V9 System Administration Administrators Guide DOCUMENTATION. Phone: Fax:

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1 V9 System Administration Administrators Guide DOCUMENTATION Phone: Fax:

2 Chapter: Change History CHANGE HISTORY ORIGINAL DOCUMENT AUTHOR: MICHELLE HARRIS DATE: MARCH 2010 AUTHOR DATE CHANGE MICHELLE HARRIS AUGUST 2010 UPDATE TO 8.2 MICHELLE HARRIS NOVEMBER 2011 UPDATE TO 8.3 MICHELLE HARRIS MAY 2012 UPDATE TO MICHELLE HARRIS NOVEMBER 2012 UPDATE TO MICHELLE HARRIS AUGUST 2014 UPDATE TO V9 MICHELLE HARRIS MARCH 2015 UPDATE LETTERS DASHLET MICHELLE HARRIS SEPTEMBER 2015 UPDATE TO 9.3 MICHELLE HARRIS MAY 2016 UPDATE TO 9.5 MICHELLE HARRIS MARCH 2017 UPDATE TO 9.6 MICHELLE HARRIS AUGUST 2017 UPDATE SECURITY ADMIN PAGES MICHELLE HARRIS MAY 2018 GENERAL UPDATES TO 9.6 MICHELLE HARRIS JULY 2018 INCLUSION OF CLASSIC APPROVAL 2

3 Chapter: Change History CONTENTS Change History... 2 Overview... 5 Admin Menu... 6 Periods... 6 Adding and Editing Years... 6 Adding and Editing Periods... 6 Analysing a Period and Running the Period End... 7 Timesheet Administration... 9 Timesheet Creation Options... 9 Timesheet Styles and Behaviour... 9 Optional Settings Timesheet Creation Timesheet Maintenance Timesheet Posting Creating a New Staff Member Staff Maintenance Categories Etc Main Categories Special Categories Permissions Categories Data Maintenance Bulk Fee Printing Firm Calendar Entries Create and Printing Credit Letters Generating the Credit Letters Reviewing Credit Letters Printing the Credit Letters Direct Debit Batches Draft Bills and Allocations Expense Posting Import Maintenance Import Control

4 Chapter: Change History Create and Post Interest Charges Generating Interest Reviewing Interest Posting Interest Recurring Fee Generation Generating the Recurring Fees Editing, Deleting and Posting the Recurring Fees Create and Printing Statements Generating Statements Reviewing Statements Printing Statements Update Partners and Managers Staff Maintenance System Maintenance API Authentication Administration Assurance Request Setup Attribute Pages Attributes Contact Attributes Client Attributes Attribute Permissions Bulk Client Admin Bulk Job Admin Client SP Mapping Database Statistics Delete Lost Clients Delete Inactive Contacts Diagnostics Status Leave Types Job Templates And Master Tasks PElert Maintenance

5 Chapter: Overview Questionnaires Creating Questionnaires Edit Questionnaire Preview Questionnaire Edit Questions Edit Applies To Details Delete Questionnaire Questions Scheduled Task Administration Security Administration Groups Members Group List Permissions Dashlets Orgs Offices Depts cache System Licences System Lockout Settings User Password Administration WIP Recalculation OVERVIEW This document is aimed at Practice Engine administrators. It provides detailed information regarding the Admin menu of Practice Engine. Some components within this document are also covered in some of the other Administrator Guides, but for completeness have also been included in this guide. 5

6 ADMIN MENU The Admin menu provides an administrator with the tools to customise and administer Practice Engine. The menu is broken into 3 distinct sections Data Maintenance, Staff Maintenance and System Maintenance. The most commonly used pages have been placed on the Admin menu directly and are detailed in this section of the documentation separately: PERIODS All Period maintenance is conducted from the Periods page on the Admin menu. On opening this page any Years that have already been created will be displayed. ADDING AND EDITING YEARS A new year is added or an existing year is edited using a right click context menu, the options of which will depend on the status of the year that is clicked upon, but will include Select Year, Add New Year and Edit Year Detail. ADDING A NEW YEAR Right click onto an existing year and select Add New Year from the context menu. Check that the details that are auto populated are correct and click onto OK to create the New Year. The New Year will be created and an initial period will be set up for that year. EDITING AN EXISTING YEAR Right click onto the year that requires editing and select Edit Year Detail (Note: this will only be an option for Idle and Current Years). The Edit Year Details page will open and allow the editing of the Year Start date, Year End date or the description. A year can only be deleted if it does not contain any periods and has a status of Idle. ADDING AND EDITING PERIODS Periods are maintained and added in a similar way to Years, using a right click context menu. To access the years periods you must first select the year in which the periods are held. This is done by right clicking on the required year and selecting Select Year from the context menu. A list of all periods for that year will then be shown. ADDING A NEW PERIOD Right click onto an existing period and select Add New Period from the context menu. Check that the details that are auto populated are correct and click onto OK to create the New Period. 6

