What s New in Amicus Accounting 2009

Transcription

1 What s New in Amicus Accounting 2009 This document describes the new features in Amicus Accounting Contents 1. Bank Transaction Listing report (new) Deposit reports (new) Report enhancements Billing template enhancements Reversing trust receipts (new) A/R Write-offs enhancement Journal Entries enhancements Other enhancements IMPORTANT NOTE TO THOSE WHO USE AMICUS ATTORNEY: Integration with Amicus Attorney 2009 requires Amicus Attorney 2009 (Premium Edition or Small Firm Edition). To check your version, choose About from the Help menu. Hardware & Software Requirements documents for both products are available from the Support > Technical Resource Guides section of our website. What s New in Amicus Accounting Gavel & Gown Software Inc. 1

2 1. Bank Transaction Listing report (new) This new report provides a consolidated and detailed listing of cash inflows and outflows for a general or trust bank account. It can help answer questions such as who paid you for the period, how much money came in this month and what was it used for, etc. Go to Reports > Expense Reports or Trust Reports or Receipts Reports or Accounts Payable Reports or Month/Year End Reports > Bank Transaction Listing. Running the report: specify a particular bank account enter a transaction date range (note that this is the transaction entry date, not necessarily the transaction posting date) choose to include checks, receipts, or both choose which type(s) of payment to include (cash, check, credit card, etc.) optionally, refine the selection to find only: - checks to or receipts from a specified person - checks with a specified check number or receipts with a specified reference number (client check number, credit card transaction number, etc.) - Reference# A/P or bill payment checks or receipts covering a specified invoice number, or G/L receipts with a specified reference number - checks or receipts greater than a particular amount or equal to a specific amount (e.g. $ ) - checks or receipts to a particular G/L account choose whether to show summaries only (no individual transactions), which summaries to show, and whether to show check G/L account allocation details Report contents Date of Report Date the report was generated. Bank Account Number and name of the bank account. From/To Transaction date range. Date Transaction date. Audit Transaction audit number. Type & # payment method and either check number (if check) or receipt reference number (if receipt). Reference invoice number check, or reference number if G/L receipt. Received/Paid To Receipt from or check to name. Description Transaction description. Client Matter Client ID/Matter ID. Client Name Full client name. What s New in Amicus Accounting Gavel & Gown Software Inc. 2

3 GL Account G/L account number for each check allocation detail. Account name G/L account name for each check allocation detail. Check/Receipt Amount of the check or receipt. Reversals are shown in parentheses. Balance Running balance amount. The optional general ledger account summary shows the debit and credit totals for each G/L account. The optional summary by responsible lawyer shows the cash inflow and outflow totals on Client Matters for each responsible lawyer. 2. Deposit reports (new) New deposit reports are available: Outstanding Deposits List and Cleared Deposits Register. Outstanding Deposits List report Print the new Outstanding Deposits List to see a list of firm receipts, A/R receipts or general or trust retainer receipts that have been deposited but not yet cleared. You can print it by bank and for a specific date range. Usually, you will print this report as part of your bank reconciliation procedure. NOTE: If a deposit check is postdated, it will not appear on the Outstanding Deposits Register unless you print the report as of a date equal to or greater than the date on the check. Go to Reports > Month/Year End Reports > Outstanding Deposits List. Cleared Deposits Register report Print the new Cleared Deposits Register report to see a list of firm or trust receipts posted to a particular bank. The report includes only cleared deposits. You can print it by bank and for a specific date range. If you only want to see deposits that are outstanding, print the Outstanding Deposits List. If you only want to see checks that have been cleared, print the Cleared Deposits Register. Go to Reports > Month/Year End Reports > Cleared Deposits Register. What s New in Amicus Accounting Gavel & Gown Software Inc. 3

4 3. Report enhancements Several reports have been improved: Billable Time by Lawyer, WIP Listing, A/R Aging, Client Matter File Expense, Lawyer Activity Details, Client Transactions, Client Listing, and WIP Exception. Billable Time by Lawyer report This report (accessed from Reports > Billing or Time & Fees Reports > Billable Time by Lawyer) may now be filtered by Client Matter ID range, and you may now choose to show changes and write-offs in the report. Additionally, the Bill # column has been renamed Invoice #, and now shows the firm wide invoice number rather than the client s invoice number. WIP Listing report This report (accessed from Reports > Billing Reports > WIP Listing) may now be filtered by Client Matter ID range. What s New in Amicus Accounting Gavel & Gown Software Inc. 4

5 A/R Aging report This report (accessed from Reports > Billing or Receipts Reports > A/R Aging Report) may now be filtered by Client Matter ID range. Additionally, the report has a new General Retainer column which shows the general retainer balance. Client Matter File Expense report This report (accessed from Reports > Expense Reports > Client Matter File Expenses) may now be filtered by Client Matter ID range. Lawyer Activity Details report This report (accessed from Reports > Billing Reports > Lawyer Activity Details) may now be filtered by Client Matter ID range. What s New in Amicus Accounting Gavel & Gown Software Inc. 5

