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Entering Time, Fees and Expenses

Legal Accounting can record time, fees, and expense against a file to be billed at a later time.

 

Creating a Time Entry

To create a time entry:

  1. In Legal Accounting, click Add Entry in the main menu, then select the Time/Fees tab.
  2. Optionally, click the stopwatch icon on the main toolbar to start tracking your actual time. Click it again to pause or stop.
  3. Fill in the details for the time entry. 
    • Date: Enter the date the work was completed. By default, this field shows the current date, but you can change it.
    • File: Enter which file the entry is for. (You can do this typing a portion of the file name or number and then selecting the file that matches your search term.)
    • Fee Earner: Enter the name of the lawyer who did the work.
    • Task: Enter the type of work. This defaults to BW, or billable work. For eBilling, use ABA codes (e.g., L110)
    • Working: Enter the time spent doing the work.

    • Billable: Enter the time that will be billed.

      NOTE:  Changing Working will auto-adjust Billable, but not vice-versa.

    • Rate: Enter the hourly rate for the entry (the default is based on fee earner, task, and file's Rate Group).
    • Amount: Review the total fee (which is hours × rate). You can leave the calculated amount or manually enter a different amount.
    • Act Code: Enter the code for a common explanation of the charge (used often for eBilling).

    • Explanation: Shows the full details of the ACT Code you selected. This text appears on reports and invoices.

      NOTE: Click the menu icon  [☰] located at the top-right corner of the Time/Fees list to add or remove columns. If a column is greyed out, there is a security restriction on it. Contact your admin for more details.

  4. (Optional) Drop a .csv file of your time entries to Drop Import File Here box. Contact us to get the template.
  5. Make sure the box to the left of the entry is selected.
  6. Click Save to post the time entry.

 

Creating a Flat Fee Entry

  1. In Legal Accounting, click Add Entry in the main menu and select the Time/Fees tab.

  2. Fill in the details for the entry: 
    • Date: Enter the date of the time entry. (This defaults to the current date, but it can be changed.)
    • File: Enter the name or number of the file the entry is for.
    • Fee Earner: Enter the name of the lawyer who did the work.
    • Task: Enter the type of work that was completed. This field defaults to BW (billable work). For eBilling, use ABA codes (e.g., L110).
    • Working: Set the value in this field to 0.
    • Billable: Set the value in this field to 0.
    • Rate: Set the value in this field to to 0.00 (Or set a flat fee amount under Rate Group for flat fee only files).
    • Amount: Enter the flat fee amount.
    • Act Code: Enter the code for a common explanation of the charge (used often for eBilling).

    • Explanation: Shows the full details of the ACT Code you selected. This text appears on reports and invoices.

      NOTE:  Click the menu icon  [☰] located at the top-right corner of the Time/Fees list to add or remove columns. If a column is greyed out, there is a security restriction on it. Contact your admin for more details.

  3. Make sure the box to the left of the entry is selected.
  4. Click Save to save the flat fee entry.

 

Creating an Expense (Soft Cost) Entry

To create an expense entry:

  1. In Legal Accounting, click Add Entry in the main menu and select the Expenses tab.
  2. Fill in the details for the entry: 
    • Date: Enter the date of the expense entry. (This defaults to the current date, but it can be changed.)
    • File: Enter the name or number of the file the entry is for.
    • Act Code: Enter the code for a common explanation of the charge (used often for eBilling).
    • Explanation: Shows the full details of the ACT Code you selected. This text appears on reports and invoices.
    • Quantity/Rate: Optionally, enter the Qty (or Quantity) and Rate of expenses for automatic calculation.
    • Amount: Total amount of the expense entry.
    • Mkup % and Mkup Amt: Enter the mark up amount or percent for the expense to be added to the billed amount of the entry

    • GL Acct: Enter the GL account where the expense will be posted (excluding the Mark Up amount, if any. Mark Up automatically goes to Mark Up Income GL).

      NOTE:  Click the menu icon  [☰] located at the top-right corner of the Time/Fees list to add or remove columns. If a column is greyed out, there is a security restriction on it. Contact your admin for more details.

  3. (Optional) Drop a .csv file of your expense entries to Drop Import File Here box. Contact Actionstep Support to get the template.
  4. Make sure the box to the left of the entry is selected.
  5. Click Save to post the expense entry.

 

Creating an Expense (Hard Cost) Entry

An expense that a firm incurs on behalf of a client, and will be billing the client for is called a disbursement, or hard cost. These entries are made by creating an Operating Out transaction, as explained in Creating Operating Out Transactions.

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