TMBills User Manual
Contents
1. Edit Rates New Enter the Description Flat Fee Zero Rate Double click on each timekeeper leave the rate as 0 00 and press Save Press Close Close 2 In RTG Bills go to Main Menu Setup Other Firm 3 Enter a description for the flat fee such as Flat fee for legal services Note This Description will appear on the first Bill at the top of the listing of services To set up a Flat Fee Matter Open the Matter in RTG Bills In Billing 1 tab choose the Flat Fee Zero Rates table In Billing 2 tab under Minimum Maximum Fee choose This is the minimum fee Enter the dollar amount of the Flat Fee in Minimum Fee Amount Save the Matter Click Yes when prompted to create a minimum fee record A Billing record is created with today s date the Description from the One time setup above and the dollar amount of the Minimum Fee Note You may change the date Description or amount now or at any time before you print the first Bill U1 BRWDN Ee 2011 Active Practice LLC z TMBills User Manual Monthly Flat Fee Charging a flat fee every month is known as a recurring charge You can set up a Recurring Charge in RTG Bills To set up a Flat Fee per Month 1 Go to RTG Bills 2 Click Fees and select the Matter 3 Click New 4 Select Fixed lower left 5 Check Repeat lower right Note that Monthly is selected Other options are Quarterly Twice a Year and Yearly For more detailed information2. below To obtain an RTG Bills License Key from Active Practice before you download an RTG Bills upgrade Installation of TMBills Updates UE updates and up grades are available here Please download the latest update of TMBills exe and the TMBills setup file setuptmb exe from our TMBills Updates webpage Save the files in your TMBills folder on your server or main computer replacing the old files The folder will end in TMBills or for some customers in RTG For 2011 Active Practice LLC Updates and Upgrades example T Clients TMBills or SERVER1 Docs TMBills Installing a TMBills Update To install a TMBills update 1 On each user s computer go to the TMBills folder on the server or main computer for example T Clients TMBills 2 Double click on setuptmb exe 6 4 Installation of RTG Updates RTG Bills Updates have a different letter in the version such as 2 23c Be sure you are on the latest update to TMBills Ms updating Ae le Check the TMBills Updates page http l Updates to RTG Bills may be installed automatically from the Main Menu in RTG Bills Be sure to update each computer that is running RTG Bills To install an RTG Bills update 1 Go to RTG Bills Menu File Update 2 Click Check The Internet For Updates 3 Check the box es for a Current RTG Bills update new letter b Each item that has the word Import c Any FIX or CRITICAL Update 4 Click Install 5 Click Close
3. LLC Intro and Quick Start 7 1 4 Edition Notice TMBills User Manual Published by Active Practice LLC 5200 Willson Road Suite 150 Edina MN 55424 1300 ww activepractice co 2011 Active Practice LLC Time Matters Billing Matters and PCLaw are registered trademarks of LexisNexis a division of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc All other product names and services identified throughout this work are used in editorial fashion only and for the benefit of such companies with no intention of infringement of the trademark No such use or the use of any trade name is intended to convey endorsement or other affiliation with this work LIMIT OF LIABILITY DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS THE ADVICE AND INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY SITUATION THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDERING LEGAL ACCOUNTING OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES IF PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED THE SERVICES OF A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR THE AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HEREFROM THE FACT THAT AN ORGANIZA
