Enter a relevant description of the matter.

This name will display on the statements and invoices to clients.

Enter the report status here, or it can be added in Legal Diary or from the Adhoc Activities toolbar. This report status is used for reporting purposes.

Used to make users across multiple departments aware of specific information regarding the matter.

Enter the Legacy Account number if applicable.

The Legacy Account number often refers to a former account number for the Matter (from a previous system) but can also be used for other references for reporting purposes

Select the matter source from where instruction was received.

Used for reporting and marketing purposes.

Select the sub process for the matter.

Milestones, custom fields and templates are linked to a sub process.

Select an option as to how VAT will be charged for the Matter, if at all:

Exempt: VAT does not apply.

Vatable: The default selection, VAT does apply and the VAT rate is maintained by the System Administrator.

Zero Rated: For Clients outside South Africa.

By default, Same as Client is selected.

Enter the amount that is in dispute for the matter.

This affects tariffs that are scaled: (Mag Court and High Court matters)

Enter the limit of money allocated as reserve in a Trust account.

This setting ‘holds money bank’ from default trust transfer view. Used to reserve money for specific purpose e.g.: advocates fees etc.

Check this box if the invoice must be automatically generated. If Automatic Invoice is selected, select what must be automatically invoiced e.g.: Collection Commission (Debt Collection matters only), Disbursements, Fees.

There are three options:

1. By selecting Same as Client, the auto invoicing settings will be brought in from the invoicing settings on the client selected.
2. Auto invoicing settings on matters can be set to default to the department invoicing settings in practice setup.
3. Auto invoicing settings can be manually set.

Automatic Invoicing will only occur if there is enough trust funds to cover the amount of the invoice.

Please note that this amount is rounded to the nearest amount – it won’t necessarily be the exact amount of funds in trust.

Select Daily or Monthly.

Automatic Invoicing occurs during the day-end process.

This refers to the fee units, page, folio, time or unitary:

a. Do not show units: No units will be displayed on invoice.

b. Show all units: All unit types will be displayed on invoice. e.g. 2pg

c. Show all units (include rate): All unit types will be displayed including the rate per unit. E.g. 2 @ 19/page

d. Show time only: Only time units will show not unitary, page or folio. E.g. 12 min

e. Show time only (include rate): Only time units will show and it will include the rate per hour. E.g. 12min @ 1000/hr

This is for the automatic invoice the system generates if your matter is set for automatic invoicing.

a. Fees and Disbursements: Itemised billing for fees and disbursements.

b. Disbursements only: One line item (consolidation) for fees and itemised billing for disbursements.

Select the relevant tariff scales and surcharge amounts for the matter:

The process and tariff scale selected on the matter will determine the fees/posting codes available for processing. For example: if the matter is set to Non-litigious the Magistrate or High court tariffs will not be available for selection.

If the Attorney and Own client tariff is selected, the user settings will override the Magistrate or High court tariff. For the posting code/ tariff to default to the Magistrate or High Court amount and not the user time rate, the Attorney and Client or Party and Party option must be selected on the matter.

If the matter is set to High court or Magistrate court, the practice fees will still be available for selection. To assist you to identify these, the practice fees will have “– Practice Fees” next to it.

If applying milestones on the matter. Milestones can be billed once a certain milestone has been reached.

Please note, if you tick this box, all fees captured on the Matter will default to unbillable, but can be changed at any stage to unbilled.

A fee schedule can be selected by clicking on the dropdown. The client can be billed a set hourly rate per fee earner. The fee agreement can be selected and can be applied to the matter. This will overwrite the applicable normal hourly rate.

The fee schedule is set up in the System Administration module.

On the matter, the setting ‘Apply Financial Offsets’ has two effects:

• Offsets the Trust balance against the Business balance on statements.
• If this option is not ticked, the Matter won’t show on Trust Transfer screen unless the specific Trust Transfer filter is selected – Filter=Matter Type, Type= General/Debt Recovery – No Financial Offsets.

• A milestone can be manually added through this tab. A Milestone template can also be applied by selecting a relevant milestone template sub-process on the general tab. A list of milestones will be linked to the matter without adding one milestone at a time.
• These are set up in the System administrator module.

Custom Data Fields can be populated on this tab (Custom Fields are added in the System Administrator Module).

These fields can be used to enter additional details relevant to your Matter and also for the merging of Custom Document Templates.