Glossary

1. Customizable Labels
2. Glossary

Customizable Labels

TimeSolv uses certain terminology by default, but you can customize the language used in your account. Our TimeSolv App is extremely versatile and customizable to best suit your business needs. One of the things you can customize is what words appear for different terms used in the app.

With so much room to customize how you would like to view our app, it can often get confusing for users when viewing our Knowledge Base articles, as the terminology is not universal. Below is a list of customizable labels.

Account Settings

Click on Account>Settings>General.

• Firm Label – Firm, Company, Partnership
• Staff Member Label – Associate, Consultant, Employee, Fee Earner, Professional, Resource, Staff Member, Timekeeper
• Tax Label – (unrestricted)

Client Settings

Click on Clients>Settings>General.

• Client Label – Client, Customer, Respondent
• Matter Label – Matter, Case, Engagement, Job, Project
• Related Party Custom Field Label – (unrestricted)
• Relationship Custom Label – (unrestricted)

Time Settings

Click on Time>Settings>General.

• Activity Label – Task, Activity, Event

Expense Settings

Click on Expense>Settings>General.

• Expense Label – Cost, Disbursement, Expense

Invoice Settings

Click on  Invoices>Settings>General.

• Invoice Label – Bill, Invoice

To-Do Settings

Click on  To-Do>Settings>General.

• Phase Label – Phase, Job, Segment, Stage
• Plan Task To-Do Label – Plan Task, Item. Plan Activity, Action Item
• Milestone Label – Milestone, Deliverable, Event, Occurrence

Glossary

Glossary of terms used in our TimeSolv app:

• Abbreviations – you can set up abbreviations for commonly used phrases. For example, if you set up RRA to mean ‘review and revise patent application’, you can simply type in RRA in the time/expense entry text box and hit the space bar to reveal the whole phrase.
• Accounting:
  • Accounts Receivable – Accounts receivables grouped by client.
  • Ledger Entries – List of payments and invoices for a client.

• Active Matter Admin – this is a list of active matters/projects you can view under Client>Settings so you can easily inactivate any matters/projects that need closure.
• Actual Total Hours – the comparison between the goals set by your firm and the number of billable hours that have actually accumulated.
• Allocated/Unallocated Payments – having allotted money to a matter/project is allocating a payment. Unallocated payments mean you have the client funds, but they need to be appropriately assigned to the correct invoice to be acknowledged as paid by the system.
• Allow Total Amount Entry – This will allow you to see three fields for your entry – the number of hours, the rate, and the total amount (the calculation of the first two). For example, your rate is $100 an hour, and you enter 0.5 for the number of hours, which will show a total amount of $50. You can see this total amount of $50 in another field to adjust or manipulate the figure as you please. So, instead of specifying charging hours, you charge a set amount of $300, so the system will record this as three hours charged at $100 an hour.
• Allow Zero Balance Statements – statements list will show invoices with zero balance due.
• Approvals – an approval system can be set up for timekeepers/professionals that need their time and/or expense entries approved by senior levels of staff before they can have invoices drafted against them.
• Approve Time – this is a task assigned to an approver. So if a timekeeper has an approval system set up against them, each time they make a time entry, it is up to the approver to ‘approve time [entry]’ before it is officially accepted and recorded into the system.
• AutoMail – TimeSolv can send hard copies of invoices to your clients for a small fee.
• Automatic Plan Task Assignment – Let the system automatically assign all timekeepers to a matter/project plan task. This is useful and saves time if you need all or most of your timekeepers assigned.
• Billable Milestone – when plans have certain goals reached that you want to charge to the client for the achievements.
• Billable Type:
  • Billable – the amount will be included in the invoice.
  • Non-billable – the amount will not be included or appear on the invoice.
  • No Charge – will show on an invoice, but with a zero dollar amount (it will appear as ‘no charge’ written next to the time entry).

