Smokeball Billing: Time Capture, Invoicing, and Trust Accounting

How Smokeball billing differs from other practice management tools

Smokeball monitors time spent working in Microsoft Word documents and Outlook emails that are linked to a matter, and automatically records that time without any manual action from the attorney. Other billing tools require a running timer or after-the-fact entry.

For a litigation firm where attorneys spend several hours each day drafting in Word and corresponding via Outlook, automatic capture recovers billable time that would otherwise go unrecorded. Attorneys who rely on manual timers report forgetting to start or stop them. For the tasks Smokeball captures, that problem goes away.

Automatic capture only works in Word and Outlook. Time on the phone, in court, in client meetings, researching in a browser, or working in any other application does not get captured. Attorneys still enter that time manually.

What Smokeball’s billing system covers

Time entry. Smokeball records automatic time for Word and Outlook activity linked to matters. Manual time entry is available via a timer in the Smokeball interface, a mobile app, or after-the-fact entry. All time entries are associated with a specific matter.

Invoicing. Smokeball generates invoices from time entries and expenses. Invoice templates are customizable. Invoices can be sent to clients via email directly from Smokeball.

Flat-fee billing. Smokeball handles flat-fee matters alongside hourly ones. A firm can have some matters billed hourly and others on flat fees in the same system.

IOLTA trust accounting. Smokeball Boost includes trust account management with per-client ledgers, trust transaction recording, and three-way reconciliation support. The implementation covers what state bar rules require: per-client ledgers, documented transactions, and a reconcilable audit trail.

Billing reports. Smokeball provides matter-level billing reports including time by attorney, billable versus non-billable hour breakdowns, and matter profitability.

Limitations worth knowing before you buy

The Windows problem. Smokeball’s automatic time capture is built on Microsoft Office integration and is primarily a Windows product. Mac support has been a consistent complaint in user reviews. If your firm runs on Mac, verify current compatibility before committing to an annual contract.

Annual contract requirement. Smokeball’s pricing model pushes toward annual contracts, and month-to-month pricing is not prominently advertised. A year-long commitment before you have tested the software against your workflow is a real risk, especially at this price point.

Price relative to competitors. Smokeball Boost is approximately $89/user/month, compared to Clio Essentials at $79/user/month and CaelusLaw Essentials at $20/user/month. The automatic time capture feature is the primary justification for the premium. Whether that premium is worth it depends on how much of your billable time runs through Word and Outlook.

How Smokeball billing compares to Clio

Clio’s billing includes timer-based time entry, manual entry, calendar-based time capture, invoice generation, and IOLTA trust accounting (on Essentials and above). It does not have automatic time capture from Word or Outlook.

If a significant portion of your billable time is drafting and email, Smokeball’s automatic capture can recover enough unbilled time to more than offset the $10/user/month price difference over Clio. If your work is heavy on court appearances, phone calls, or client meetings, the automatic capture advantage shrinks considerably and Clio’s broader integration ecosystem may be a better fit.

CaelusLaw Essentials ($20/user/month) includes timer-based time entry, flat-fee billing, and IOLTA trust accounting. No automatic capture. For firms where price and simplicity matter more than automated time logging, it is worth evaluating before committing to Smokeball’s annual contract.