January 2016 Vol. 22, Number 1 TRADE SHOW SCHEDULE: Look for us at these upcoming trade shows: Legaltech New York The Hilton New York February 2-4, 2016 New York, NY ABA TECHSHOW Chicago Hilton March 16-18, 2016 Chicago, IL Feature Article: Duplicate User IDs You open the software and enter your User Name and Password, only to see the message Duplicate User IDs were found. One of the most common support calls we receive is about this message. Clicking Yes opens the Active User List where you can select your user name and then click the Reset button, which opens the Active User List Reset Confirmation window. This window prompts you to verify the user in question is not in the software and that you understand potential data corruption can be caused by resetting the user. So, why are you receiving this message and why do you have to verify the user isn t in the software when that user is you? Each user should be logged in only once at any given time. If the software is improperly closed, the User ID remains logged in to the software, thus creating a duplicate User ID the next time the user tries to log in. To properly close the software, you can use one of the following: select File Exit, click the (Close) button in the upper-right corner of the application s window, or press Alt+F4. Alternatively, you can click the Exit button on the Main Task Folder. If this button is not displayed on your firm s Task Folder, you can customize the Main Task Folder to include the Exit button if desired. The following items are examples of improperly closing the software: Power loss. Computer lockups. The network connection to the server is broken/interrupted. The server is shut down or rebooted while users are still logged in to the software. If the Duplicate User ID message is received and you choose to reset the user, you should always verify that the user is not in the system. If you reset an active user in the software, this can cause data loss and data corruption that results in Data File Integrity Check Errors and/or Fatal Errors. Because of this, we provide a checklist when resetting a user as a reminder to not reset anyone you are not 100% sure is out of the software. Once you have determined it is safe, you can reset the user and then log in to the software without receiving the message again. Depending on why the Duplicate Users message is received, you may want to run a Data File Integrity Check. For more information on resetting users, visit Knowledge Base Article R10789, Resetting Users. Please visit: Tabs3.com/company/trade_show.html for a complete list of upcoming shows.
Tabs3 Connect: Access Rights Page 2 Did you know that Tabs3 Connect takes advantage of existing security features for Tabs3 Billing and PracticeMaster? Not only does user access to Tabs3 data follow the same rules regardless of how you are accessing it, Tabs3 Connect provides even more control! Access Profiles control who has access to the various software systems, programs, and functions in PracticeMaster, Tabs3 Billing, and Tabs3 Connect. Assigning timekeepers to a user login via User Configuration allows users to see only the associated timekeeper records they need in data entry windows and reports. Assigned timekeepers apply to PracticeMaster, Tabs3 Billing, and Tabs3 Connect. Secure clients are still secure. Only those users assigned to a secure client can view client information in PracticeMaster, Tabs3 Billing, and Tabs3 Connect. Documents can only be downloaded by those users set up with the access right to Download Files via Tabs3 Connect (System Configuration Access Profile PM tab File Information Download Files via Tabs3 Connect). For an added level of control, you can monitor who is accessing Tabs3 Connect. The Tabs3 Connect Access Log tracks the following information: Each time a user logs in to Tabs3 Connect Each time a user logs out of Tabs3 Connect Each time a user is locked out due to five unsuccessful login attempts Each time a user downloads a document or attachment via Tabs3 Connect For more information on Tabs3 Connect, contact your reseller, consultant, or Technical Support at (402) 419-2210, or visit Knowledge Base Article R11480, All About Tabs3 Connect. KB Corner: PracticeMaster Quick Tabs3 Connect! Learn about it here! If you are new to PracticeMaster, or you want a new employee to get a jump-start on learning about PracticeMaster, Quick are a great place to start when there isn t time to read everything there is to know right now. A Quick Guide is a short guide that highlights the main points of a specific feature. Graphics are included to help illustrate important menu options, tabs, fields, buttons, and more. Knowledge Base Article R11130, PracticeMaster Quick, provides links to each PracticeMaster Quick Guide as well as the number of pages and a brief summary of the guide. The following Quick are currently available: Matter Manager Contacts Calendar Fee Entry Timer Window Quick Clicks Pane Journaling Outlook Plug-in Tabs3 Connect Our Knowledge Base can be accessed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, at support.tabs3. com. You can also access our Knowledge Base while in the software by selecting Help Internet Resources Knowledge Base.