• Billed Time – the time is what has been billed.  So if you have any time that is at ‘no charge’ or has been written off, or just has not been billed yet then that time would fall under the ‘worked time’ and not the ‘billed time’.
• Billing increment – a billing increment is the smallest amount of time that can be billed or charged. You can set up your billing increments in units of hours, minutes or seconds.
• Billing history – you can view a list of billing history for your account to see how much you have spent.
• Client Categories/Sub-Categories – you can group clients together to help organize your list of clients. For example, you can create a category of ‘clients with discounts’ to group them together.
• Client Label – Throughout the TimeSolv app, the term ‘client’ can be changed to ‘customer’. You can customize terminology to best suit your business.
• Client Portal Login Logo – the logo image for your company that you want to appear in the client portal.
• Client Relationships – you can define the types of client relationships you would like to track to help you conduct conflict searches (conflict checking is necessary to ensure no conflicts of interest occur when accepting clients and matters).
• Client Status:
  • Active Client – You would choose ‘active client’ for those that currently have active projects needing to be worked on.
  • Inactive Client – You would choose ‘inactive client’ for those clients that have inactive projects no longer needing work done on.
  • Prospect client – You choose ‘prospect client’ for any client that does not currently have any active projects, but could potentially require work in the near future.

• Commissions:
  • Fixed holdback amount per invoice – a fixed amount that will be deducted for commissions for every invoice.
  • Percent holdback per invoice – a specified percentage of each invoice amount to be deducted for commission.

• Conflict Search – conflict checking is necessary to ensure no conflicts of interest occur when accepting new clients and matters with your existing clients and matters.
• Consolidate – combining time and expense entries for different matters/projects into a single invoice for the same client.
• Documents:
  • Tags – these are search tags you can attach to documents so that when you need to search through them you search a specific tag word to help you filter results better.
  • Merge Fields – you can copy and paste merge fields into your documents so that the system can automatically replace the field code with the field value (i.e. client name or matter name) when needing to send out similar personalized documents to numerous clients.
  • Templates – document templates can be created with the merge fields included for a standard personalized letter, such as a welcome letter for new clients.
• Expense Approvals – an approval system can be set up for timekeepers/professionals that need their time and/or expense entries approved by senior levels of staff before they can have invoices drafted against them
• Expense Code – these are a set of expense specific codes defined by the American Bar Association (ABA).
• Expense Entry Lock Out Date – do not allow expense entries dated after this date by staff with non-administrative privileges.
• Flexible Billing Template – these are billing templates that allow you to assign different templates to different matters for the same client. You can customize a billing template to your satisfaction.
• Fixed Fee – a specific secure amount to be charged to invoices regardless of time and/or expense entries.
• Global Rates – Perhaps you’ve negotiated a rate specific to a client and all the matters you’re working for them. All these scenarios can be handled with TimeSolv’s global rates.
• Grace Period – This is the number of days you are willing to allow unpaid invoices to go beyond the payment terms before you start charging tax.
• Hold Billing – you can place a client under billing hold if, for example, their billing information is outdated and needs to be corrected.
• Invoices – invoices are sent to oblige the recipient to make a payment for services/products used.
  • My Matters – matters/projects for which the viewing timekeeper is the assigned responsible professional.
  • Responsible Staff Member – the staff member/professional assigned and accountable for work on a specific matter/project.

• Invoice Logo – the logo image for your company that you want to appear on invoices.
• Invoice Narratives – different texts that appear in various areas of the invoice document.
• Invoice My Matters Only – create invoices only for those matters/projects that you are assigned as the responsible staff member for.
• Invoices, Payments, and Trusts Reports:
  • Invoice Summary with Payment Allocations – Summary of invoices with Payment Allocations grouped by client.
  • Aged Invoices – List of aged invoices by the client.
  • Invoices and WIP Aging – Total of unpaid invoices and work in progress, used to determine the total amount owed by a client.
  • Cash Receipts – List of credits and payments grouped by client.
  • Payment History – List of payment allocations grouped by client.
  • Trust Banking – Trust transactions and trust balances by client and matter.

