waggishly What’s New – Release 11.4
1. Refinements have been made to speed up certain functions including matter lookups, the Master Ledger, and browses of both billed and unbilled charges. To activate these features, after installing Release 11.2 give us a call at (510) 326-1897 and we will walk you through the setup procedure to activate these features.
2. The Preview function now has options to email the displayed report or save it to a Microsoft Word or PDF file.
3. A new Remittance Advice can be printed with each bill.
4. The format of the AR Journal reports has been modified for improved readability
5. If you use the Batch WIP Entry function for entering time and each user has their own virtual folder, a function has been added where the administrator can collect the entries from each person’s virtual folder and merge them with the main WIP file.
6. A global text find and replace function has been added so you can make bulk corrections to both billed and unbilled charges. Click on Charges from the main menu and you will see this new function.
7. You can generate a report showing how much each client is required to remit to bring their retainer balance up to their minimum balance (see new option under Custom Reports).
8. When emailing bills you can attach one or more files to every bill as well as attaching files to a specific bill.
9. You can now generate a Cash Receipts Journal listing just Client Level Payments or payments where all or a portion of the amount has not yet been applied against a bill.
http://preferredmode.com/tag/velojoy/ What”s New – Release 11
Billing Features
1. Unlimited Rate Schedules – You can now create an unlimited number of billing rate schedules. Using this feature also makes it easier to look up and edit your rate schedules;
2. Edit Bill Screen – A new Edit button brings up a screen that lets you edit all the charges and formatting features on a bill without having to go separately to each of those screens to make the desired changes;
3. Interest on Average Daily Balance – You can charge interest on the client’s average daily past due balance; previously, you could only charge interest on the amount outstanding as of the date of the bill;
4. Reversing Retainer Receipts and Disbursements – You can now reverse both retainer and trust receipts and disbursements, instead of having to manually create an offsetting entry;
5. Bulk Changes to WIP – A new feature allows you to make bulk changes to selected charges in WIP instead of having to change each charge manually; for example, you can assign selected charges to a different matter or staff member, or place them on hold or delete them;
6. Reallocating Billing Distributions – A new utility function enables you to reassign all the billing and payment allocations from one staff member to another;
7. Location Code – A new feature allows you to assign a Location Code to each charge if, for example, you need to keep track of work done by county for tax purposes;
8. Browsing All Charges – A new feature allows you to browse all charges, both billed and unbilled, listed by transaction number;
9. Client Emails – You can now send bulk emails to all or selected clients;
10. Advance Applications – A new feature enables you to configure the program so that when client advances are applied against subsequent bills the program records those applications as of the date they were applied, instead of the date of the original payment;
11. Applying a Retainer Receipt upon entry – When recording a Retainer Receipt transaction if the client has an outstanding balance due the program asks if you want to apply the new retainer funds against the outstanding balance immediately and if so the program does that automatically;
12. Recording a Payment that includes Retainer Replenishment – If you record a payment in excess of the client’s balance and you are using the retainer replenishment feature for that matter the program asks if you want to record the excess as a Retainer Receipt, and if so the program does that automatically;
13. Refinalizing Bills – If you select the option to unfinalize all the bills for a selected matter in order to make changes to those prior bills, after making those changes you now have the option to have the program automatically regenerate and finalize all of those bills;
14. Showing Full Payment History on Bill – You can show the complete history of payments on a client’s bill;
15. Sorting Costs by Cost Code – You can now sort cost charges by cost code on the bill;
16. Unfinalizing an Old Bill – You can now unfinalize any individual bill, regardless of when it was generated, without having to unfinalize all the subsequent bills.
