Centerbase Administrator s Guide Version

Transcription

1 Centerbase Administrator s Guide Centerbase Inc N. Central Expressway Dallas, TX November 2017

2 Table of Contents 1.0 Centerbase Terminology System Settings Billing Settings Colors Navigation Bar QuickBooks Stripe NetDocuments Users User Settings System Health System Configuration Reports Manager Customizing Centerbase Web Version Homepage Form Designer Security Related Items Lookups Querying in Centerbase Running Saved Queries Building Queries Mass Updating Records Customizing Centerbase PC Client Manage Users Item Manager Data Views Find Duplicates Copy Map Modification/Deletion Logs and User Activity Mobile Settings and Set-up HTML Editor Templates C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e 2 105

3 5.9 Charts Query Builder Importing Client Data into Centerbase PC Client Import Tool Upload Data Mapping Fields Specify Merge Settings Import Duplicate Merging Importing in the Web Version Workflow & Triggers Nodes Actions Commands Workflow History Workflow Use Case Triggers Trigger Use Case Practice Management Calendaring Conflict Checks Referrals Matter Budgets Billing in Centerbase Billing Settings Timekeeping Bill Generation Bill Template Options Bill Editing & Finalization Final Bill Distribution Payment Management Trust Account Management Document Management Conversion Process C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e 3 105

4 10.2 Document Access Methods Reporting Record Specific Reports Report Center: Reports Manager Integrations Microsoft Word Add-in Outlook Desktop Add-in Tagging Stripe QuickBooks Online Office 365 Calendar Office Auto-Text Expander NetDocuments Appendix A. System Configuration Settings C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e 4 105

5 Introduction to Centerbase Here at Centerbase, we would like to thank you for choosing us as your firm management and billing solution and welcome you to the family. Whether you are a client trying to learn more about how to best use our product or a consultant hoping to provide the most well-rounded and customizable product in the Cloud to your clients, you have come to the right place. Our mission is to build the most powerful Cloud-based firm management and billing software on the market and provide world-class support to ensure you are getting the most out of your investment. There are innumerable solutions out there and our goal is to be the best. This document is meant to guide administrator level users through the customization, configuration and use of Centerbase in an easy to comprehend and implement fashion. If anything is unclear, outdated or missing, we hope you will reach out to your account manager or our helpful support team at the below contact information. Whatever your situation or question, we are happy to assist and always welcome drop-ins for those in the Dallas Fort Worth area. Centerbase Inc N. Central Expressway Suite 1950 Dallas, TX Support@Centerbase.com (214) Again, we thank you for choosing Centerbase and look forward to providing your firm with the best Cloud-based firm management and billing solution on the market. - The Centerbase Team C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e 5 105

6 1.0 Centerbase Terminology Every software solution has its own set of terminology, so before we dive into the features and functionality of Centerbase, it is important to lay out some of the basic terms used in this document. Item: An item is the top-level object in Centerbase. Examples of an item include: Clients, Matters, Contacts, etc. Field: A field represents each individual piece of information stored on an item. Examples of a field for a Matter item include: Open Date, Plaintiff, Opposing Counsel, Attorney, etc. Record: A record is the basic unit of data in Centerbase, representing a single occurrence of an item. Examples of a record for a matter would include: McDonald, Mike Estate Plan; Forbes, John Commercial Litigation; Joyner, Rob Drug Charges. Item Homepage: Every item in Centerbase has its own homepage which may be accessed from the navigation bar. If the item name is not immediately available, it may be nested under the More Tab. Users can complete advanced searches from the item homepages. 2.0 System Settings Centerbase settings are broken down into three categories: System Settings, User Settings and Record Settings. In this section, we will focus on System and User level settings that are set in the web version of Centerbase. System Settings are only accessible to those that have Customize Centerbase permissions (generally administrators), while user settings are accessible by all users. To access the System Settings, hover over the gear in the upper right-hand corner of Centerbase and select System Settings. This will open a new tab. The menu bar on the left-hand side of the system settings page organize the settings into their respective sections for easier navigation. 2.1 Billing Settings The Billing Settings are broken down into five (5) sections: Billing Codes, Closing Date, Invoice Template, Posting Invoice and Specify Trust Replenishment. These settings are defaults and may be adjusted on a per Client or Matter basis. Billing Code Settings C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e 6 105

7 The Time Sheet uses the settings defined here to determine what billing codes are applicable for the given situation. Centerbase supports up to two codes for time entry, giving flexibility for firms that do LEDES billing. Setting the class for primary and secondary codes filters the drop-down list in the Time Sheet to only billing codes of the selected class. The Class setting refers to the field on the Billing Code record that should be managed on a per code basis. The Label shows in the Time Sheet next to its code drop-down menu. In this case, we are only showing one code and the label is Code. Default Time and Expense codes may also be set from this section. If the firm plans on allowing their users to write-down billing entries as they are entered, then the checkbox for Show Billable Hours should be checked. This provides one hourly entry box for Actual Hours worked and an additional entry box for Billable Hours worked. When this setting is turned on, Centerbase will use the Billable hours for invoicing. Closing Date Like many accounting systems, Centerbase offers the option to set a closing date for the entire system. When this date is set, financial records dating before the Closing Date are locked down from editing. Many reports used to pay attorneys, like the Production and Origination report, use the payment distribution date; therefore, to preserve data integrity and prevent users from moving payments between billing periods, Centerbase recommends that the firm updates this setting regularly. If the firm does not want to use this feature, then simply leaving the setting blank will turn it off. Invoice Template The invoice template section allows for setting the Default Template, which is the merge template used when sending invoices to clients by web copy (see section 5.8). The Default InvoiceLegal Template allows for setting the default printed invoice template. Centerbase supports multiple invoice templates per firm, but the templates must be configured by Centerbase. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e 7 105

8 Posting Invoice The Posting Invoice section determines whether Unapplied Payments, Unapplied Credits, or Trust Account funds are used to automatically pay invoices upon posting. Posting an invoice finalizes the invoice, preparing it to send to the client. During the posting process Centerbase can automatically pay the invoice using money already received from the client. Specify Trust Replenishment When the Specify Trust Replenishment checkbox is checked, then invoices will adhere to the replenishment level and minimum trust balance settings, unless otherwise set on the Trust Account level (see section 9.8). The Minimum Trust Balance setting determines when replenishment goes into effect. In this case, the trust account must maintain at least $500 to not require replenishment (Balance = $501 means no replenishment required, while $499 means replenishment required). Once replenishment is triggered, the Replenishment Level determines how much money the client owes to return the Trust Account to an acceptable balance. In this case, once the trust balance drops below $500, the account must be replenished to $ Colors Colors apply to the Centerbase Activities module (Calendar, see section 8.1) and allow users to colorcode their calendar. There can be event specific colors (Court, Client Meeting, etc.) which may be give text labels or User defined colors that are tied to a single user. Event specific colors may be added and managed from this page, while user colors must be added from the User Settings or the System Settings > User tab. Once user colors have been set for the first time, they can be managed from this page. Centerbase recommends either using event type specific colors OR user colors because utilizing both options generally leads to confusion within the firm. Colors can be set by either entering the hexadecimal code into the text field or by clicking the color picker to the right and selecting a color from the swatch. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e 8 105

9 2.3 Navigation Bar The Navigation Bar settings control the top navigation bar in the Centerbase web version. Each grey line represents a top-level item that appears directly on the navigation bar. Each item can be an Action Button, Item List or Drop-down menu. Clicking on the line will expand it allowing the user to change its settings. Action buttons kick-off a stored function or take the user to a special page. Item Lists take the user to the selected item s homepage where queries and mass editing may be done. Drop-down menus are designated by the orange arrow on the left side of the line. When these items are hovered over in the navigation bar, a drop-down menu with the specified actions will appear. To create a drop-down menu, select and give it a name. An initial child is immediately created ready to be populated. New child items may be created by selecting. Items in the list may be dragged around to desired order in the navigation bar. 2.4 QuickBooks The Quickbooks section defines all of the settings necessary to configure the Centerbase to QuickBooks Online integration (See section 12.4). 2.5 Stripe See Section 12.3 for information concerning the set-up of this integration. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e 9 105

10 2.6 NetDocuments See Section 12.8 for information concerning the set-up of this integration. 2.7 Users While the PC Client manages user creation/deactivation, passwords and permissions (see section 5.1), the System Settings Users section maintains many of the other settings. Username: the user s unique username for logging into Centerbase Display Name: Name shown in Centerbase web version in lookup fields Address: The address used for mail merges. Default Rate: The normal billing rate that the timekeeper bills at in dollars. This will auto-populate in the Time Sheet and can be set to $0 if the user does not enter time. Personal Color: Provides a color swatch to select a personal color for the user for use in the Activities section of Centerbase. Administrator: Unused, do not fill. Invoice Full Name: If the client wants to show the user s full name instead of initials in the Timekeeper Summary on invoices. Invoice Initials: Initials used on billing entry line items on an invoice to denote whose time is being billed. LEDES Classification: Classification for the user if necessary for LEDES billing. LEDES Classification Code: Classification code for the user if necessary for LEDES billing. LEDES Description: Description for the user if necessary for LEDES billing. If any additional fields are required (i.e. for document merging), Centerbase can add them. Those new settings will show in this section for configuration on a per user basis. 2.8 User Settings User settings may be accessed when logged into Centerbase by going to the upper right-hand corner of the screen, hovering over the user icon and selecting settings. From the User tab in the user settings, users can set their personal information (outlined in the System Settings > User section above) as well as change their password and build their signature used when mail merging from Centerbase. The signature builder is HTML compatible, enabling advanced signatures. From the Office 365 tab, users can connect their Office 365 account for calendar integration (see section 12.5). C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

11 2.9 System Health The System Health page currently gives users a view into any potential issues having to do with invoice balances. There are many validation and protection measures in place to prevent invoice previous balance or final balances from being off, but in the unlikely event that they do, the issue can be tracked down from the System Health page. Each line represents a matter that has incorrect posted balances on one or more invoices. Generally, unposting and reposting the invoices in the proper order will fix any issues found here System Configuration The System Configuration page is broken into Billing, Configuration, Security, Timekeeping and VOIP. A complete listing with descriptions may be found in Section A of the Appendix Reports Manager See Section 11.3 for details on using the Reports Manager. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

12 3.0 Customizing Centerbase Web Version Centerbase is a highly configurable platform, offering many opportunities to customize user interaction with the software, from the homepage to form design and workflows. In this section, we will explore the different opportunities for customizing Centerbase in the Web version. Some customization is managed by the PC Client and will be covered in a later section of this document (see section 5.0) 3.1 Homepage The homepage is the first page users land on when they login to Centerbase, and has plenty of configurability, putting information in their hands the moment they login. Saved Lists (1) The search results bar on the left-hand side of the screen allows users to set up saved searches. These saved searches are built on item-based queries (see section 4.2 for information on building these queries). Each dark grey bar represents a list, showing the list name and number of results. The lighter grey bars represent the results for that list s query. In the above case, there are two saved lists: Open Matters and Pending Matters. Clicking on a list header will open that list and collapse the current list. Users can set up saved lists like this on the homepage as well as any item homepage. To manage the saved lists, click the gear in the upper right-hand corner of the search results column. This action will open the list editor, from here users can add new lists, remove current lists and configure list settings. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

13 Clicking allows the user to add a new list, which opensthe Add a List dialogue to find the previously saved query. Since all queries are based on an item type, selecting that item from the first drop-down menu will show any queries available for that item. If the query was saved as a private query by the current user, it will show under the My queries section. If another user created the query as Private, then it will not appear for the current user. All other public queries may be found under the Public Queries section. Removing a list is as simple as clicking the icon. Directly next to the remove icon, users can configure the saved list settings using the icon. The Title Field option corresponds to the bolded text in the first line of a search results record. Generally, this is set to the name of the record (Accruent Dallas 440), but users can set this to any field available on the item (i.e. matter). The SubTitle Field drop-down allows for the selection of additional fields from the item to display in the second + line(s) of the record. Clicking the green plus sign will add the selected field to the settings. The fields may be rearranged by dragging. Refer to the Preview section to see how the data will be displayed on the record. Once again, any field on the top-level item is available for selection. Lists may be sorted by any field available on the top-level item ascending or descending. This may only be done for a single field. Finally, the Defaults section allows the user to load and save defaults for faster customization. Saved Lists can have their own settings (separate from search results) when the Custom box is selected. Selecting My Default will load the default settings for the current item (i.e. matter search results show default setting and Clients have a fifferen default setting). Selecting System Default will load the System Default settings, which may be set by Administrators. Upon creation, users inherit the system defaults, so this is a great way to configure lists as administrator and have users immediately configured. Finally, users can save the settings for the current list as either My Default or System Default (Administrator only). Checking either of these boxes will overwrite the current default settings with those defined in the current dialogue. This default only applies to the query s item (i.e. these defaults only apply to matters). C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