7 EDITING AN EXISTING PERIOD Right click onto the period that requires editing and select Edit Period Detail (Note: this will only be an option for Idle Periods). The Edit Period Details page will open and allow the editing of the Period Start date, Period End date, or Period Number. A period can only be deleted if there are no periods after it. Note: Editing period details should only be done in conjunction with Practice Engine Support. ANALYSING A PERIOD AND RUNNING THE PERIOD END Any period that has a status of Complete or Current can be analysed. The Analysis page is designed to give administrators a snapshot of a period before the Period End is run. This information is stored when the Period End is run and can be used to review the analysis of Complete periods. ANALYSING A PERIOD Right click on the period that is to be analysed and select Analyse Period from the context menu. The analysis routine runs through a series of checks regarding Dates, Balances and Transactions. The findings of the checks are reported in the lower half of the screen with a symbol for each item checked. The top portion of the screen gives a summary of the analysis findings. Failure: This symbol indicates that the analysis routine found a serious problem that should be corrected before the Period End is run. Warning: This symbol indicates that the analysis routine found items that should be reviewed and corrected before the Period End is run. Pass: This symbol indicates that no problems were found with this check. For failure and warning symbols you will also be presented with additional information about the problems that have been encountered. When you view the errors you will have various actions that can be performed based on the errors that you are viewing. Action Licensing: Displays licensing information about the number of licences the system is licensed for and the expiry date of the licensing key. The Period End cannot be run if the licensing check is not passed. 7

8 Date Check: Balance Check: Timesheets/ Expenses: Bills and Invoices: Write offs: Deposits: Unallocated RFP s: Draft Allocations: Only displayed if there is a problem with the period dates, or the period end is being run in the middle of a period. Displays any clients that are out of balance. Displays the outstanding timesheets or expenses and has options to notify the user of the status of the timesheet. The notification is sent via a Practice Engine message. Timesheets/ expenses that are awaiting posting can be posted from this screen. Displays the draft Invoices, RFP s, Credit Notes and RFP Credit Notes and has the option to notify the owner of the draft. Displays any write offs that have not been confirmed and has the option to notify the owner of the draft. Displays any active Deposits on the system, with the option to post them. Displays any RFP s that have not yet been allocated and allocate to the relevant client. Displays any allocations that are still in a draft status and allocate as necessary. Although the analysis routine will identify any errors that could cause a problem when running the Period End it will not stop the Period End from being run. RUNNING THE PERIOD END Please ensure that the next period is set up before undertaking the Period End routine. The Period End can only be run with the system in a locked down state. This is achieved by clicking onto the Lock Down button in the top left hand corner of the analysis page (this button will change to Unlock once the system is locked down). Users will be able to continue to use Practice Engine but no transactions can be posted whilst the system is in a locked down state. Once the system has been locked down the Run Period End button will activate. Clicking onto this button will run the Period End. After the Period End has been run, a summary of the results for the period will be displayed. The system will now be rolled forward into the next period. The new period will now have a status of Current and the old will be Complete. Note: The system will not automatically be Unlocked Remember to click on the Unlock button. 8

9 TIMESHEET ADMINISTRATION There are numerous timesheet settings that can be set from the Timesheet Administration page of the Admin menu. TIMESHEET CREATION OPTIONS Timesheet creation traditionally has been a manual process in V9.5 and earlier. V9.6 and above has the ability to automate the timesheet creation process. Options within this section include a check box to allow automatic timesheet posting, and then a field to enter the number of weeks in advance to create the timesheets. Timesheet weeks are created in advance from the start of the timesheet period. This process is automatically performed as part of the period end process, but can be initiated using the Create Now button. The First Day of Week field is for information purposes and cannot be changed without the assistance of Support. TIMESHEET STYLES AND BEHAVIOUR This section of the settings page provides an administrator with options to control the views that a user can see as well as other options to set the behaviour of the system. These options are explained below: Option Allow Automatic Timesheet Posting Posting Status: Default Timesheet Style Specifies the options for Automatic Timesheet Posting. There are three available options: No:- Does not allow automatic posting of timesheets. Timesheets have to be posted by an administrator via the Timesheet Administration pages. Yes, To Month End:- Allows time within the current period to be automatically posted when Released. Yes:- Allows time to be automatically posted when Released. These options work in conjunction with the Automatic Posting on Complete setting on the Staff> Charge Rates page. If the timesheet posting status is set to Approved, any released time will only be marked as Complete whilst the time is waiting for Approval, but once approved the time entries will post automatically. This controls whether timesheets are posted while the status is Complete or Approved. Specifies the default timesheet style for the system. This can be overridden by the staff member on the Timesheet Entry pages. 9

