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Ideal Online Documentation

14176 T/B PROCESSING
TB2-11 Manual Bill Processing

PURPOSE

The manual bill processing program does not produce a bill. The primary purpose of the program is to make posting corrections to inaccurate statistics due to incorrect billing allocations that occurred in the original bill posting. The program is also used to update client/matters, system statistics and the general ledger with billing information for bills that were not generated by the system through the auto bill program.

This program can also be used to post invoice reversals and subsequent repostings of invoices for internal purposes (ie in situations where the client will not receive copies of reversed and reposted invoices). The invoice number used on the original invoice can be re-used on the reversal and re-posted entries.

This program requires that an invoice number be posted for each bill entered, therefore client invoices prepared by means other than the auto bill program should have their invoice numbers generated by the assign next invoice number program.

After entering the client/matter code the system automatically displays the lawyer code of the assigned lawyer for the matter. Another lawyer's code can be entered if you desire to allocate the billings of fees and disbursements to a signing/assigned lawyer other than the assigned lawyer.

Lawyer statistics detailed in management reports are based on 3 different billing criteria: working lawyer, assigned lawyer or responsible lawyer. Working lawyer reports reflect allocated billings for each timekeeper who had selected time entries on a matter. Assigned and responsible lawyer reports reflect total billings for each matter as allocated to the assigned or responsible lawyer regardless of which timekeepers produced efforts on the matter.

The TYPE field provides the option to post the invoice as a regular bill or a pre-bill.

Regular bills allow you to enter the total amount of the invoice to be posted. The total for the invoice is then used as a control total for the posting of the detailed breakdown of the invoice as follows.

• Taxable fees, GST, PST, non-taxable fees.
• Taxable disbursements, GST, PST, non-taxable disbursements.

Each of the data entry lines displays a subtotal. The program also displays a grand total of the entered details which must equal the invoice total previously entered in the control total field.

You also have the option to view an inquiry screen of all of the unbilled time and disbursement entries related to the matter being billed. You can select or deselect any transactions through this inquiry. All selected transactions will be removed from unbilled status once the batch has been updated.

Selected unbilled time/disbursement transactions need not equal the total amount of fees and/or disbursements being billed. Any differences between the selected and actual billed amounts will flow through to the statistical reports and the general ledger as a variance.

If the "Validate Dollars On Regular Bills (Y/N)" parameter in the company control setup has been set to "Y", posting of regular bills requires that the amount of selected time and disbursement details equal the amounts actually being billed.

Pre-bill (retainer) allows you to post invoices to client/matters for work (time and/or disbursements) that has not yet been recorded in the system. A typical example would be an invoice for a real estate transaction in which the fees and disbursements will be billed when the deal is closed. Time entries have yet to be recorded and most disbursement waybills and invoices have not yet been received, let alone posted to the system.

Pre-bill (retainer) invoices allow you to post the receivables to the matter and credit the unbilled time and disbursement accounts on the matter, instead of removing any unbilled time or disbursement details. Subsequent time and disbursement entries can then be recorded to the matter and later matched against the prebilled credit entries to offset them. The process of matching the credits against the subsequent time and disbursement entries allows you to analyze the pre-estimates of amounts billed and adjust any over- or under-estimates. The process of matching the credits and subsequent entries is done through the pre-bill allocations program (see retainer bill allocations).

The company control setup requires that general ledger accounts be set up and parameters defined for pre-billed disbursements and pre-billed time. The "Allocate Pre-Billed Fees Immediately (Y/N)" parameter will likewise have to be completed.  This parameter determines if the statistical reports will include fee billings for pre-billed fees immediately upon posting of the pre-bill or if the statistics get updated at the time that the pre-bill allocation program is run. If pre-bills are allocated immediately, the assigned lawyer for the matter receives credit for all fee billings regardless of any other timekeepers having eventual time on the matter. If the response to this parameter is "N", the statistical reports will not reflect the fee billings until the pre-bill allocation program is run and they will then reflect allocated billings to any timekeepers who had selected time entries for the matter.

The BILL # field must be completed. If the invoice number has already been assigned through the system and appears on the manual bill, simply enter it here. If your system is not set up to allow staff members to obtain invoice numbers and display them on manually prepared bills, you can simply press [F1] to open the assign next invoice number program and automatically obtain the next invoice number for the matter in question. You can also enter a previously used invoice number for the purpose of posting invoice reversals and invoice repostings. Lastly, if your firm wishes to maintain its own invoice number issuance system, invoice numbers can be entered manually in this field.

