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14177 T/B PROCESSING
TB2-12 Retainer-Bill Allocations

PURPOSE

The retainer bill allocations program is used to allocate pre-billed (retainer) amounts to unbilled time and/or disbursement entries that are selected for allocation. The retained amounts originate from previously created manual bill entries.

The program enables you to determine if estimated time and/or disbursement billings were over- or under-estimated. The program compares the pre-billed values that appear as credits against subsequently posted time and disbursement transactions that appear as debits on the matter. The resulting variance between the two is automatically posted to statistical reports and the general ledger.

From the time of the posting of the manual bill entry, pre-billed amounts are referenced as credits within the unbilled time and disbursement categories on the matter. The pre-bill option in manual bill entry allows you to post an invoice prior to posting the time and disbursement entries and places credit balances in the unbilled categories. The time and/or disbursement entries are eventually posted to the matter and then allocated against the pre-billed values.

After entering the client/matter code the program automatically displays the totals of both the selected time & disbursements and the pre-billed time & disbursements.

When you press [Enter] the program applies the pre-billed amounts to the selected unbilled amounts. You have the option to press [F1] to open a window displaying all unbilled time and disbursement details for the matter where you can select or deselect transactions to match details to the pre-billed amounts.

Depending on just how your company control parameters have been set up, the effect on the G/L accounts will vary. No matter which of the following examples are relevant, the net effect of the retainer bill allocations program is that the pre-billed disbursement and pre-billed time G/L accounts will be credited at the time of the manual bill entry and then debited or zeroed at the time of the retainer bill allocations program update. Examples follow.

Example A:

The posting of the subsequent pre-bill allocation will then result in:

Example B:

The posting of the subsequent pre-bill allocation will then result in:

The last portion of this entry will only occur if the "G/L Update In Time Entry" Company Control Parameter has been set to "Y" and the "Unearned Fees G/L Code" has been defined in the equity or liability section G/L account.

Important:

Retainer-Bill Allocations is accessed from:

• Time Billing menu.

PROCEDURE - BATCH CREATION

Select Retainer-Bill Allocations from the Time Billing 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

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 Retainer-Bill Allocations 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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