14 Quick Links (2) Centerbase can configure quick links on the user homepages to provide faster access to every-day tasks. These links are available for everyone by default, but certain links can be shown for particular users (usually for administrative functions). Quick links can do three things: create a new record (i.e. Enter Payment), take the user to a landing page in Centerbase (i.e. Time Sheet), or custom actions built by Centerbase. Homepage Calculations (3) Calculations shown in the upper right hand corner are roll-up calculations and must be configured by Centerbase and are available to all users. If these calculations are displayed, they are visible to all users, so this is therefore not recommended for larger firms. My Tasks (4) The My Task list on the homepage represents the current user s list. By default, the list only shows activities of Type = To-do, but can also be configured to show activities of Type = Appointment (system level) by Centerbase. Charts (5) To add pre-configured charts to a user s home page, select the icon in the lower right-hand side of the homepage, which will open the chart settings page. From here, users can add and remove rows with variable columns to show the desired number of charts. Clicking the icon allows the user to add a new chart or change the existing chart for each cell of the grid. This will open a dialogue, where the user chooses an item type, then a chart (of that item type). The dialogue will provide a preview of the chart selected so the user may confirm that it is the chart he or she is looking for. Clicking Save on the dialogue, then Save & Exit will commit the changes and return the user to the homepage. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

15 3.2 Form Designer Forms refer to the layout of fields on a record, and the Form Designer manages this layout. Each item in Centerbase may have multiple form layouts, which can be configured to have multiple columns and rows to properly display the information needed by the firm. Hovering over the gear in the upper right-hand corner of Centerbase, then selecting Form Designer opens the form designer module. Opening the Form Designer from a record will default the designer to that record s item type. Clicking the item name in the upper left-hand corner of the Form Designer allows the user to switch to another item s form layout. Each cell in the layout includes the field name with the data type of the field below. Any cell can be changed to another field by clicking the field name and selecting a new field from the drop-down menu. New cells are added by inserting rows or columns. Hovering over the pencil icon in the cell and then choosing insert provides options to create a blank row/column with respect to the current cell. Similarly, rows and columns may be deleted using the Delete functions. Clear Cell is for when the user does not want to remove the entire row or column, but wants the current cell empty. Finally, the Properties button allows users to change column/row spans and text color. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

16 Row and column span settings are in units of # of cells the field should occupy. In this case, the current cell will take up 1 column but 2 rows worth of space. Using this function shifts the other cells out of the way instead of merging them, therefore, Centerbase may need to be contacted to clean up the shifted cells for an even grid. Text color is defined in hexadecimal and applies to all text within the current cell. Once configuration is complete, choose Save, then Close to return to the regular form. To create additional form layouts, users may select the New button to create a brand-new layout, or Save As from the Save drop-down menu to copy the current form and create new one. Once a new layout is generated, it can be set as the Default or left as an additional option. Once additional form styles are configured and available, users can select the desired layout from the record itself. Switching the form style and then clicking Save will retain that option for future record views. In the case that multiple records need to be updated at the same time, users may search for the desired records using normal querying procedures, then choose Set Layout from the actions menu. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

17 3.3 Security Every record in Centerbase has security associated with it. For most items and records, security is set to allow everyone read/write access, but from the web version users may set up special security for individual records. The icon in the upper right-hand corner of every record denotes the current record s security settings. Clicking on the lock icon will open the security dialogue for the current record. The top section allows the user to define the record s owner and one of three basic security settings. 1. Public: Everyone can read and write 2. Private: Owner only can read and write 3. Read Only: Everyone can read, nobody except owner can write The Settings allow the user to select users or user groups (click the green plus to add) and give them special custom permissions. When using this function, the Simple security at the top no longer be applicable. Each user/group is then given special permissions to the record: 1. View: read permissions 2. Link: User can link other records to this record 3. Edit: write permissions 4. Delete: User can delete this record See section 5.1 for more information on setting security on creation and additional user based security settings. See section 4.2 for updating security on multiple records at once. 3.4 Related Items As a relational database, Centerbase has many ways of connecting records and showing those connections. Every record presents its related or linked records through the Related Items tab. Record can become related in multiple ways: 1. Directly through a lookup field on a record (one-to-one relationship like the Main Contact field on a Client record directly links the Main Contact to the Client). 2. Manual linking through the related items tab (see below) 3. Mass Linking (see section 4.2) 4. Using the Copy-To function will link the copied from record (parent) to the copied to record (child). C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

18 Once a record is linked to another, the Related Items tab, grouped by item type, will show all the records linked to the current record. Each grouped list shows the number of linked records of that item type and may be expanded to display each indivdual record. Clicking on any of the records in the list will take the user to that record. New records may be created by selecting New <Item Name> and existing records may be linked by clicking Link <Item Name>. Click the in the far-right side of the item grouping to unlink one or more of the records. The related items tab can be customized on a per user basis. Clicking the gear next to the Related Items tab will take the user into list editing mode where item types can be added, removed or rearranged. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

19 Users may drag lists around to position them in their desired order. New items may be added by selecting the item type in the drop-down at the top then clicking the green plus sign and may be removed by clicking their corresponding x on the far right. Clicking the gear on the list line brings up the list customization dialogue (see section 3.1). Each list may be customized except for Activities. 3.5 Lookups Lookups are great for linking records in a one-toone relationship, but sometimes multiple records share similar names making it difficult to select the correct record. Double-clicking on the magnifying glass icon brings up the list customization dialogue. From this dialogue, users can set the title field and subtitle fields when using this lookup in a similar manner to section 3.1. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

20 4.0 Querying in Centerbase Building queries can be very powerful for both customization (saved queries) and record management within Centerbase. From the homepage of any item, users can build out and save custom queries. 4.1 Running Saved Queries Users can run previously saved queries from the homepage of any item, by navigating to the item homepage, selecting the query from the Existing queries drop-down menu and clicking run. The results appear on the left in the search results bar. 4.2 Building Queries If the desired query is not already available, users may choose Search or Edit/Create New Query to open the query editor. Selecting an existing query in the top drop-down menu will present the conditions that make up the existing query. Otherwise, users can create their own query to find the records they are looking for. The query builder should be read like a sentence: List the records where. ALL/ANY of these conditions are true: <Conditions> The ALL/ANY drop-down menu can be treated as an AND/OR statement. When ALL is selected, then all the subsequent conditions must be true for a record to be returned in the search results. When ANY is selected, then any of the subsequent conditions may be true for a record to be returned in the search results. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

21 The first drop-down in the conditions is a field selector. Any field available on the current item may be selected. Fields available through a lookup to another record may be shown using the data view tool (covered in Section 5.3). The second drop-down is the operator (contains, equals, does not equal, etc.). Depending on the field type chosen, the operators update dynamically to provide the most relevant options. Finally, the third box represents the value that the field is being compared to. This is also dynamic depending on the field and operator chosen. New conditions may be added as needed by clicking. To create more powerful queries, conditions may be grouped together and nested beneath other conditions using the icon. In this case, I have built a query finding all matters that were opened May 1 st, 2017 through May 17 th, 2017 that are either missing a conflict check or an intake form. You can use the toggle below the query to search for inactive records as well. To save this query for future use, click Save. In the resulting dialogue, give the query a name and decide if it will be public (available to all users) or private (available only to the current user). The query name and availability may be changed later if necessary by clicking the Options button when editing the existing query. 4.3 Mass Updating Records After running a query (clicking search), the results appear in the left-hand search results bar. Items in this list are now available for mass editing. Click the pencil in the upper right corner of the search results, select the desired records (all, multiple or single records). Hovering over the Actions drop-down gives the following options: C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

22 Edit: Edit a single field on the selected records. This will open a dialogue to select the field and set it for all records or reset the field to empty. Link: Link the selected records to another item in Centerbase. This will open a dialogue allowing you to search for other Centerbase records to link the selected records. Set Active/Inactive: Set the selected records active or inactive. This option is great for a massive clean-up of the data. Security: Set the security of the selected records. Opens the security dialogue, allowing the user to set normal security settings. Delete: Deletes the selected records. Set Layout: Choose from a drop-down menu of available item form layouts and update all records to have that layout. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

23 5.0 Customizing Centerbase PC Client The PC Client houses many of Centerbase s administrative functions including user management, item management, data views, duplicate finder, etc. This section will outline the various functions available to you from the Centerbase PC Client. See legal.centerbase.com/downloads for download links and installation guides. 5.1 Manage Users User creation/deactivation, password resets and general security settings can be found under the Manage Users button. From the Admin tab, click the Manage Users button to receive the below dialogue. The Active Users section gives the current number of active users out of the total licensed users. To increase/decrease the threshold for total users, please contact Centerbase. Otherwise, activation and deactivation of users within the maximum limit is permitted to Administrators. Clicking New User creates a blank record to specify the Username, Password (twice) and Contact Full Name. Once everything is filled out, click Change Password to commit the new password, otherwise the password is not set and the new user will be unable to login. Deactivation of a user is as simple as clicking the Deactivate button, but note that once a user is deactivated, their login is no longer available for lookup searches (Time Entries Report, etc.). However, deactivation does not affect any record data, so the firm will still be able to bill time or see that that user created a record. Users can easily be made administrators, giving them access to all functions in Centerbase, by clicking the checkbox for Administrator. If the user should have elevated permissions but does not require administrator privileges, you may manage those from the Security Settings and Additional Permissions tabs. To manage billing rights (Generate Bills, Invoices grid, Reports, etc.) please contact Centerbase. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

24 The Security Settings tab allows you to set the default security for new items the user creates in general, or by item type by clicking. From here, you can set items as hidden, prevent creation and set security on a per item basis. From the Additional Permissions tab, you can grant users access to a myriad of other functions in Centerbase. The details of each available setting is below: 1. Import Data: Import data into Centerbase 2. Export Data: Export data from Centerbase 3. Perform Mail Merge: out of Centerbase (should apply to Everyone) 4. View User Activity: See what users have done over date range 5. Printing/Reporting: View/Print Reports 6. Customize Centerbase: Edit item forms, create fields 7. Manage Users: Add/Remove users, change passwords and permissions Finally, you can create user groups to apply permissions to a larger set of users using the Groups tab at the top of the dialogue. Users will adhere to the group setting, but a NO setting will always override a YES or Not-Set setting. Additional settings may be found in the web version of Centerbase and is described in further detail in section 2.5. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

25 5.2 Item Manager Everything in Centerbase is an item (i.e. Matters, Clients, Contacts, etc.) and the data on each item is called a field. Creation, deletion, re-naming, etc. of both items and fields are done from the Item Manager. The main menu displays all the items available in Centerbase. You may add new or delete items from the Item menu in the lower left-hand corner of the dialogue. Some items are protected system items and cannot be deleted, these items are generally hidden using the settings in the yellow section on the right-hand side. Double-clicking on an item brings up an additional dialogue, allowing the user to edit the item s information and fields. From here, you can edit the name of the item, turn on deletion tracking, set icons, and turn on auto-naming of records. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

26 Clicking the Fields tab lists the available fields, allowing you to edit, add or delete fields as necessary. Once again, some fields are protected system fields and cannot be deleted. Centerbase supports 9 different types of fields: 1. Text: Generic text field allowing alpha-numeric data. a. Allows for drop-down menu options. 2. Memo: Like a text field, but much larger in capacity and generally takes up more space on the item form. 3. Number: Field allowing numeric values only. a. Allows for drop-down menu options. b. Allows formulas. 4. Address: Standard address field with individual nested fields for Address Line 1, Address Line 2, City, State, Zip Code and Country. 5. Date/Date with Time: Standard date or date with time formats. 6. address: Supports addresses as clickable links to send s directly from Centerbase. 7. Phone: Standard phone field that will reformat numbers type as into (123) True/False: Boolean values showing as a checkbox in the Centerbase Web. 9. Lookup: Creates a clickable link to another record in Centerbase by providing a one-to-one relationship between one record and another. Lookups can point to any other field in Centerbase. Once a field is created, its type cannot be changed, so it is recommended that the field type is selected properly before data is entered. In the event a field needs to be deleted, all associated data will also be deleted. From the item relationships tab of this menu, holding CRTL + Shift + Alt then double-clicking the words Related item type will bring up a menu listing all the items and fields in Centerbase with their corresponding item/field type ID. These values are often required by Workflow. An alternative to this approach to find an item or field s Centerbase ID, would be to find the item in the Centerbase web version, right click on the desired field name and choose Inspect (Chrome web browser). The HTML reveals the Item ID Field ID for use in workflow. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

