Help centre
How to use it, step by step
Task guides for the work, the rules the system enforces explained in plain words, and a reading path for every role in the firm.
205 articles
Getting started
Signing in, two-step sign in, your profile and finding things.
- Task guideBring records in from a fileMove the firm's clients and matters into Docavra from its previous system or spreadsheets, the file's own layout taught once, tried first, checked row by row, with the wrong rows returned to fix.
- Task guideContact supportAsk Docavra for help from inside the app, send the reference of an error you met, follow the answer and rate the help.
- ConceptCritical notices, taking them and escalationWhy a critical notice waits for somebody to say "I've got this", how it is escalated to the supervisor and the department head when nobody does, and how a delegate takes one for a colleague.
- Task guideExport a register to CSVTake every row a register's filters reach as one CSV file, not only the page on screen, read exactly as you may read it.
- Task guideFind anything with searchOne search box across matters, parties, documents and their text, notes, mail, originals, cases, tasks, time, bills, receipts and the compliance registers, showing only what you may see.
- ConceptLinked recordsEvery record names the others it hangs from as links, and its page lists what names it, so nothing is reached only by a filter or a label.
- Task guideRefer another firmYour firm's referral link, what each firm earns when a firm you refer pays, and where to follow your referrals.
- Task guideSign in and turn on two step sign inSign in at your firm's Docavra address, set a strong password, and protect the account with an authenticator app or an emailed code.
- Task guideStart a trial or buySign a firm up for Docavra yourself, on a free trial or paying at once, confirm your email, and what happens to the firm's data if a trial ends unpaid.
- Task guideThe approvals inboxEvery decision the firm asks of you in one place, what you asked of others, what you decided, and who decides for you while you are away.
- Task guideYour dashboardThe dashboards you open on, what each tile shows and where it leads, building your own, sharing it and setting the one a role opens first.
- Task guideYour downloads and your own signatureFind the zip of documents you asked for under Downloads in your account menu, and write your own email signature when the firm allows it.
- Task guideYour preferencesSet how the console looks, how its menus open, where you land, the clock you read times on, how lists open and your own diary week.
- Task guideYour profile and what you are toldKeep your own details current and choose how each kind of notice reaches you, in the app, by email or by text message.
Firm setup
The firm's profile, settings, numbering, registers and the people who work there.
- Task guideAutomatic follow-upsFollow enquiries up on their own with emails, texts and tasks in the firm's own words, stopped the moment the person answers, the enquiry moves on, or they ask for no more.
- Task guideBooking on your websiteOffer meetings visitors book themselves on the firm's site, with each lawyer's own hours, a fee paid when booking where you wish, reminders, and moves and cancellations by the visitor's own link.
- Task guideBuilding an intake formBuild a form for the firm's website from a template or blank, choose where its enquiries go, publish it and share its link or QR code.
- Task guideClient portal settingsSet how the portal greets clients, how they sign in, how long access lasts and what clients may do themselves.
- Task guideCodes and integrationsThe activity, task and disbursement codes time and money are recorded against, and the firm's credentials for mail, text messages and other services.
- Task guideConveyancing settingsKeep the rules a conveyancing practice works to, which kinds of matter are conveyancing and what each requires, the stamp duty and disbursement rates, the client milestones and the firm's conveyancing rules.
- Task guideCPD by categoryRecord CPD with its category and whether the provider is accredited, read each lawyer's hours by category against the licence year's requirement, and export the firm's CPD report for licence renewal.
- Task guideCurrencies and exchange ratesThe currencies the firm works in, and the rate for each day, always read for the date of the document rather than today.
- Task guideCustom fieldsThe firm's own fields on matters, clients, parties, enquiries, tasks, documents, time and people, in sets, with conditions, formulas, restricted fields, register columns, reports, merge tokens and a history of values.
- Task guideDepartmentsThe firm's practice groups and support units, who heads each, who works in each, the work waiting on each, and the roles kept for a department's members.
- Task guideEmail templatesKeep versioned matter letters for outgoing mailbox messages.
