Billable time captured as the work happens and turned into clean invoices
A done-for-you time entry and billing automation is an AI agent that reads a timekeeper's emails, calendar, calls and document activity, drafts time entries with clear narratives on the right matter or project, and prepares pre-bills for review. BufferSol builds it in Clio, MyCase, Karbon or Harvest and connects it to QuickBooks or Xero. Every entry is reviewed and approved by the person who did the work before it reaches a client, and professionals stay responsible for what they bill.
- Live in 3 to 6 weeks
- Works with Clio Manage, MyCase and more
- People approve what matters
Is this you?
For law firms, accounting practices and agencies with five to two hundred timekeepers who bill by the hour or track time against fixed fees, and who reconstruct timesheets at the end of the day, week or month.
- Timekeepers fill in timesheets on Friday afternoon or at month end from memory.
- Short calls and emails are never recorded, so they are never billed.
- Billing staff chase missing time before every invoice run.
- Pre-bills come back with vague narratives that partners rewrite or write down.
- Clients question invoices because entries do not explain what was done.
Today vs done for you
The current way, and the new way
What your team does by hand today, and what the automation does instead, step by step.
How it works today
- Lawyers, accountants and consultants work across email, calls, meetings and documents, intending to log time later.
- At the end of the day or week, they scroll their sent mail and calendar to reconstruct what they did, in Clio, Karbon, Harvest or a spreadsheet.
- Small tasks are forgotten, and narratives are short and vague because no one remembers the detail.
- Before the billing run, billing staff email timekeepers for missing entries and build pre-bills by hand.
- Partners mark up pre-bills, rewrite narratives and write down time they cannot justify, then billing issues invoices and posts them to QuickBooks or Xero.
What it quietly costs you
- · Work that was done but never recorded is lost revenue the firm cannot recover.
- · Timekeepers spend non-billable hours reconstructing time, often late in the evening.
- · Vague entries lead to client pushback, write-downs and slower payment.
How it works done for you
- The agent reads the timekeeper's calendar, sent email, call logs and document edits in Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, with their permission and within the firm's privacy rules.
- It matches each activity to a client and matter or project using names, email domains, matter numbers and document locations.
- It drafts time entries with duration, task code and a clear narrative written to your firm's style and any client billing guidelines.
- Each timekeeper reviews the day's drafts in Clio, MyCase, Karbon or Harvest, edits or rejects them, and approves; nothing is billed without that approval.
- Before each billing cycle, the agent flags matters with gaps or unusual totals and assembles pre-bills for the responsible partner.
- After the partner approves, it issues invoices from your billing system, syncs them to QuickBooks Online or Xero, and logs every edit and approval.
Your people
What changes for your team
| Role | Today | Done for you |
|---|---|---|
| Associate, staff accountant or consultant | Reconstructing time from memory at the end of the week and leaving small tasks off. | Confirming and adjusting draft entries in a few minutes each day. |
| Billing coordinator | Chasing missing time, building pre-bills and re-keying invoices into accounting. | Reviewing flagged matters and handling client billing questions. |
| Billing partner | Rewriting vague narratives and writing down time they cannot explain to the client. | Approving pre-bills that already describe the work clearly. |
The numbers
What it's worth to you
Estimate the time and cost you get back with your own numbers. We baseline the real figures in week 1 and track these KPIs from day one.
Example inputs · change them to yours
The automated share covers drafting entries, matching them to matters and assembling pre-bills; review, approval and every billing judgment stay with your professionals.
Staff time back
53 hours a month
About 0.3 full-time people freed for higher-value work
Capacity reclaimed a month
$3,200
A year
$38,400
An estimate from your inputs only. In week 1 we measure your real baseline, so results are tracked against your own numbers.
Recorded hours per timekeeper
We baseline recorded billable and non-billable hours per timekeeper for recent months and compare after launch, by practice group.
Entry lag
We measure the gap between when work happened and when the time entry was saved, using timestamps in your system.
Write-downs at pre-bill
We compare recorded value with billed value at pre-bill review, before and after launch.
Billing cycle time
We track days from period end to invoices issued, and the number of matters held for missing time.
Client invoice queries
We count invoice questions and disputes per billing cycle using your billing notes or inbox tags.
28%
81%
86%
Works with the tools you already use
- Clio Manage
- MyCase
- Karbon
- Harvest
- QuickBooks Online
- Xero
- Microsoft 365
- Google Workspace
- Zoom
- RingCentral
Guardrails built in
- Draft entries are suggestions only; nothing is billed until the timekeeper approves the entry and the billing partner approves the pre-bill.
