The Matters Opened Report provides a comprehensive list of matters created within a specified period, allowing you to apply filters based on various criteria, including 'Reporting Group', 'Matter Status', 'Matter Type', and different Staff types. Additionally, it offers flexibility by allowing criteria like 'Client', 'Matter Status', and 'Matter Type' for grouping and organizing the results, which provides valuable control over the information.

The report is essential for effective case management, ensuring that each case is properly accounted for and that no matters are overlooked. By offering an overview of newly created matters, this report also enables you to glean insights into your firm's practice trends, such as practice areas (filtered or grouped by 'Matter Type') and client base (grouped by 'Client'). These insights aid in strategic planning and resource allocation, helping your firm determine which practice areas are thriving and where to focus future efforts. It can also support workload balancing among lawyers and support staff.

While this report shares similarities with the Matter List Report regarding its filtering and grouping criteria, it is distinguished by unique advantages. Notably, it includes 'Fee Estimate' and offers the option to display 'Client Address', setting it apart from the Matter List Report. However, for matters requiring the display of the 'Province' and 'Other Side', it is advisable to utilize the Matter List Report.

You can also explore the Matters Opened By Staff Responsible & Acting Chart Report, which features a pie chart for easy comparison of matters opened by different staff members (as 'Staff Responsible' or 'Staff Acting').

The Work Obtained by Referrer Report is an invaluable tool for assessing the effectiveness of your firm's client acquisition efforts. It offers the flexibility to specify a time frame for evaluating the financial impact—including 'Fees Recorded', 'Fees Invoiced' and 'Fees Recovered'—of cases acquired through diverse referral channels. Additionally, it provides a detailed breakdown of matters.

Understanding the sources of referrals and their financial impact empowers law firms to pinpoint the most productive channels and relationships which generate a high volume of referrals and contribute significantly to firm revenues. Nurturing these relationships is key to establishing a consistent and sustainable flow of referrals over time.

This knowledge plays a vital role in shaping your marketing and business development strategies. As a result, your firm can allocate resources more efficiently and concentrate efforts on cultivating these critical referral sources to ensure a thriving client acquisition process.

The Critical Dates Report provides a centralized view of all upcoming and past critical dates (set under the Calendar & Tasks tab within a matter) across different matters. You have the flexibility to filter the results based on Staff Type categories (Staff, Staff Responsible, Staff Acting, and Staff Assisting), allowing you to focus on critical dates relevant to selected staff member(s). This helps to streamline scheduling and resource allocation for the chosen staff member(s).

Additionally, the report allows for further filtering based on 'Critical Date' type, 'Matter Status', and 'Matter Type'. You can also group the results by various criteria, including 'Matter Number', 'Client', and different Staff types.

This comprehensive overview of critical dates enables lawyers and support staff to allocate their time and resources more efficiently. Your firm can proactively identify potential risks and issues associated with critical dates well in advance, allowing for mitigation and preparedness for crucial events.

Furthermore, the report serves as a valuable historical record of past critical dates, making it a useful tool for audits, reviews, and accountability purposes.

The Time & Fees Recorded by Staff Report is designed to facilitate the tracking of your staff’s weekly performance, with a specific focus on distinguishing between billable and non-billable hours.

For most law firms, billable hours carry significant weight as a performance metric, which can directly influence staff promotions and compensation. Simultaneously, excessive non-billable hours have the potential to erode profitability and even jeopardize law firms' financial health.

For this reason, it is crucial to conduct a comparison of billable and non-billable hours, as this analysis can pinpoint staff members who may need additional support—such as further training—to enhance their productivity. Furthermore, the report aids in the decision-making process regarding the delegation of non-billable tasks to support staff so that lawyers can be freed up to concentrate on billable work.

To monitor your staff's weekly billable amounts, the Daily Time & Fees by Staff Report is a valuable tool. Additionally, You can utilize the monthly actual 'Fees Entered' compared to the 'Budget' amount from the Staff Budgets Report as a staff performance metric.

A Matter Billing Guide can be generated at the matter level before creating an invoice to help you gain valuable insights into:

• Matter-Level Financial Overview: This includes the 'Billed to Date' and a comprehensive breakdown of 'Aged Unbilled' items, distinguishing between 'Fees', 'Anticipated Expenses', 'Expense Recoveries', 'Journals', and 'Expenses'.
• Staff Performance: The report displays Time and Fees recorded by staff, categorizing both billed and unbilled items.
• Trust Account Balances: The report provides an up-to-date balance for the trust account(s) associated with the matter.
• Transaction Details: The report offers a granular breakdown of unbilled items to enhance transparency.

The Matter Billing Guide is a proactive measure to identify potential billing errors and inconsistencies before the invoicing stage. By doing so, it reduces the likelihood of billing disputes, ultimately saving time and resources for both your firm and clients. Additionally, for matters with specific billing requirements, the Matter Billing Guide ensures that invoices align with these requirements to mitigate non-compliance risks.