- Task guideFeatures and plansWhat the firm's plan includes, the parts of Docavra the firm switches on as it grows, and the seats it may fill.
- Task guideFirm settings and numberingThe rules the firm decides, kept as settings with a history, the pattern every matter, client, bill, receipt and journal number follows, and how each count stands.
- Task guideForms on your websitePut an intake form in a page of the firm's website or behind a button, say which sites may show it, read where enquiries came from, and see how the form is doing.
- Task guideGifts and hospitalityRecord a gift or hospitality given or received, ask before accepting or giving one, have compliance decide it over the firm's threshold, and read the year's totals by person and by other party.
- Task guideHanding over a leaver's workMove every open matter a leaver answers for to a partner and every open task to a colleague in one step, send any row elsewhere, and end their delegations and the leave they cover.
- Task guideHolidays, court vacations and firm closuresThe one calendar that says which days nobody works, which every deadline count and the diary read.
- Task guideJoining and leaving checklistsEvery joiner and leaver works through a checklist set per role or department, each item ticked by its owner or by the system, and a leaver's account closes only once the blocking items are done.
- Task guideLateral hire candidatesBefore an offer, send a lateral candidate a secure link to list their former clients and matters, run the conflicts check on it, record the outcome, and make a cleared candidate a joiner with their declaration kept.
- Task guideLeave, practising licences and CPDLeave that is decided by somebody else and shows what the absence puts at risk, the firm's practising licences by year, and CPD against the requirement.
- Task guideOfficesThe places the firm works from, who heads each, what is recorded at each, and closing an office once nothing stands on it.
- Task guideOutside interestsDeclare directorships, shares, partnerships, other work, public office and family ties; have compliance review each; see them warned on conflict checks; and confirm them once a year.
- Task guidePolicies and attestationsKeep the firm's policies as versioned documents with an owner and a review date, send each version to the people it applies to, chase the overdue, and export who attested as inspection evidence.
- Task guidePractice areas, matter types and custom fieldsThe areas the firm practises in, the kinds of matter under each with their defaults, and the extra fields the firm wants recorded.
- Task guidePractice-risk categoriesKeep the registers undertakings, complaints, incidents and gifts are filed under, each in the firm's order, and say which kinds of undertaking a partner approves.
- ConceptPractising statusHow the firm keeps each lawyer's practising licence, suspends, reinstates or records its surrender, and what the system does when a lawyer without a valid certificate is named on work.
- Task guideProfessional indemnity insuranceKeep the firm's indemnity policies with their limits and documents, work each renewal to binding, record notices of circumstances and claims with their payments, and send the broker the claims history.
- Task guideSend email from your firm's domainThe name the firm's email goes out under, where replies go, and sending from the firm's own domain step by step.
- Task guideSet up intakeShape how the firm runs enquiries with pipelines and their gates, the reasons an enquiry closes for, the rules that assign a new enquiry, and the response targets.
- Task guideSet up your firmThe firm's profile, offices, bank accounts, logo and letterhead, completed before anyone else starts work.
- Task guideStaff trainingKeep the courses the firm requires, such as anti-money laundering, who must take each and how often, record completions with their certificates, and see who is due or overdue.
- Task guideStages as workflow stepsMake each stage a step of the firm's work, with what it asks before a matter moves on, what it does on entry, which stage comes next, what happens while a matter waits, and the tabs it hides.
- Task guideSupervisionRecord who supervises whom from a date, keep the history, and see who the firm's rules say needs a supervisor but has none.
- Task guideSystem health and alertsSee how the firm's data is kept, what is new in Docavra, and the operational alerts that need someone's attention.
- Task guideThe assistantAsking the assistant about the firm's work in plain words, approving what it proposes, the models and effort, the firm's credits, and the limits each person works under.
- Task guideThe compliance calendarSee every dated compliance duty in one list by day and in the firm's diary, from every register, and subscribe to it in Outlook or Google through a private address.
- Task guideThe compliance dashboardSee at a glance whether CPD, the firm's AML risk assessment, its policies and staff training are red, amber or green, and open the people or items behind each figure.