27 In this case, the Matter s field is , where 1001 represents the Matter item type, and represents the field. 5.3 Data Views The data view function in the Centerbase PC version allows users to set what fields are available when searching, importing, etc. in Centerbase. There are three sections to the Data View page: Item Type, Fields, and Preview. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

28 First select the item you are searching from in the drop-down menu. All available lookup fields on that item appear below followed by linked items (in the square brackets). Selecting the main item will show the fields available on that item in the Fields section. Fields can be shown by checking the checkbox next to the field or hidden by unchecking. In the above case, if I wanted to find contacts where the client had an address while searching, I would need to go to the Contact, then the Client lookup and make sure the address was selected. The added field will appear in green in the Preview pane with the following format: LookupField.FieldonLookup. 5.4 Find Duplicates See section 6.5 on Importing into Centerbase PC Client for a full description of the duplicate merge function. 5.5 Copy Map The copy map affects the Copy To function in the web version. When users are on a record (Client) and use the Copy To function to copy information onto a new record (matter), Centerbase uses the mapped fields in this function to know what fields to copy and where to copy them to. Select a Source (Client) and a Target (Matter). The Source column shows every field available on the selected item and the Target column shows the field on the target that they will be copied to. In this case, I would copy the Address field from the Client to the address field on the new Matter record. Only fields on the target record that are of an equivalent type will appear in the drop-down menu (can only copy address type fields into address type fields). This function can be very helpful to increase the speed of commonly created records. 5.6 Modification/Deletion Logs and User Activity Sometimes it is necessary to audit use of Centerbase. The PC Client offers three ways of doing this: Modification Log, Deletion Log and User Activity. The Modification log allows administrators to view who changed what and when. This list can be filtered by User and date range if necessary. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

29 The Deletion Log tracks who deleted what record, when, and is also filterable by User and Date range. Both logs are simple, yet powerful, and rely on settings in the item manager. To track modifications, the checkbox for Track Changes must be checked on a per field basis. To track deletions, the setting to Track Delete must be checked on a per item basis. The User Activity page provides a filterable view of Centerbase usage in both overview and detailed views. Set the date range desired and click refresh to view all activity for that date range. The top pane of the results shows activity by type and user with total counts. In the below case, we see that John Forbes has created 10 Clients so far in the year Clicking on the client s line item for John Forbes gives detailed list of every record (of type = Client) that John Forbes created in the date range. Clicking the filter button on the right allows the user to filter the results by user(s) and item(s) as desired. This menu is not available unless the Filter button is clicked. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

30 5.7 Mobile Settings and Set-up To connect to your Centerbase mobile app, complete the following steps: 1. Download the mobile app from the Apple Store or Google Play (searching Centerbase will find it easily enough!). 2. Input LawFirm123.centerbase.com/mobile in for the Server (you can leave off /mobile if using an iphone), leave the port blank and use your regular Centerbase credentials to login. 3. On first login, you will be asked to create a PIN for faster, secure access. Choose something you will remember. If you ever forget, just contact Centerbase Support to have it reset. The Admin tab of the PC Client also contains many of the settings for the Centerbase Mobile application. Clicking the Options button from the Admin tab gives a pop-up dialogue with 3 main sections: Item Types, Line Customization and Form Fields. The Item Types settings allows you to choose what items are available to users in the mobile app (matters, clients, etc.) by checking the corresponding checkbox. Once logged into the mobile app, users can manage what items show on their main taskbar (4 max, other live under the More tab). The List Customization allows you to set the Description Line (main record name in bold), subtitle fields (smaller grey text under Description line) and how the list sorts on a per item basis. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

31 Finally, the Form Fields section allows you to decide which fields show on each record and what order they appear in on a per item basis. 5.8 HTML Editor Templates The HTML Editor module in the PC Client allows users to create templates for mail merging. The mail merge function is available from any record in Centerbase, so there are multiple places where these templates are needed. One specific example would be ing invoices. Under the reports tab, click HTML Editor and a New Editor file will open. You can either open an existing template or create a new one. To create a new template, simply start typing the desired text. From the Insert menu, select Field to select the desired item type (matter, invoice, etc.). Once you have chosen an item, the editor will then present a list of all the fields available on that item. When the mail merge is run from a record, these are the fields that will be auto-filled by that record s data. Once the template is finished, File > Save As allows you to name the template, specify the subject line, sender name and address. If sender name and address are left blank, the template will use the current user s information (defined in the user settings). C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

32 These templates can always be revised as necessary by choosing File > Open. 5.9 Charts Homepage charts can offer many useful firm statistics at a glance with drill-down ability. Users can add pre-created charts to their homepage for immediate viewing upon login. These charts can be created for any item in Centerbase and can be thoroughly customized. The base of chart is the query. Centerbase recommends creating the query in the Centerbase web version and saving it before proceeding to the PC Client. Once in the PC Client, choose the Dashboard tab, right-click on any of the empty charts (you can get a fresh chart by right-clicking on an existing chart and choosing Remove) then New Chart. Give the chart a name, select the item type (the one you set the query up for already) and the query that you saved in the web version. Grouping may be done on any field available on that item. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

33 Click OK to close the chart editor, then right click on the Dashboard tab on the bottom of the screen to commit/save the chart. You can then access the chart from a user s homepage in the web version Query Builder Like the query builder in the web version, there is also a query builder in the PC Client. The best use case for this query builder is when users need to export data from Centerbase to Excel for further manipulation. For regularly run queries, Centerbase recommends building the query out in the web version, saving it, then running it from the PC Client because there are some additional query options available in the web version that are not available in the PC Client. To open a saved query, click the Reports tab, then Run Query. This will open a dialogue to choose the item type and saved query. Ad-hock queries can be built using the Query Builder option. Like the web version, you will select your item type, then set conditions based on fields available on the item. Conditions may be chained together by AND or OR operators and may be grouped to tailor the results (see section 4.2 Query Building in the Web Version). Once the query meets the necessary requirements, click Run to review the results. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

34 The PC Client will present the results in the Search section in a grid format. The general rule of thumb for exporting out of the PC Client is What you see is what you get as in the columns and sorting in Centerbase will be directly exported to the.csv file. Clicking column headers will sort the results by that column (ascending or descending) while choosing the icon allows the user to select what columns show in the results. Columns may also be dragged into the order desired. Once everything is ready for export, the user has two options for exporting to.csv: export all records or choose what records to export. Clicking the icon will export the entire search results to excel, while highlighting the desired records (SHIFT + CLICK and CRTL + CLICK rules apply to this grid), right clicking anywhere in the grid, selecting Actions then Export will only export the selected records. Centerbase will open a save dialogue to the local computer to allow the user to save a.csv. Said.csv file may then be opened with Excel and saved into any supported format or formatted as needed. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

35 6.0 Importing Client Data into Centerbase PC Client Import Tool Wherever your client s data comes from, there is a good likelihood that it is available in.csv format. Centerbase s built-in Import tool was built for.csv imports and gives a lot of flexibility for bringing in simple to complex data sets. Before you begin the process of importing the data, it is important to make sure the data is clean and in the format that you want it to be in Centerbase. It is also important to create all relevant fields (with their appropriate field type) that you will be importing for each item type. Here are some important considerations for ensuring a clean import: 1. Every column that you intend on importing, should have a column header to allow mapping it to Centerbase fields. 2. Try to always include a unique identifier for every record (alphanumeric). This helps with merging records if you must re-import additional or incorrect data. 3. Fields such as phone numbers or s should be formatted in the final format that you would like to see in Centerbase. i.e. if you want the phone to appear as (123) , it should be in that format. If you import , Centerbase will retain that format. 4. Boolean (True/False): Values should follow the following format true/false or 1/0 (blank defaults to 0). Y/N will not work. First, launch the Centerbase PC client, login using your Centerbase credentials, click the Centerbase icon in the upper left-hand corner then select Import. Note: you must have import privileges to use this tool. By default, administrators have this right. This will open the Import Wizard, which like any wizard, walks you through the process of importing step-by-step. You will first need to select a data source, which needs to be in.csv format. Browse for a local file or use one that you have previously uploaded (this is good when you have a large spreadsheet and need to reimport specific pieces again). In this example, we will import some contact data into our demo database. All imports are item specific, so you should set up imports separately for Clients, Matters, Contacts, etc. Do not retain multiple item types in a single.csv file. Find the file on your local computer and click Upload. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

36 6.1 Upload Data Once the file uploads, you will need to select how you would like to begin the import process. For your first import into a client database, we recommend using the third option: I would like to start from scratch and specify all the settings myself. 6.2 Mapping Fields The next step is to map each column in the spreadsheet to a field in Centerbase. First, right-click in the Centerbase Items column and select Add an Item. Select the item that you would like to import and click OK. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

37 The third column will then present all the fields available on that item (that s why we suggest that you input all the fields you will need ahead of time). You can, however, add fields to that item from this dialogue by right clicking anywhere in the third column and selecting Add Field. Once you are satisfied that Centerbase has all the fields you want to import, begin dragging the fields from the first column to their respective fields in the third column. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

38 The field names will become bold (in both columns) and the CSV field will show to the right of the Centerbase field once the field has been mapped. If you accidentally mis-map a field, you can right click on it and choose Clear Mappings for this Field to reset it to un-mapped status. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

39 Proceed to map as many fields as you need to import. If a field is not mapped to Centerbase, but is available in the spreadsheet, it will not be imported into Centerbase. Sometimes, you may need to hard-code a specific field in Centerbase. This can be done by right clicking on the field in the third column and selecting Specify Value. You will then be able to specify the exact value that you want all records in this import. Some fields that you import will be lookup fields, or a field on one record that links to another record (of the same or different item type). In this case, you can add it by right clicking on your main import item (middle column) and selecting Add a Linked Item. You will need to add linked items for every lookup field you plan to import into the record. In this case, I have chosen Client as I have some client lookups available in my spreadsheet. The linked item will show up below and offset to the right of the main item being imported. Selecting the Client item, the third column will present all the fields available on the client record. Similar drag and drop options apply here as well. 6.3 Specify Merge Settings Once you have mapped all the fields, click Next and you will be taken to the duplicate merge portion of the import. For your first import of an item, you will not need to complete any duplicate merging, but if this is additional data, you may want to merge duplicates to ensure you don t have multiple of the same record. Each time this tool is used, Centerbase creates brand new records for each row, so subsequent imports should always have some merging involved (unless it is only new records). You will need to select merging options for each item listed earlier (for me, I will need to complete it on Contacts and Clients) If available, merge based on the unique identifiers mentioned earlier. If you do not have a unique identifier, you may want to merge based on Name or something else that could be unique. There are 3 options for merging: 1. Create new and merge matches: This option should be used when you have a mixed set of data. You may be importing new records and may be updating current records. Any record where a duplicate is not found will receive a brand-new record. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

40 2. Merge matches only: Any record that does not have a corresponding duplicate will not be imported. Only records that match on all matching fields will be imported. 3. Ignore matches: Does not import records when there is already a duplicate found. Only new records will be imported. There is also a check-box for Import blank fields, which looks at the blank fields on the imported records. In the scenario where the box is checked, a field that is blank in the imported record (due to it being blank in the import file) will overwrite the corresponding field in the existing record even if that field has data in it. When unchecked, a blank value in the imported record will leave the data in the existing Centerbase record. Once you have everything the way you like it, you may choose to save the import. Click Settings in the lower left-hand corner of the wizard and click Save Settings. You can do this at any time during the import and is helpful in case you need to exit out at any point in time. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

41 6.4 Import When you are ready to import the data at last, click Validate. This will review the data you are importing for issues to ensure compatibility with the mapped field types. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

42 If there are issues with your data, the validator will return specifics for you to fix. Once validation passes, then you are ready to import! Click Import and the process will begin. You can cancel the import up until the importer moves to the Commit phase. At that point, the Cancel button will be unavailable. 6.5 Duplicate Merging Once the import is complete, the duplicate merge will be presented for each item you set up a merge on. Any record with a yellow icon already exists in the database. Any record with a red icon is a new record. In general, if you are updating previously imported records, you want there to be a 1-to-1 relationship between the new and existing records. This will ensure that you are not accidentally merging unintended records. If you are worried about the merge criteria, you can select Match Criteria in the lower left-hand corner of the Duplicates Workbench. Review the data for any potential issues. You may add additional fields to the grid by clicking the icon. If you find records that should not be merged for whatever reason, you may select those records and choose Not a Duplicate. Clicking OK in the lower right-hand corner will begin the merge. Be aware that the merge will overwrite the existing record data with the new import data. If there are records that need special attention, you may select them, right click and select Merge Wizard which will allow you to choose which fields are not overwritten. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