The Aged WIP Report offers a detailed breakdown of Work In Progress (WIP) with aging options, focusing on unbilled professional fees (Time and Fees).

The report can be used to promote staff accountability by highlighting the importance of timely billing and work completion, ensuring that services rendered are not left unbilled for extended periods. It also facilitates proactive client engagement regarding pending invoices and any additional work required, strengthening client communication and relationships.

It serves as a financial management tool to provide insights into the firm's unbilled work, which are vital for cash flow management and revenue forecasting.

You have the option to schedule and subscribe to this report for your convenience, ensuring you stay up to date with your firm's financial data.

The Accounts Receivable Report is a comprehensive report that lists all matters with outstanding debtor balances as of the specified 'At Date'. It not only provides insights into the aging of these balances but also breaks down the debtor balances by relevant invoices and associated Retainer & Credits notes. This valuable report empowers your firm to proactively follow up with clients who owe outstanding amounts.

By categorizing outstanding invoices based on their age, it also enables you to prioritize your collection efforts effectively. Regularly checking this report is instrumental in maintaining your firm's financial stability and ensuring long-term sustainability.

It is also worth noting that this report lists matters with Retainer & Credits balances in the 'Retainer & Credits Ledger', serving as a reminder for addressing actions related to these balances. Apart from the option to 'Apply To Invoices,' you have the flexibility to issue a refund, or transfer the credit balance to another matter using the 'New Journal' feature. Detailed instructions for these actions can be found in this article.

Like the Aged WIP Report, this report can be scheduled and subscribed to for your convenience.

The Invoice Variance Report displays variances to WIP at the stage of invoicing and adjustments.

It may not be uncommon for your staff to alter the amount of fee entries when billing, resulting in variances between the originally entered fees and the fees ultimately invoiced. The ‘Variance’ column in the report captures such discrepancies. Moreover, the 'Total Variance' column in the report accounts for any adjustments made to the invoice—typically discounts—to show the total variances between the initial recorded fee amount and the final amount that were billed to the client. 

By showing both 'Variance' and 'Total Variance’, the report can help your firm to monitor the accuracy of staff fee recording and ensure that billed hours align with the work performed. Additionally, it contributes to maintaining precise billing practices and minimizing discrepancies that could lead to disputes.

Furthermore, the report can play a crucial role in guiding pricing strategy decisions. By analyzing the variances, your firm can make informed choices about pricing adjustments, ensuring that their rates accurately reflect the services provided while staying competitive in the market.

The Accounts Receivable & WIP by Staff Report holds significant importance, as it furnishes a comprehensive breakdown of both Accounts Receivable and work in progress (WIP), categorized by staff. This drill-down report offers three tiers of detail: 'Staff totals only', 'Staff and matters', or 'Staff and matters with transactions'. Its emphasis on staff-centric insights is particularly advantageous for law firms that align their management and operational assessments with individual staff members, rather than solely focusing on the Staff Responsible for or Acting on specific matters.

The report serves several key purposes:

1. Granular Analysis: It allows for a granular analysis of accounts receivable and WIP, providing insights at different levels of detail based on user selection.

2. Decision Support: Law firms can use the report for various calculations, including budgets versus actuals, commissions calculations, and decisions related to additional staff hiring or staff re-allocations.

3. Staff-Centric Focus: By organizing information by staff members rather than Staff Responsbile or Staff Acting, the report faciliates firms' management and evaluation of their operations.

4. Date-Specific Reporting: The ability to run the report at a specific date enables firms to track and analyze financial data at specific points in time, facilitating accurate assessments of financial health and performance.

5. Data matching: The report allows for the matching of figures generated with the corresponding values in QuickBooks or Xero. This feature facilitates seamless reconciliation and ensures accuracy when comparing the data. 

The recently introduced Billing Journals Report is indispensable for law firms in determining appropriate commission payments to their lawyers. This report helps to ensure a systematic and equitable allocation of client payments, with a primary focus on prioritizing disbursements and taxes ahead of professional fees.

The report serves several key purposes, including: 

1. Ensuring Accurate Commission Basis: By prioritizing disbursements and taxes, the remaining balance serves as the foundation for calculating commissions. This method guarantees that commissions are computed based on the amount available for distribution after covering essential client-related expenses.

2. Enhancing Cost Recovery: The report facilitates efficient cost recovery by prioritizing the allocation of funds to disbursements and taxes. This ensures that the firm covers its incurred expenses before distributing funds for other purposes, including commission payments.

3. Promoting Fair Compensation for Lawyers: Lawyers receive compensation based on the remaining balance after addressing disbursements and taxes. This approach ensures that lawyers are fairly remunerated for their work after essential costs have been taken into account. Furthermore, adherence to this allocation process helps prevent over-payments of commissions.

4. Decision Support for Management: Management can leverage this report to make well-informed decisions about commission structures, ensuring alignment with the firm's financial objectives and policies. The report offers valuable insights into the financial health of matters and the implications of payment allocations on commission calculations.