10 Available Timesheet Views Decimal or Units Rounding Value This allows an administrator to set the timesheet views that users can see within the Timesheet Entry pages. Controls whether time entry is in decimal hours or units. If the system is using Decimals, this value will set how the system will round any figures. It is calculated by 1 divided by the figure entered. E.g. 10 will round up to the nearest 0.1, 100 will round up to the nearest 0.01, 50 will round up to the nearest If the system is using Units, this value will indicate the number of units that make up an hour. E.g. 10 will indicate 10 units of 6 minutes each. OPTIONAL SETTINGS This section of the settings page list various optional settings that will switch on features. The settings are explained below: Option Add Event Time Track Time Locations Show Internal Notes Apply EU Working Hours Directive Enforce Job Budgets Show Classic Approval This option will add a nominal amount of time for any assigned events to the staff diary and the timesheet. This option will turn on/ off the tracking of locations against timesheets. Once switched on, a default location can be set against a staff member and used to track the location at which timesheet entries were completed. Locations are derived from the States and Counties set up under the Tax Return categories. Enabling this will display the Internal Notes section on a timesheet entry. Internal Notes can be seen for billing purposes but will not be displayed on fee layouts that use the timesheet narratives. This check box will highlight any timesheet that is over 48 hours as excessive. Ticking this enables budgets to be set against jobs and prevents more time being entered into the system when the budget value has been reached. This works in conjunction with Mandatory Jobs. Ticking this enables the Classic Approval page to be displayed and the Complete button to be displayed on a timesheet header when the user has reached their target hours. 10

11 TIMESHEET CREATION Timesheets are created and maintained through the Timesheet Administration page in the Admin menu. Timesheets need to be created in advance for staff to be able to access them. This can either be done automatically or manually. Automatic creation is set up within the Settings page and is described in the section above. TIMESHEET WEEKS New timesheet weeks can be created by selecting the required year and period and selecting one of the following options: Create Next Week (No Headers) This will create the week only without the individual headers for staff. Create Next Week (With Headers) Create All Weeks (No Headers) Create All Weeks (With Headers) This will create the next week with all timesheet headers for active staff. This will create all weeks for the selected period but will not create the individual headers for staff. This will create all weeks for the selected period and all timesheet headers for active staff. TIMESHEET HEADERS A timesheet header is each timesheet s basic details. The header contains the name of the staff member expected to complete the timesheet, the number of hours expected to be entered onto the timesheet, broken into the hours per day and the date of the timesheet. When the timesheets are created for each staff member, the system calculates the number of expected (target) hours by using the staff member s current work profile. Each staff member can have multiple work profiles. Each work profile becomes effective on a given date so only 1 work profile is active at any time. The different work profiles can be used to reflect changes in standard working hours due to seasonal variations or known long term changes like maternity leave. These can be found on the Charge Rates page in the Staff Set up section. The Work Profile acts as a template for the staff member s usual working pattern for the week. It is calculated based on daily hours to either give a daily target if Daily timesheets are being used or a weekly target if Weekly timesheets are being used. Before a header is created the dates of the timesheet week in which it is to be created are taken into account. The total timesheet days are calculated using these dates (including any weekend days) 11

12 For example, the second week in February 2017 (week 2) is dated from the 5 th to the 11 th. The timesheet will consist of 7 days in total, 2 days will be weekend days, with 0 non chargeable days, leaving a total of 5 chargeable days. If Timesheet headers have not been created when the weeks were created they can be created by selecting the appropriate timesheet week and then clicking the Create Headers button. Within each Timesheet Week, the list of timesheets will be displayed. They can be filtered by Status, Office and Department. There is also a Staff Search field to allow for an individual staff member to be found. TIMESHEET MAINTENANCE Timesheets are maintained in the same way as they are created. Maintenance can include editing the timesheet hours and deleting unwanted timesheets. EDITING TIMESHEET HEADERS It is possible to edit the details of a timesheet header for a staff member after it has been created. It is also possible to delete idle timesheet headers. Timesheet headers are edited by clicking on the Open Header action against the staff member s name. The number of target hours can be amended by overtyping the target in each of the target fields. The target hours are derived from the individual staff member s work profile. Any change made to the target hours in this section should be temporary changes only. Long term changes to the work profile should be made on the staff member s staff details. Please refer to the Staff Maintenance Administrator s Guide for further details. Any comments can be added or edited in the Comments box. The timesheet can be deleted using the Delete action from the Actions button. Note: Timesheet headers can only be deleted if their status is Idle. CLOSING TIMESHEET WEEKS Timesheet weeks can be marked as closed so that further entries against completed timesheets cannot be made. Timesheets that are open and have not reached target hours will still be available to add entries against, however new entries will not be allowed against weeks that are marked as closed. It is best practice to mark timesheet weeks as closed when all staff have completed their timesheets. This could be included as part of the organisations Period End process. 12

