Managing Clients
- Client Settings
- Create a New Client
- Delete or Inactivate a Client
- Search for a Client
- Conflict Search
- Client Categories
- Custom Fields
- Consolidated Invoice Groups
Client Settings
Click on Clients>Settings.
Client
Client Label – select what your business calls a client/customer/respondent so that you view this label throughout the TimeSolv app specific to your business.
Next Client Identifier – next number sequence for new clients created.
Taxable Status – universal tax settings for clients can be specified here. Clients can be taxable, taxable by task, or not taxable. View this article to see how to set up taxes.
Client ID Format – specify the number of digits for client ID numbers. For example, choosing five digits would create a client ID as 00010.
Matter
Matter Label – select what your business calls a matter/job/case/engagement/project so that you view this label throughout the TimeSolv app specific to your business.
Display Matters First? – display matters first in the pull-down selection lists on the Time and Expense entry screens.
Matter Inactivate limit – TimeSolv will automatically make matters ‘inactive’ if the specified number of days have passed from the latest Time or Expense entry, provided there are no unbilled entries. This feature enables faster data entry and keeps administrators from having to check which matters are in use. Entering a value of 0 will disable this feature.
Matter Inactivate days – next number sequence for new matters created.
Starting Matter ID – the first matter number. By default, TimeSolv sets your business’s first matter ID as ‘101’, but if you use a different numbering sequence, you can enter the first number here.
Matter ID Format – specify the number of digits to be used in matter ID numbers. For example, choosing five digits would create a matter ID as 00010.
Conflicts & Related Parties
Enable Conflicts Search? – check the box to enable/disable the conflict search feature.
Related party custom field label – for use with our conflict checking feature. Select what your business calls a related party so that you view this label throughout the TimeSolv app specific to your business.
Relationship custom field label – for use with our conflict-checking feature. Select what your business calls a relationship so you view this label throughout the TimeSolv app specific to your business.
Trust
Default Name for Trust – whenever you create a trust account, the name provided in this field will be prepopulated as the default trust name. Click here on Create Trust Accounts to learn more.
Default Trust Bank Account – default bank account to appear when creating a trust account.
Automatically Pay Invoices from Trust – on selecting the checkbox, the invoice amount is automatically deducted from the Trust Account associated with the Client.
Client Portal
Enable Portal? – enable the use of Client Portal for client users to view and pay invoices online.
Login Required for Portal? – whether or not an explicit login is required for client users to view and pay their invoices online. If not enabled, portal users can open and view invoices directly using the link sent in the email.
Time Visibility – exercise control over how much a portal user can see. All Time entries, Only Billed entries, or no entries at all.
Expense visibility – exercise control over how much a portal user can see. All expense entries, only billed entries, or no entries at all.
Receive All Portal Payments in – select your operating bank account, which could be the operating or a trust account.
Operating Bank Account – select an appropriate account to receive your portal Payments. It could be either the operating or a trust account.
Allow use of trust balance when paying invoices – allow portal users to use Trust balances. Only the matter’s default Trust would be used.
Allowed Payment Methods – restrict payment methods (Credit Card/ACH) within TimeSolv so that only the configured payment methods are used to receive payments within the Web App and the Client Portal.
Create a New Client
A client database is an invaluable tool for any business. These details help you follow up on new leads, easily generate repeat business with multiple Matters/Projects under the same client, and find information about your current and previous clients quickly and easily.
Click on Clients>Clients & Matters>New Client to create a new client.
Client ID – will appear on selected reports.
Client name – will appear on all forms of correspondence, bills, and reports.
Note: If you are connected to NetDocuments and receive an internal server error message when trying to save a new client, please reconfigure your NetDocuments settings before proceeding.
Invoice name – the name appearing on invoices (in place of the ‘client name’ field above).
Next Matter ID – by default, the system will pre-fill with the next ID number by sequence, but the user can customize this number.
Status – client status can be Active, Inactive, or Prospect. Timekeepers cannot create new time and expense entries against inactive clients, and they will no longer be listed under Clients>Clients & Matters screen unless ‘All’ or ‘Inactive’ is selected next to the search bar:
Type – client types can be Company, Corporation, Individual, Non-profit, Partnership, Sole Proprietor, Trust, or Other.
Currency – specify any currency symbol. This will appear on invoices.
Rate by –
- Timekeeper Default is the preselected default rate applied in the timekeeper’s 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 the 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 to activate the grey Edit Rates button below the Rate By field and specify the matter rate.
