your timekeeping can see. That answer usually picks the option for you.
- 01Pick the timer in your practice system if lawyers already log time the same day and the work runs through that system.
- 02A standalone tool such as TimeSolv or Bill4Time fits if you want time and billing without changing how you manage cases.
- 03Smokeball AutoTime makes sense if you're moving to Smokeball anyway and your work happens in Word and Outlook.
- 04Custom capture is the right call if billable work is spread across systems no single package reads and the week still gets rebuilt from memory.
- 05Neither fixes it if the hours are recorded but invoices go out late or don't get paid. That's a billing and collections problem, which our billing automation page covers.
Timekeeping and time capture, answered
01What is the best timekeeping software for a law firm?+
For a small law firm, the best timekeeping software is usually the one built into its practice system. Entries then land on the matter and the invoice with no sync. Clio, MyCase and PracticePanther all include time tracking. TimeSolv and Bill4Time are the standalone time-and-billing options. MyCase's Smart Time Finder and Smokeball AutoTime add passive capture inside their own systems.
02What is the best billing software for a small law firm?+
For most small firms, the best billing software is the billing built into the practice system they already run, such as Clio, MyCase or PracticePanther, because time, invoices and trust records stay in one place. Firms that want time and billing without a full practice system often pick TimeSolv or Bill4Time. If hours are recorded but invoices still go out late, the gap is collections, which our billing automation page covers.
03Can AI record billable time for lawyers?+
AI can draft time entries from the work, but a lawyer should approve every one before it reaches a bill. Smokeball AutoTime and MyCase already suggest entries inside their own systems. A custom capture layer reads the calendar, email, calls and documents your firm uses, drafts the entry with the matter and a narrative, and posts it to Clio or MyCase only after a lawyer approves it.
04What is passive time capture for lawyers?+
Passive time capture records what a lawyer works on in the background and turns it into draft time entries. Nobody has to start a timer. Smokeball AutoTime does this for work in Word, Outlook and Smokeball, creating entries overnight for the previous day. Add-ons such as WiseTime keep a private timeline and post only the entries you pick. A custom capture layer does the same job across the particular systems your firm runs.
05Does custom time capture work with Clio or MyCase?+
Yes. Custom time capture sits beside Clio or MyCase rather than replacing it. A capture layer reads from the calendar, email and documents, and the one thing it writes back, through the public API, is a time entry a lawyer has approved. Invoicing, trust accounting and the matter record stay in your practice system.
06Can you use timekeeping software and custom capture together?+
Yes, you can use both together. Your practice system stays the record for time, invoices and trust, and the custom layer proposes entries into it from sources the package can't read. Lawyers keep the timer for anything the capture layer misses, such as a call on a personal phone.
07Can a law firm bill for time saved by AI?+
Usually not, if you bill by the hour. ABA Formal Opinion 512, issued in July 2024, says a lawyer billing hourly should charge for the time actually spent, which can include time spent using and checking an AI tool, but not for time the tool saved. Flat fees raise different questions. This isn't legal advice: read the opinion on americanbar.org and check your own state bar's guidance.
08What happens to our time data if we switch practice systems?+
Your past time entries move through your practice system's own export, the same as they would without a capture layer. Capture keeps reading the same calendar, email and document sources; the matter lookup and the posting step are rebuilt for the new system. If a move is coming, raise it on the scoping call so the Blueprint plans for both.
09Is it safe to let software read lawyers' email and calendars?+
Letting software read lawyers' email and calendars is acceptable when the firm can inspect the controls: read-only access, scope limited to chosen matters and mailboxes, and a log of every draft and approval. A capture layer reads email, calendars and documents with that read-only access. The only thing it writes is a time entry a lawyer has approved, posted to your practice system. Each build starts with a written map of where client data goes and which vendors see it. Your firm reviews that against its own confidentiality duties before anything runs.
10How much does custom time capture cost?+
There's no honest price for custom time capture before an engineer has read your systems. We start with a scoping call, then a fixed-fee Blueprint: scope, architecture, risks and a fixed price for each milestone. That fee is credited in full against the build. If the plan isn't one you'd act on, you don't pay for it.
Read next
- Billing automation for law firms →Time proposed from the work, invoices out when it closes
- Custom software and AI for law firms →Built around the practice management system you already run
- Best legal practice management software →The full practice systems, ranked
- Clio alternatives for law firms →What to use instead of Clio, and when
- Clio vs MyCase for law firms →Which practice system fits, and where both stop
- Legal AI: build vs buy →Build or buy, for AI tools across the firm
- The Clio API: what a real integration involves →OAuth, rate limits and how a sync is scheduled
- How to collect law firm invoices faster →When the hours are recorded but the money is late
- PeopleMuster case study →Daily time logging by project, with approvals
- How we work →Scoping call, then a fixed-fee Blueprint credited in full against the build