13 ACTIVATING CLOSED TIMESHEETS WEEKS Closed timesheet weeks can be reactivated as required using the Reopen Week button. This will allow further entries to be made within the week for all timesheets. TIMESHEET POSTING For timesheet entries to be available for posting they must have the required status of either Complete or Approved. The (highly) recommended status for posting is Approved but Complete is adequate. Note: The posting status is controlled through the Settings page of Timesheet Administration, for more information please refer to the section above. Timesheets are posted from the Timesheet Creation and Posting page of the Admin menu. Timesheets need to be selected and added to the posting list before they can be posted. The Timesheet Selection page of the Posting refiner of Timesheet Administration will display all timesheets waiting for posting. Staff are displayed with a summary of the time entered for the week. The list of staff can be filtered by Department and Office. There is also a staff search field to look for a particular staff member. By default, all timesheets until the period end will be displayed, but this can be changed to show All available time, Timesheet Week starting or Timesheet Month. Excessive timesheets (those exceeding 48 hours if the EU Working Hours Directive setting is in use) will be displayed in red. A check box allows only excessive timesheets to be shown. Clicking onto a line within the grid will expand the line into a panel view of the individual entries that comprise the total time for the staff member. Timesheets need to be selected for posting. Individual timesheets can be added by clicking onto the Add Timesheet action. There are also options to Add Filtered, Add All and Clear Selection. Excessive timesheets will not be added when the bulk add options are used. Once the timesheets have been selected for posting, the posting itself is conducted from the Posting sub refiner of the Posting page. This sub refiner will display all timesheets that have been selected for posting with some summary information and the ability to delete them from the list. Posting occurs when the Post button is clicked. A Timesheet Posting Monitor dialog is displayed to indicate the status of the posting. An option is also available to Post and Close Week is also available which will post the timesheets and mark the week as Closed. This will only displayed if a single week has been selected for posting. EXCESSIVE TIMESHEETS Excessive timesheets are timesheets that exceed the EU Working Hours Directive of 48 hours. They will be displayed in red if the EU Working Hours Directive setting.is enabled. 13

14 CHECK REPORT The Check button will run a report that will identify any timesheets that contain problems which will prevent them from posting CREATING A NEW STAFF MEMBER. New staff members are created using the Create New Staff option from the Admin menu. The initial page allows the staff member s basic details to be entered as detailed below: Last Name:* First Name: Initials: Title: Name:* Staff Code:* Sex: Organisation: Office: Department: Sub Department: Grade: User Id: Create Account: The Last Name of the new staff member. The First Name of the new staff member Any Initials for the new staff member. For example if their full name was John James Bloggs you would enter J J into the initials Mr / Mrs / Miss / Ms Etc This field is automatically populated. By default it is set to be First name Surname. The automatic entry can be overwritten if required. A system option is available to change the format to Surname, First Name if preferred. Please contact Support for further information. Enter a code associated with the new staff member. (This can be alphabetic, numeric or alphanumeric) but must be unique. Male, Female or Unknown. Organisation the staff member belongs to. The office the staff member belongs to. Select the department that the staff member will belong to. Select the sub department that the staff member will belong to. Enter the grade for the staff member. The Staff Member s address. The user id that the staff member will use to login. This checkbox is ticked by default and will create the user s account/ subscription to the system. This is different to creating the new user. The checkbox can be unticked to allow the new user to be created without creating the new account. The account can be created at a later time from the User Password Administration page under the Admin menu. The right hand side of the page will display the available security groups that the staff member can be added to. Click onto the required groups to add the user. 14

15 Clicking onto the Create New User button will create the new staff record and the associated user account if the Create Account? Checkbox was selected. The user will be sent an with details to activate the account and set a password. An administrator can manually set/ reset the user s password from the User Password Administration page in the Admin menu. Tip: If a member of staff with the same surname is already on the system they will be listed on the right hand side of the page. Additional staff information can be entered from the Staff Details pages of the Staff menu or from the Staff Details context menu option of the Staff Maintenance Portfolio. STAFF MAINTENANCE The Staff Maintenance portfolio allows you to perform the most common staff maintenance tasks from a single starting point. Staff can be filtered by Office and/ or Department. A context menu gives access to Staff Details, Charge Rates, TOIL Details and TOIL Entries pages. Further information regarding these pages can be found in the Staff Maintenance Administrators Guide. CATEGORIES ETC This section refers to the Practice Engine Web Control (PEWC) which is used to set up the core categories and parameters used by the system The Practice Engine Web Control is comprised of three sections itself: Main Categories Special Categories Categories These categories represent the system and user defined validation criteria. To edit or create any category you must first select it from the Menu. Any existing categories will then be shown in the List section. To edit a category select the category to be edited from the category list and it will then be displayed in the details section. To create a new category click onto the Add New button. Each category is summarised below with any fields that require further explanation. 15

