Ideal Online Documentation

14169 T/B PROCESSING
TB2-04 Auto Bill Trust Transfer Entry

 

PURPOSE

 

The automatic trust transfers program allows for automatic trust transfers to take place as part of the auto-billing process. Invoices that include trust transfers will indicate the value of trust funds being transferred and the net amount owing for the invoice. The program also handles the posting of the trust transfer, eliminating the need to rekey this information.

 

The program allows you to identify billable matters that have retainer funds in trust and enter the amount of trust funds to be applied against the invoice being rendered. You must enter the client/matter code, bank account, cheque number and trust cheque amount prior to processing the auto-billing batch. The program will determine the total value of funds in the specified trust account and will transfer as much of the funds as are available up to the total amount of the invoice.

 

The auto-bills will include the appropriate wording at the end of the bill informing the client of the total amount of the bill less the amount of trust funds being applied against the invoice. The amount owing after the trust transfer is also displayed on the final line of the invoice as the new amount owing.

 

The program automatically credits the trust funds from the trust bank accounts and prints a register/audit trail to verify the transactions. The operator then simply writes the trust cheques and includes them in the daily deposit to the firm's general account. The cheque details automatically update the cheque reconciliation program.

 

If the "Cheque Printing (Y/N)" setting in the company control parameters is set to "Y", posting of auto-bills that include trust transfers will cause a trust cheque request to be posted automatically to the cheque processing module. In this event, the auto-billing batch will not include a register/audit trail regarding the trust transfer. You simply print the automatic trust cheques and the program updates the client subledgers and trust system accordingly.

 

 

In order for IdeaLaw to know which of your trust accounts holds the retainer funds for each matter, the you must specify the correct trust account in the appropriate field in the matter maintenance screen.

 

You should make the trust transfer program the last "preparatory" program that is used before posting a batch in the auto-billing program. All matters must be set to billable status before trust transfers can be done.

 

You can also use the preliminary billing detail report program to create trust transfers. See 14334 PRELIMINARY BILLING DETAIL REPORT.

 

 

After all trust transfer information has been entered, you may process the auto-billing batch and then refer to the trust transfer register and write the related trust cheques, or print the cheques automatically through the cheque processing module, if applicable.


Automatic Billing Trust Transfer Entry is accessed from:

  • Bill Processing menu.

 

PROCEDURE

 

Select Automatic Billing Trust Transfer Entry from the Bill Processing menu. The automatic billling trust transfer entry screen displays.

 

AUTOMATIC BILLING TRUST TRANSFER ENTRY DISPLAY

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│07/24/07       ***** AUTOMATIC BILLING TRUST TRANSFER ENTRY *****               â”‚
│────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────│
│                              TRANSFER TOTAL          .00                       â”‚
│────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────│
│                                ACCT CDN ACCOUNT                                â”‚
│CLIENT     MATTER DATE     BANK TYPE /US NUMBER      REF #              AMOUNT  â”‚
│────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────│
│____________                                                                    â”‚
│                                                                                â”‚
│                                                                                â”‚
│                                                                                â”‚
│                                                                                â”‚
│                                                                                â”‚
│                                                                                â”‚
│                                                                                â”‚
│                                                                                â”‚
│                                                                                â”‚
│                                                                                â”‚
│                                                                                â”‚
│────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────│
│                                                                                â”‚
│────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────│
│Enter CLIENT code, F5 for inquiry.                                              â”‚
│                                                                                â”‚
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

 

Fields

 

CLIENT

 

Enter the desired client code.

 

[F4] to exit to menu.

 

[F5] to display list of clients for selection.

 

MATTER

 

Enter the desired matter code.

 

Enter in the format: 1234.12; eg. client = 001234, matter = 0012.

 

 

[Enter] for first or next client/matter on file.

 

[F2] to display matters.

 

[F3] to return to the previous field.

 

[F4] to exit to menu.

 

[F5] to display list of client/matters for selection.

 

If you select a client/matter that has not yet been flagged as billable the following prompt displays.

 


>> MATTER STAUTUS MUST BE SET TO BILLABLE. PRESS ENTER TO CONTINUE:

 

[Enter] to re-enter matter.