• Item Access – what the plan role has access to in specifics of a budget/plan.
• Managing Matters Reports:
  • Resource Allocation – List of matter plan task assigned to resources grouped by resource or by matter.
  • Budget – Details of budgeted versus actual hours and fees in a Matter.
  • Managing the Company Reports:
  • Task Codes – Categories for time entries.
  • Expense Codes – Categories for expense entries.
  • Staff and Rates – List of staff and their hourly rates.
  • Clients and Matters – Details of client contact and client billing settings including matter details.
  • Admin Fee Listing – Admin Fee listing by the client.
  • Abbreviations – List of narratives with abbreviations.
  • Related Parties – List of people related to a client or matter.
  • Relationships – Relationships of people related to a client or a matter.

• Matter Label – Throughout the TimeSolv app, the term ‘matter’ can be changed to anything you wish from the dropdown list of options in Client>Settings, such as ‘job’. You can customize terminology to best suit your business.
• Matter Plan – this is part of project management. It relates to the use of schedules to plan and report progress within the system. The Matter’s work is defined, and the appropriate methods for completing the Matter are determined.
• Matter Relationships – you can define the types of matter relationships you would like to track to help you conduct conflict searches (conflict checking is necessary to ensure no conflicts of interest occur when accepting new clients and matters).
• Milestone Label – Throughout the TimeSolv app, the term ‘milestone’ can be changed to anything you wish from the dropdown list, such as ‘occurrence’. You can customize terminology to best suit your business.
• Non-Billable Matter Admin:
  • Open – will reopen the Time/Expense entries of selected non-billable Matters within the specified date range.
  • Close – will mark the Time/Expense entries of the selected Non-Billable Matters as billed while the records will remain in the system.
  • Delete – will permanently remove the Time/Expense entries of the selected Non-Billable Matters from the system.

• Originating Staff Member/Professional – the staff member responsible for developing the client relationship initially.
• Payment Profile – you can create payment methods, add credit cards, bank card, bank accounts, trust accounts, set up LawPay, etc.
• Payment Terms – this indicates within how many days payment must be received following an invoice’s date of issue.
• Performance Reports:
  • Company Performance – Performance of the company over a period of time.
  • Fees Budget – Budgeted versus billed and unbilled fee grouped by client and matter.
  • Client Rankings – Ranking of clients by total fees worked, billed, and cash receipts.
  • Staff Member Profitability – Profitability per staff member based on billed versus original fees.
  • Revenue and Commissions – Revenue Collected Per Staff Member, Manager and Per Responsible Staff Member.

• Phase Templates – create copies of phases in the form of templates so you can use them for new phases where you need to include the same features.
• Plan Phase Label – Throughout the TimeSolv app, the term ‘plan phase’ can be changed to anything you wish from the dropdown list, such as ‘segment phase’. You can customize terminology to best suit your business.
• Plan Task Label – Throughout the TimeSolv app, the term ‘plan task’ can be changed to anything you wish from the dropdown list, such as ‘plan activity’. You can customize terminology to best suit your business.
• Plan Roles – divisions of access assigned to certain roles in a plan.
• Portal – TimeSolv’s client portal allows clients to see as much or as little of the work you’ve done for them. Client’s can even pay their invoices through the portal if you have integrated a LawPay account with TimeSolv.
• Private Comments box – these are comments made under an approved or unapproved time/expense entry. These can only be seen by the approver.
• Prompt for Delete confirmation – checking this box means you will get a warning message before you delete an entry. If you do not check this box and click delete against an entry, there is no way of retrieving a mistaken removal.
• Public Comments box – these are comments made under an approved or unapproved time/expense entry. These can be seen by both the approver and the timekeeper.
• Purchase Order Number – a purchase order (PO) identifies a unique purchase order and is usually defined by the client, such as pre-agreed details of time and price. It is used to control the services and costs.
• Target Billable Hours – specific goals set up by your firm in targeting annual billable hours for each timekeeper.
• Rates:
  • 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 (see here). The task code rate will then override any Timekeeper Default rate.
  • Global Rate – global rates are the customized rates saved under Global Rates section (see here). 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 – electing this option means Global Rate will be the standard rate applied unless the task code chosen for the entry has its own specified rate (see here). 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 (see here). The task code rate will then override any Timekeeper Default rate.  