Announcements: Free Webinars! Page 3 You are invited to three free webinar events for Tabs3 and PracticeMaster users: Accepting Credit Cards with ProPay Join Jason Kuhlmann, Product Management Specialist for Tabs3 and PracticeMaster, on Thursday, January 21, or Thursday, February 18, from 2:00 3:00 p.m. Central Time to see our upgraded credit card processing service, ProPay! Explore the benefits of accepting credit cards, such as more convenient payment options for your clients and integration with Tabs3 Billing and Trust Accounting software. Both sessions will fill up fast, so reserve your spot at Tabs3.com/CreditCardWebinar! Document Management How often do you find yourself looking for a document that you swore you saved a week ago? Document management makes it easy to find documents that you and your colleagues worked on last week, last month, or even last year. Join our free webinar, presented by Bruce Policky, Product Manager for Tabs3 and PracticeMaster, to learn about this time-saving feature. Reserve your spot for Tuesday, January 19, or Tuesday, February 16, from 2:00 3:00 p.m. Central Time at Tabs3.com/DocManWebinar! Platinum Software - including smartphone and tablet options Are you looking to increase the speed of your reports? What about going mobile and securely accessing your data while out of the office? Join Philip Allendorfer, Director of Development for Tabs3 and PracticeMaster, on Wednesday, February 17, from 2:00 3:00 p.m. Central Time, as he explains the benefits of Platinum, such as faster reporting, mobile access, and more convenient backups. Reserve your spot at Tabs3. com/platinumwebinar! New Credit Card We are excited to announce a new integration through ProPay, a TSYS company. Here are some of the benefits you get with ProPay: Fast sign-up process to accept credit cards almost immediately Simple, easy-to-understand rates Easy reporting Simple payment processing Accepting credit cards can help increase revenue because they are so convenient for your clients. You may find clients willing to pay with a credit card on their way out of your office, and you will certainly receive credit card payments over the phone. The easier it is to pay, the faster you get paid, the fewer collection calls you need to make, the easier it is to collect on outstanding invoices, and the number of write offs you will have to make will be reduced. If you are interested in accepting credit cards, you can learn more at Tabs3.com/ProPay. To process payments through ProPay, you must be on Version 18 of Tabs3 software. Software Technology, Inc., is a Gold Certified Partner in the Microsoft Partner Program
Announcements: Nelco - First Order Effective June Page 4 As of June 1, 2016, Software Technology, Inc. will no longer provide phone support for Version of Tabs3 Billing and Financial software or PracticeMaster. If you are still using an older version of the software, now is the perfect time to get up to date with the latest version of Tabs3 and PracticeMaster. You will be surprised at the number of features you ve been missing! Our Knowledge Base includes What s New Lists for Versions 17 and 16. Simply visit support.tabs3.com and click the What s New in Tabs3 and PracticeMaster Software link. As an added benefit, when you purchase an update for your software licenses, you will receive four months of maintenance, which entitles you to unlimited technical support, software updates and new versions, and access to the exclusive User Newsletter. If you have any questions regarding the discontinuation of support for Version 15, please contact your local reseller, consultant, or a member of our Sales Department at (402) 419-2200. We have partnered with Nelco to provide business checks and envelopes that are tested and guaranteed compatible with Tabs3 Accounts Payable Software and Trust Accounting Software. Nelco offers several check options and fast turnaround times so you can have exactly the checks you need, when you need them. Nelco also provides 1099-MISC forms for your tax reporting needs. Contact Nelco if you have any questions regarding checks, or to place an order. Web: nelcosolutions.com/tabs3 E-mail: Nelco@NelcoSolutions.com Phone: (800) 266-4669 As an added bonus, Nelco has offered to give APS and TAS users 20% off their first order of business checks and envelopes. Simply mention code BD8.
Page 5 Platinum Behind the Scenes: Auto-Recovery Network and hardware failure can cause data corruption in any firm, regardless of preventative measures. Auto-Recovery provides peace of mind when faced with these issues. For example, if you are updating statements and you lose network connectivity in the middle of the update, you might panic because without Platinum, you would have to restore your data and potentially lose many hours of work. Not so with Auto-Recovery! Auto-Recovery monitors the software. When it recognizes a transaction has not completed properly, it rolls back the database to its previous state before the database transaction began. In the case of Update Statements being interrupted, Auto-Recovery means that if the interruption occurs during the update to client 1240.00 s statement, then all statements prior to client 1240.00 will remain updated, while client 1240.00 will be rolled back to the state before you started Update Statements. You will simply receive a message indicating that Update Statements needs to be run again. This is a powerful feature that can save your firm time and money. Power failures, computer crashes and network failures can occur. Auto-Recovery helps greatly reduce the impact of these issues. For additional information on Auto-Recovery, see Knowledge Base Article R11175, Transaction Processing and Auto-Recovery, or visit Knowledge Base Article R11379, Platinum Overview, to view information on all the great Platinum features! If you have any questions regarding Platinum features, contact your local reseller and consultant, or call Technical Support at (402) 419-2210. Use Trial Software to Try Tabs3 Connect! Did you know that you can try out the Tabs3 software you don t have a license for, without downloading anything new? Maybe you currently use Tabs3 Billing and you want to try Trust Accounting Software (TAS), or you use both Tabs3 Billing and General Ledger Software (GLS) and want to try PracticeMaster, or any other combination. When you install your licenses, a trial version of each program is also installed. This means that you can try out each program before you commit to purchasing a license. In Windows 10, Trial Software is accessible via Start All apps Tabs3 & PracticeMaster with Sample Data. In Windows 8, Trial Software is accessible via the Apps window in the Tabs3 & PracticeMaster with Sample Data group. In Windows 7 or earlier, Trial Software is accessible via Start Programs Tabs3 & PracticeMaster Trial Software with Sample Data. When accessing Trial Software, sample data is included so that you do not have to create your own set of data in order to try out all of the features and includes clients, contacts, transactions, and much more. This lets you jump right in to seeing what the software does, instead of spending time setting up and entering data. So if you ve been thinking about other Tabs3 software, try it out at your convenience and see what it can do for your firm! Learn about it here!
