Billing arrangements

Set the arrangement

1. Open the matter. On its Overview, the Arrangement section shows the terms in force; choose Set up, or Change for a new arrangement.
2. Under How it is billed, choose the Type. A type the firm cannot use yet is shown with the reason.
3. Under Terms, give the Currency, the Payment days, the day it runs From and, if it ends, Until, and any Terms in words.
4. Under Interest on late payment, give the Yearly rate, % only where the engagement letter provides for interest, and leave it blank for none. Once a rate is given, set the Days of grace, the days after the due date before interest runs (0 to 90), and how it is Worked out: Daily, on each day's balance, or Monthly, on each whole month's opening balance.
5. Fill in what the type needs:

One arrangement per day

A matter has exactly one arrangement in force on any day. A new arrangement starts from a day, and the old one ends the day before, so each day's work is charged under the terms agreed for that day.

Milestones

Under Milestones, Add milestone adds one. From its menu, Complete marks it done when the work is done, and Undo takes that back if it was marked in error, until it is Billed.

Scale fees

The firm's scale fee tables, for conveyancing and probate for example, are kept under Settings, Time & billing, Scale fees, and computed band by band on the transaction value.

The firm's billing settings

Settings, Time & billing, Billing settings, General holds the rules every bill follows, each with its default: the Payment terms in days, the Bill approval threshold, Foreign currency invoicing, fiscalisation (Fiscalisation, Block sending before fiscalisation), the wording printed on statements and payment plan letters (Statement of account note, Payment plan letter terms), the collecting rules (Chase withholding certificates after (days), Smallest amount to chase, Payment plan grace (days), Tax group for interest notes), Bad debt write off approval threshold, Stopped work, the Fee notes settings (see Fee notes for review) and the supplier bill settings (see Accounts payable).

Interest on late payment is not a firm-wide setting. Its rate, days of grace and how it is worked out belong to each matter's billing arrangement, as above, because the engagement letter decides whether a client owes interest at all. The only interest setting in Billing settings is Tax group for interest notes, which says how an interest note is taxed once one is raised.

How late interest is worked out

Interest is simple interest at the yearly rate on the balance still owed, from the day after the due date plus the days of grace. It is never charged twice for the same day. A payment, a credit note or a write-off stops interest on what it cleared from the day it was made. Worked out each day, each day's interest is on that day's balance; worked out monthly, a twelfth of the yearly rate is charged on each whole month's opening balance, and nothing for a part month. The total is rounded once, at the end. Nothing is added to a bill by itself: interest is charged only through an interest note a person accepts on a reminder (see Collections and reminders). Its other tabs are Bill layouts, Dunning ladders and Credit note reasons, each explained in its own guide.