4. Matters Help system and online training materials for general instructions on how to enter Matters in Time Matters The only steps that TMBills adds to entering a new Matter are 1 Press the Trigger button to lookup a Case No 2 Press the Trigger button to Update Matters to RTG Bills Note If you have just entered a brand new Client and then enter a Matter for that Client you can just enter 1 in the Case No field in the TMBills Area instead of using the Trigger to lookup a Case No You know that the Case No has to be 1 since you are entering the very first Matter for a brand new Client That lets you skip Step 1 above 2011 Active Practice LLC Entering a New Matter Enter all the basic Matter information and fill in any required fields including the Client field jo Matter Form Add File Edit View Process Help be save a close fH sae D 4 Fl i t3 Sm A a em e Primary Secondary Additional elated Notes Documents Phone E Mat Ref Aardon Patrick Estate Plan 1 Matter No 12824 Court Plaintiff Client Aardon Patrick 4575 Matter numbers and Client numbers are not required in the top area by TMBills The TMBills area appears in the lower right part of the Matter form TMBills Client No 4575 Client Abbr Case No Case Abbr V To Billing On Hold AutoCase Aardon Est m The Client No To Billing and AutoCase Name fields are filled in automatically Insert a Case Number The Case No is required
5. change the Case Abbreviation at any time to make it more descriptive Send the Matter to RTG Bills Click the Trigger button and choose Update Clients Matters to RTG Bills 2j Matter Form Change 7 File Edit View Process Help Trigger ba Save amp Close fH sae E fa t3 53 E89 A amp eg 6 cancel i Primary Secondary Additional Related Notes Documents Phone E Mail Billing Timeline Note The Trigger synchronizes all new and updated Matters to RTG Bills Alternatively you may use the Trigger button on the Matter list to Update Clients Matters to RTG Bills 3 3 Entering Billing Records Introduction Three Methods for creating Billing records are 2011 Active Practice LLC 16 TMBills User Manual 1 Enter Billing records in Time Matters and send them to RTG Bills 2 Create Billing records in Time Matters from other records such as Event ToDo Note and Document records and send the Billing records to RTG Bills 3 Enter records directly in RTG Bills There is no best way to create Billing records Choose the method that you prefer Method 1 Entering Billing records in Time Matters is familiar if you previously used Billing Matters It allows you to create Time records without switch programs You can save time and effort by with AutoEntry Forms that fill in Descriptions for you Method 2 Creating Billing records in Time Matters from other records can save you time and typing if you reg
6. Close 6 5 Installation of RTG Upgrades RTG Bills Upgrades change to a different number such as from 2 23c to 2 24 Please install the current version of TMBills before upgrading RTG Bills RTG Bills upgrades are available from the RTG Software website ttp www rtgsoftware com dlupg ht Important RTG Bills Upgrade Installation Notes 1 If itis over one year since you purchased TMBills you need a new license key to upgrade to a new version of RTG Bills If you have Upgrade Protection from us please call us for a new code Allow two business days to receive your code Or 2011 Active Practice LLC z TMBills User Manual you may purchase a new license ke for 20 price subject t change directly from RTG Software at httr 2 In the instructions below be sure that at the Select Data Dotan window you delete the folder name and enter the correct folder for your RTG Bills database 3 At the Select Components window showing checkboxes for RTG Bills and RTG Timer we recommend you uncheck RTG Timer and leave RTG Bills checked Most of our customers do not use RTG Timer Most enter time and expenses from within Time Matters or simply use the Fees button in RTG Bills Note If you already have RTG Timer installed please check the box for RTG Timer Installing an RTG Upgrade We will be happy to install the upgrade for you at our current Support Incident pricing Please call us at 800 575 0007 or e mail us at Free e mail s
7. Docs TMBills RTG Bills Select Data Location ATE Where should RTG Bills and RTG Timer data files be installed Select the folder in which Setup should install the data files then dick Next sere pres He RE Bs Uncheck RTG Timer unless you installed and are using RTG Timer Select Components ATE Which components should be installed Ay Select the components you want to install dear the components you do not want to install Click Next when you are ready to continue NOTE For network installation install RTG Bills or RTG Timer but not both at once RTG Timer must be installed in a separate folder for each user Accept the Start Menu Folder 2011 Active Practice LLC s TMBills User Manual 15 Setup RTG Bills and RTG Timer Select Start Menu Folder ATE Where should Setup place the program s shortcuts A Setup will create the program s shortcuts in the following Start Menu folder To continue dick Next If you would like to select a different folder dick Browse Browse Finish the installation Open RTG Bills For Windows 7 right click and select Run as Administrator Go to File Update Yes Check The Internet For Upgrades Check all the items Press Install 7 Problems and Solutions No Client Number in the TMBills Area of a new Matter You need to fill in the Client field near the top of the Matter form Do that by clicking in the Client field an pressing the