Page 6 Questions and Answers: Tabs3 Billing Software Defaulting the Statement Delivery Method for New Clients We recently started sending both a physical and electronic copy of the statements that we generate. I used the Change Client Options program to update all of our existing clients; however, I want all new clients to be automatically set up to receive statements by both mail and e-mail. Is this possible? In Tabs3 Billing Customization, the Statement Delivery Method is one of many client defaults you can set. To default new clients to have statements sent via both mail and e-mail 1. From the Utilities menu, select Customization. 2. From the Client Defaults tab, select a Statement Delivery Method of Both. 3. Press Ctrl+S. As each new client is created, the client s Statement Delivery Options table (Client Information Billing Preferences) will display Yes for both the Mail and E-mail columns. Timekeeper Profitability Our firm wants to determine each attorney s profitability. Is there any way to compare each attorney s overhead costs to their billed figures so we can easily see the net profit? Monthly overhead costs can be entered for each Timekeeper. Once overhead costs have been entered, you can run the Timekeeper Profitability Report. This report shows Billed Fees, Overhead, Fee % of Overhead, and the Net Profit for each month. Additionally, the Timekeeper Profitability Report has the option of being printed as a Graph. To specify overhead costs for each timekeeper 1. From the File menu, point to Open and select Miscellaneous. 2. Select the desired timekeeper. 3. Click the Profitability button. 4. Enter amounts for each month, or click the Allocate button to distribute amounts to all 12 months. 5. Click OK and then press Ctrl+S. 6. Repeat steps 2-5 for each timekeeper. You can now run the Timekeeper Profitability Report (Reports Management Timekeeper Profitability) to see which timekeepers are most profitable for the firm. Tabs3 Billing
Page 7 Questions and Answers: PracticeMaster Restrict to List We have several new employees who are not selecting the existing options in the Salutation field s drop-down list, and are entering something manually instead. Now we have a little bit of everything in that field, and it is messing up our document assembly. I have already gone through and made corrections, but how can I make sure this does not happen again? Fields that use a drop-down list can be set up to require the value be selected from the predefined items in the list. This can be accomplished by selecting the Restrict to List option in File Maintenance. To restrict a list to predefined items 1. From the Maintenance menu, select File Maintenance. 2. Expand the Lookup Files group, select the Contact file, and then click OK. 3. From the Field tab, in the Field IDs column, select the Salutation field. 4. On the right-hand side, click the Edit List button. a. From the Edit Drop-Down List window, verify the desired list items are present, delete any items you do not want to be included, and add any new items as needed. b. Select the Restrict to List check box. c. Click OK. 5. Click Done in the File Definition window, and then close the File Maintenance window. Now users must select an existing item from the drop-down list, or leave the field blank. PracticeMaster Customizing Outlook Calendar Fields I synchronize my PracticeMaster calendar with Outlook. I have my Daily Calendar in PracticeMaster customized to display certain fields; however, the information in some of those fields is not showing up in the Outlook Description field. Is there any way to have the same information in both programs? PracticeMaster fields that are synchronized to Outlook are configured in the Outlook Synchronization program in PracticeMaster. Fields can be selected to be displayed in the Outlook Subject and/or Description fields. This feature makes it easy to display unique calendar information from PracticeMaster in Outlook. To specify fields to be displayed in the Outlook Description field 1. From the Maintenance menu, point to Integration and select Outlook Synchronization. 2. On the Calendar tab, in the Synchronization Options section, select the Customize what fields display in the Outlook description check box. 3. Click on the Select Fields button. a. In the Available Field column, double-click each field you want to have displayed in Outlook. This moves the field to the Display Fields column. Likewise, double-clicking a field in the Display Fields column moves the field to the Available Fields column. b. In the Display Fields column, you can change the order in which fields are displayed by using the (Move Up) and (Move Down) buttons. c. Click OK. 4. Click OK.