Billing Reports
1. Daily Cash Receipts – A new report itemizes all cash receipts by day, including trust and retainer receipts as well as regular payments. Only actual receipts are included, omitting payments recorded when retainer funds are applied against a client’s bill and other instances where funds previously received are moved from one category to another;
2. Fee Ledger – A new report that itemizes all or selected fee charges for a specified date range, showing for each charge the original amount, the date, invoice number and amount billed, amount paid, and remaining unpaid balance;
3. Cost Ledger – A new report that itemizes all or selected cost charges for a specified date range, similar to the Fee Ledger described above;
4. Bill Ledger – A new report that itemizes all or selected bills for a specified date range showing the amount billed, listing each payment that was applied against that bill, and showing the remaining unpaid balance;
5. Productivity Reports – Several new column items have been added which show average hours and dollars billed and collected for the period selected;
6. WIP Summary Report – The WIP Summary Report can now show the total amounts in WIP as of a prior date rather than just the current date;
7. Accounts Receivable Report – You can now show credit balances and retainer account balances on the Accounts Receivable Report;
8. Trust, Retainer and Credit Balances Report – This report can now include pending transfers from the retainer account; i.e., disbursements from the retainer account that have been automatically applied against bills that have been generated but not yet finalized;
9. Billing Analysis and Income Analysis Reports – These reports can now be totaled by Task, Activity, Cost or Location Code, in addition to the previous options;
10. Client Lists – You can now generate a list of clients for each Responsible or Billing Attorney. Format and layout of the report has been improved for readability;
11. Client/Matter Notes – You can now generate a report listing the notes you have entered for all or selected clients or matters, including the option to list just notes entered on a specific date;
12. Charges Detail – Format and layout of these reports have been improved, with new options to include or omit the Entry Number and Type and to assign your own heading to the report, making it more appropriate for use as a fee declaration, etc;
13. CSV Export – More reports, including the Master Ledger, can be generated to a CSV file.
General Ledger
1. Posting Automatically to GL – There is a new option to post automatically from the Billing program to the GL whenever a payment or other transaction is saved or other events occur that affect the GL, such as editing, reversing or deleting a GL transaction, applying a payment against a bill, finalizing or unfinalizing bills, etc;
2. Posting by Month – In addition to posting automatically or manually by batch, a third option has been added to post manually to the GL from the Billing program by month;
3. Reversing Checks that are posted to Billing – If you reverse or delete a check in the GL and the billing distributions, if any, for that check have already been billed to the client, the program now gives you the option of having the program automatically generate reversing transactions in the Billing Program for those distributions;
4. Recurring Payables – A new option has been added to mark a regular payable as a recurring payable, instead of having to maintain a separate list of recurring payables.
What’s New – Release 10
1. Emailing Bills – Bills can be emailed to individual or multiple clients with the click of a button. You can also send an email to a client directly from the client screen.
2. Longer File ID’s – You can optionally use up to 16 characters for client and matter ID’s, instead of the old limit of 8. To switch to the 16 character format, click on Tools, Convert to Long File ID’s.
3. Font management – Select the program font and font size from within the program by clicking on Setup, Screen and Font Size.
4. Redesigned Screens – Every screen in the program has been redesigned for a crisper, cleaner appearance and to accommodate larger fonts.
5. Master Ledger – A browse screen listing every transaction for a client or matter, whether billed or not, including both WIP and AR transactions, making it easier to track the history of a case and edit individual transactions.
6. Periodic Activity Summary Report – An extremely powerful report, the Periodic Activity Summary lets you select a beginning and ending date, and then shows the beginning balances for that date, a summary of the activity occuring during the period selected, and the ending balances. It effectively combines into one report what previously required five separate reports:
a. Accounts Receivable, to show your outstanding balances;
b. Trust, Retainer and Credit Balances, to show credit balances and the balances in the client trust and retainer accounts;
c. WIP Summary report, to show the totals of your unbilled charges;
d. Billing Analysis, to show the totals that were billed during a specified period; and
e. Income Analysis, to show the income received during a specified period.
It also adds the extra dimension of showing both beginning and ending balances for the period selected, something that no other report can do.
7. Year at a Glance feature – An addition to our popular Time at a Glance feature which displays a daily summary of time entered or cash receipts recorded, you can now view monthy totals for an entire year and display and edit all transactions for each month by clicking on the month you want.
You can now view the Time at a Glance screen for a single client or matter. To do this, go to the Account Status screen for that file and click the Time at a Glance button.
8. Client and Matter Tagging – Use this feature to create a list of unrelated clients or matters for purposes of generating a report or performing other functions in the program.
