Patent AU-2023202144-A1 (AU)
Title: Improved client entry and maintenance system for timekeeping and billing for professional services system and method
Inventor: SHAABAN AHMED FAROUK
IPC: G06Q10/06
Filed: 2023-04-06
Abstract: A computer system configured to manage client data for a legal firm 
providing billable legal services, the computer system including a database, and an 
application server including a processing device and a non-transitory storage medium for 
storing instructions that, when executed by the processing device, cause the processing 
device to perform the following cause display, at a time when a new client account is 
created and prior to transmission of a bill according to a new client account, of a first user 
interface including a single screen that displays each of (i) an account group entry section 
enabling a new client to be made available to an account group, (ii) a customer section 
enabling entry of client encoding for the new client, (iii) a company code section enabling 
entry of an organizational unit for the new client, and (iv) a sales area section including at 
least one of (a) a sales organization section enabling entry of sales responsibility, (b) a 
distribution channel section enabling entry of how goods are delivered to the new client, 
and (c) a division section enabling entry of which sales area sales are attributed to;, 
receive, via the legal firm or company providing a billable legal service, at the time when 
a new client account is created and prior to transmission of the bill according to the new 
client account, client identification data corresponding to a client, receive, via the legal 
firm providing the billable legal service, at the time when the new client account is created 
and prior to transmission of the bill according to the new client account, identification of 
at least two different bill payers for the new client account and corresponding information 
designating percentages of bills to be paid by the at least two different bill payers, receive, 
via the legal firm providing the billable legal service, at the time when the new client 
account is created and prior to transmission of the bill according to the new client account, 
an indication of at least one preferred language for billing associated with the new client 
account, receive, via the legal firm providing the billable legal service, at the time when 
the new client account is created and prior to transmission of the bill according to the new 
client account, an indication of at least one preferred language for dunning associated 
with the new client account, create, via the legal firm providing the billable legal service, 
in the database, at the time when the new client account is created and prior to 
transmission of the bill according to the new client account, a client record associated 
with the client, the client record including the at least one preferred language for billing, 
the at least one preferred language for dunning, the identification of the at least two 
different bill payers, and the information designating percentages of bills to be paid by the
two different bill payers, generate a group of bills according to a grouping of clients 
including the at least two different bill payers, apply, via the legal firm providing the billable 
legal service, a mass discount to the group of bills for the grouping of clients by legal area; 
and send bills for the billable legal service to the at least two different bill payers, using 
the at least one preferred language for billing, according to the percentages of bills to be 
paid by the two different bill payers.