- Task guideThe courts and judges registerThe courts the firm appears before, by class, with their divisions, registries and judges, kept by the firm itself.
- Task guideThe firm's email signatureOne signature every person's email carries, filled with their own details, and when a person may send their own.
- Task guideThe firm's regulatory registrationsKeep the registrations the firm holds with regulators, such as the Data Protection Commission, with their numbers, renewal dates and certificates, and be reminded before each lapses.
- Task guideThe people directoryEveryone who works at the firm in one register, and each person's page with their matters, time, leave, standing and figures.
- Task guideWord the firm's notices, and keep text messages within budgetPut each notice in the firm's own words on the inbox, email and text message, and set what the firm will spend on text messages each month.
- Task guideYour Docavra subscriptionThe firm's plan, its invoices and how to pay them, the evidence that the firm is a law firm, and what happens when a bill goes unpaid.
- Task guideYour firm's brandThe firm's short name, logos for light and dark, its mark and favicon, its colour, and every change to them kept.
Access and security
Roles and permissions, ethical walls, the emergency override and the audit trail.
- Task guideAsking for accessAsk for one permission or one matter for a fixed period, follow the decision and end access when you no longer need it.
- Task guideChange what a person may doInvite a person, give them roles, add or take away a single permission for them, and deactivate them when they leave.
- ConceptEthical wallsA wall makes a matter or a client invisible to the people it shuts out, everywhere in the system, until two people agree to lift it.
- Task guidePortal sign-insRead the log of every attempt to sign in to the client portal, successful or not, and find a client's attempts by their email address or phone number.
- Task guideQuarantineThe register of every file the virus scanner held back, failed on or is still checking, and how a security administrator releases or destroys one.
- Task guideReviewing who has accessReview the firm's dated grant snapshots, confirm or remove each one, then sign off and export the retained record.
- ConceptRoles, permissions and scopesWhat a person may do is decided by the permissions their roles grant, each at a scope, never by the name of their role.
- Task guideSingle sign-onUse your firm's Microsoft or Google account, test the setup before requiring it, and keep emergency password access ready.
- ConceptThe audit trailEvery change, and every view of confidential material, is written down with who, what and when, in a record no one can edit.
- ConceptThe emergency overrideFor the rare moment someone must act beyond their permissions, the override opens access for four hours, with a reason, a second sign in and a notice.
- Task guideVendor support accessLet our support team into your firm's records for a window you choose, with its own account, a banner everyone sees and every action recorded.
Clients and intake
Parties, know your customer, conflict checks and data subject requests.
- Task guideAdd a party and keep the register cleanAdd a person or an organisation once, see possible duplicates before saving, and merge two records that turn out to be the same.
- Task guideChecking a lateral hireCheck a joiner's former work and plan the matters they must be screened from.
- Task guideComplaintsRecord a client's complaint the day it arrives, answer it within the firm's time limits, close it with its outcome, redress and lessons, and read the figures.
- Task guideConsents and conflict waiversKeep a signed consent from every affected client, with its scope, expiry and history.
- Task guideData subject requestsLog, verify, locate and answer a request under the Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843), within the firm's time, with every step on the record.
- Task guideDealing with each result of a conflict checkRead why each party matched, give every result a disposition, and record a decision only when the file is ready.
- Task guideIncidents and data breachesReport an incident the moment it is known, assess it, decide and record the notices the Data Protection Act asks for within their clocks, and close it once every action is done.
- Task guideInternal concerns about suspicious activityRaise a concern about a party in confidence, and how the compliance function assesses it and decides whether to report it to the Financial Intelligence Centre.
- ConceptKnow your customer and AMLWhat the firm must hold about each client under its own rule, how the risk band is set and confirmed, and how reviews and internal concerns work.
- Task guideOrigination, referrals and fee sharingWho brought the work and who answers for it, how credit changes over time, where clients come from and what they cost, thanking referrers within the firm's caps, and sharing a fee with a lawyer outside the firm.