• Realization Reports:
  • Realization per Client – Realization of billable versus billed time grouped by client and matter.
  • Realization per Invoice – Realization of hours, fees, and amount per invoice grouped by client.
  • Realization per Staff Member – Realization of billed versus billable hours grouped by staff members.

• Recurring Expense – you can set up a recurring cost so that the system automatically applies a daily expense until a specified time period.
• Related Parties – this is a person related to the matter/project/client in question.
• Responsible Staff Member – this could also read as ‘Responsible Professional’, or ‘Responsible Timekeeper’, amongst other terminology, depending on what terminology you have set up for your TimeSolv account. This is the employee responsible for working on a specific matter/project.
• Retainer – an advance payment invoice.
• Session Timeout Duration (hours) – the length of time users will remain logged in during the time of inactivity.
• Set Expense Entry Description – the checkbox is for whether or not to populate narrative or description of selected expense code on expense entries.
• Staff Member Groups/sub-groups – you can group staff members/professionals into specific groups to help categorize and organize your employees.
• Standalone Milestone – a phase-specific achievement through objectives reached.
• Statements – this is a form of reminder of the balance due, usually sent out in regular intervals such as monthly, to show clients where they stand.
• Status:
  • Submitted for Approval – this means a time/expense entry has been submitted by the timekeeper for approval and is waiting in the approvers account to be reviewed.
  • Approved – this means the approver has accepted the timekeepers time/expense entry and they can now create a draft invoice for the entries.
  • Rejected – this means an approver has not accepted time/expense entries made by a timekeeper. There will probably be comments in the comments box for the timekeeper to have a look at and see where their review was let down.

• Task Code – these are a set of task-specific codes defined by the American Bar Association (ABA).
• Trust Bank Account – an account established to hold client funds on their behalf.
• Task Code Option – you can make entering of task codes during time and expense entries compulsory if necessary.
• Taxable by Task – you can choose to tax your time and expenses by task. In the Task Code settings, you would choose which task codes are taxable. Then when you choose those task codes to create time and expense entries for, they will automatically calculate the tax if you’ve set up ‘Taxable by Task’ in the client settings.
• Time Approvals – an approval system can be set up for timekeepers/professionals that need their time and/or expense entries approved by senior levels of staff before they can have invoices drafted against them.
• Time and Expense Reports:
  • Time Entries – List of time entries grouped by client and matter.
  • Time Entry Summary – Weekly and monthly totals of time entries grouped by a combination of client, matter, and staff.
  • Expense Entries – List of expense entries grouped by client and matter.
  • Missing Time – Hours missed by a staff member per day or per week.
  • Task Summary – Sum of time entries grouped by the staff member and task.

• Timecard category
• Time Entry Lock Out Date – do not allow time entries dated after this date by staff with non-administrative privileges.
• Time Internal Notes Shown – Allow users to add internal notes to time entries.
• Time Tax Rate – this is the percentage you want to charge tax for time entries.
• WIP – Work in Progress. It is a Matter partially completed, with labor costs charged relating to various stages of work done. It is essentially Time and Expenses that are unbilled or even on a draft invoice, but the Client has not seen it yet. 
• Worked Time – time that has actually been worked. So if you have any time that is at ‘no charge’ or has been written off, or just has not been billed yet then that time would fall under the ‘worked time’ and not the ‘billed time’.