- The agent reads only the sources each timekeeper allows, and personal or non-client activity is excluded by rule.
- Narratives follow your firm's style and client billing guidelines, and entries are never padded or rounded beyond your increment rules.
- Every draft, edit, approval and invoice is logged with who changed what and when.
- Client data stays in your own systems with existing access controls.
Why it hurts today
What teams say about this work
Common complaints from operators, reviewers and industry research.
Lawyers bill only a fraction of their working day, and solo practitioners bill even less, which shows how much time goes to work that is never recorded or charged.
Lawyers describe the pressure of six-minute time recording against billing targets, struggling to log enough client hours while research, meetings and mentoring do not count.
Clio reviewers say the QuickBooks integration can import expenses as one combined entry that is tedious to fix, and that invoices are less customizable than they would like.
Done for you
Live in 3 to 6 weeks
We do the build, the integrations and the rollout. Your team gives us access, reviews the pilot and approves go-live.
- 1
Week 1
Discovery and access
We map the workflow with your team, agree the outcomes and KPIs, measure today's baseline and get secure access to your tools.
- 2
Weeks 2–3
Build and connect
We build the agents and connect your systems, with your rules, approval steps, permissions and logging.
- 3
Weeks 3–5
Test and pilot
We test on your real history, then run a pilot on live work while your team reviews what the agent does.
- 4
Weeks 4–6
Go live and hand over
We roll out in stages, train your team, hand over dashboards and runbooks, and keep improving it with you.
Executive Ask: ask your business anything
One plain-English assistant connected to every system you run: CRM, helpdesk, ERP and accounting, HR, inbox and docs. Leaders get sourced answers in seconds and can trigger actions with approval. It respects everyone's existing permissions and logs every answer.
See Executive AskAsk it, for example
- Which timekeepers have the most unapproved draft entries this week?
- Which matters had the largest write-downs last month, and why?
- How much approved time is still unbilled across the firm right now?
Will the AI bill clients for time automatically?
No. The agent drafts entries from real activity and assembles pre-bills, but every entry is approved by the person who did the work and every pre-bill by the responsible partner. Professionals stay responsible for what they bill and for compliance with client billing guidelines and professional rules. The agent never pads time, and you set the rounding and increment rules it follows.
Does it read everyone's email?
Only with each timekeeper's permission and within rules the firm sets. The agent reads metadata and content needed to match work to a matter, such as recipients, subject lines, document names and meeting titles, and you can exclude personal folders, certain clients or whole categories. Drafts are visible only to the timekeeper and the people your billing roles already allow.
How long does it take to go live?
Most firms are live in 3 to 6 weeks. We start with your matter structure, task codes, narrative style and client billing guidelines, then connect Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, your practice management or time system and your accounting tool. A pilot group of timekeepers reviews drafts before we roll out to the rest of the firm.
What does it cost?
Cost depends on the number of timekeepers, the systems we connect and how many client billing guidelines you need to follow. A ten-person agency on Harvest and a law firm with several offices on Clio need different setups, so we do not publish a price. Pricing is quoted after a short scoping call about your current time and billing process.
Does it work for fixed-fee or subscription clients?
Yes. For fixed-fee and subscription work, the same drafted entries show how much effort each client or engagement takes, even when nothing is billed by the hour. Partners use that to see which engagements are underpriced, and accounting firms on Karbon can compare time against the agreed fee. Invoices still follow your fee arrangements and approvals.
Pairs well with
Finance & Accounting
Collections & Accounts Receivable
Overdue invoices followed up daily, disputes routed and payments matched
See the outcomeLaw, Accounting & Agencies
Client Intake & Engagement Letters
Every prospective client answered, screened and sent an engagement letter
See the outcomeLaw, Accounting & Agencies
Client Document Collection
Client documents collected, checked and filed without weeks of chasing
See the outcomeSources
- Lawyers are only billing a fraction of their time; how can they be more efficient?, ABA Journal
- Toppling the six-minute tryrant, Law Society Journal (LSJ)
- Clio Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra, Capterra
- US Trends report finds low law firm utilisation rate, New Zealand Law Society
Get Time Entry & Billing done for you
Tell us about your volumes and tools. A senior engineer replies within one business day with scope, timeline and cost.
Live in 3 to 6 weeks · Priced after a short call · Company emails only