A Sage Timeslips alternative that fixes the hours without migrating the billing stack.

It is software a firm adopts instead of — or alongside — Sage Timeslips’ installed time-and-billing suite. Because Timeslips spans time capture, bill production, electronic billing, client funds, and receivables, an alternative rarely replaces all of it at once. Keito is the alternative for the time side specifically: AI-drafted hours confirmed by the people who did the work, approved AI tool costs on the same client record, and reviewed invoice evidence handed to whichever system raises the firm’s bills.

Scope is the difference. Timeslips publishes a full billing engine around its time capture — timers, timesheet entry, and TimeCapture automated capture feeding customisable bills, LEDES electronic billing, client funds, receivables, and more than 120 reports — administered as installed desktop software with web companions, alongside the separate cloud product Timeslips Anywhere. Keito is only the reviewed time layer: entries are drafted by AI from real work signals — typed, timed, API, CLI, and agent-sourced — confirmed by the person who did the work, and approved with AI tool and model costs before anything becomes invoice evidence.

Keep Timeslips when the firm wants time entry and bill production administered together in one installed suite — it publishes customisable bill formats, LEDES 98B and Litigation Advisor electronic billing, client funds for retainers and escrow, accounts receivable, and accounting links to Sage 50 and QuickBooks. Keito does not reproduce any of that billing engine: no bill formats, electronic billing, client funds ledger, or receivables. It is the wrong choice if the firm’s immediate goal is replacing bill production itself.

In stages, and usually only for the time side. Stand up clients, matters, rates, reviewers, and billing periods in Keito and run one billing cycle in parallel to prove the drafted-and-reviewed record. Because Timeslips can hold years of billing history, rate rules, and bill formats, the billing question is its own decision — Keito does not replace a billing engine, so the firm keeps producing bills where it does today or migrates that separately on its own timeline. Any transfer of reference data happens through exports the team designs and tests itself; there is no automatic import.

Each reviewed record keeps the client, matter, contributor, duration, description, billable status, rate context, reviewer, approval state, write-down decision, and billing period, with approved AI tool and model costs attributed to the same client and matter as the hours. That package backs the bills the firm raises — wherever it raises them — and gives partners and practice managers a reviewed answer when a client questions a line.

Neither. Keito is not a billing engine — it has no bill formats, electronic billing, client funds or trust ledger, or accounts receivable — and it claims no native Timeslips integration, automatic import, activity ingestion, or two-way synchronisation. Keito captures and reviews billable time and AI work costs, then hands approved invoice evidence to the firm’s billing and accounting process through exports or API handoffs the team designs and tests itself. A firm can keep Timeslips for bill production and run Keito alongside as the reviewed time layer.