16 MAIN CATEGORIES Main categories consist of the highest level items that require set up. They are more fully described below: ORGANISATIONS An Organisation is the equivalent of a firm or the corporate entity, typically a legal persona. For instance there will be the The Firm, possibly The Firm Financial Services Ltd as a second organisation and so on. Engagements belong to (are owned by) an Organisation and Staff work for an Organisation. Certain defaults (invoice format as an example) are controlled via the Organisation. General Name:* Title: Title Extension: Short Title: Address: Telephone: Fax: WWW: * Credit Active? Main Bank View Banks: Billing VAT number: The name of the Organisation. The title of the Organisation e.g. Chartered Accountants. Further information about the title of the Organisation that can be used on letter headings etc. e.g. Solution Providers to Business The short name of the organisation. E.g Instead of Practice Engine, the short title could read PE. The address of the Organisation. This is a freeform input area. Note that the address can also be entered by Office (see later). The address can be used on Invoices etc. The telephone number of the Organisation. Note that the telephone can also be entered by Office (see later). This is also used on Invoices etc. Enter as appropriate (with digits to indicate international codes etc such as etc). The fax number of the Organisation. Note that the fax number can also be entered by Office (see later). The Internet web address for the Organisation. address for the Organisation. address for Statements and Credit Letters to be sent from ir required. A checkbox to indicate whether the Organisation is Active and should be available to be attached to Staff and Clients. A drop down of the active banks. Set the main bank for this organisation. This button will link you to this organisations Bank setup. The VAT number for the organisation. This can be picked up for use on Invoice and RFP layouts. 16

17 VAT Last Return: VAT Invoice No: RFP Invoice No: Ledger uses WIP? WIP Bills Required: Allow RFP s? Default Bill Type: Bill WIP & DRS to Agree: Approval required? Linked Credit Notes Required? Single Job Bills Required? Report Formats Invoice Format: Invoice Format: RFP Format: RFP Format: Statement Format: Statement Format: Logo: Replace Image: Accounting Period Date of last VAT return. The next number to be used on an Invoice. The next number to be used on an RFP. This check box indicates whether WIP Invoices are required. The default is generally yes (ticked). If left un-checked, it will only allow for non-wip Invoices for sundry items such as rent etc. When the WIP check box above is not checked (i.e. allow non-wip Invoices), a check in this field will set the default for a WIP Invoice, unchecked is for a default of a non-wip invoice. This indicates whether the system will use RFP's as well as invoices. This indicates the preferred choice between RFP s and Invoices. Do WIP and DRS values on fees have to agree before the fee can be confirmed? This should always be set to be checked. This checkbox will activate some of the enhanced fee security that is available. It will enable additional controls to appear in the Fee Wizard and additional sections within the Fee Portfolio. Selecting this checkbox will remove the option to create unlinked credit notes. Selecting this checkbox will allow only single job bills. The report layout to be used for invoices. This is an Active Reports rpx file, which is usually created or adjusted by Practice Engine prior to installation. The layout to be used for invoices. This is an Active Reports rpx file, which is usually created or adjusted by Practice Engine prior to installation. The report layout to be used for RFP s. Because of the VAT wording, this is usually different from the version above, and is only required if RFP s are being used. The layout to be used for RFP s. This is an Active Reports rpx file, which is usually created or adjusted by Practice Engine prior to installation. The report layout to be used for Statements. The layout to be used for Statements. This is an Active Reports rpx file, which is usually created or adjusted by Practice Engine prior to installation. The file path to an image file logo that can be used on report layouts. This should be either a gif or jpeg of appropriate size. Facility to browse to the location of a new image file for use above. These fields are for reference only. 17

18 Period Start: Period End: Month: Year Start: Year End: The date of the Period Start for the organisation. The date that the Period ends for the organisation. The accounting month that the system is within. The date that the accounting year starts for the organisation The date that the accounting year ends for the organisation * indicates required field BANKS The bank accounts associated with an organisation. This is used for all recording of deposits and receipting. Client Money?: Currency: Account Type: Organisation: Office: Active? A check box to indicate whether the account will be used to hold client monies. The default currency for the account. The type of bank account. The organisation attached to this bank account. Indicates whether the account is attached to a particular office within the organisation. A checkbox to indicate whether the Bank is Active. NEWS ITEMS This category is linked to the Latest News dashlet that can be displayed on the Staff Dashboard. Title: Text: Image Path: Image Upload: Replace Image: URL: Valid To: The Title of the news item. This is used in the category list. Enter the text that is to be displayed within the dashlet. Enter the file path to any image that is to be used within the news item. This will display a thumbnail of any associated image. This field allows a new image to be uploaded Enter the URL of any news site etc that is to be displayed. The date the news item will expire. 18

19 OFFICES The office attached to each organisation. General Code:* Title:* Name:* Address: Phone: Fax: WWW: Region: Location: Active? Partners and Offices Other Root Folder: Code for the office A title for the office The display name of the office Address of the office Phone number for the office Fax number for the office General address for the office Web page for the office The geographical region of the office. This is controlled from a category controlled list. A category controlled list to determine the location of the office. A checkbox to indicate whether the Office is Active and should be available to be attached to Staff and Clients. General details to hold information about partners at the office and other offices. The default root folder path for use with the documents sections. INTERNAL CLIENTS This category is used to create non chargeable clients for use in timesheets, expenses and disbursements. Code:* Name:* Short Code: Organisation: Office: Partner: Manager: Department: A code used for searching for this client. The name of the internal client. The name that this would be searched upon. The organisation that the internal client is attached to. The office that the internal client is attached to. The partner who is in charge of the internal client. The manager who is in charge of the internal client. The department that the internal client is attached to. 19