- Task guideOther names a client is known byKeep former and other names on a party so conflict searches can find them.
- Task guideRe-checks when a matter changesSee why a new check ran, settle its results, and understand a warning or a hold on work.
- Task guideReports to the FICHow reports of suspicious and cash transactions are drafted, approved by a second person, filed with the Financial Intelligence Centre inside their time, and kept away from the client.
- Task guideRun and decide a conflict checkCheck every proposed party against the whole register before a matter opens, and record the partner's decision for good.
- Task guideSanctions and PEP screeningRecord each search of the sanctions and politically exposed person lists for a party, keep the search result as evidence, and resolve a possible match before the party is verified or reviewed.
- Task guideTexts and emails to clientsHow the firm's texts and emails go, writing a text to a client, notices to clients who agreed, what each person chose, quiet hours, the message log and what it all used.
- Task guideThe client portalGive a client's people a secure place to follow their matter, read what you share, answer what you ask and pay their bills.
- Task guideThe firm's AML risk assessmentPrepare the firm-wide risk assessment the AML Act asks for, by kind of client, service, country and channel, have it approved, keep each approved version, and export it dated for the FIC or an auditor.
- Task guideUsing the client portal as a clientWhat a client sees and does in the portal, written for the firm to share, covering signing in, reading shared documents, signing, answering questionnaires, sending files, paying and meeting.
Matters
Opening, budgeting, working and closing a matter.
- Task guideA matter's financialsWhat a matter has in progress, billed, collected and holds, its budget and realisation, and each fee earner's part, for the period chosen.
- Task guideClose and archive a matterWork the closure checklist, clear what blocks the close, close the matter, and archive it so its file is dated for retention.
- ConceptEngagement before workWhether time and disbursements wait for the client's signed engagement letter, and how a partner lets urgent work start before it is back.
- Task guideFile reviewsEach period the system draws a sample of every fee earner's matters for review by a partner or compliance against the firm's checklist, scores each file, sets follow-ups and actions, and shows each fee earner's trend.
- Task guideFrom enquiry to matterBook and record consultations, propose the fee, send the engagement letter to sign, work through the checklist, and convert the enquiry into a client and a matter in one step.
- Task guideIntake reportsSee how many enquiries became matters and how fast, how quickly prospects were answered, how long enquiries sat in each stage, how many consultations were missed, and why enquiries were lost.
- Task guideLog calls, meetings and letters on a matterRecord each call, meeting, letter and text on a matter with who took part, when and how long, and turn it into a time entry in one step.
- Task guideMove a matter to another officeHow a matter names the office it is run from, and how it moves to another with the day and the reason, its number unchanged.
- Task guideMoving matters through stagesAdvance a matter to its next stage, see what its stage still asks, give the sign-offs a stage asks of you, move many matters on at once, and read how matters flow through each stage.
- Task guideOpen a matterRecord the enquiry, add the client and parties, clear the conflict check and complete the opening checklist, then open the file.
- Task guideRelated matters and opening an appealLink a matter to the others it stands beside, read the right way from each side, and open an appeal from the matter appealed.
- Task guideReviewing answersRead a questionnaire's answers beside what the record holds, accept or keep each change, and see what was filed.
- Task guideRun a conveyancing transactionOpen the transaction on a conveyancing matter and work it from the searches through execution, stamping, registration and completion, with its AML checks and client updates.
- Task guideSending a questionnaireSend a questionnaire from an enquiry or a matter, how the person opens it with a code, reminders, and sending it again or withdrawing it.
- Task guideSet and revise a matter budgetA budget per matter, in its own currency, with optional phases, every revision kept, and the partner told as the spend approaches it.
- Task guideTake in an enquiryRecord a prospect before any matter exists, move the enquiry through its pipeline as each gate is met, clear the conflict check, and close or reopen it.
- Task guideThe conveyancing pipelineSee every conveyancing transaction the firm is running in one register, where each stands, when it completes and what holds it up, and narrow it to what needs chasing.
