Why Your Associates Aren’t Billing Enough—And What You Can Do About It (Without Being a Micromanager)

Billing Isn’t Just About Hours—It’s About Habits

It’s a quiet truth in many Law Firms: your associates aren’t billing enough. But the solution isn’t always what you think. It’s not about cracking the whip, demanding longer days, or micromanaging every moment.

It’s about understanding the hidden blockers to billing—and creating a culture and system that supports better performance.

💡The 3 Hidden Reasons Associates Fall Short on Billables

1. Time Entry Delay = Lost Revenue

The longer an associate waits to enter time, the more billable hours are forgotten.

Firms that allow weekly or monthly time entry are losing thousands of dollars in unbilled work. Tracking time daily (or even in real-time) increases accuracy, realization, and collections.

2. Lack of Clarity on Expectations

Most associates know there’s a target—but they don’t know where they stand until it’s too late. Publicly share KPIs like billable hours, realization rates, and utilization. Transparency builds accountability and keeps priorities front and center.

3. Not Enough Coaching, Too Much Guessing

Associates often aren’t trained in how to hit their numbers.They need mentoring, not just deadlines. Are they underbilling? Writing off too much? Spending too long on low-value work? A monthly review with your CFO or practice leader can clarify what needs to change.

What You Can Do (That Doesn't Involve Breathing Down Their Necks)

✔ Build a Culture of Daily Timekeeping: Use gamification, incentives, or simple Slack reminders. Some firms offer bonuses for daily time entry; others withhold draws until time is in. Find your system.

✔ Implement Visual Dashboards: When associates can see their performance weekly, they’ll self-correct faster. Use a dashboard that tracks billable hours, effective rate, and collections—in real-time.

✔ Offer Financial Literacy Training: Teach lawyers how Law Firm finances work. When they understand the connection between their time and firm profitability, their habits change. (Let us know in the comments if you'd like a workshop on this!)

🌟Lessons from the Field

One mid-sized firm we worked with implemented a simple rule: daily time entry = monthly Starbucks gift card. Within 30 days, the firm saw a 12% jump in realization rate.

Another firm began sharing anonymized dashboards showing weekly utilization by associate. Without a single formal warning, billing rose across the board.

It’s not about fear. It’s about focus.

Coming Next in the Series:

Post #3 → *"Fractional CFOs for Law Firms: When, Why & How to Hire One (Without Breaking the Bank)"

🚀 Ready to Build a 'Strong Billing Culture'?

📅 [Schedule Now ] 📞 704-313-5554 🌐 www.TLTurnerGroup.com