43 If there are other linked items that you are merging, another merge dialogue will open when this merge is complete. If, for whatever reason, you want to cancel this merge process and import, clicking Cancel will give you the option to choose whether to keep the imported records. You will most likely want to choose to Abort the import and remove all imported data from Centerbase. If you click the X in the upper right-hand corner of the Duplicates Workbench, Centerbase will default to Leave all imported contacts in Centerbase. 6.6 Importing in the Web Version For clients that regularly import data into Centerbase (i.e. Billing Entries for an outside counsel), Centerbase offers a web import tool. Clicking the gear in the upper right-hand corner of the web version, then Import will open the web Importer. From here, users can select previously configured and saved import templates (this must be done in the PC Client). Choosing a local.csv file and clicking import will begin the import process. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

44 7.0 Workflow & Triggers Centerbase s built-in Workflow engine is essential to speeding up mundane, day-to-day tasks and can be used to automate a wide assortment of actions including record creation/update, document merge, merge, activity creation, etc. The Workflow engine requires administrator access to manage, but can be available to all users or a subset of users by providing them with Customize Centerbase privileges (see section 5.1). Workflows are item specific but can access any records that are directly linked through a lookup on that record. One Workflow can kick-off another and then merge back together at a later stage. With such versatility, workflows tend to grow and expand, so Centerbase recommends having a specific plan in mind before building anything. A workflow has three tiers: Nodes, Actions and Commands. Each will be investigated below before putting everything together into a sample workflow. 7.1 Nodes Nodes are the back-bone of the workflow, giving structure and direction to the entire flow. There are 6 types of nodes: Start, Wait, Task, Condition, Merge and End. The most common are Start and Wait nodes, but each has its purpose. 1. Start: Every workflow must begin with a Start node. This is the only time that this type of node is used. 2. Wait: The most common node style, the Wait node is great for keeping the Workflow active while waiting for user actions or conditions to be met. 3. Task: Task nodes are specialized Wait node specific for creating and assigning tasks (Activities) and waiting for users to complete them. 4. Condition: Like a Wait node, but used more as a visual indicator of conditional commands. 5. Merge: Merges workflow back together after branching off into different directions 6. End: The End node ends the workflow and detaches the record from the workflow. End nodes are more common in Triggers where an action is completed and the Trigger ends. In Workflows, it is generally best practice to leave the record on a Wait node as user actions can be created to loop through the flow again. Once a record hits an end node it must be reattached to the workflow, unless the End node points to another workflow. 7.2 Actions Actions are nested beneath their corresponding node and can either be User Actions or Automatic Actions. When an action is kicked off, commands are executed and/or the workflow moves to another node. Actions can have a query that must be met to execute the action. Multiple Actions can be nested beneath a single node. Actions may also have Forms, or pop-up dialogues when the action is kicked-off that require the user to input or review information before moving forward in the Workflow. Any field on the current item can be used for forms, but the form cannot access other item fields through lookups. This means that sometimes Workflow specific fields must be created on one item to be used in the form and subsequently copied to another record. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

45 7.3 Commands Commands do the work that make workflows so powerful. There are 6 types of commands, which begin upon execution of their associated commands: 1. Create: Create a new record of any item type, set fields on that object and link to the main object. 2. Update: Update the current record or any record available through a lookup on the current matter (use the Data View function, section 5.3, in the PC Client to make fields available on the lookup record Send an using a pre-defined template (see the HTML editor, section 5.8) from an address to one or more addresses. 4. Mail Merge: Generate a document from a pre-defined template (see the Word Add-in, section 12.1), set a lookup to the new document and link said document to the main record. 5. Custom Code: Run custom code (created by Centerbase) to execute advanced functionality. 7.4 Workflow History Creating a Workflow for an item will make that Workflow accessible from any record of that item type. If the record existed before the workflow was created, then it will need to be manually attached to that Workflow. Select the button from the drop-down, then Attach to Workflow and then select the Workflow that it should be attached to. If the setting for Attach on Creation is turned on, then any subsequently created records will automatically attach to the workflow. When a record is attached to a Workflow, a new tab for Workflow History becomes available on the record (near the Related Items tab). This history will log any Workflows actions taken throughout the life of the record. This is helpful for diagnosing issues with your Workflow. 7.5 Workflow Use Case To show the general process for creating and managing a Workflow, we will create a sample Workflow in this section that will run through the Conflict Check process. To access Workflow, select the gear in the upper right-hand corner of the Centerbase web version, then select Workflow. From the Workflow homepage, you can review your current Workflows, what Item type they are associated to (Object Type) and if they are set to Run on Create. From here, select the Workflow you would like to edit or create a new one. In this case, we will create a new one. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

46 Click the New button and enter the information where applicable. The Object Type field should be the item type that you want the Workflow to run on. Selecting the checkbox for On Object Creation Run this Workflow? will make sure that any new records are automatically attached to the workflow. It is recommended that this checkbox is not checked until the workflow is complete and confirmed working. Click Create then click the name link to open the Workflow editor. The Workflow will start out blank, so the first thing that should be done (for all Workflows) is to create a Start node, a Wait node, and an action immediately moving from Start to Wait. I will also add an update command to set the Matter s status to Staged so that it doesn t have to be done manually. Click New Node and fill in at least the Type and Name fields then click Create. Do the same for the Wait node. To see any changes made, refresh the entire workflow browser page. Create the action to move from the Start node to the Wait node by clicking the gear next to the Start node then New Action. Enter a name and specify the Type as an Automatic Action. Set the To Node to the Wait node and click Save. In a similar fashion, I also added an update command to set the Matter status to Staged. Clicking the gear at the end of the Start Action we just created, select the New Update Command option. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

47 The resulting Update Command window allows you to set fields on the current item or any item linked through a lookup on the current item (i.e. either on the Matter or the Matter s Client through the Client lookup field). In this case, we will update the current Matter s Matter status field to be the text value of Staged. The workflow should now look something like this when fully expanded: Now we will work on the User Actions that will move the workflow forward in the process. Create a new node for Awaiting Attorney Conflict Check and a User Action on the Wait for initial Conflict Check node to allow the user to mark the conflict check as run and ready to send to the attorneys. On the user action, we will put an command to send a conflict check to the attorneys of the firm. The template we are using was built using the HTML editor (see section 5.8). In the Command editor, specify the template, the from which can be hard coded text as we have done, or it can use an address from the record. In this case, you would need the field ID of that field. Specify the To field, which we recommend sending to a distribution list to make maintenance easier and ensure it goes to all the appropriate recipients. We also put a command in to update the Matter status again to Conflict Check. Once the action is completed, the will be sent and the record will move to the next node in the Workflow: Awaiting Attorney Conflict Check. On this node, we will set up two additional user actions: Conflict Found Close, and No Conflict Found Open each with their own corresponding node. Each action will update the record to have the correct status depending on how the conflict check went. Additional actions and nodes may be added to the open and closed nodes to expand the workflow, or moving to the open node could kick-off a new workflow. The Workflow should now look something like this: C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

48 7.6 Triggers Triggers can be thought of as quick, one-step workflows (i.e. when this is true, then do this). Triggers generally begin with a Start node, complete an automatic action and go directly to an End node. There are exceptions to this rule, but the idea behind the trigger is to activate, complete its task and end without having the record go through an entire workflow. Triggers can occur on a record even while it is in a Workflow. When creating either a Trigger or a Workflow, you may need Centerbase s item or field IDs, see section 5.2 for instructions on getting this information. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

49 7.7 Trigger Use Case Triggers are accessed from the same Workflow editor page, but from the Triggers tab. Here, we will create a trigger to automatically update a contact s phone number with their corresponding Client s phone number upon creation. Create a Start and End node to begin with and add an automatic action from Start to End. The Action s trigger type should be set to ObjectCreation. Create an update command on the action to set the Contact s work phone to the Contact s, Client s Phone number. The resulting Trigger should look like the below. Remember, Triggers are meant to be quick, one-step actions that activate, do something and then end. Make these more powerful by adding queries. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

50 8.0 Practice Management Centerbase s background in CRM allows it the flexibility for many customizable practice management functions. In this section, we will cover some built-in practice management functions and some best practices for adding new functionality. 8.1 Calendaring Centerbase offers a built-in calendar module that allows for full firm shared calendaring. Users maintain their own calendars, but visibility is easy using the powerful filtering options. To access the calendar, click the Activity tab in the navigation bar. Offering the basic Day, Week and Month views, Centerbase also gives options for a side-by-side calendar comparison in the User Logins view. The List tab offers a listing of all activities in list format, while the Tasks view provides a to-do listing with pre-configured filters and grouping options. Every view in the calendar is subject to the filtering options selected by opening the Filter side panel. To change the activity filtering, click the grey arrow in the upper left-hand corner of the view. The Filters side panel will pull out offering three sections: 1. Type: a. Appointments: Only show activities that are marked as Appointments b. Tasks: Only show activities that are marked as Tasks C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

51 c. Both: Show both appointments and tasks (all activities) 2. Scheduled for: a. Current User: only see activities scheduled for the current user. b. All users: see all activities in Centerbase. c. Custom: Click the word Custom to open the custom dialogue. From here, a custom assortment of calendars may be chosen. 3. Also Show: a. Completed: Show any completed Centerbase tasks b. Inactive: Show any activities that have been set inactive c. Weekends: Show Saturday and Sunday in the Week or Month views. Activities may be created on the week or day views by clicking and dragging from the start to end time. Within the month view, double clicking on a day will create a new activity. Activities may also be created from anywhere in Centerbase by clicking the icon in the upper righthand corner. The added benefit of using this method is that the activity automatically becomes linked to the current record (i.e. if I am on a matter and click the new activity icon, the current matter will link to the activity without having to manually link it). C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

52 No matter how the new activity is created, the user will be taken to the New Activity page to enter pertinent information. The entire form is editable to show the fields and the firm wants to track, but here are some fields that are important to include: 1. Activity Subject: This subject shows on the calendar views. 2. Start Date/Time & End Date/Time: Set the start and end times for an appointment. 3. All Day Event: Allows the appointment to be set as an all-day event, which will show at the top of the calendar view. 4. Color: Drop-down menu allowing the user to select from the list of colors defined in the System Settings color section (see section 2.2). 5. Description: Further detailed description of the activity. Does not show in the calendar view. 6. Matter: Allows the activity to be linked to a matter in Centerbase. Centerbase supports multiple lookup fields like this in an activity. 7. Hide Details and Show As: Also, known as the Busy Setting. Checking this checkbox will hide the details of the activity from other users and show the selected label (i.e. Busy). Custom security is also set on this record to prevent others from opening the record and viewing the details. 8. Repeat: Recurring events may now be created using the button on the Activity Edit screen. Regular and custom occurrence patterns may be set in the dialogue. The Scheduled section on the bottom of the Activity record allows users to schedule the activity for other users or any other Centerbase record (matter, client, contact, document, etc.). The current user is automatically scheduled for the task but may be removed if the appointment is being created for another user. Adding another user is as easy as searching for the username in the text box. The drop-down menu allows the user to change the item to tag. Finally, if the user s Centerbase account is linked to Office 365, the activity can be automatically pushed to their O365 calendar upon creation. See section 12.5 for details on setting this up. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