- Task guideThe matter register, views and dashboardFilter the matters you need, save the view for next time or share it with the firm, find files nobody has touched, read budgets across matters, and read a matter at a glance.
- Task guideThe property registerRecord each piece of land or building the firm's transactions are over, with its survey and registry particulars, what burdens it and every matter it has been on.
- Task guideUndertakingsRecord each undertaking the firm gives or receives on a matter, have the riskier kinds approved by a partner first, and keep each in sight until it is kept, released or breached.
- Task guideWhere the firm's work comes fromRecord how each matter reached the firm and who sent it, keep the firm's list of referral sources, and read the matters and fees each source and referrer brings in.
Documents
Files and versions, templates, approval, originals, email filing and e-signature.
- Task guideAsk a client for filesSend a client a link listing the papers you need, optionally behind a code, and accept or send back each file as it arrives on the matter.
- Task guideConnect your mailbox and file mailBrowse your own Google or Microsoft mail and keep fixed copies on the matters you can reach.
- Task guideCourt bundlesPut a matter's documents in the order a court should read them behind a cover and an index, with numbered pages, and file the result on the matter as one PDF.
- Task guideDocument approvalSend a draft for approval along the firm's route, and understand why nothing leaves the firm until the version asked for is approved.
- Task guideDocument checklists for each kind of matterSay which documents each kind of matter must hold and by when, see what each matter is missing, and decide whether closing a matter with gaps warns or stops.
- Task guideDocument tagsTag documents as they are filed, keep the firm's list of tags tidy by renaming or merging them across every document, and switch the tools on or off with the Document tools feature.
- Task guideEmail from a matterRead conversations and send through your own mailbox with templates, attachments and the firm's signature.
- Task guideFile email to a matterUse a matter's own address so mail and attachments arrive scanned and wait for a fee earner to confirm them onto the file, and send from the matter.
- Task guideMake one document on many mattersRun one template across many matters at once, each document filled from its own matter and filed to it, and follow the run to the end.
- Task guideOpen in Word, and page numbersEdit a document in Word on your own computer straight from Docavra, each save coming back as a new version, and number the pages of what the firm prints.
- Task guideRequest an electronic signatureSend one version of a document to be signed in order, follow each signatory, and receive the signed version and its certificate on the matter.
- Task guideSafe custody and stock checksSet up the firm's storage tree, keep a place to named people, and walk a place with the register in hand.
- Task guideShare a document by linkSend one document to someone outside the firm by a link that expires, can ask for a code, can cap downloads and can be closed at any time.
- Task guideTemplates and document generationKeep the firm's Word templates and clauses, edit them through check-out and a second reader's review, draft from them with the matter's details filled in, and see what each version made.
- Task guideThe documents workspaceFind your way round Documents, with the places in its rail, recents and starred files, scanning paper with a phone camera, the New menu, and comments on a document in the reader.
- Task guideThe firm's lexicon of legal termsThe terms of Ghanaian law the firm relies on, with a shipped base for a lawyer to review, a plain-English explanation for clients, a check of a document's defined terms and merge tokens for templates.
- Task guideThe originals registerRecord every deed, will, certificate and passport the firm holds, where it is kept, who has it out, and every movement since it arrived.
- Task guideUpload documents and keep their versionsFile documents on a matter, understand the scan that runs before anyone can open them, and work with versions and locks.
- ConceptWhy is my file being checked?Every file handed to the firm is scanned for viruses before anyone can open it, and files with macros are refused.
Court and deadlines
The diary, the deadline rules, deadlines and reminders, and the case itself.
- Task guideConfirm, extend and complete deadlinesReview the deadlines the rules suggest, confirm them, extend one only with a reason and the authority for it, and complete it with evidence.
- Task guideCriminal matters, charges and bailRecord the charges, the prosecuting authority, bail with its sureties and conditions, and custody, on a criminal matter.
- ConceptCritical deadline checksA second person confirms each critical deadline, the system escalates one still open as it nears, and the near misses report shows the dates met at the last moment.