8. Lookup button to the right of it Select a Client from the Contact list TMBills requires that every Matter have a looked up Client in the Client field If the Client field is filled in properly but there is still no Client No in the TMBills Area lower right of the Matter form the Contact record may not have been linked properly Click the Lookup button to the right of the Client field and select the correct Contact again The Client No should fill in Using the Time Matters Wizard for adding Matters is not supported by TMBills The Wizard does not properly link related information from looked up records and does not properly complete auto incremented number fields at this writing March 2011 Did not find Client No Error 1143 When looking up a Case No it is necessary to have the Client No already filled in Please see the No Client Number problem and solution 2011 Active Practice LLC Problems and Solutions 31 8 Getting Help RTG Bills Electronic Help Complete step by step instructions are included via the Help menu in RTG Bills We suggest you first go to Help Tutorial RTG Bills Web Pages For illustrated step by step instructions on the most common tasks go to RTG Bills Help via E mail RTG Bills is bundled with TMBills You receive a full registered license for RTG Bills You are entitled to responsive e mail support directly from RTG Software Please be sure you check the RTG Bills Help within the R
9. TG Bills program and online resources before contacting Support TMBills Help TMBills synchronizes client and matter information with RTG Bills It can also send billing records to RTG Bills For any assistance questions or issues relating to TMBills synchronization please e mail support activepractice co Updates to TMBills are available on the Web LCD ACUVEDIdCt O D Ddd Telephone support is available on a paid basis from Active Practice LLC Please call 800 575 0007 2011 Active Practice LLC 32 TMBills User Manual Active Practice LLC 5200 Willson Road Suite 150 Edina MN 55424 1300 800 575 0007 2011 Active Practice LLC 2011 Active Practice LLC
10. TION WORK OR WEBSITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION OR A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF FURTHER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES THE INFORMATION THE ORGANIZATION WORK OR WEBSITE MAY PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT MAY MAKE 2011 Active Practice LLC 3 TMBills User Manual 2 24 2 2 2 3 Installation and Setup Requirements TMBills works with Time Matters 11 Time Matters 10 and Practice Advantage 10 Time Matters Billing Matters 10 and 11 allowing you to transition from Billing Matters to TMBills Microsoft Windows XP Vista Windows 7 Windows Server Windows Small Business Server Windows Small Business Server Computers running MS Windows including Apple computers running MS Windows on Boot Camp or virtual machine software RTG Bills 2 23 and 2 24 Installation on Server Installing the Program File Download the setup file using the link you received when purchasing TMBills Call Active Practice Technical Support at 800 575 0007 to schedule installation Custom Installation Required Because TMBills integrates with Time Matters custom installation by the TMBills support team is necessary Time Matters is highly customizable TMBills takes advantage of the power available in Time Matters and needs to be tailored so that it does not conflict with existing user customizations Installation on Workstations Installation on each workstation has two st