53 8.2 Conflict Checks Conflict checking is an important part of running a law firm properly and Centerbase knows that it is important to ensure everyone takes necessary precautions to prevent conflicts. Due to its high degree of configurability, it may be difficult to know where to start building out a conflict check process, so we have put together a couple of our most popular and recommended options for designing one. Option 1: Conflict Check on Potential New Clients Some firms receive high volumes of call-ins for retainer requests and do not want to clutter up their contacts, clients and matters lists with people who do not end up retaining the firm s services. This is where the Potential New Client record comes in. When a potential client calls into discuss retaining the firm on a regular basis, the call-taker immediately creates a new PNC record to take down some basic information. The user will then run the conflict check from the PNC record, which will search all fields on the PNC against the Centerbase database, returning any potential conflicts. The user will then use WorkFlow to send a conflict check to the firm to request notification of potential conflicts. Depending on the response, the user will then either mark the Potential New Client as a Conflict and close the record or mark it as No Conflict and create a new client record. From the client record a new Matter may be created as needed. If the client is a returning client, then a new PNC record may be created to run against additional related parties and then a matter opened directly. Specific workflows may be built out to make this process smooth and effective. The benefit of using this process is that the firm may later review data on how often their firm retains call-ins and other related data without cluttering up the billable client data. The downside to this approach is that it requires users to track data that may or may not lead to a paying client. There is a definite trade-off between data and time that must be weighed before choosing this route. Option 2: Matter Conflict Check The second option entails opening a new matter and running the conflict check from the matter record. This option may work better for firms that receive fewer calls and have a higher retainer rate. It also includes using Centerbase voting records (which may be incorporated in option 1), which may be switched for ing. Upon receipt of a new case request, a new matter will be created with a status of Staged. All relevant data including contacts, parties, addresses, etc. will be input into the record. The user creating the case will then use the conflict check button to run an initial conflict check. Any potential conflict returns will be noted in the Conflict check notes memo box. Once the initial conflict check has been run, the matter stage will then be changed to Conflict Check using workflow, which will automatically create voting records for each partner. Partners will review the conflict check and vote on the matter noting whether they think there is a Conflict, No Conflict or Possible Conflict and their notes. Once all votes are in, the user who ran the conflict check will then review the votes, setting the matter status to Closed Conflict if a conflict is found. If there is no conflict, the matter status will be changed to Open and users may begin putting time against the matter. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

54 The benefits of this is that the process of creating the conflict check also creates the matter record, saving time. Option 3: Other The above two options may be combined or changed to fit the firm s needs since a conflict check may be run on any record. Once the conflict check process has been put into place, it is important to reach out to Centerbase to ensure that the correct records have the Conflict Check configuration and everything is functioning properly. 8.3 Referrals Many firms track referral sources for their clients to better understand how their business is making its way through the door. Using Workflow in conjunction with a few calculation fields, referrals and the income they bring in can easily be tracked. Depending on the firm, tracking referrals can start at the Potential New Client or the Client. For simplicity, we will start on the Client. Create a lookup field to a Contact on the Client item for Referred By. Upon creation of a new Client, users will link the referral source here. Since Centerbase relies on matter based billing, we really need the referral source on the matter, so users should create any new matters from the respective client either through workflow or the Copy-to function. In this case, we will use Copy-to to copy the necessary information from the Client into the Matter. Users will use the Copy-to menu when creating any matters for this client to ensure all necessary data transfers to the matter record. Now that we have the matter tracking the referral source, we can determine how much income that referral source has brought into the firm. On the Contact item, create a new number calculation field for Total Referral $. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

55 With this data in hand, you can then set up charts to display the data in a digestible format (see section 5.9). 8.4 Matter Budgets Tracking matter budgets is simple in Centerbase! Creating two fields and a quick trigger set you up with a self-tracking matter budget calculator. First, create a number field on the matter for Matter Budget, which users will enter when creating the matter. Next, create a number field for Invoiced + WIP to calculate the total amount invoiced to the client plus the open work-inprogress. Configure the field to have a calculation for the sum of all associated billing entries. Then create another number field for Remaining Budget. Configure the formula on this field to equal the Matter Budget field minus the Invoiced + WIP field. This field will tell us how much of the Matter Budget remains after we have billed all available work. In the figure below, we display the Matter Budget (entered by the user) and the Remaining Budget side by side. Using the Matter Dashboard (see section 11.1) we can confirm our calculation field is working because the Current Work-In- C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

56 Progress is $9, Total Billed of $4, Subtract the result from the Matter Budget and we get the Remaining Budget of $ C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

57 9.0 Billing in Centerbase Centerbase offers many flexible options for firms to tailor their billing experience to their individual needs. Hourly, LEDES, Flat Rate and Contingency are just a few examples of the billing types firms are currently doing with Centerbase. In this section, we will explore the different settings available and where to find them, the process for generating, finalizing and sending bills to clients and what options are available. 9.1 Billing Settings The top level, or default, settings are managed in the System Settings (see section 2.1 on the system setting page). Beneath those settings, there are billing settings on both the Client and Matter levels, which override the default settings when entering time. As the main billable item in Centerbase, Matters have 4 billing related settings tabs (2 of which also live on the Client level). These settings may be found at the bottom of the record, near the related items tab. Staff Rates (also available on Client level): Manage override rates for the corresponding matter (or client) on a per user level. Commissions: Directly feeds the Production and Origination Report, allows users to set origination percentages for 1 or more timekeepers as well as set Production splits for individual timekeepers. To set Production percentages, you will need to uncheck the Use Default Settings checkbox. Billing (also available on Client level): 1. Change payment auto-application settings for unapplied payments, unapplied credits, trust accounts (see section 2.1) 2. Set a Matter as Non-Billable: All new time entries will automatically be marked as Non-Billable 3. Change default invoice template 4. Set invoice ing settings to allow for bulk ing of invoices 5. Change default billing codes and what options are available for entering time (use LEDES codes? Use regular time codes?) C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

58 6. Show Actual vs. Billable hours on the timesheet to allow users to adjust entries as they work. Trust: 7. Manage matter level trust accounts 8. Create new trust accounts 9. Edit trust account settings including minimum balances, replenishment amounts and whether it should be shown on the invoice 9.2 Timekeeping Timekeeping is the first step in the billing process and is managed from the Billing tab > Time Sheet. The Time Sheet is broken down into three sections: Calendar, New Entry and Saved Entries. The Calendar allows you to navigate the dates to input your time on the correct date. Each day sums the days time entries; each week totals the hours for that week and the month totals all the time for that month. You can filter your time by all hours, billable or non-billable. The New Entry section allows you to create new time entries or edit saved entries. Fill in the fields as necessary and click Save to add to the Saved Entries below. If you are putting in multiple time entries, C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

59 with similar information, you can use the Save and Duplicate button to create a copy time entry for quick editing/addition. Save and Duplicate is not available after the time entry has been saved for the first time. Creating a new entry on the current date will allow the user to start a timer. The Saved Entries section shows all the time entries for the date selected in the Calendar. If you are inputting time for the current date, saved entries will also allow you to start and stop a timer for active timekeeping. The running timer will show on the top of the timekeeping page. If you would like to copy an entry from another date, click the gear on the right side of the entry and select Copy. This will create a new time entry with the same information for editing. Mobile Timekeeping Users may also enter time on their ios devices via the Centerbase Mobile application (see mobile settings in section 5.7 for more information on configuring the application). Users can enter their time and start timers directly from their mobile phone. All settings that apply to timekeeping in the Centerbase Web Version also apply to timekeeping in the mobile app. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

60 Time Entries Report Users may choose to review and manage their time entries on a regular basis from the Time Entries Report available from the Billing tab > Time Entries Report. This report may be filtered to show billed or unbilled time from a date range. To make review easier, users may turn on grouping of entries which groups the entries by client then matter. Clicking on the line item for the billing entry will open the billing entries dialogue, allowing users to edit entries that have not been put on a pre-bill or posted bill. The green flag denotes a billing entry that has been put on an invoice. 9.3 Bill Generation Before generating bills for the first time, users should define the billing profile(s) needed to properly bill their clients. To edit or create new profiles, choose the Edit Setting button from the Generate Bills page. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

61 The pop-up dialogue gives the following options: Setting Selection (1) If multiple profiles are available, select the desired profile from the settings drop-down. New profiles may be created and existing ones may be deleted (just make sure you have selected the right profile from the drop-down!!) Billing Date Range (2) This is the default date range that will be applied when the Generate Bills page is loaded or a new profile is loaded. However, this may be changed on and ad-hoc basis without editing the default setting. Query (3) This drop-down allows users to select a pre-defined matter query. The default is all active matters, but a new query may be created to filter a profile. One specific example would be creating a billing profile for a single Billing Attorney so that users can run that attorney s bills in a single batch. Statements (4) There are four major settings that determine whether a statement is generate. In Centerbase, we define a statement as an invoice without any current time/expense activity. 1. A/R Activity: A statement will be generated for a matter if a payment(s), credit(s) or refund(s) has been processed since the previous bill, regardless of A/R balance. One example would be a final bill showing that the matter has been paid off. Selecting the nested Limit activity option ensure only activity from the set date range creates a statement. 2. Trust Activity: Like A/R activity, but only generates a statement if a deposit(s), disbursement(s) or invoice payment(s) from trust have occurred regardless of current trust balance. 3. A/R Balance but no activity: Generates a statement if the matter currently has a non-zero A/R balance regardless of whether there has been any activity in the date range. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

62 4. Trust Balance but no activity: Generates a statement if any trust accounts (marked as show on invoice) currently have a balance regardless of recent trust activity. Sorting (5) Allows for 3 levels of sorting for bill generation. The bills will be created in this order and if Generate Printable PDF is selected on generation, it will use this sorting preference (Users may still sort by individual columns from the grid by clicking the column header without editing the default). When a billing profile is selected, it is important note that the grid will use the profile settings to filter and re-order the results. Users should review the results to ensure that the matters in the grid should, in fact, receive a bill. The columns available in the grid are configurable by the Centerbase team. Any field that is available on the matter or through a lookup on the matter (i.e. the matter s client s billing type) may be added as a column in the grid. To begin the billing process, select the desired billing profile from the Settings drop-down menu. Check the billing date range that you want to run bills for (which will adhere to the default of the profile unless manually changed). If any changes are made, the list will automatically reload the billable clients. If the list matches the clients that you want to bill, click the Select All checkbox then the green Generate Bills button. Not all bills must be run. Users can select multiple (multi-select rules apply) or select a single item to generate a bill for. The top portion of the resulting dialogue lists the matters that will receive bills. Set the Issue Date to the date that will show on the printed invoice. If you would like to automatically generate a printable PDF of the pre-bills, click the appropriate checkbox then Generate. The dialogue will provide progress percentages as it generates the pre-bill records and PDFs. Once this is complete, the generation process is complete. If the Generate Printable PDF checkbox was checked, a dialogue to download the PDF will pop-up. Some browsers block this pop-up the first time, so you may need to turn off the pop-up blocker for Centerbase, then grab the PDF from the Invoices page. If you have other profiles (i.e. other attorney groupings or if you generate invoices separate from statements) then you may proceed with generating those bills. 9.4 Bill Template Options Bill template configuration is currently only available to Centerbase. To have Centerbase begin the configuration of the invoice template, please provide an example of a current pre-bill and final bill. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

63 9.5 Bill Editing & Finalization Unlike some other billing systems, Centerbase creates invoice records during the bill generation process. These records may be found under the Billing > Invoices tab and are considered Pre-Bills because they have not gone through the posting process. This section will cover the process for taking a bill from prebill to a final bill ready for client distribution. Pre-Bills can have a different print template separate from the final bill template. At the very least, there should be a note clearly stating Pre-Bill, denoting that the bill is not ready to send to the client. Posted is a Boolean value that when false, marks an editable Pre-bill. If Posted is true, then the invoice is a final bill and cannot be edited. It is important to note here that Centerbase supports an additional invoice status text field which does not control the posting process. The additional Status field serves as a visual queue and can support many status values, but does not affect whether the invoice is Posted. Once attorney revisions are complete, and the user is ready to begin editing pre-bills, he or she will navigate to the Invoices page. There are 5 filters along the top of the Invoices page allowing the user to filter the results by Client, Matter, Issue Date, Posted and Balance. For example, if I wanted to see all the pre-bills I generated for this billing cycle, I would filter the Invoices grid by the following: 1. Issue Date: Set to the date you set for your pre-bill issue date. 2. Balance: Set to All to see any invoice with or without a balance and all statements 3. Posted: Set to Unposted (i.e. Pre-Bill) Sort the list by clicking the column headers. Invoice editing is done from the invoice record. Open the invoice record by clicking on the invoice number in the left column or right-clicking anywhere on the line item, which will provide an action menu: 1. Open: Takes the user to the invoice record that is selected. 2. Preview & Print: Opens print dialogue in the browser. 3. Download PDF: Allows the user to download a PDF of the invoice Uses the mail merge dialogue and default invoice template. 5. View Web Copy: Like Print, but provides an HTML view of the invoice (which can also be sent to a client as described in section 5.8) 6. Apply Payment: Create a new payment for this invoice. (see section 9.7) C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