- ConceptHow the deadline rules count timeThe firm's own rules for counting time, the units and calendars they count against, and why editing a rule never moves a date already set.
- Task guideJudgments, appeals and enforcementRecord the judgment and what was awarded, take the case on appeal, follow enforcement with its costs and recoveries, and see what the debtor owes today.
- ConceptReminders and escalationHow reminders climb from the holder to the partner and the managing partner, why each must be acknowledged, and what leave does.
- Task guideThe calendar and court diaryPut hearings, meetings and internal events in the diary, repeat them, and read the court diary grouped by court and time.
- Task guideThe case, hearings and filingsOpen the case on a matter, list hearings and record what the court did, and keep filings, service and orders that start time running.
Tasks and workflows
Tasks, checklists, templates and the workflows a matter follows.
- Task guideTask templates and workflowsKeep the steps a kind of matter always needs as a workflow, laid out as tasks with owners and due days when the matter opens.
- Task guideTask types, reminders and escalationKeep the kinds of work the firm does with what each task of them starts with, and set the firm's default reminders and when overdue work is escalated.
- Task guideWork with tasksPlan the day from My work, make tasks with their people, dates, reminders and review, repeat them, hand them over, and change many at once.
Company secretarial
The companies the firm is secretary to: their registers, meetings, filings and licences.
- Task guideBeneficial ownershipDeclare the natural persons who own or control a company, see what reaches them through holding companies, confirm them each year and draw the group above the company.
- Task guideChanging a company's name or typeTake a change of name or a conversion from the members' instruction to the Registrar's approval, and keep an external company's particulars.
- Task guideCompany charges, vault and sealRegister a company's charges and record their satisfaction, keep its statutory documents and seal, log who inspected the registers, and take on or stop acting as its secretary.
- ConceptCompany secretarial: what the firm keepsThe registers, meetings, filings and licences the firm keeps for each company it acts as secretary to, where each lives and the rules the firm sets for the work.
- Task guideFilings and the filing seasonEvery statutory filing the firm owes for its companies, from due to confirmed, with its deadline, fee and late penalty, and a whole season of one filing worked together.
- Task guideImporting a company's registersBring a company the firm takes on into the system from a spreadsheet: members and their shares, officers, charges and beneficial owners, checked row by row and imported all at once.
- Task guideLicencesKeep the sector licences a company holds, from the Bank of Ghana, NCA, NPA, EPA, FDA, the Tourism Authority and others, with their renewal deadlines and standing.
- Task guideMeetings and resolutionsPlan a company's board and general meetings, send their notice, record attendance and the chair, put resolutions and record how they passed, and keep the minute book.
- Task guideRecording an officer changeAppoint a director or secretary, end an appointment or record new particulars as a guided change, through its resolution and consent to the register and its filing.
- Task guideShare transactions and certificatesKeep the register of members as a record of transactions: allot, transfer and transmit shares, register each on its day, reverse a mistake and issue and cancel certificates.
Time and billing
Rates, time, disbursements, expense claims, petty cash, tax and billing arrangements.
- Task guideA client's statement of accountRead a client's account with the firm over a period and currency, issue it as a PDF on the letterhead, keep it and send it to the client.
- Task guideBill many matters at onceStart pre-bills for many matters in one batch, chosen by client, partner, practice area, arrangement or unbilled work, then submit, approve and post them together.
- Task guideBilling arrangementsSet how a matter is charged, hourly, fixed fee, fixed fee by milestone, retainer or scale fee, with one arrangement in force on any day.
- Task guideBills and credit notesRead a posted bill, send it to the client, record the Revenue Authority's reference and correct it with a credit note.
- Task guideCollections and remindersChase what clients owe from the worklist, send reminders on the ladder each client is on, hold or stop a client, settle promises and disputes, decide referrals, and see what reminders bring in.
- Task guideDesign what your bills showChoose the time, fees, disbursements and payment details clients see, then select a layout for the firm, a client, a matter type or a matter.
- Task guideExpense claims and petty cashClaim back what you paid for the firm, have a partner decide it, and keep petty cash floats with vouchers, top ups and counts.