6 Client Transactions report This report (accessed from Reports > Client Reports > Client Transactions) has a new General Retainer Details section which shows the general retainer balances. Client Listing report This report (accessed from Reports > Client Reports > Client Listing, or from Account Inquiry) has a new Retainer column which shows general retainer balances. WIP Exception report This report (accessed from Reports > Billing Reports > WIP Exception) may now be filtered to only those files that have a general retainer balance. The selection criteria for minimum WIP fees, minimum WIP expenses, and last active date are now AND ed together (rather than OR ed) the report will show only files that satisfy all three criteria. Additionally, the report has a new General Retainer column which shows general retainer balances. 4. Billing template enhancements Two new billing templates are now available, and the previous templates have been revised Consolidated Total billing template (new) The regular consolidated billing template (ConsolidatedBill.FRX) enables you to create for each client a single invoice that covers multiple matters. The new Consolidated Total billing template (ConsolidatedTotal.FRX) differs from that original template in the following ways: in the time section, it groups time entries by matter (and shows matter totals) in the expense section, it groups expenses by matter (and shows matter totals) it has a retainer balance section, in which the minimum balance required, current balance, and amount due are shown for each matter in the trust ledger section, it groups ledger entries by matter (and shows matter totals) at the end, it has a summary in which the total fees, expenses, taxes, payments, and balance are shown for each matter The new template can be selected in the Billing Template fields if desired. What s New in Amicus Accounting Gavel & Gown Software Inc. 6

7 Flat Fee billing template (new) A new, Flat Fee billing template (Ffeebill.FRX) differs from the Standard billing template (StandardBill.FRX) in the following ways: references to hours are omitted the time summary is omitted The new template can be selected in the Billing Template fields if desired. What s New in Amicus Accounting Gavel & Gown Software Inc. 7

8 5. Reversing trust receipts (new) You may now easily reverse (or void) a trust receipt. You might need to reverse a receipt if it was posted in error. NOTE: You should not reverse a trust receipt after it has been billed. Reverse the bill instead. 1 Go to Trust > Trust Receipts. 2 Select the Reverse Receipt option. 3 Enter the date on which the receipt is to be reversed. 4 Select the bank account number the receipt was posted to. 5 Select the Client option and select a Client ID, or select the G/L option and select a G/L account. 6 Select the receipt number. 7 Click Save, and then click Post. 6. A/R Write-offs enhancement The A/R Write-offs function (in the Receipts module) now makes it easier to write-off accounts receivable invoices (bills) on client files. After identifying a particular invoice, you may write down or up the fees, expenses, and/or taxes in any of the following ways: in the Changes column, enter a negative (write down) or positive (write up) amount in the Billed column, enter a new billed amount for the invoice in the Outstanding column, enter a new outstanding amount for the invoice Once you enter an amount in one column, the amounts in the other columns on that row are adjusted automatically. Click Save when finished. What s New in Amicus Accounting Gavel & Gown Software Inc. 8

9 7. Journal Entries enhancements You may now easily enter full journal entries (both debit and credit transactions) in a single step. Also, reverse journal entries can now be entered. Posting a journal entry 1 Go to General Ledger > Journal Entries. 2 Select the Journal Entry option. 3 Enter the date on of the transaction. 4 Enter a unique reference number. 5 Enter the description of the journal entry. 6 In the GL Account column, enter a General Ledger account number. 7 In the Debit or Credit column, enter the amount you wish to debit or credit the account. 8 To enter additional transaction lines, click the + button and, on the next line, specify an account and a debit or credit amount. This is typically an offsetting amount. For example, if you are posting bank service charges, you might enter a credit to your bank account on one line, balanced by an equal debit to your Bank Service Charges expense account on another line. 9 To delete a transaction line, select that line and click the X button. What s New in Amicus Accounting Gavel & Gown Software Inc. 9

10 10 When finished, click Save. 11 Continue entering journal entries or click Post. Tips Post half journal entries only when your G/L is out of balance. If you post a half journal entry when your G/L is in balance, you will cause it to go out of balance. Your System Balance report must say G/L not balanced before you post a half journal entry. Reversing a journal entry 1 Go to General Ledger > Journal Entries. 2 Select the Reverse Receipt option. 3 Enter the date on which the receipt is to be reversed. 4 Select the reference number of the journal entry you wish to reverse. 5 Click Save, and then click Post. What s New in Amicus Accounting Gavel & Gown Software Inc. 10

11 8. Other enhancements Clear Checks and Deposits screen This screen (accessed from Month/Year End > Bank Reconciliation) now has a Save button for saving any changes made. To discard any changes, click Cancel. WIP Expenses Write-offs account This account is now included in the list of control accounts (Start Up >Firm Settings > Control Accounts) provided for the Cash accounting method. The G/L account selected as this control account is debited when you write off an unbilled client expense. (This enhancement, which was implemented earlier in Update , is listed here for completeness.) Consistent display of balances What s New in Amicus Accounting Gavel & Gown Software Inc. 11

12 For further information, contact Gavel & Gown Software Inc. Phone: Fax: Copyright 2009 Gavel & Gown Software Inc. All rights reserved. AMICUS and AMICUS ATTORNEY are registered trademarks, and AMICUS ACCOUNTING,AMICUS MOBILE, AMICUS MOBILE SERVER, and DO are trademarks of Gavel & Gown Software Inc. All other trademarks referenced are the property of their respective owner. Gavel & Gown Software Inc. disclaims any proprietary interest in trademarks other than its own. January 2009 What s New in Amicus Accounting Gavel & Gown Software Inc. 12