Budgets let you forecast legal spend for individual matters. You can set a budget for the entire matter or enter separate amounts for each law firm assigned to it.
You need the Budget Setup role to create budgets.
- Click the Financials tab on the Matter Overview page.
Click the +Create button.
The Create Matter Budget page displays.
Adding Budget Details
Once you've started to create a budget, you will need to fill out the Budget Details section.
If you select a budget template, your required fields in the Budget Details section will auto-populate. See the section in this article for more information.
Items marked with a red asterisk* are required.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Budget Title* | Enter a unique title for the budget. The title must be unique at the matter level; the budget title can be the same as another budget on another matter, but not on the same matter. The Budget Title on the Create Matter Budget page defaults to the title of the matter. If the title already exists, then a parenthesized numeric value (#) is appended to the end of the title. |
| Budget Contact* | The Budget Contact list includes users who have the Budget Contact role at the client Office level. The Budget Contact receives email notifications when the total budget or budget thresholds have been exceeded (once these notifications are set). |
| Apply Budget Template | When selected, the specified template configurations populates the remaining required fields on the page. If any configurations are changed after a Budget Template has been selected, it will then be de-selected from the drop-down list. |
| Second Budget Approver | When a user is assigned as a Second Budget Approver, all law firm budgets go through an additional approval step before going into Active/Approved status. If this option is selected, the Second Budget Approver role must be different than the Budget Contact. |
| Description | Use the Description field for the Budget if necessary. This field has a 255 maximum character count. |
Adding Budget Details and Structure
If you select a budget template, your required fields in the Budget Duration and Structure section will auto-populate.
Items marked with a red asterisk* are required.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Start Date* | The Start Date defaults to the first date of the month that the Budget is created. This date may be overridden with another month/date/year if necessary. |
| Budget Period* | The effective period of the Budget. Approved invoices with charge dates that fall within the budget period will be calculated in the "Actuals" spend. Clients may select from the following period options: Your fiscal year start month is determined in your Corporate Profile. If your organization uses an alternative fiscal calendar structure, you can select a budget be created using Calendar Months or Fiscal Calendar Structure. The options in your drop down menu will change based on your selection.
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| Budget Structure* | This determines what the budget amounts will be measured against. Budgets may be configured with Summary, Fee and Expense, or Invoice Code (Phase, Task or Custom) structures. If configured, the Timekeeper Budget structure options will appear in this section. See the Timekeeper Budget section in this article for more information.
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| Budget Currency* | The Budget Currency will default to the Matter Currency. |
| Include Historical Spend | This option is available on Life of Matter Budgets only. If selected, all Matter Historical Spend and Law Firm Office Historical Spend will be added to the Actuals calculation. If it is selected for a Law Firm Budget, all Law Firm Historical Spend will be added to the Actuals calculation for Law Firm Offices included on the budget. |
Adding Budget Email Notifications
Next, you will need to fill out the Email Notifications section. Email alerts notify you when budget milestones occur.
If you select a budget template, your required fields in the Email Notifications section will auto-populate.
Completing the Budget Email Notifications Section
Users with the Budget Contact role will receive these email notifications.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Threshold Configurations | You can configure up to three thresholds that will trigger email notifications when the approved invoice spend has exceeded them. The thresholds should be entered as whole numbers and not decimals. For example, a Budget Threshold of 50% would be entered as “50” and not “0.5”. These email thresholds monitor the overall budget amount and not an individual quarter, code, etc. |
| Budget Exceeded | You can select this option to be notified if the budget has been exceeded. |
| When Updating Budget Amounts | Choose if you'd like the Budget Contact at the law firm to receive notifications when you make edits to the budget, including the amount total. This option is only available if the budget:
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Determining Budget Type
There are two options available in the Budget Type drop down menu: Matter Budget and Law Firm Budget.
Law Firm Budgets are only available for Advanced or Premier clients.
Matter Budget
- Sum of all budget values for all law firms assigned to the matter.
- Only client users with the Budget Setup role can enter amounts.
- Only one Primary Matter Budget exists per matter.
- If a Second Budget Approver is selected, Matter Budget cannot be chosen.
Law Firm Budget
A sum of each separate budget for a given providers assigned to a matter. Law firm offices can be included in multiple secondary budgets. A Law Firm Budget may be entered by corporate or law firm users.
Find the Budget Type drop down under the Law Firm Permissions section.
- Select Law Firm Budget from the drop down list.
- Select the law firm(s) from the Select Law Firm Office(s) section that you wish to add to the budget. You can designate a Primary Budget for each Law Firm office or multiple Law Firms. Law Firm offices with a designated Primary Budget can not be selected because an office can not have more than one Primary Budget.
- If Edit or Lead Law Firm permissions are applied, place a check mark in the Request Budget from Law Firm Offices option check box if necessary.
Adding Budget Law Firm Permissions
If your organization uses Law Firm Budgets, you have some options on the access you can provide the firms assigned. If you select a budget template, your required fields in the Law Firm Permissions section will auto-populate.
Law Firm Rights
| Column | Value |
|---|---|
| None | Available for both Matter and Law Firm Budget types. When selected, the firm does not have visibility of the budget values entered by the client user. |
| View Only | Available for Law Firm Budget types only. When selected, the firm does have visibility of the budget values entered by the client user. |
| Edit | Available for Law Firm Budgets only. When selected, the firm can enter budget estimates to be submitted to the client for approval. Firms will only be able to view budget values for their firm. |
| Lead Law Firm Only | For Matter Budget: The lead firm can see budget values for all assigned law firms, which are entered by the client user. Non-lead law firms have no visibility of budget values. For Law Firm Budget: The lead firm can enter budget estimates for all assigned law firms and submit them to the client for approval. Non-lead law firms can enter budget estimates for their own law firm but will not see budget values for other law firms. Clients may also enter budget amounts for their firms. |
Adding Budget Priority
This option is only available for Advanced and Premier clients.
If this option is configured, you can create multiple Single-Matter Budgets per matter. You may want to create Primary and Secondary budgets if you have multiple firms working on your matter but one primary one that needs more detailed accountability. Both Primary and Secondary budgets count towards your Single-Matter Budget limit per matter.
- Primary - Primary budgets are enforceable with budget rules.
- Matter Budget - Only one Primary Budget may exist per matter.
- Law Firm Budget - Each law firm office can have a Primary Budget for enforcement purposes. A law firm office cannot be on more than one Primary Budget.
- Secondary - Secondary budgets are not enforceable with rules. They are informational only.
- Multiple Matter and Law Firm Budgets can be created as Secondary Budgets.
- Law firm offices can be on multiple Secondary Budgets.