20 VAT RATES A list of VAT rates that are used throughout the system. The standard rate should have a code of 1. Updates to the standard rate should use the same code, with a new date. CURRENCY MAINTENANCE This category is made up of two sub categories Currencies and Currency Rates. Currencies: Currency Rates: Used to create the different currencies that are available for use throughout the system. The current exchange rate for each currency. CHARGE BANDS These are the different types of rates that staff can charge their time to. These are then selected on the staff members Charge Rates page and given an hourly cost rate. DISBURSEMENT RATES These define the unit charges for things such as mileage, photocopies and telephone conversations etc that can be used in Expenses and Disbursements. Code: Charge band: : Rate Per Item? This is the analysis code to which the disbursement rate will be attached. This can be used to differentiate disbursement rates based on different charge bands. Provide a description for the disbursement rate that is displayed in the charge band on expenses and disbursements. The amount per unit. The name of the unit. 20

21 TRANSACTION SETTINGS The settings governed from this area are extremely important to the smooth running of Practice Engine and although few changes are ever made to these settings it is useful to understand their purpose. The settings are grouped into three sub sections Basic Information, Billing Information and Special Information. The Basic Information section contains information relating to timesheets. Basic Information Start Date: Daily Hours: Mandatory Jobs: Base Currency: Base Country: System Base URL: Leave Year Start: Billing Information Restrict to current period: VAT Override: Carry forward by Default: Ptr/Mgr to confirm fees: Surcharge %: Surcharge Note: Bill to Other Org: Allow Std Disb Charge: Service Code: Narrative: Date from which timesheets were first completed within Practice Engine. Standard daily office hours. Ticking this box causes the timesheets to require a valid job to be selected when entering time against clients. If this box is un-ticked, a Generic option will appear in the list as well as any valid jobs, meaning time does not have to be charged against a job. This indicates the base currency that the system will use if the multi currency option is being used. This can be overridden by a client s currency. Indicates the country that the system is based in. This is used for timesheet notification s and provides information to support hyperlinks in s and reports. Indicates the start of the leave year. This restriction means fees can only be dated within the current period. To permit the ability to raise Non VAT fees and overwrite the VAT amount. WIP Allocation - Sets the default to Carry Forward or Write off Ticking this prevents any member of staff who has no Manager or Partner responsibilities from confirming fee notes. Indicates whether surcharges are used within the system and what % is added to fees. A note to be added to the bill if surcharges are used. Ticking this allow fees and lodgements to be posted to a different organisation than the clients default. Allows a Standard disbursement charge to be added to fees. This indicates the Service that is to be used for the Standard Disbursement Charge. The narrative to be used on the fee in regards to the Standard Disbursement Charge. 21

22 % of Net Fee: % of fee for the Standard Disbursement Charge. Min Value: Max Value: Special Information Turn on Audit Trails: Update Related Ptr/Mgr: Lock Status: Provision Level: Lock Suspended Clients: Credit Control Event Type: Track staff Changes: Disbursement and Expense Posting Date: Default Job Budget Style: Contact Retention Period: Client Retention Period: Require Role on Job Fwd: Allow Receipts On Unit Expense Allocations: Staff s Minimum value for the Standard Disbursement Charge. Maximum value for the Standard Disbursement Charge. Ticking this turns on table auditing, recording certain changes made to key tables. Facilitates the bulk update of the client partner or manager. No: Updates the current partner/manager for the selected client only Only Matching: Updates the partner/manager for the selected client as well as services and jobs where they are the current partner/manager All: Updates the current partner/manager as well as all service and jobs Indicates whether the system has been locked down for the Period End routine to be run. Indicates at what level provisions in the Provision Portfolio will be allocated to. If this box is checked then the client is locked for entering time, disbursements and expenses. This links to the Credit Control module and sets the Event Type that is used with the Credit Control dashboard. Switching this setting on will activate the staff change history options on the Staff Details page. Set the date that is used when posting Expense claims and Disbursement batches. Options available are: Use Period End Date, Use Expense Date, Use Today s Date. This option will set the default budget style that is applied to jobs when jobs are created manually rather than from a template. Options available are: By Job in Total, By Role in Total, By Task in Total, By Task by Role, By Staff by Date, By Task by Staff by Date. Set the number of years that the contact must be Inactive for before it can be deleted through the GDPR data summary page. Set the number of years that the client must be Lost for before it can be deleted through the GDPR data summary page. If this box is checked, roles must be assigned when forwarding a job. Checking this box will display a Receipt drop down on Unit Based Allocations, allowing a receipt to be attached to the allocation. 22