9. List Users Currently in Program – Find out who is currently using the program by clicking on Tools, List Users Currently Logged on.
10. Calendar Month at a Glance screen – Scroll through a calendar for the entire month, listing entries for each day. Click on a time to add or edit entries for that time.
11. Personal Note Pad – Click on the clip0846button at the bottom of the control panel on the left hand side of the screen to pop up a personal note pad that you can use to record memos, reminders, or other notes.
12. New Bill Formatting Options – Print section headings and total lines in bold using format option.25a. Specify at what column position the program prints all the total and subtotal headings using option 9.
13. Select which types of transactions you want to show on the Historical Bill – For example, you can generate a historical bill that shows just fees, just costs, or just retainer account activity by clicking on the Select Items to Include button on the Generate Historical Statements screen.
14. Print your own letterhead – Have the program automatically print your firm’s letterhead when generating bills.
15. You can establish up to six different rates for each cost code, allowing you to bill different rates for items like photocopies.
16. You can print a second copy of a bill with a different address and using a different format using the Billing Address feature.
17. You can print the bill in an “evergreen” format which is useful in situations where the client is required to periodically replenish their retainer account to maintain a minimum balance.
18. Several functions have been added to make it easier to cross-reference transactions between the billing, general ledger, and accounts payable portions of the program. When looking at a cost in the billing program that was posted from accounts payable, click on the new GL button to display the payable which generated that transaction. When viewing a payable transaction, you click the new Billing button at the right to see the billing transactions that were generated, or GL Posting to see the GL transaction(s) created when the payable was paid. When looking at a GL transaction, if it is a check or other disbursement click on the Payables button at the bottom to see a list of the payables that it paid, or if it is a deposit consisting of cash receipts posted from the billing click the Client Payment Detail button to see a list of the payments.
19. You can now search for an AR transaction by dollar amount.
20. A simplified Timer button has been added to the main charges entry screen.
What’s New – Release 9.0
1. Release 9 features a completely revised user interface designed to make it faster and easier to look up information and perform basic functions in the program. The interface includes the Main Menu and Toolbar at the top and the brand new Control Panel at the left hand side of the program screen.
2. The new Control Panel on the left hand side of the screen allows you to switch between the three main program modules—billing, general ledger, and calendar—simply by clicking on one of the three buttons at the top. The icons on the Control Panel are logically arranged to perform in sequence the six steps in the billing process, each with a single click—adding a new client, opening a matter file, entering charges and cash receipts, and generating and finalizing bills.
3. A quick search feature has been added to the Toolbar at the top, where you can bring up a client record simply by typing in any portion of their name, address or phone number. Or you can locate a client’s record using the Client Browse screen, which has been improved so you can locate a client simply by beginning to type their client ID or alternate ID.
4. A new split screen version of the client browse screen has been added, listing clients on the left and matters for the highlighted client on the right.
5. An Activity Log is maintained which keeps a record of each action taken in the program showing the date, time, user, and description of what was done..
6. Shorthand codes are expanded automatically as you type, instead of having to preceed them with a plus sign (although you can keep using the old method by checking the Disable Auto Expansion option in the Data Entry Options screen on the Setup Menu).
7. The Batch WIP Entry function has been improved and now allows you to create separate Batch Entry folders for each user.
8. A new browse screen displays a list of unpaid bills, making it easier than ever to manage your receivables.
9. Larger browse screens display more of your data
10. New main screens have been designed for the Calendar and General Ledger programs. The GL screen has its own menu, toolbar and control panel, and you can select a default GL startup screen and a default bank account. For example, if you select the check register for your main bank account as the startup screen you can then print or record checks with a single click on the Control Panel and see the register automatically updated as you work.
11, You can now choose the font you want to use when printing checks
12. A new month at a glance screen that displays daily cash receipt totals for any month
13. You can now maintain a retainer account balance at the client level and have those funds applied automatically against charges incurred on any of that client’s matters.
14. Client and matter information can be exported to CSV files for importing into Excel and other spreadsheet programs.
15. Your Tussman Program client list can now be exported into your Microsoft Outlook Contact List, and your Tussman Program calendar entries can be exported into a Microsoft Outlook Calendar.