- Task guideFiscalise bills with the GRASubmit bills and credit notes to GRA E-VAT, read each answer, retry failures or record the portal reference by hand.
- Task guidePayment plansAgree instalments with a client for one or more of its bills, and see each instalment's standing as the client pays.
- Task guidePrepare and post a billGather a matter's unbilled time and disbursements on a pre-bill, adjust each line with a reason, have it approved and post it as a numbered bill.
- ConceptRates and how an hour is valuedThe firm's rate cards, the order the system looks for a rate in, discounts and rates below the standard, work charged per unit, cost rates and the yearly rate review.
- Task guideReceipts and applying money to billsRecord money received into the office or client account, apply it to bills with any tax the client withheld, bank and return cheques, issue the receipt and keep withholding certificates.
- Task guideRecord a disbursementRecord what was paid out on a matter from office money, client money or petty cash; petty cash posts in the same step, office and client money once the payment voucher is approved and paid.
- Task guideRecord timeRun a timer, use quick entry or fill the week grid, with each entry rounded, valued at once and checked against the rules the firm sets.
- Task guideReport targetsSet the figures the firm aims for, such as fees billed or hours recorded, for the firm or a department, office, practice area or person, so reports read their figures against them.
- Task guideSend a bill to the client for reviewSend a pre-bill to the client as a fee note before it becomes a bill, record what the client says, revise it and issue the bill when it is agreed.
- Task guideShare a matter's bills among payersSplit a matter's bills between an insurer, an employer, co-owners and the client, with shares, caps and each payer's own bill.
- Task guideTime approvals, timesheets and targetsApprove late time, run timesheet submission where the firm uses it, and see each fee earner against target.
- Task guideTime narrativesKeep the short descriptions of work the firm offers on the time entry form for each activity, in an order it chooses, so entries read consistently on bills.
- ConceptVAT and the levies at the tax pointHow VAT, NHIL and GETFund are computed per line on a common base, why agency disbursements stay outside it, and where the rates live.
- Task guideWrite-offs and bad debtWrite off what a client will not pay, have larger sums approved, and see what the firm gives up by matter, client, fee earner, reason or month.
Accounts
The ledger, accounting months, journals and the trial balance.
- Task guideAsking for funds on accountAsk a client to pay money on account into the client account, send the request as a letter or by email with a pay link, see what has come in, and keep a retainer topped up.
- Task guideBank accountsOpening a bank account or mobile money wallet with its opening balance, accounts held for one client, changes to where an account is held that somebody else approves, and retiring an account.
- Task guideCheque booksRecording each cheque book the bank issues, who holds it, spoiled and cancelled numbers, and the register of every cheque with those still unpresented or gone stale.
- Task guideClient money statementsSend every client a statement of the money the firm holds for them on a schedule, review each run before it goes, answer the queries clients raise, and see whose statement is overdue.
- Task guideClosing the financial yearClose a financial year by moving its profit into retained earnings with one journal, see what stops it closing, reopen it by reversing the journal, and download the auditor pack.
- Task guideDrawing on uncleared moneyWhen a payment cannot wait for a cheque to clear, the requester gives the reason and a partner who may override approves it; every such payment is kept on the overrides register.
- Task guideEarmarking client moneySet client money aside on a matter for a stated purpose, such as stamp duty, use it in the payment it is for, or release it with the reason.
- Task guideFixed assets, depreciation and the year's taxKeep a register of what the firm owns, charge its depreciation month by month, take an asset off when it leaves, and read the year's income tax computation and accounts from the same books.
- Task guideInterest on client moneyRecord the interest the bank credits to a client account with its period, correct a record, and set the firm's policy for who the interest belongs to.
- Task guideMixed receipts and overpaymentsSplit one payment between a bill and money on account, move the share in the wrong account across by its due day, and keep overpayments as client money.
- Task guideMoney routesWhich of the firm's accounts receives each office's money, fund by fund and currency by currency, and the firm's own route where an office has none.