Questions and Answers: General Ledger Software Retained Earnings Adjustment Page 8 The retained earnings balance was carried forward from last year, so now the Profit/Loss on the Income Statement does not match the Retained Earnings on the Balance Sheet. How can I correct this? You can create a new liability type account for prior year retained earnings, and then make adjusting journal entries to zero out the current Retained Earnings account (i.e., debit the Retained Earnings account and then credit the new account for the prior year retained earnings). We recommend creating adjusting journal entries using a date in the prior fiscal year (e.g., 12/31/15). Note: You may want to consult your accountant before making adjustments. Account Number Formatting We want to add an additional decimal place in our chart of accounts. Is this possible? This can easily be accomplished using the Change Account # Format utility. To add a decimal place 1. From the Maintenance menu, point to Renumber and select Change Account # Format. 2. In the New Decimal Places field, enter the desired number of decimal places. 3. In the Insert Zeros section, select Beginning if you want to add zeros to the beginning of the decimal digits (e.g., client 100.99 will become 100.099), or select End if you want to add zeros to the end of the decimal digits (e.g., client 100.99 will become 100.990). Integration Note: If you are integrating with Tabs3 Billing, Accounts Payable Software (APS), and/or Trust Accounting Software (TAS), you may need to change your integration settings in the appropriate program. Review the Notes in the Help for specific information. Tabs3 Financial
Questions and Answers: Accounts Payable Software Creating Costs from Invoices Page 9 I printed a check, but didn t decide until later that the client will be billed for the amount. Is it too late to associate the cost with the check in APS, or must I manually add it in Tabs3 Billing? Tabs3 Billing costs can be added via APS even after a check has been printed and posted. To add Tabs3 Billing costs from APS 1. From the File menu in APS, point to Open and select Invoice/Manual Checks. 2. Enter the desired Vendor ID. 3. Select the applicable Reference. 4. Click the Tabs3 Costs button ( ) or press Ctrl+Shift+C. 5. You can now add the desired cost entries for Tabs3 Billing. Exclude from 1099 Information I am preparing 1099s for all of our vendors. Last year, we had a vendor from which we purchased both labor and materials. We want to issue a 1099 to this vendor, but only for the labor that was performed. Is there a way to exclude the cost of materials from the 1099? As long as separate invoices and/or checks were issued for labor vs. materials, you can easily exclude the desired costs. To exclude invoices and/or checks from 1099s 1. From the File menu, point to Open and select Invoice/Manual Checks. 2. Select the desired Vendor. 3. Select the applicable Reference. 4. In the Payment Information section, select the Exclude from 1099 Reporting check box. 5. Press Ctrl+S. Tabs3 Financial
IN CLOSING: E-mail Us Your Questions! Questions and Answers: Trust Accounting Software Report of Deposits Only Page 10 I need a list of all deposits received during the last month. How can I easily get this information? The Check Register by Check Number can be run for checks, deposits, EFTs, or any combination thereof. To run a Check Register by Check Number for deposits only 1. From the Checks menu, point to Check Registers and select by Check Number. 2. From the Transactions tab: a. Enter the desired Date range. b. Select the Deposits check box. c. Clear the Checks and EFTs check boxes. 3. Select any other options as desired. 4. Click OK. Voiding Checks in Trust Accounting I voided a check in TAS. The void worked fine, but I received a message that manual adjustments must be made in Tabs3. What does this mean? When a check is created in TAS with a payee of Firm, a payment record in Tabs3 Billing is created. Voiding the check will delete the payment from Tabs3, provided the payment is still in work-in-process. However, if the payment record in Tabs3 has been final billed and updated, manual adjustments in Tabs3 must be made. This can be accomplished one of two ways in Tabs3 Billing: Reverse the payment (Maintenance Transaction Related Payment Adjustment). Undo the updated statement on which the payment was included (Statements Undo Updated Statement Undo Single Updated Statement), delete the payment, and then reprocess the statement. We hope that this newsletter has been informative and helpful. If you have any topics you would like to see covered or if you have any questions you would like answered in a future issue, please send an e-mail to: newsletter@tabs3.com Your comments, questions and suggestions regarding the Newsletter are always welcome. (Note: We cannot personally respond to support questions.) Also, join us on Twitter and LinkedIn!