Time Tracking for Lawyers & Law Firms
Attorneys bill in 6-minute increments, but reconstructing a day from memory misses the calls, the emails, and the quick consults that add up fast. Sandtime.io makes it easy to log time against client matters as you go, from any device, so nothing slips through.
Lawyers & Law Firms: why they choose Sandtime.io
Track time by matter
Give each matter its own project, and every entry lands under the right client work. Billing reviews take minutes, not hours, when everything is already where it belongs.
Capture every billable minute
Start a timer with one tap or add an entry after the fact. No more reconstructing your day from memory and losing the 0.1s that add up.
Invoice-ready time reports
Pull a detailed time report per client or matter in seconds. Export to CSV for your billing software or share directly with clients.
Manage your whole firm
Track time across attorneys, associates, and paralegals from one account. See who billed what, on which matter, without chasing anyone for timesheets.
How a law firm sets up Sandtime.io
A law firm sets up Sandtime.io with one project per client matter, a revenue rate for each attorney and paralegal, and timesheet approvals before every billing run. Time is logged against the matter as calls, drafting and hearings happen, and the Invoices report template turns a month of entries into time, rate and revenue per matter for export to the firm’s billing software.
- Open a project for every matterName projects by client and matter, such as the client’s name and a case number, and mark them billable. Business development, CLE and firm admin go on non-billable projects so they never reach a bill.
- Set rates for partners, associates and paralegalsInvite everyone by email and add them to the matters they work on. A partner who runs a practice group can be a Project Administrator for its matters. Set a revenue rate per member and, where a matter is priced differently, per project, and when rates change in January, last year’s reports keep the old ones.
- Capture time as the day happensStart a timer when a call comes in and stop it when it ends, from the web app, the desktop app or your phone. A research session you forgot to time goes in afterwards with its start and end time and a short description.
- Approve, round and bill monthlySet time rounding in the report to match your billing increment, then have everyone submit timesheets before the billing run. An Administrator approves them, past periods lock, and the Invoices template exports time, rate, net revenue, tax and total revenue per matter to Excel.
Step by step in the help center: invite the team with the right role, approve a week from the email, and turn on auto-locking.
Common use cases
- Track billable hours on client matters throughout the day
- Generate a monthly billing report without rebuilding time from scratch
- Log time for calls, emails, hearings, and research as they happen
- Check retainer hours in reports before a client goes over budget
- Keep associate and paralegal time in one place for accurate invoicing
- Export time logs into an existing billing or practice management workflow
Key features
One-click timers
Start timing the moment client work begins. Each entry logs to the right matter. Works naturally with 6-minute billing increments.
Retroactive time entry
Didn’t start a timer? Add any time entry manually, with full notes and matter context, anytime.
Multiple matters at once
Switch between client matters mid-day without losing time. Each matter tracks independently.
Export and report
Pull CSV exports or time reports by matter, team member, or date range - ready for billing.
Where Sandtime.io stops
Better to know before you invite the team. These are the gaps people in this line of work ask about most.
- No invoicingSandtime.io does not send invoices. The Invoices report template lists time, rate, net revenue, tax, and total per project, and you export it to Excel or CSV for your billing software.
- No project budgetsThere is no budget field or budget alert. A report grouped by project shows hours, cost, and revenue so far, and you compare them with the estimate yourself.
- Reminders are a weekly emailThe fill-timesheet reminder is one email, sent on Friday at 6 PM while auto-locking is on. It is off by default, so each member switches it on in their notification settings.
Common questions
Is Sandtime.io free for law firms?
Yes. Sandtime.io is free for unlimited users, so every attorney, associate and paralegal can track time without a per-user fee or a credit card.
Can I track billable hours per client or matter?
Yes. Create a project for each matter, mark entries as billable or non-billable, and set revenue rates per project and per team member. Reports then show billable hours and their value by matter.
Can attorneys and paralegals bill at different rates?
Yes. Set a revenue rate per team member as well as per project. When a rate changes, past reports keep the rate that applied at the time.
Does Sandtime.io handle client invoicing?
No. Sandtime.io does not send invoices or process payments. The Invoices report template lists time, hourly rate, net revenue, tax and total revenue per project, and you export it to Excel or CSV for your billing software.
Can partners review timesheets before billing?
Yes. Team members submit their timesheets, an Administrator approves or rejects them, including from email, and past periods can lock automatically so billed hours stop changing.
Keep exploring
Continue with the most relevant Sandtime.io pages for this topic.
Track breaks and other non-billable time
Sandtime.io has no dedicated break timer. Non-billable projects with the Billable switch off keep breaks in your timesheet and out of what you bill.
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Open pageCost
The expense associated with employee work hours. Calculated by multiplying time by cost rates for profitability analysis.
Open pageCreate a project for reported time
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Open pageCustom Reports
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Open pageTrack your first hour today
Create your free account and see results in minutes.