23 Partner: Manager: In Charge: Department: Allows the partner label throughout the system to be shown as an alternative. Allows the manager label throughout the system to be shown as an alternative. Allows the In Charge label throughout the system to be shown as an alternative. Allows the Department label throughout the system to be shown as an alternative. LETTERS Documents can be created from within Practice Engine using the Contact and Clients letters dashlets. These dashlets populate a letter template with contact information from the Contact or Client. Before the dashlet can be used the Letters templates must be created. These are Word documents that make use of the Bookmarks feature within Word. A sample template called Mailmerge.docx is supplied with a standard installation and can be used as a starting point for creating additional templates. CREATING A TEMPLATE Open the Mailmerge.docx file from within Inetpub\wwwroot\PracEng\Letters folder on the web server This file lists the default fields that can be used in a letter. Create the wording of the letter template, cutting the fields that are to be used into the correct place within the document. Save the document into Inetpub\wwwroot\PracEng\Letters on the web server. The template includes placeholders for: Placeholder <<TODAY>> <<CONTINDEX>> <<CONTNAME>> <<CONTSALUTATION>> <<ADDRESS>> <<CLIENTINDEX>> <<CLIENTCODE>> <<CLIENTNAME>> Inserts today s date Inserts the ContIndex of the contact. Inserts the contacts name. Inserts the contacts salutation. Inserts the clients/ contacts address. Inserts the ContIndex of the client. Inserts the Client Code of the client. Inserts the Client Name of the client. 23

24 <<STAFFINDEX>> <<STAFFCODE>> <<STAFFNAME>> <<PARTNERINDEX>> <<PARTNERCODE>> <<PARTNERNAME>> <<MANAGERINDEX>> <<MANAGERCODE>> <<MANAGERNAME>> Inserts the Staff Index of the creator of the letter. (the logged in staff member) Inserts the Staff Code of the creator of the letter. Inserts the Staff Name of the creator of the letter. Inserts the Staff Index of the client partner associated with the client. Inserts the Staff Code of the client partner associated with the client. Inserts the Staff Name of the client partner associated with the client. Inserts the Staff Index of the client manager associated with the client. Inserts the Staff Code of the client manager associated with the client. Inserts the Staff Name of the client manager associated with the client. Note: If multiple instances of the same field are required then these will need to be added as additional fields in the stored procedure. See the section below. CREATING NEW FIELDS Additional fields can be created by adjusting the stored procedure and adding the additional fields as bookmarks to the document. Open the stored procedure pe6_contact_letter_details. Modify the stored procedure to return the additional fields that are required. Within the template, add the field that is required in the form «Today». Create a bookmark within the document for the field. The bookmark name must be the same as the fieldname in the stored procedure. For instance if the Client Year End is returned in the stored procedure as CltYearEnd then the bookmark needs to be called CltYearEnd. LINKING THE TEMPLATE TO THE DASHLET The letter template needs to be linked to the Contact/ Client dashlets. This is achieved by creating a Letters category. The following information needs to be specified within the category: File name: Valid for Contacts: Valid for Clients: Available To: The exact file name including the file extension of the letter template. Indicates whether the template will appear for Contacts. Indicates whether the template will appear for Clients. These are the permission groups who will be able to view and use the letter template. 24

25 JOB ROLES Job roles allow the job staffing to be specified so that more than the standard 3 staff members can be linked to a job. Multiple roles can be created and associated with specific staffing levels. When creating a job role the following information can be specified: Role Name: Grade: A description for the job role. This is the grade of staff that is associated with the role for budgeting purposes. Each grade can have a default charge rate associated with it, that is then used when budgeting jobs by role. REPORT LAYOUTS This setting assigns fee layouts to organisations allowing different formats to be used for different organisations. TAX RETURNS This category contains sub categories used to define dates and category controlled lists used within the tax return job features. RETURN TYPES The Tax Return Type category defines information regarding the jurisdictions and date calculations for the return type. There can be multiple return types created to hold the varying jurisdiction information and the associated date information. The following information can be defined against each tax return type: Frequency Rack Multi Jurisdiction State Jurisdiction City Jurisdiction County Jurisdiction Base Date Start No. of Months The name/ description of the tax return type. The frequency that the tax return will occur. Options are Yearly, Half Yearly, Quarterly, Monthly, Fortnightly and Weekly. Assigns the Return Type to a particular Rack. A check box to indicate that the tax return applies to multiple jurisdictions. A check box to indicate that state jurisdiction information is required. A check box to indicate that City jurisdiction information is required. A check box to indicate that County jurisdiction information is required. The date from which any dates are calculated. Options include Job Period End, Job Period Start or the Client Year End. The number of months after the base date that the job is due to start. 25

