Spreadsheet and databases and accompanying reports can be developed at relatively low cost by your internal resources or outside consultants. If reporting requirements are more complex, third party report writers such as Crystal Report Writer can be deployed. Electronic billing, invoice analysis and approval routing and processing. Auditing outside counsel invoices against outside counsel guidelines and enterprise corporate policies. Some of these tasks relate directly to managing and reporting on outside counsel invoices, others do not.
Additional modules are typically available to add other specialized functionality.
But just because a software tool can perform a task doesn't mean you have to do it. Often you can turn off the function and remove it from your screen. Thomas Scharbach , and Eric H. Steele , are principals of Steele Scharbach Associates L.L.C. , a consulting firm assisting law departments and law firms with strategic technology design, planning and implementation.