Brightflag Case Study: Toll

By Brightflag

Updated October 23, 2023

How Toll’s Legal Team Optimized Spend Analytics to Guide Strategic Decisions

Toll, a global logistics company, used Brightflag to remove inefficiencies and streamline legal operations. Now its 35-strong legal team based in Australia and Asia is using Brightflag’s analytics to inform strategic business cases.

Why Spend Reporting Was Manual and Time-Consuming

Toll’s in-house legal department instructs external law firms on matters relevant to its divisions. Before it implemented Brightflag, the department had:

• Resource-intensive invoice reviews: Up to 20 people could approve invoices for one matter type and oversight of who approved invoices, and why,was limited.

• Little budgetary oversight: Finance systems were used to compile spend reports, which did not classify matters accurately,limiting analysis and reporting.

• Inefficiencies in outside counsel billing: Outside counsel couldn’t tell how to bill and who, because many people were involved in manually approving outside counsel invoices.

How Toll Pinpointed the Solution

Toll wanted to modernize legal spend management and carry out a panel review. So they were looking for a platform that would inform the review with a clear evidence base:

Automate legal spend visbility
Clarify law firm billing compliance
Standardize invoice review and approval
Provide budgetary control
Optimize invoice processing
Reliably consolidate spend reporting

Toll chose Brightflag, whose Customer Success and IT Support teams implemented the platform over the course of four weeks. Brightflag’s technology and collaboration with Toll’s project management team limited friction during the rollout.

Quote from Toll's Chief Legal Officer Kate Carlile on how Brightflag has made reporting on legal spend much easier for her team.

Four Ways Toll is Leveraging Legal Spend Analytics

From go-live, Toll valued having a standardized way to review and approve all invoices. It immediately used the platform for reporting. The key benefits they notice are:

Seamless Rollout and Onboarding

Many of Toll’s external law firms already use Brightflag for other clients. This enabled them to add invoices from go-live, with little need to allow for behavioral change or training.

Cost Clarity and Matter Oversight

Brightflag’s A.I. has enabled Toll to reduce its legal spend and assign litigation matters that should be managed by in-house counsel.

Rapid Reports and Group-wide Visibility

Invoice approval is now simplified and streamlined. The legal department can now produce advanced and precise reports for its divisions within 15 minutes. And both group-wide and C-Suite reporting how includes these reports.

Efficiencies in Outside Counsel Billing Adherence

External law firms now understand clearer billing guidelines. They can submit invoices immediately. As a result, Toll has fewer billing guideline violations, improved communication and better relationships with outside counsel.

A Foundation for the Future

Technology underpins Toll’s commitment to continuous improvement, enabling them to deliver transparent and responsive services hallmarks of its integrated logistics offering. They plan to streamline document management, review their resourcing system, and redouble focus on cost reductions informed by Brightflag’s advanced Artificial Intelligence.

To learn how Brightflag can help set your legal team on the path to efficiency and innovation, book a demo today.

Brightflag

Brightflag is a comprehensive cloud software solution for managing global legal spend, including the ability to: centralize vendors and rates; set and track budgets; manage matters; review and approve invoices; collect accruals; and run reports on everything.