All bills posted must have invoice numbers. The subsequent posting of payments for these invoices requires that the invoice number be referenced so the payment can be matched against the invoice it is intended to pay.

The date should be the same as the date that appears on the invoice that was sent to the client. The system will use this date as the reference date for the invoice in the accounts receivable history for the matter. Client statements subsequently sent to clients will therefore reference the correct invoice date.

The invoice amount, including all fees, disbursements and taxes, is entered next and is used as a control total for the invoice details that follow. You then post taxable fees, GST and PST on fees, and non-taxable fees. The system then displays a subtotal of fees and applicable taxes. You then input taxable disbursements, GST and PST on disbursements, and non-taxable disbursements. The program then displays a subtotal of disbursements and applicable taxes and a grand total of all of the details posted. This grand total must equal the amount entered in the INVOICE AMOUNT field. If it does not, a posting error has occurred or an error in the addition on the manual bill was made.

When accessing the GST & PST fields you have the option to enter the dollar value of the taxes as displayed on the manual bill or to use the automatic calculation provided by the program. The automatic calculation feature will multiply the value of the taxable fees or disbursement fields by the applicable tax percentage (ie 6%). The advantage of using the automatic calculation is that you can then compare the calculated tax against the tax that is displayed on the manual bill and ensure that the manually calculated tax is accurate.

• This feature, plus the ability to use IdeaLaw to compare the sum of the individual detail bill entries against the total invoice amount, means you need not manually total the details of invoices to ensure that the total invoice amount was correctly calculated by the person who created the manual invoices.

• Access to the inquiry displaying unbilled time and disbursement entries is available from this field, enabling you to select or deselect transactions that are to be removed from unbilled status as a result of posting the invoice.

Important:

Manual Bill Processing is accessed from:

• Bill Processing menu.

PROCEDURE - BATCH CREATION/ACCESS

Select Manual Bill Processing from the Bill Processing menu.

You are taken to the batch selection screen where you may create a new batch or select an existing batch for further processing. Batches are not terminal dependent. To select an existing batch for further processing see PROCEDURE - ACCESS AN EXISTING BATCH. Additional batches can be created whether or not previous batches have been updated. To update or abort a batch see PROCEDURE - REGISTER PRINTING AND UPDATE. If there are existing batches the first will be displayed and you have the options of processing the displayed batch, accessing another batch or creating a new batch.

If you are creating a new batch, press [Enter] at the batch selection screen. This clears the display of any existing batches and assigns the next sequential batch number.

When you have completed the batch header fields the following prompt is displayed:

PROCEDURE - DATA ENTRY

FIELDS

Once the invoice amount has been entered, a window will open allowing you to enter the detail breakdown of the invoice. The invoice amount entered above will appear in the window as the control total. The total of the invoice detail breakdown must equal the control total.

PROCEDURE - INVOICE BREAKDOWN ENTRY

FIELDS

The total of posted details is displayed in the ENTERED field. If the entered total equals the control total from the INVOICE AMOUNT field, press [CR] accept the posting. If the two totals do not equal, an error has been made in either the values that were entered in breakdown entry or in the total invoice amount that was entered. You may also have to verify the total that appears on the invoice itself to ensure that an adding mistake wasn't made.

You have the option to press [F1] to correct the invoice amount or press [Enter] to re-enter the detail breakdown of the invoice.

The program will not accept the transaction until the sum of the details entered equals the invoice amount total. After completing detail entry and invoice breakdown entry you are presented with the following prompt.

PROCEDURE - TIME/DISBURSEMENTS SELECTION

Pressing [F1] opens a window displaying all unbilled time and disbursements for the related client/matter, allowing you to flag entries you wish to delete.

PROCEDURE - ACCESS AN EXISTING BATCH

Select Manual Bill Processing from the Bill Processing menu. You are taken to the batch selection screen where you may create a new batch or select an existing batch for further processing. If there are existing batches, the oldest batch will be selected and the fields in the batch selection screen will be completed and the following prompt displayed.

PROCEDURE - ADD/DELETE LINES

If you access an existing batch the following prompt is displayed at the batch header.

The following prompt is displayed at the data entry screen.

PROCEDURE - REGISTER PRINTING AND UPDATE

After you have completed data entry in a new batch or completed adding and deleting lines to an existing batch, press [F4] to exit. You are taken to the print selection menu where you may print the batch registers.

After printing the registers you have the following options. If you do not print the registers, the batch options are not available.

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