26 Start No. of Days Completion No. of Months Completion No. of Days Due No. of Months Due No. of Days Extension 1 No. of Months Extension 1 No. of Days Extension 2 No. of Months Extension 2 No. of Days The number of days after the base date that the job is due to start. The number of months after the base date that the job is due to be completed. The number of days after the base date that the job is due to be completed. The number of months after the base date that the job is due by. The number of days after the base date that the job is due by. The number of months from the base date for the first extension. The number of days from the base date for the first extension. The number of months from the base date for the second extension The number of days from the base date for the second extension. Note: If Jurisdictions are being used on a tax return type, any dates that are calculated by the jurisdiction override the dates created by the tax return type. STATES This category provides a list of States that are used in tax return jurisdictions. CITIES A list of cities that are linked to States and used within tax return jurisdictions. COUNTIES A list of counties that are linked to States and used within tax return jurisdictions. JURISDICTIONS A category to define tax return jurisdictions. Jurisdictions are linked to tax return types and States, Cities and Counties. They are used to provide more specific date calculations based upon the State, City or County to which the jurisdiction applies. If jurisdictions are in use the dates are calculated from the dates supplied on the jurisdiction. RACKS This category defines the Racks that are used with Tax Return Types. It allows tax returns to be grouped together for processing. 26

27 BUDGET TYPES This category is used to define the type of service budgets that can be applied against client services. Multiple budget types can be created with different configurations and applied to different services. The configuration options are detailed below: Editing Type Value Type Update with Actual Display Order Valid Services Editing Groups Enter the name for the budget type. This drop down field defines which periods of the budget are editable. The options available are All Periods Editable, Future Periods Editable, Current and Future Periods Editable and Future Year Editable. This field sets what values are to be stored in the budget. The options that are available are Billing, Production and W/O. The Billing type takes into account all transactions that have a type of 3,4,6 or 14. The Production type works from type 1 transactions. The W/O type works with type 5 transactions. This checkbox determines whether the budget should be updated with actual values. This process occurs as part of the period end process if the checkbox is ticked. The values are calculated from the Value Type set on the budget type. Allows the order of the budgets displayed in the drop down selection on the Service Budgets page and the Service Budgets Portfolio to be determined. If left as 0 the budgets will be displayed in alphabetical order. A list of services to which the budget type can be applied. A list of security groups who are able to edit the budgets. CUSTOM JOB PORTFOLIOS This category is used to define custom job portfolios. Custom Job Portfolios can be created to display jobs for set services and permission groups. These are portfolios that use the Global Standard Job Management page as the basis. Users will require permission to access the Global Standard Job Management page to be able to access any custom job portfolios. Up to 5 Custom Job Portfolios can be created. Title Services Groups The Title of the Portfolio. This is what will be displayed in the Staff Task Pad as the page name Select the services that will be included in the portfolio. This will generate a list of jobs associated with the selected services. Set the permission groups who can access the custom portfolio. Only the permission groups selected will see the custom portfolio on the Staff Task Pad in the Staff menu. 27

28 The custom portfolio will be displayed in the Task Pad when the server cache is refreshed. To see the portfolio immediately it will be necessary to clear the server cache within the Security Admin page and Log Off and back in again. SPECIAL CATEGORIES Special categories consist of Analysis Codes, Departments, Services, Ownership Codes, Relationship Codes, Collection Letter Layouts, Standard Fee Paragraphs, Groups, Leave Types, Wording, Work Profiles, Keep In Touch settings, Staff Grades, Prospect Opportunity Rates and SIC/NAICS Codes. Further information on each is given below: ANALYSIS CODES These are used to sub categorise time/ disbursement associated with a particular service. You can create different analysis codes for Activities (Chargeable Time), Overheads (Non Chargeable Time) and Disbursements. All analysis codes have the same options available on the Details section. These options need to be set differently for the different type of Analysis Codes as described below. ACTIVITIES Category: Class: Recoverable: Rate Multiplier %: Extender: Valid Services: The category needs to reflect the type of analysis code that is being created. This needs to be set as Time. This needs to be ticked to allow it to be used against clients for billing purposes. Indicates the % that any time charged to this analysis code will be multiplied by. Links the analysis code to an Extender page. Check the services that this analysis code will be applicable to. OVERHEADS Type: Class: This needs to be set depending upon the Overheads purpose. Certain types are used to exclude overhead time from productivity figures and for calculating Leave figures. This needs to be set as Time. 28

29 Recoverable: Rate Multiplier %: Extender: Valid Services: Should not be ticked. Indicates the % that any time charged to this analysis code will be multiplied by. Links the analysis code to an Extender page. Check the services that this analysis code will be applicable to. DISBURSEMENTS Class: VAT Rate: Extender: Valid Services: This needs to be set as Disbursement. The default VAT rate to be applied to this type of Disbursement. Links the analysis code to an Extender page. Check the services that this analysis code will be applicable to. DEPARTMENTS Defines the various departments that are available throughout the system. SERVICES The purpose of services is to define the type of work performed for a client. Audit, Tax and Payroll are typical examples of service types. Services are categorised as either Recoverable or Non Recoverable. All services have the same options available on the Details section. These options need to be set differently for the different type of service as described below. RECOVERABLE SERVICES Valid for People: Valid for Organisations: Periodic Values: Job Budgets Enabled: This needs to be ticked if this service is to appear in the list of available services for individual clients. This needs to be ticked if this service is to appear in the list of available services for organisational clients. A legacy field that is no longer used. Ticking this enables budgets to be set against jobs and prevents more time being entered into the system when the budget value has been reached. 29