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Incoming audit associate at KPMG here. I'm graduating with my 150 in December and I'm guessing winter folks start around January?
Def wondering if there were any talks of rescinded offers in US, given the economic situation.
And if nothing goes south, what's the current remote work situation like?
Is this accurate?
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Goodbye billable hours.
Advice for networking during Covid?
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I used to be really bad at entering time but started doing it contemporaneously and using the timer and have never looked back since. USE THE TIMER!! Trust me it’ll save your life.
Same. At one point I was like 3.5 months behind. Bought things like Timeular to try and help and even that didn’t work. Then realized I could sticky the timer so it’s always on top of everything (have a massive monitor so it’s never in front of stuff I’m actually working on), and that’s changed my life. Got an email blast from accounting saying time for June was due at noon on Friday, and it felt so good thinking of everyone reading that and, just-like past me, freaking out to scramble and start entering their time — I just hit “release” my time button and went back to my assignment.
My firm puts you in groups (comprised of random partners, associates, paralegals and other billing staff). If everyone in the group enters their time on time (by a specific time every week), everyone in the group gets a $25 gift card. But if a single person in the group misses the deadline, no one in the group gets the card. I make enough that the card is negligible, but it’s definitely a nice perk and I never want to be the person shamed for causing everyone else not to get it.
What? This is wild haha. Kind of like it.
My firm sends us annoying non stop reminders to enter our time 🥴 We should be able to bill for the time spent entering our time; it takes way too long
The system we have to enter our time into is ancient and reeks of early 90s/early 2000s technology. It’s not intuitive and is so annoying to use, making it so much more annoying to enter time. I wish there was a timer or some smart feature. It’s awful.
At my old firm, absolutely nothing. At my current firm, they “fine” you by taking money out of your paycheck. I’ve gotten fined several times now.
My firm does fines too. $1K+ reduction in your salary for the next year depending on how many late timesheets.
I literally have never entered on time…
I guess I’m about to find out. Zero June time entered (it’s been a busy day). And I wanna watch Stranger Things hahah
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How long did it take you, OP??
Straight to jail.
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Nothing, you might get some email scolding you that’ll be it
I hated doing time but there are real repercussions with some clients if you have a whole bunch of unexpected time (sometimes there’s tracking to a budget). It’s not just an annoying firm requirement; it’s worth understanding what client expectations are involved.
I loathed entering time. And once got this e-mail at 6:54 am on the 2nd of the month for the previous month’s time because I didn’t e-mail the HR director with confirmation that all my time was completed, which was the fire under my ass to find a new job:
Subject: Timekeeper Confirmation of Billing Entries for Pre-Bills
Attorney:
I have no knowledge or understanding regarding your inability to communicate and complete this assignment timely. If I did I might have more compassion toward this situation.
I will be running Pre-Bills this morning without your confirmation of time entry completion.
Please be aware I find your inability to communicate and complete this recurring task timely as highly disrespectful to the firm and to me.
She who shall not be named
Director Of Accounting & HR
That was a fun trip down memory lane.
Haha kind of owe her a backhanded thank you because I had a new job lined up less than three months later. The only productive thing I did the rest of that day after that e-mail was update my resume.
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At my firm they track it and if you miss it x # of times they start reducing your bonus. Cravath scale.
If we miss less than a certain number of times a year, we get and extra percentage of our bonus. Missing above certain number, and they start deducting percentages of our bonus.
What’s so hard about entering your time contemporaneously. Seriously.. I don’t get it..
I agree it flows well if you have good billing software. I swear everywhere I have been the time entry system is just not conducive to contemporaneous billing. The way my brain works and jumping from one task to the next I could just never consistently do it contemporaneously. It was so much easier to work backwards until I obviously had multiple days (weeks?!) to do that on. For me, doing it backwards like that also actually helped me catch things that I would probably have missed - e-mails / calls when I was out of office because I’d use my sent e-mails and phone log whenever I went back. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t advocate for doing it this way though.
When I was in private practice, it was so long ago that there weren’t any apps/timers to help with the time entries. (Yes, I chiseled memos into stone tablets, too.) I entered time at the end of each day. If you make it a habit and don’t let it build up it is so much easier. Block off time at the end of each day to do it if you can’t do it contemporaneously. You can also do it while having a snack of listening to fun music. Good luck OP.
Also, now that I am on the client side - it is a tough position to get a bill that may or may not include all hours for the previous month/when I get a bill I want to know it includes all work the firm has done up to the point of the bill date.
I am the worst about entering time. My firm gives you 5 late entries and then I understand anything additional will be reflected is how you are treated at raise/bonus time. I do get time I’m for everyday each week, so I am never technically late but I don’t get all the time in until the end of the month. I know I am short changing myself because I may forget about a call. For my sanity, I have to keep track of it better.
Having worked at a smaller firm (3 attorneys, 3 staff) you really see the impact entering time has on the business. I know we all know this but remembering that the time entries become our invoices, and paid invoices pay our staff's salaries is a great reminder as to why we enter our time.
This comment thread makes me very thankful for flat billing rates.