64 7. Apply Credit: Create a new payment for this invoice 8. Payment/Credit History: Dialogue showing history of current invoice. 9. Sync to QuickBooks: If the QuickBooks Online integration is enabled (see section 12.4), manually sync the invoice with QBO. 10. Post Invoice: Posts the invoice, locking it down from editing. The invoices grid allows for multi-selection by clicking one invoice and dragging, Shift + Clicking a succession of invoices or by CRTL + Clicking multiple invoices. Some of the actions described above allow for multi-select, including: , Sync to QuickBooks and Post Invoice. Open the record by selecting Open from the action menu. Once the record has been opened clicking the pencil in the upper right-hand corner of the record allows the user many options for editing the invoice: 1. Editing Fields on the invoice record (i.e. issue date or attorney). 2. Editing information about individual billing entries (on the current invoice) from the grid. 3. Editing individual billing entries by the billing entry dialogue. 4. Holding back entries to be billed later. 5. Adding new entries to the current invoice. 6. Moving entries from the current invoice to another matter/invoice. 7. Adding existing entries to an invoice. 8. Applying discount percentage/amounts Editing fields (1) Editing fields (above the billing entry grid) is just like editing any other field in Centerbase. To save changes here, you will need to click the Save button. Editing the billing entry grid (2) Editing the billing entry grid is as simple as clicking on the field that you want to change and making the change directly. Entries may also be set to Non-Billable (show as no charge on the invoice) and Hidden (do not show on the printed invoice at all, requires Non-Billable to also be checked). Changes are not committed until the invoice is saved. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

65 Editing a Single Billing Entry (3) Clicking the icon in the billing entry grid will open the billing entry dialogue for editing. Making changes in this dialogue and clicking Save will commit the changes without saving the entire invoice. You can also delete billing entries from this dialogue. Do not click the delete icon unless you want to permanently delete an entry. Holding Back Billing Entries (4) To hold back an entry from the current invoice and save it for later, simply click the icon in the grid next to the billing entry you want to remove. Unlike the Delete button mentioned earlier, this does not delete the entry, but removes it from the current invoice so that it can be billed later. Adding New Entries from the Grid (5) Clicking the icon creates an empty row in the billing entry grid to add a new billing entry to the invoice. Users can start on the matter column and tab over as they enter data to speed up entry. Moving Entries to another Matter/Invoice (6) Selecting one or more billing entries (multi-select rules apply) and choosing the allows the user to move billing entries to another matter and/or invoice. The resulting dialogue allows the user to search for an invoice number or a matter. If a matter is chosen, then the user may to select which invoice to move the billing entry to (un-posted invoices only) or choose to leave it as un-billed on the matter. In some cases, a timekeeper has not completed entering their time and expense for the current billing period and an invoice has already been run for that matter. Once the timekeeper finishes inputting their time, the billing administrator may Add Existing Entries to an invoice by clicking Current Actions from the invoice record, then Add Existing Entries. The resulting dialogue shows all entries on the current invoice and any billing entries that match the set criteria. The filter will default to the current matter and date range for the invoice, C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

66 but these filters may be changed to find the entries the user is looking for. Entries from other matters (change the matter in the unbilled section) or unposted invoices (find Entries that are Billed) may be pulled onto the invoice if necessary. Clicking the green plus next to the entry will move it to the invoice, while clicking the red x will remove it from the current invoice. Finally, users can add a Discount to the invoice to adjust the overall total that the client sees. Discounts may be applied by percentage of the total or by amount. This discount generally appears on the final invoice as a Discount line item unless otherwise specified by the client. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

67 Flat Rate Some firms bill their clients at a Flat Rate for services rendered, so to convert to an invoice to flat rate, users should click the Current Action button on the invoice, then Manage Invoice Flat Rate. This will open a dialogue allowing the user to set a fee total for the invoice. If there are expenses on the invoice, then those will be added to the final total listed under Adjusted Invoice Total. If the checkbox for Use Summary Invoice is checked, then the printed invoice will show a single line item for the time and another for the expense(s). If left unchecked, then the invoice will show all the billing entries with a final adjustment line item applied. To Edit or Revert and invoice to its original state, select Manage Flat Rate again. Then either update the amounts and Re-Convert or choose Revert the settings to the original invoice. Posting Once revisions are completed the user will approve the invoice and Post it. This process marks that the bill is complete and ready to be sent to the client and locks the invoice from further editing. Depending on preferences, posting may be done on a per invoice basis by clicking the green Current Actions button then Post Invoice, or mass post by going to the invoices grid to select multiple invoices, right-clicking and selecting Post. Either way, a posting dialogue will appear giving the user one more chance to set the Issue Date, Status, and Invoice Template. This dialogue also gives the user the chance to automatically apply payments (adheres to the default, Client or Matter level billing settings on auto-applied payments, see section 2.1) and sync the payment and invoice with QuickBooks Online (if that integration is enabled). Finally, this dialogue also gives the user the chance to decide whether to post a payment on that invoice (this will be explored in the upcoming section on payment management). A posted invoice is built off a different template that no longer includes the Pre-Bill note and has the final settings that the client should see. Once an invoice is posted, no revisions can be made as the bill is ready to be sent to the client. In the case that revisions do need to be made, a user may un-post the invoice, make the necessary revisions and post again. If the invoice was sent to the client in its previous form, it is best practice to send the client the invoice again so all records match. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

68 9.6 Final Bill Distribution Centerbase offers multiple ways to send final invoices to clients: 1. Mail: a. Mass PDF generation and printing b. Single PDF generation and printing 2. a. Live Web link (bulk and single) b. PDF Invoice Mass Printing From the Invoices grid, users may select any combination of invoices (multi-select rules apply in this grid), then click Generate Printable PDF. This process does three things: creates individual PDFs for each invoice, links the document to the invoice record, then merges all the documents into a single PDF. Users may continue using Centerbase while the PDF generation takes place as the process runs in the background. Once the generation is complete, a green success notification will pop-up on the user s session alerting them of the completed PDF generation. Returning to the Invoices grid, a new button for will have appeared. Clicking this button will bring up the standard Windows save dialogue box allowing the user to save the PDF to their computer, at which point the user may open and print all their invoices at once. Single Invoice Printing Users may also print individual invoices either from the grid or the invoice record. From the Invoices grid, right-clicking an invoice gives an action menu to either Print and Preview (which will open another tab for printing) or download PDF (which will begin the download of the PDF immediately). From the invoice record, selecting the Current Actions button, then Print or Web Copy will allow the user to print the invoice. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

69 Live Web Copy ing Alternatively, users may send bills by through their own or using Centerbase s servers. In section 5.8, we cover building out the templates for mail merges. Using that information to build out or update the invoice template, users can send a live link of the client s invoice using Centerbase s mail merge functionality. Navigate to the invoices grid, right click on the invoice to be ed and select . This action may also be completed from the invoice record by clicking the Current Actions button, then . To expedite the sending of invoices via , users may set up the default recipient address(es) on the Client or Matter level under the Billing Tab. Defining the Recipients section will auto-populate the To line in the dialogue. This textbox supports multiple recipients separated by semi-colon or line break. addresses may be entered as only (mike@centerbase.com) or name and (Mike McDonald <mike@centerbase.com>). If the client receives their invoice via Centerbase using a live web link (as described above) then they will be able to see any changes and updates (payments, credits, adjustments, etc.) as they happen. If integrated, they will also be able to pay their bill using Stripe online credit card processing. See section 12.3 for details on the Stripe integration. Selecting the checkbox for Use Client Settings will have the dialogue default to the Client settings for the To line. The Invoice checkbox provides a visual indicator on the invoice grid that the invoice should be sent via (this column can be added by Centerbase). C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

70 The From line is defined in the User Settings (or the System Settings if administrator). This is the address that the recipient will see and respond to. Users may also set up an HTML signature line for any sent from Centerbase (See section 2.6). It is important to note that ing out of Centerbase will not put the in the user s mail client outbox (i.e. Outlook). If the user selects multiple invoices from the invoice grid, right-clicks then , the same dialogue will appear with Multiple Recipients in the To line. Upon sending the , Centerbase will complete individual mail merges for each record. Note: ing multiple invoices simultaneously out of Centerbase does not currently support error logging, so users should only complete mass ing for matters that have the recipients predefined. ing PDF through Centerbase If the user prefers to send PDF copies of the invoice, then this may also be done on a single invoice basis by selecting , then either CB Attach or Attachments. will open a Centerbase dialogue to allow the user to send a document from Centerbase. It will automatically filter the results by only those items directly linked to the current record. Users may then select the generated PDF (they would have had to run the Generate Printable PDF function for this record to be available) and attach it to the . Files from the local computer may be attached using the button. Invoice through Personal Mail Client Finally, users may send the invoice PDF via their personal by navigating to the invoice record, selecting Current Actions, then Download PDF. Once downloaded, the PDF may be accessed through the chosen mail client and sent from there. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

71 LEDES Billing For electronic or LEDES billing, Centerbase offers the ability to easily generate the.dat or.txt files necessary to properly submit online. Centerbase currently must configure the template(s) and requests at least one accepted example of each template. Users may create a LEDES invoice for any invoice in Centerbase by clicking the Current Actions button on the invoice record, then LEDES File. If more than one template is available, they will also need to select which template to use. This action may also be done in bulk from the invoices grid by selecting multiple invoices, then in the upper right hand corner. This will download individual LEDES files to the user s local computer for submission to the online vendor. 9.7 Payment Management Entering client payments is quick and easy in Centerbase. Here are four different ways to complete the task: 1. Enter Payment quick link on the homepage: An icon on the homepage which directly opens the payment dialogue for quick and easy entry. This method does not auto-fill any information, but will show open invoices once a clinet/matter is selected. 2. Add Payment from the Invoice record: Search for invoice number via the global search, open the record, click Current Actions, then Add Payment. This method will auto-fill the Client and Matter information, showing any other open invoices for that client. 3. Apply Payment from the Invoice grid: Find the invoice in the Invoices grid, right-click and choose Apply Payment. This method will auto-fill the Client and Matter information, showing any other open invoices for that client. 4. Trust Account: Perfect for family law or any firm where all money is deposited into trust, then invoices are paid from trust (see the next section for managing this payment method). Entering a payment from any of the above methods will open the payment dialogue. Payments may be made at the client level, where the payment is applied across the invoices from multiple matters of the same client. Payments may also be made at the matter level and broken across single or multiple invoices for that single matter. Centerbase manages payments (and credits) by creating a top-level payment record, then a payment distribution for each invoice the payment is applied. In the below example, we are making a client level payment for Albert Fredericks of $1, We then distribute the payment across two invoices C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

72 creating two payment distributions. The top-level payment is for $1, and there are two associated payment distributions for $ and $ Payment Information Entry (1) Starting at the top of the dialogue, we first enter information about the payment. Entering the Client filters the Matter lookup to only show those matters associated with that client. Choosing a matter will filter section 2 to only show invoices associated with that matter. Centerbase also allows the user to select All Matters which shows all open invoices for any matter associated with the selected client. The first date setting applies to the payment and is used by the payments report (only), which is useful for reconciling bank deposits. Since Centerbase allows a payment to be distributed to invoices on different dates, the payment date is not used for any other standard reports. Distributing the Payment (2) Once the payment information is filled out, the user may check the top checkbox in Section 2, to autodistribute the entire amount. Centerbase pays the oldest invoice first, then works to the more recent invoices until there is either no more money to distribute or invoices with open balances. Alternatively, C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

73 users may manually distribute the amount to each invoice by checking the corresponding box and adjusting the distribution amount as necessary. Payment Distribution Date (3) Section 3 refers to the column for the Payment Distribution date which feeds Centerbase s standard reports that deal with income (Production and Origination, Fee Receipts, Timekeeper Analysis, etc.). Ensuring these dates are correct is important as setting the date incorrectly could report totals (i.e. a check comes in 05/31, but doesn t get entered until 06/01. If the user sets the payment date to 05/31 but forgets to update the distribution date, the distribution will show on 06/01). Payment Allocations (4) The column shown in section 4 allows the user to change how the payment distribution allocates to fees and expenses on the invoice. Users may edit allocations until the Closing Date has passed (see section 2.1 on system settings). Clicking the edit button for a payment distribution will open another dialogue providing details on how the distribution is allocated. The default will be to auto-allocate (do not have to click the Allocation Edit button for auto-allocation), which will pay off expenses then fees. Allocations are applied proportionally to the value of the expense code or timekeeper, until the amoujt is fully allocated. In this case, the balance of the expenses is $0 (as they are marked non-billabel), so all of the allocations apply to John and Rob s time evenly based on how much they worked on that invoice. Unapplied Amounts (5) If there is any money left over from the payment that could not be applied to an invoice, then the final balance will show in section 5 as an Unapplied amount. This money may be applied to the client, matter or a trust account. Moving the money to the client allows that balance to be applied to any open invoice for that client. Applying the balance to the matter only allows the amount to be applied to open invoices for that matter. Transferring to trust creates a trust deposit, moving that money directly into trust. If there are multiple trust accounts for the matter, then a trust account must be selected. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

