Billing system

Abstract

A billing system for a service provider-client environment, which includes a service provider site, a first computer-based device disposed at the service provider site having billing software operably associated with the first computer-based device for enabling logging of client data and service provider data. The billing software prompts a service provider to select one of a logging and no logging of time for one of a matter and a call and can accrue an amount of time and associate the time with a client upon selection of the logging. The billing software also prompts a service provider to select one of a logging and no logging of print cost and postage cost in response to a printer job being initiated for one of a print document and an envelope document and associate the time with a client upon selection of the logging. The billing software manipulates the data corresponding to the amount of time, print cost and postage cost and said client data in a manner to produce a billing data file and accounts for crediting and debiting the billing data file. Additionally, billing software produces invoice indicia corresponding to billing data file. A printer is operably associated with said first computer-based device for printing an invoice having the corresponding billing data file and indicia thereon. A scanner is optionally operably associated with said first computer-based device for scanning the indicia from the invoice to enable the billing software to apply a credit to the billing data file. An interface device is optionally operably associated with said first computer-based device for providing a triggering event to software resident on said first computer-based device and for producing DTMF tones enabling said first computer-based device to automatically place telephone calls when prompted by said software.