 

DATE

 

Enter the date to appear on trust cheque.

 

You can specify the invoice date or any subsequent date.

 

 

BANK

 

Enter the applicable bank code.

 

[Enter] to accept the default bank code.

 

The program defaults to the bank code that is entered in the applicable trust account field in the matter maintenance screen.

 

 

ACCT TYPE

 

[Enter] to accept the default account type code.

 

CDN/US

 

[Enter] to accept the default currency type code.

 

ACCOUNT NUMBER

 

This field is reserved.

 

REF #

 

Enter the applicable trust cheque number, if applicable.

 

If you will be writing manually prepared trust cheques, you must enter the applicable trust cheque number in this field.

 

If a number of matters that will have trust transfers all have trust funds in the same bank account, you may choose to reference the same cheque number for each matter and then write one trust cheque for the transfer of trust funds on multiple client/matters.

 

 

If you are using the cheque processing module, press [F2] to have the program load a cheque request for the trust transfer at the time that the auto-billing batch is produced.

 

Both of the above options will update the cheque reconciliation module with the information about the trust cheques and automatically add them to the appropriate bank's list of outstanding cheques. If desired, you may precede the cheque number with an asterisk (*) and bypass the cheque reconciliation program update.

 

AMOUNT

 

Enter the amount of funds to be transferred.

 

The amount entered cannot exceed the total amount being invoiced or the total amount of trust funds available for transfer. The current balance of trust funds in the referenced bank account for the matter is displayed for reference.

 


1ST DESCRIPTION FIELD

 

Enter the name of payee.

 

2ND DESCRIPTION FIELD

 

Enter a brief description.

 

For example, enter: Payment Of Account #NNNN, etc.

 

 

Example Trust Transfer Entry display:

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 1/06/97       ***** AUTOMATIC BILLING TRUST TRANSFER ENTRY *****           TTTI│
│────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────│
│                              TRANSFER TOTAL     2,009.90                       â”‚
│────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────│
│                                ACCT CDN ACCOUNT                                â”‚
│CLIENT     MATTER DATE     BANK TYPE /US NUMBER      REF #              AMOUNT  â”‚
│────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────│
│000001     0002   05/12/95 CKH  POOL CDN             AUTO             2,009.90  â”‚
│     THE IDEAL TEST COMPANY             FULL PAYMENT OF INVOICE                 â”‚
│________                                                                        â”‚
│                                                                                â”‚
│                                                                                â”‚
│────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────│
│────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────│
│                                                                                â”‚
│ENTER CLIENT CODE, F3 TO BACKUP, F4 TO END, F5 FOR INQUIRIES.                   â”‚
│                                                                                â”‚
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
ENTER CLIENT CODE, F3 TO BACKUP, F4 TO END, F5 FOR INQUIRIES.

 

Enter the desired client code.

 

[F3] to return to previous line

 

[F4] to end.

 

You are taken to the print selection menu.

 

 

[F5] to display list of clients for selection.


PRINTER SELECTION & CONFIGURATION

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│08/14/07                *****  PRINTER SELECTION  *****                         │
│                                                                                â”‚
│                                                                                â”‚
│** MAKE SURE PRINTER IS READY BEFORE PRESSING CR .....                          â”‚
│                                                                                â”‚
│1. PRINTER NAME ................................. P1  OKIDATA 390               â”‚
│                                                                                â”‚
│2. CHARACTERS PER INCH ? (10,12,17) ............. 10                            â”‚
│   SINGLE OR DOUBLE DENSITY ? (S,D) ............. S   SINGLE DENSITY            â”‚
│                                                                                â”‚
│** PRESS CR TO SET PRINTER, OPTION# TO CHANGE, F4 TO END (BYPASS): _            â”‚
│                                                                                â”‚
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
** PRESS CR TO SET PRINTER, OPTION# TO CHANGE, F4 TO END (BYPASS):

 

"1" to change printers.

 

"2" to change the CPI and/or print density.

 

[Enter] to print.

 

[F4] to not print and exit to the menu.

 

[F5] to display a list of printers for selection.