74 Payments on Printed Invoices Once payments are created, they will show on the printed copy of the invoice that they pay. If the invoice template shows previous balances, then the payment will also show on the subsequent invoice. For example, if an invoice for March time is posted with an issue date of 03/31, and a payment comes in for that invoice on 04/15. That payment will show on both the 03/31 and 04/30 invoices. In the case of the March invoice, it will show as being applied to the invoice balance, while on the April invoice it will show as being applied to the previous balance (from the March invoice). Once the payment shows on the subsequent invoice (must be posted), Centerbase locks it down from further editing. This functionality is to prevent discrepancies between the invoice in the client s hand and the invoice in Centerbase. If the payment must be moved, the subsequent (April) invoice may be un-posted to unlock the payment distribution. If a payment does not belong on an invoice for whatever reason (i.e. the invoice had to be un-posted and it picked up a more recent payment that should show on the next invoice), then users should use the Transactions to Post function on the Post Invoice dialogue to de-select that payment. This function should always be checked when reposting past invoices. Credits Firms routinely write off money that will not be paid by a client, so the credit function is available for writing off billed dollars without counting them as income. The credit dialogue is very like the payments dialogue and all functions apply in the same way. 9.8 Trust Account Management Centerbase manages trust accounting by matter, offering the ability to create multiple trusts for a single matter. The Trust Account Center may be accessed via the Trust Account quick link on the homepage or from the Billing tab > Trust Account. The Trust Account Center shows all transactions in/out of trust with an account summary from the last 30 days. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

75 Nearly all trust related transactions can be initiated from the Trust Account page including: Deposit Funds: Creates a credit transaction on the trust account. Users must input the matter and trust account to deposit into. Apply to Invoice: Initiate a debit from the trust account to pay an invoice. This creates 1 transaction out of the designated trust account and a payment to the chosen invoice. The Trust Account must be selected from the Type drop-down menu. Funds may only be applied to invoices for the matter that the trust account belongs. Disburse: Creates a debit transaction from the trust account. This transaction is intended for payments to third parties. Refund: Like a disburse transaction, creates debit transaction from the trust account. This transaction is intended to return trust funds to the client. Transfer: Creates a debit transaction from one trust account and a credit transaction into another to move money between accounts. Since trust accounts are managed at the Matter level, users should navigate to the matter record to change any settings. Creating a matter also creates a corresponding trust account. While in edit mode on the matter record, select the Trust tab to see a listing of the associated trust accounts. Trust accounts are automatically named to match the matter name, but clicking on the trust account opens a dialogue allowing the user to edit it. From here users can set account specific settings that override the default settings. See section 2.1 for Replenishment Level and Minimum Balance setting definitions. Not all trust accounts should show on every invoice, so Centerbase allows certain accounts to be hidden from the invoice. Generally, the Show on Invoice checkbox should be checked, but there are cases where it should be hidden until a certain point in the case. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

76 Upon invoice posting, Centerbase can automatically create an Apply to Invoice debit transaction from trust to pay the invoice. The Billing tab on the matter provides a drop-down menu for the user to select which trust account (if any) are used to automatically pay invoices. If this setting is turned on and the account has funds available, then the pre-bill will show a line item in both the Payments section of the invoice and the Trust Account section of the invoice for Auto-applied Trust Payment. The transaction is not actually created until the invoice is posted. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

77 10.0 Document Management Centerbase document management makes getting to your documents from the Cloud simple and fast with an easy, non-disruptive migration process and multiple access methods to get to your documents no matter where you are. This section will explore the process that Centerbase takes to import documents to our servers and how you will be able to access the documents once the migration is complete Conversion Process To begin the conversion process, Centerbase needs virtual access to the document server to ascertain the set-up and compatibility of the current data structure in preparation for migration. Once access has been granted and the migration is scheduled, we deliver a hard drive large enough to download all the documents for the migration. When the documents have been copied, we will pick the hard drive back up and deliver it to our servers for upload. During the upload process, the files are scanned for malware and viruses that could cause data corruption. Any files with issues will not be copied onto the server and will be reported to the client. Once the upload is complete, we will link them to the client s Centerbase instance and match folders that can be matched to their corresponding Centerbase records. Centerbase can match document folders to Clients/Matters by matching any number of fields on the matter to the document folder name (i.e. Matter name, Matter #, etc.). If a direct link between the folder name and Centerbase cannot be established, then the two will not be linked, resulting in documents not showing under their associated records. Access methods 2 and 3 will retain the firm s current folder structure though. A clean-up of folder naming convention or a table of folder to matter relationship will need to be completed before the documents are imported into Centerbase s servers Document Access Methods Clients will be able to access their document via 4 methods: 1. Centerbase Web Application: Documents Search, File Explorer or under linked record (i.e. Matter). 2. Mapped Network Drive: PC only, Direct mapping of folder which mimics current document management solution folder structure. 3. Mobile Application: Android and ios Access through the Centerbase Web Application Users may access documents within the Centerbase web application through various methods including from the Document search page, integrated File Explorer or from a linked object. Finding documents in Centerbase is now easy with the advanced Document Search page. Use advanced search operators to find the exact documents you want, or simply input a few terms in the name of the files to quickly find what you are looking for. Like a Google search, results are ranked by how closely they match your search criteria. Use the below operators to refine your search: C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

78 - Use + to signify that the document name must include the subsequent word - Use to signify that the document name must NOT include the subsequent word - Use quotes around a group of words to signify that the phrase in quotes should be in the document name Centerbase can help customize your filters along the left-hand side to further narrow your results. Fields on the document are available for filtering, so if you track certain things like category for each document, then you can use that as a filter. Instead of downloading every file to until you find the right one, simply click the page icon on the lefthand side of the returned document result to pull open a web view of the document. If the document is the one you are looking for, then click the name and save it to your computer. This page also includes a tab to quickly switch to the stand-alone file explorer described below. The online file explorer (AKA Cloud Drive) has now been integrated into the Centerbase web version, so there is no longer a need to navigate to another URL to get to your documents online. From the File Explorer link on the navigation bar, you can directly access the folder structure you are used to seeing from your web browser! Just like any other file explorer, you can navigate through your folders until you find the document you are looking for. You also have folder searching functionality in the upper right-hand corner to quickly find a document or folder that you are looking for. Copy/Paste, move, upload/download are all available from this page. The Cloud drive has also been integrated into items within Centerbase. Instead of searching through a grid in the related items tab of the record, you can now opt to turn on the file explorer (Documents) tab for that item. If that record is linked to a folder in your document structure, then that folder will automatically open for you to reveal its folder structure. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

79 Access through a Mapped Network Drive For users who prefer to access their documents via mapped drive (like their current solution) Centerbase offers the WebDAV Mapped Drive solution. This access method retains the expected folder structure inherited from the current solution for PC users. The drive may be mapped directly using the built-in Windows function shown here. Right-click on This PC in the file explorer and select Map a Network Drive. Entering for the folder where LawFirm123 is the client s specific Centerbase address and the user s valid Centerbase credentials will map the drive to the local file explorer. Users can choose to rename the drive once it has been successfully mapped. Documents then appear in their associated Client/Matter folder as imported. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

80 Centerbase Mobile App The final access method is through the Centerbase Mobile App. See section 5.7 for configuration of the mobile application. If documents are shown as a linked item for the viewed item, then all associated documents will be accessible from the phone. Note: Some files may not be compatible with the phone s operating system, but both Word and PDF filed shouldn t have any issue loading Reporting 11.1 Record Specific Reports Client Ledger The Client Ledger is a running list of all A/R related transactions related to the current client. From the Client record, select Current Actions, then Client Ledger. This will open a side-panel on the right of the record. Any Payment, Credit or Invoice will show in this view, totaling to the Client s current A/R balance (which can be corroborated by the A/R report in Client view). Clicking in the Type column will open the record of the line item selected (i.e. Clicking on the word Invoice in the first line will open that invoice). C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

81 Matter Ledger Like the Client ledger, the Matter ledger provides a running list of all A/R related transactions, but for a single matter. Matter Dashboard The Matter Dashboard offers many financial statistics of the current matter record including work-inprogress, billed and paid totals. Access the report from the matter, then click Current Actions and Matter Dashboard. Like the ledgers, a side-panel window will open providing context-specific financial statistics. Current Trust Balance: Provides the balance of the default Trust Account Current Work-in-progress: Sum of all the unbilled billing entries for a matter broken into fees and expenses. Current Trust Current Work-in-progress: Difference between the balance of the default Trust Account and the Current Work-in-progress. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

82 The items below the bold line adhere to the Billing Date Range, which defaults to all days, but can be filtered down to a specific date range. Total Billed: Total invoiced (pre-bill or final bill) amount broken into fees and expenses. Total Paid: Total payments received broken into fees, expenses and unapplied. Total Credited: Total credits created for the matter broken into fees, expenses and unapplied. Total Adjustments: Difference between Actual Hours worked and Billable Hours worked and summed for the matter. Total Refunded: Total value of refunds created for the matter. Invoice Payment/Credit History From the invoice, users can access a running listing of payments and credits applied. This view gives the users an overview of what has happened to the invoice and allows them to make changes Report Center: Production and Origination: Report based on payment allocations broken down by Originator then timekeeper. Viewable in detail and summary views. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

83 Aged A/R: Open Account Receivable broken down by client or matter. Shows A/R grouped by age of invoice (with balances), date ranges are configurable. May also be viewed in detail mode where each balance may be expanded to show line items adding up to the total. Timekeeper Analysis: Hours worked and invoiced with corresponding $ value broken down by timekeeper with total fees received (not allocations) and unbilled hours/amount. Moth to date uses date range at top of report and Year to Date uses end date at top of the report. Fee Receipt: Fees received broken down by originating staff then timekeeping staff. Monthly Productivity: Month over Month view of hours worked by timekeeper, with Total, Billable and Non-Billable totals per month. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

84 Expenses: Expense listing report grouped by Client. Can be run for expenses Entered, Billed or paid in a certain date range Reports Manager The Reports Manager section in the System Settings has two sections: Tabs and Reports. Tabs allows the user to update the configuration of the Reports Center, i.e. what tabs are available and rearrange the order of the reports within the tab. New reports may be added to a tab during the report creation process. Users may select current reports from the drop-down menu on the Reports page and may edit reports that were built using the Report Manager (Note: some reports are not editable from this page as they are standard reports, examples would be Aged A/R, Production and Origination and Timekeeper Analysis). Creating a new report entails two actions: 1. Develop 2 stored procedures to obtain and filter the data. 2. Create a New Report from the Reports Manager C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

85 For step 1, 2 stored procedures must be written to gather and filter the data associated with the report. Centerbase can either develop the procedures or provide you with a database back-up for you to write your own. Either way, Centerbase will need to review the stored procedures and add them to the corresponding database. From the Reports Manager, select the button in the upper right-hand corner of the page. From the details page, name the report, add it to one of the existing tabs and give it a summary to show in the reports center. There are 3 options available for creating a new report, but the custom option is the only one that is currently available. Custom reports require a stored procedure name, which will be provided by Centerbase upon upload to the database, and must match exactly. From the Report Level tab, users may define Report Headers and Footers using text or HTML. Additional Page headers/footers may be defined on the Page Level Tab. Define the columns shown in the report on the Columns Tab. Label (text), Data Type (drop-down selector for the type of data that will be shown in that column) and Name (specific name of the value returned in the stored procedure) are required. Additional formatting may be applied using the other options. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

86 Group the data returned in the stored procedure using the Groups Tab. Multiple levels of grouping may be applied and users may choose whether the underlying data is rolled into a single line for the group or each composite record is shown. The printing tab allows users to decide what is printed with the report (filters and/or summary). The images tab is not currently operable but will allow the user to upload a thumbnail of the report to be shown in the Reports Center. Currently, Centerbase will need to upload a thumbnail image for each new report. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

87 12.0 Integrations 12.1 Microsoft Word Add-in Like the merge, users can create document merge templates to pull data from a Centerbase record and place it into a templatized Microsoft Word file. The Word Add-in may be downloaded from Legal.Centerbase.com/Downloads. Once downloaded, an install wizard will walk the user through installing the add-in. Upon completion of installation, a new tab for Centerbase should appear in the user s installation of Word. On first use, the user should click the Settings button under the Centerbase tab and login using their Centerbase credentials. The Word Add-in has two main functions: Direct access to Centerbase documents and document merge template creation. Access Centerbase Documents Documents stored in Centerbase may be directly accessed from Word by clicking the Open Document button then searching for the linked record (i.e. the matter name). Once opened from Centerbase, users can make exits then click the Save Document button to save the file back to its location in Centerbase without having to save to their local computer and re-upload to Centerbase. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

