Managing Matters
In this article:
Create a Matter
Click under Clients>Clients & Matters>New Matter.Note: If you are connected to NetDocuments and receive an internal server error message when trying to save a new matter/project, please reconfigure your NetDocuments settings before proceeding.
Name - will appear on invoices, correspondence, and reports.
Matter ID - will auto-populate to the next sequential number. This number can be customized. By default TimeSolv starts ID numbers with '101'.
Note: You cannot change Matter ID if there are configuration issues with NetDocuments. Please reconfigure NetDocuments settings before proceeding if you encounter an error message.
Responsible Professional - useful for commissions
Active - will not be displayed on time and expense entries screen if not enabled.
Billable
Hold Billing - if you have several matters with time entered that you do not want to bill and would like cleared so they stop showing up in draft invoices.
Billing code - used when generating the Time Entries report in CSV. Billing code can be imported and exported from the Matter CSV.
Rate by -
Timekeeper Default – this is the preselected default rate applied in the timekeeper’s individual settings for their typical rate. When no alternative is specified, this default rate will always be applied.
Task then Timekeeper Default – selecting this option means Timekeeper Default will be the standard rate applied unless the task code chosen for the entry has its own specified rate. The task code rate will then override any Timekeeper Default rate.
Global Rate – global rates are the customized rates saved under Global Rates section. Assigning a global rate to a client means that you have the benefit, for example, of giving the client a discounted rate of x% for all their time and expense entries. Or, for example, an ongoing case spanning over numerous years, can have a ‘2015 rate’ applied to it.
Task then Global Rate – selecting this option means Global Rate will be the standard rate applied unless the task code chosen for the entry has its own specified rate. The task code rate will then override any Timekeeper Default rate.
Matter Rate – matter rates are applied at the matter level. So if an individual matter needs a specific rate applied to it, then under Clients>Clients & Matters>[matter name] you would select Matter Rate under the ‘Rate By‘ field. You will then need to Save this selection in order to activate the grey Edit Rates button below the Rate By field, and thereby specify the matter rate.
Task then Matter Rate – selecting this option means Matter Rate will be the standard rate applied unless the task code chosen for the entry has its own specified rate. The task code rate will then override any Timekeeper Default rate.
Start date - the activating date. It can be viewed on reports.
Estimated end date
Purchase order number
Task code option -
Not Displayed – will not show up as a field on Time Entry page when this specific Matter is selected.
Required – will show up as a field on the Time Entry page, and it will be a mandatory field when this specific Matter is selected.
Optional – will show up as a field on the Time Entry page, but it will be an optional field when this specific Matter is selected.
Subtask code option
Invoice account group - clients and matters can be classified into various account groups. Set these up under Clients>Settings>Account Groups. The payment and account groups are only used for syncing with Account Edge.
Payment account group - clients and matters can be classified into various account groups. Set these up under Clients>Settings>Account Groups. The payment and account groups are only used for syncing with Account Edge.
Category - to help keep your matters organized you can group them into different categories and sub-categories. These categories can also be selected when generating reports. Set these up under Clients>Settings>Categories.
Subcategory - to help keep your matters organized you can group them into different categories and sub-categories. These categories can also be selected when generating reports. Set these up under Clients>Settings>Categories.
Require approval for - if approvals are set up for time and expense entries, specify if this matter will need entry approvals. If no active approver is specified for this matter, newly created time/expense entries are automatically approved. To set up approvers click under Account>Professionals>[name]>General>Approver For.
Delete/Inactivate a Matter
Delete
Note: Matters cannot be deleted unless all linked transactions have been deleted.
Click under Clients>Clients & Matters>[matter name]>Delete This Matter.
Inactivate
Click under Clients>Clients & Mattters>[matter name]>General.
Disable ' Active?' field.
If there are any of the following for the client, the user will see a list of these details at the bottom of the screen before confirming they still want to go ahead with inactivating the client:
Unbilled time/expense entries
Unpaid Invoices
Opening balance
Unallocated credits
Trust balances
Move a Matter to Another Client
Let’s say you have a client with a Matter that you need to move and put under another client, but that Matter has several years worth of entries against it that have never been billed. To move all that data to the other client you will need to first export the data, edit the Excel file a little, then import it back in:
Create the Matter under the client you are moving it to as a new matter.
Click under Account>Import/Export>Export Excel.
Select Entity - choose Time.
Date Range - if you leave field blank it will allow all Time data to be exported.
Status - choose unbilled, billed, or all entries.
Open Excel file and use this as a template for the import file. Replace Client ID and Matter ID with the Client and Matter ID's you are moving to.
Save the file and now click on the ' Import Excel' tab.
Select entity - choose Time.
Select file - choose the exported Excel file you just edited.
And import the data back into the correct Client ID.
Matter Originators
TimeSolv allows users to add as many originating attorneys as needed against a matter so that commissions can be distributed accordingly.
These can be set up under Clients>Clients & Matters>[matter name]>Originators.
Users can specify a commission for each of the originating attorneys added against a matter.
Users will be able to see the commissions for each originating attorney at the reporting level. The reports that run originating attorneys are:
Matter Budget
Businesses can contain costs while focusing on strategic roles to transform the budget into an investment through a good budgeting tool. Budgeting also means you can make a risk assessment for individual Matters/Projects.
In matter budgets, users can view and set hours, fees, expenses and invoices, and can limit them from exceeding.
Users can also set budgets at a granular level for specific Timekeepers, Task Codes, Expense Codes, Tasks, and Task Assignment by Timekeeper.
Click on Clients>Clients & Matters>[matter name]>Budget.
Budgets can be entered for Matter, Professional, Task Code, Expense Code, Plan Task, and Professional/Plan Task.
Prevent Exceeding - will cap budgeted amounts.
Budgeted amounts can be viewed against the Actual amount.
The remaining difference in the two above amounts equals a green progress bar that will show if you are within budget limits, otherwise, the progress bar will turn red upon exceeding.
Budgets can also be exported to Excel by clicking ' Export to Excel' link.
Matter Assignments
Administrators can assign Timekeepers to specific Matters so that they cannot see all the other Matters for your firm.
This can be set up under Account>Professionals>[name]>Permissions>Access to assigned matters only.
To assign matters, click on the Account>Professionals>[name]>Matters tab.
Select all the matters to assign to the user.
Manage Active Matters
Users can sift through all the active and inactive Matters to keep the business organized.
Pull up a list of all those Matters that have not had any activity entered against them past a specified date, which means you can also inactivate those Matters/Projects to help clean up.
Click on Clients>Settings>Active Matter Admin.
No Time/Expense Entries Since - specify a date since no entries have been made to whittle down to the redundant matters.
Include Matters with balance due - if this is not enabled, only matters without any due balance will be displayed.
To inactivate matters in bulk, checkmark the relevant matters and click Inactivate.
Manage Non-billable Matters
This allows users to close or delete time and expense entries for non-billable projects.
Custom Fields
These are user-defined fields allowing you to be as creative and intuitive as needed when storing information under clients, matters, contacts, and matters groups.
To set up custom fields, click on Clients>Settings>Custom Fields.
See the table below on how selecting the different options affect the value field for your specific needs.
In an example we selected, you can see now that the Default Value field shows a date-specific format since we chose the ‘Type‘ as ‘Date‘.
Note: Custom Fields cannot be deleted if they have already been used under a Client/Matter/Matter Project/Contact. Users may instead inactivate clicking on the Edit link.