- Matter then Global Rate – If the Matter Rate is unavailable, then ‘Global Rate‘ is specified against the Matter is used.
- 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.
Default Name for Trust – the name specified here will be prepopulated in the Name field whenever a Trust Account is created.
Default Trust Bank Account – select your transactions’ default Trust Bank Account. You can use the Firm’s Settings or the Trust Account created for this Client.
Receive All Portal Invoice Payments In – select the option to receive Portal Payments in the Operating Account, Client’s Trust Account, or use the Firm level settings to receive payments.
Operating Bank Account – if the Client has multiple operating accounts, they will appear here. If an account has been marked as the default operating account, select the default operating option or apply the Firm-level settings.
Billing increment – this represents hours. For example, minutes (a quarter of an hour) would be 0.25 (a quarter of 1.) An increment of 0 will still calculate time entries microscopically at a billing increment of 0.007. Administrators must be cautious when changing a billing increment for the whole firm. When a Timekeeper’s timer is running or restarting, it will mess up their time log if the increment changes during a running time.
Note: if a firm-level billing increment is specified, the user must activate the Override Firm Setting checkbox before being allowed to edit this field.
Opening date – the start date to be recorded for the client and can be generated in reports.
Taxable status –
- Taxable – will generate two additional fields to specify the time tax rate percentage and expense tax rate percentage.
- Non-Taxable – invoices will not include tax against the client
- Taxable by task – tax can be activated against tasks under Time>Settings>Task Codes. This will generate two additional fields to specify the time tax rate percentage and expense tax rate percentage.
Invoice account group – created under Clients>Settings>Account Groups. This is used for syncing with Account Edge.
Payment account group – created under Clients>Settings>Account Groups. This is used for syncing with Account Edge.
Category/Sub Category – created under Clients>Settings>Categories to help keep clients organized by grouping them into categories and sub-categories. These categories can also be selected when generating reports.
Delete or Inactivate a Client
To delete a client, click on Clients>Clients & Matters>[client name]>Delete This Client.
Note: Clients with outstanding payments cannot be deleted.
To inactivate a client click under Clients>Clients & Matters>[client name]>General>Status.
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
Search for a Client
Under Clients>Clients & Matters, TimeSolv lists all active clients and matters by default.
To search for clients that meet specific criteria, click on Clients>Clients & Matters.
In the Search Criteria box, users can search by client name, matter name, ID number, or even a comment in the description/notes.
Whittle the criteria further by specifying the status between Active, Inactive, or Prospect.
Conflict Search
Step One
Enable conflict searches under Clients>Settings>General>Enable Conflicts Search.
Step Two
Click on Clients>Settings>Related Party Types and create a new one.
Users can define the types of relationships to track and the types of related parties. We recommend simply using Clients in the ‘Code’ field for Related Party Types since most conflicts with related parties will be with the clients.
Step Three
Click on Clients>Settings>Relationship Types and create a new one.
Step Four
Click on Clients>Related Parties and create a new one.
Click Edit next to the related party and scroll to the bottom of the screen.
Click on New Relationship and create details of the relationship link with the selected party.
Step Five
Click on Clients>Conflict Search.
The conflict search is performed with a new party, such as when a prospect contacts the firm. Enter the new person’s name in the Conflict Search and determine if this person was involved with an existing client, which could result in a conflict of interest.
Client Categories
To help keep clients organized, users can group them into different categories and sub-categories. These categories can also be selected when generating reports.
Click on Clients>Settings>Categories.
Custom Fields
These user-defined fields allow 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 affects 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‘.
Users must specify the Order number for the Custom Field. This is useful if you have multiple custom fields set up because you can choose the order in which they appear.
Note: Custom Fields cannot be deleted if they have already been used under a Client/Matter/Matter Project/Contact. Users may instead inactivate by clicking on the
Edit link.
Consolidated Invoice Groups
The ‘Consolidate Invoice Groups’ allows Firms to group Matters when creating consolidated billing. Matters can be associated with one of the groups created from the Clients>Clients & Matters>(select a Client)>Client Details>Consolidated Invoice Groups.
When Draft Invoices are generated, a single invoice is created for all the Matters that are part of the Consolidated Invoice Group. If there are multiple groups, independent invoices will be created for each group.
Matters not associated with any Consolidated Invoice Group appear in a separate invoice.
The Consolidated Group dropdown is also visible under the Client Details>Matters tab. The dropdown is only displayed when the checkbox for “Consolidated?” is checked.