88 New documents and revisions may be saved to Centerbase using the Save As Document function. If the document already existed in Centerbase, then the revision will automatically increment. If it is a new document, then the user will need to specify which record in Centerbase to link the document. Add Time for Document Creation Users can also add time from this dialogue by filling out the lower half after checking the box for Add billing for this document?. The same information is required here as is required in the time sheet. Upon Save, the document revision will be pushed to Centerbase and a new billing entry for the set user will be created for the current date. Merge Template Creation and Management To take advantage of the document merge function, users may also use the Word add-in to create document merge templates. Users may either start with a new blank document or a current internal template document. The add-in does not restrict formatting, so the template should be built to its final condition including the merge fields. The merge template must be linked to a Centerbase Item (matter, contact, etc.), which may be done by clicking the Select Item Type First button. Any item in Centerbase can have a merge template, but that template is tied to the item chosen here since the merge fields will be item specific (i.e. contact merge templates are not available from a matter record). Once an item type has been chosen, the button changes to Insert <Item Type> Field and the drop-down list pulls in all fields available on the selected item type. Selecting a field will place it in the template in the following format <<Field Name>> to denote that it is a merge code instead of regular text. These merge codes may also be formatted (Bolded, Italicized, etc.). Build out the document, formatted as desired, replacing personal or identifiable information with merge codes. Once the template is complete, selecting Save As Template will create a new merge template for the corresponding item (available from the web interface). C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

89 Revisions may be added from the resulting dialogue as well. Give the template a name and a section (free text or drop-down selection). This template is now available from the corresponding item (in this case a matter record). Merging a New Document Back in the Centerbase Web version, navigate to the desired record, click the Current Actions button, then Document Merge. The templates grouped by section will show on the right-hand side of the resulting dialogue. Select the template and click Save to run the document merge. Users may choose to download and/or link the newly merged document. Checking the Download checkbox will open a dialogue to save the document to the user s computer without saving it to Centerbase. This may be helpful if further editing must be completed before finalization. Checking the Link checkbox will upload the document to Centerbase and not download it to the user s computer. The document will appear as a linked document (Related Items) under the record it was created from. These checkboxes may be used alone or together Outlook Desktop Add-in Tagging Centerbase offers an integration with the desktop version of Outlook that works for Office 2010 and This may be downloaded from legal.centerbase.com/downloads and is part of the Centerbase PC Client installation (Option 2). Once the Outlook Add-in is installed and Outlook is relaunched, the user s Outlook instance should have a tab for Add-ins. Click CB Properties to login. Enter your Centerbase credentials and web address. Once logged in users can configure their own settings. Auto-Attach settings will use the sender s address on incoming mail and the recipient s address on outgoing to automatically upload and link the to a Centerbase record. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

90 For the auto-attach or regular attach to find the associated record, the address of the sender or recipient must be in Centerbase on the record that the user wants to attach the . For example, if an comes in from and I want to attach the to matter Mike McDonald 312, the address would need to be located on the matter record as an field or on a contact that is linked to the Mike McDonald 312 matter through a lookup field. If this is not the case, then the Outlook add-in will not automatically find the record to attach the . The settings for what items may be attached from linked items reside under the Options tab in the CB Properties dialogue. If Mike is linked to the matter through a lookup (Client Contact) and support@centerbase.com was set as his address, then we would want the Contacts and Matters checkboxes checked. If not using the auto-attach setting, users may link single or multiple s to a record in Centerbase by selecting Attach to. If the resulting dialogue returns no matches, they may complete an advanced search to find the desired record and attach the Stripe Centerbase s Stripe integration makes it easy for firms to start receiving credit card payments for their invoices. Users can easily set up a Stripe account (pricing may be found here: and then connect it to Centerbase through the System Settings by clicking the button. Once the accounts are connected, users may begin receiving credit card payments. Stripe may be tested in Test Mode, but should be changed to Live Mode when the client is ready to begin receiving payments. A company name and Logo may also be added from this page. These will show on the Stripe dialogue accessed from the invoice web copy. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

91 If a client calls in to pay by credit card, then the user would navigate to the invoice that was being paid, open the web copy view of the invoice, select Pay By Card and enter the credit card information through Stripe s secure integration. Centerbase does not store the credit card information at any point during the process. If the client sends invoices by the live link option (see section 5.8), then their clients also have the option to enter their credit card information directly without needing to contact the firm. Note: the Centerbase Stripe integration only currently allows for single invoice payments, so the user may only pay up to the total of the current invoice QuickBooks Online For integrated accounting, Centerbase offers direct integration with QuickBooks Online through their API. Integration with QBO requires a few steps and some consideration to how the client will manage their data in QBO vs. Centerbase. Connecting to QuickBooks Online If the client has an existing account with QuickBooks Online, then they may connect it to Centerbase through the System Settings > QuickBooks page. Clicking icon opens an external QuickBooks login dialogue. There is only one connection login per Centerbase instance, so this account should have the necessary permissions to manage QuickBooks. Once connected, users can check the Upon save always push to QuickBooks setting for payments which will push the payment to QBO upon creation. It is recommended that this setting is turned on to ensure the two systems are in sync. The next step in setting up the integration will be to create a new Billing Code named Credit Memo (Class = None) which will be used for pushing credits to QBO. All other fee billing codes (including L and A codes) should have a Class = Time and Expense codes (including E codes) should have Class = Expense. Before pushing anything to QBO, users should complete the settings configuration including the Fee Income, Expense Income and Expense accounts, plus the Credit Memo Item (which should be the Credit Memo billing code just created). Clicking the icon will sync all the billing codes in Centerbase with the Products and Services in QBO setting the associated fee income and expense income accounts as necessary. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

92 Pushing Data to QuickBooks Online Depending on the status of the client s QuickBooks account (new to QuickBooks or current customers) you may need to adjust what we push in mass over to QuickBooks Online. If the client does not have any A/R or payment data in QBO, then you may not need to push over anything as it will be pushed upon save of a new payment or updates to the invoice. On the other hand, the client may want all historical data pushed to QBO, in which case you will need to push everything. Often, the client has been using QuickBooks already and already has data available in QBO. In this case, we only want to push over invoices that have an open balance not equal to the total invoice value (i.e. invoices that have received partial payments). We push these invoices over because there are payments that will come over with them, which may be duplicates if manually entered already into QBO. Before pushing anything, the client s accountant should be involved to ensure everything is in balance upon completion of the sync. To ensure balance, the accountant will need to make adjusting entries to offset the duplicate payments created by the partially paid invoices. Once everything is in balance, users should push any remaining open invoices (unpaid invoices) to balance A/R. Users may then begin creating new payments and pushing them to QBO using the checkbox in the upper righthand corner of the payment dialogue. If the invoice that the payment is being applied to is not in QBO for whatever reason, this will also sync the invoice with QBO. There is a visual indicator on invoices, payments and clients to let the user know whether the record is fully synced with QBO. Red: Exists in Centerbase but does not exist in QBO Yellow: The record in Centerbase does not match the record in QBO Green: The record in Centerbase matches the record in QBO Potential Sync Issues There are many reasons a record may have issue syncing with QuickBooks. Centerbase offers some feedback from the QBO API to inform the user of why a certain sync failed. From the Client level, QuickBooks does not allow a Customer (Client in Centerbase) and a Vendor to have the same name. Generally, the vendor is renamed to denote that it is a vendor instead of client. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

93 If the client name already exists in QBO, then the user will be prompted to connect the two together with a QuickBooks ID. This field is available on the client, invoice and payment along with a QuickBooks LastSynced date field. Updating the QuickBooks Id field by editing the Centerbase record will connect the two (in this case the ID is 81). One final common occurrence that causes issues with the sync of customers is QuickBooks Online s character limit for customers, which is set to 50. The name of the record in Centerbase must be truncated to be less than or equal to 50 characters. If the client does not want to modify their Centerbase data, another field may be created specifically for syncing with QBO, and the setting for Display Name under Customer Information in the QuickBooks System Settings can be changed to the new field name. Invoices may be pushed to QBO in mass from the invoices grid. Selecting multiple invoices, then right-clicking and selecting Push to QuickBooks will begin the sync process. Any invoice that can be synced will and those that could not be will be shown in an error (below). Opening the trouble invoices and manually syncing the record by pushing the QB Sync button in the upper right will give more details on why the invoice failed to update. Sometimes the client needs to be pushed manually in order to successfully push the invoice. It is recommended that users do not sync invoices with QBO until they are ready to post the invoice. In fact, Centerbase offers the opportunity to push to QBO during the posting process. Only pushing posted invoices ensures that the invoices are final and ready to become part of the A/R. There are certain limitations of the QBO integration, including: 1. Centerbase cannot delete records pushed to QBO. If we create a payment and push it to QBO, then later decide to delete the payment, then the payment must be manually deleted from QBO. 2. Centerbase does not currently integrate trust accounting with QBO, so no trust accounts or transactions will be pushed to QBO and will need to be created manually. 3. Integration is Client based, so Matters do not push over. Occasionally, QuickBooks Online may go down or have connection issues. To access outage information, visit: C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

94 12.5 Office 365 Calendar Centerbase offers a direct integration with Office 365 s calendar. It is not necessary, but is highly recommended, that the client host their mail and calendar on 365 s servers to ensure the best integration. Before deploying the integration, Centerbase must turn on the integration for each firm. Each individual user will need to login with their Office 365 account under the User settings > Office 365 tab. Clicking the Connect button will bring up an external O365 login authorization page. Once logged in, users may decide to Always push to Outlook which will push all calendar entries made in the Centerbase calendar to Outlook 365 s calendar. The integration currently supports push to O365 and will provide full sync soon. This means that all calendar entry management must be made in Centerbase, which will push to the 365 calendar. Any user that is in the Scheduled for section of the activity in Centerbase will show a green check in the lower right-hand side of their record denoting that they are connected to 365. Centerbase will push the calendar entry to their 365 calendars for these users Office 365 Like the 365-calendar integration, if the firm hosts their on 365 s servers, then they can take advantage of the O365 integration, which allows users to push s and attachments to Centerbase and tag them to their associated records. Open the online version of your Outlook 365 and click the gear in the upper right-hand corner. This will bring up a menu, click Manage Integrations. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

95 On the top of the dialogue, select Click here to add a custom add-in then Add from URL. Enter the firm s URL in the following format: and click OK on the install warning. You should now see the Centerbase custom add-in installed. Close that dialogue and go to an that you would like to tag to Centerbase. Click the Centerbase icon that has now appeared on your s. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

96 Login using your Centerbase credentials and you may now begin tagging s to matters, contacts, etc. All that is needed for the add-in to automatically find a record is for the address of the sender to be associated with that record. i.e. If I want the Client: Mike McDonald to appear in the selection list, then I would need his address on the client record in Centerbase. If there are attachments with the you are uploading, you can upload that document separately (it will show under the documents tab under the record you are linking to). If you cannot find the record you want to attach the /attachment to, you can choose Search more items. Note: this integration uses the settings defined in the desktop Outlook add-in (see section 12.2). If the client does not have access to a desktop version of Outlook, then Centerbase may be contacted to configure the settings as necessary Auto-Text Expander While not necessarily an integration, Centerbase does not have a short code or text expander functionality available, so we recommend a Chrome extension for allowing short codes in Centerbase. Searching the Chrome extension store for Auto Text Expander will allow the user to install the extension to their instance of Chrome. This process must be completed on a per installation of Chrome basis. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e

97 The Extension should download and add to your chrome instance. A new tab should open to Auto Text Expander settings. At this point, users may create their own short codes (with expanded text) or import from a JSON file. To create an importable JSON file, follow this link: Choose Import/Export and paste the following into the pop-up (removing anything that was there before). When adding a new shortcut to the list or creating the JSON text, make sure to add a space after the shortcut to ensure the Auto Text Expander only autoexpands when you want. You may also increase/decrease the amount of time required to trigger the text expansion. This may be helpful if you find it is not expanding every time you would expect it to do so NetDocuments For firms wishing to use NetDocuments for document management, Centerbase now offers an easy to connect integration with NetDocuments. From the System Settings > NetDocuments tab, users can easily connect their NetDocuments and automatically create workspaces based on existing matters in Centerbase. Once connected, NetDocuments may be accessed via the defined workspace linked items (generally Clients and Matters). A NetDocuments tab will appear on the record, opening a direct view into the NetDocuments workspace. C e n t e r b a s e A d m i n i s t r a t o r s G u i d e P a g e