- Task guideMove client moneyTransfer client money to office against a bill, refund it by payment voucher, pay a disbursement from it, or move it to another of the client's matters, each asked for, approved by somebody else and carried out.
- Task guideOnline payment rulesThe firm's rules for payments taken online, covering pay links on bills, reminders, how long links stay open, saved cards, retries, provider keys and whether the provider's fee is passed on.
- Task guidePayer matching and suspenseSee who most likely paid each line on the bank statement and why, record it in one step, and hold money nobody can identify in suspense until it is identified or sent back.
- Task guidePayment refunds, disputes and provider eventsSend money taken online back to the payer with a second person's approval, record and answer a payer's dispute, and read or replay what the payment providers sent.
- Task guidePost a manual journalPrepare a journal the posting rules do not make for you, give the reason, and have it approved where it is above the firm's threshold.
- Task guideReconciling the bankImporting each bank's statement, matching it to the books, the reconciliation one person prepares and another reviews, the three way reconciliation of a client account, and the month close it holds.
- Task guideReports and the firm's figuresThe report library, what each figure means, building your own reports, saved views, packs, scheduled reports and alerts, the data feed for Power BI and Excel, cost rates, and closing a financial year.
- Task guideResidual balances and unclaimed client moneyMoney left on closed or dormant matters, the register of money the firm cannot return with every effort to trace the client, and interest the bank pays on client money.
- ConceptReturned chequesWhat happens to a matter's client money when a cheque the bank has not paid comes back, and why a ledger can be quarantined.
- Task guideStatements, layouts and budgetsDraw the profit and loss and the balance sheet on a layout the firm edits, slice them by office, department, practice area or partner, and hold the books against an approved budget.
- Task guideSuppliers and their billsKeep the firm's suppliers, record and approve their bills, recharge costs to matters, pay them alone or in a run with the tax withheld and certified, apply their credit notes, and read what the firm owes, aged.
- Task guideTake payments onlineConnecting the firm's own provider accounts, asking clients to pay by link, confirming what providers took, scheduled charges, payouts and fees, refunds, disputes and exceptions.
- Task guideTeach the system a bank's statement layoutTeach a bank's PDF or Excel layout from a sample, check the complete read, import each month and save a new version when the bank moves its columns.
- Task guideThe client account and its ledgersWhat the firm holds for each matter in each currency, the statement a client reads, the funds held with the control figures, dormant money, quarantine and refused overdraws.
- ConceptThe ledger and accounting monthsThe rules the books keep that nobody can bypass, and how months are closed, locked and reopened.
- Task guideThe trial balance and account ledgersRead the trial balance at any date, follow any balance down to its postings and source, and export the journals for the firm's accountant.
- Task guideTransfers between the firm's accountsMoving money between two of the firm's own accounts of one fund, signed as the paying account's mandate asks and carried out as one journal.
- ConceptUncleared moneyMoney in from a cheque is held on the matter at once but may not be paid out until the cheque clears, so one client's money never pays out on another's.
Records and retention
Deleted records, restore, retention periods and legal holds.
- ConceptDeleted records and restoreNothing a person deletes is destroyed. It is marked with who, when and why, stays readable on its own page, and can be restored.
- ConceptRetention and legal holdsHow long the firm keeps each class of record, the nightly review list, two person destruction, and holds that stop it.
- ConceptRetention classesThe firm's own retention classes, what each covers, and how a record finds the class it is kept under.
- Task guideStatutory appointmentsThe posts the law requires the firm to fill, who holds each with a deputy, the papers and the regulator's notice, and the alerts when a post stands vacant or runs out.
- Task guideThe client's file before destructionOffer a client their closed file and originals back before it is destroyed, record their answer, and release what they ask for.
- Task guideThe off-site archivePack closed files into boxes, send them to an archive company, ask for one back, recover the fee, and record the company's certificate of destruction.
Looking for where to sign in?
Each firm signs in at its own address, given to it when it was set up, so there is no sign in on this site. Use the address your firm gave you, or ask your firm's administrator for it.