11. TMBills User Manual 2011 Active Practice LLC TMBills User Manual Easy complete time and billing for Time Matters by Wells H Anderson J D CIC Contents 3 Table of Contents Part Intro and Quick Start 1 What Is TMBillS ccccccccccccececcececcceceeeeneccececececeseeseaececeecceseetenteaeceeeeeeateesentseeeess Part VII Problems and Solutions Part VIII Getting Help 2011 Active Practice LLC 4 TMBills User Manual 2011 Active Practice LLC Intro and Quick Start 5 1 Intro and Quick Start 11 Whatls TMBills TMBills links Time Matters practice management software with RTG Bills timekeeping and billing software TMBills bundles RTG Bills software giving you an easy complete billing system TMBills is an alternative to Billing Matters PCLaw Timeslips and Tabs3 With TMBills you enter clients matters and time and expense records in Time Matters just as you would with Billing Matters You have all the time saving advantages of entering and changing information in one place Time Matters The information is linked to your billing system so you don t have to enter it twice By using TMBills you Capture more billing time so profits increase Reduce your annual software costs significantly Save time by entering and updating client information in one place Time Matters Synchronize client names addresses from Time Matters to RTG Bills Optionally create billin
12. You only need to do this once at the start of the day 1 Open RTG Bills 2 Click on Fees 3 Click on List button Alt L 4 Start typing the name of a Client 5 Press Enter when the Client is highlighted If the Client has multiple Matters double click a Matter 6 Press the New button Alt N Entering a Billing Record Date Client and Matter are already filled in To change the Matter click List or Recent 2011 Active Practice LLC a8 TMBills User Manual 3 4 1 Type in a Description using Shortcut Codes if you have set them up e g tcw for teleconference with 2 Enter the Hours e g 1 5 or 25 You may also enter as hours minutes e g 1 30 or 15 3 Press Save Entering more Billing Records The Timekeeping window clears when you press Save but it remembers the Date Client and Matter Change them as needed and enter the next Billing records Entering Payments To enter a payment 1 Go to RTG Bills Main Menu 2 Press Payments 3 Press List 4 Don t click anything just start typing the Client Name and select the Client and Matter 5 Click New 6 Change the Date if different from today 7 Click in Total and enter the amount 8 Click Save Close Standard Tasks Closing Matters Close a matter after work is complete and the final bill has been paid Closing a matter hides it from lists and reports in RTG Bills unless you select an option to show closed matters That keeps closed m
13. atters out of your way unless you need to review them Deleting a matter is a different task You should not delete a matter after it is closed since you need to keep billing and payment records for a retention period Delete a matter only if it has been entered in error See Deleting Matters below To close a matter in RTG Bills 1 Click on Matters select the Client then open the Matter 2 Click on Billing 2 tab 3 Click the button Close Matter 2011 Active Practice LLC Standard Tasks 19 4 2 FlatFees The sections below cover how to use RTG Bills to charge a e Flat Fee for a Single Service or Document e Flat Fee for an entire Matter e Monthly Flat Fee Flat Fee for a Single Service or Document To charge a flat fee or fixed fee for a single service or document 1 Enter a Billing record in Time Matters including the number of hours worked although you will not report these on the bill Send the Billing record to RTG Bills using the Trigger button Switch to RTG Bills and click the Fees button Select the Matter Double click on the Billing record you just sent to RTG Bills Click on Fixed Fee lower left Enter the dollar amount in Amount Reported and press Save NO 01 B WN Flat Fee for a Matter To charge a flat fee for an entire Matter you need to follow some one time setup steps One time setup for all flat fees 1 Create a Flat Fee Zero Rates table in RTG Bills Go to Main Menu
14. ck Close Installing RTG Bills on Workstation To install RTG Bills 1 Open Windows Explorer Hold down the Windows key between Ctrl and Alt and press the letter E 2 Open the TMBills folder It is in the Time Matters Shared Files Folder for example Server Docs TMBills 3 Double click on bills exe 6 Proceed through the installation screens accepting the following settings 7 Accept the default program folder 2011 Active Practice LLC 10 TMBills User Manual Where should RTG Bills and RTG Timer be installed Setup will install RTG Bills and RTG Timer into the following folder To continue click Next If you would like to select a different folder dick Browse C Program Files Rtabills 8 Enter the RTG data folder e g Server Docs TMBills RTG Bills Sms REN Where should RTG Bills and RTG Timer data files be installed Select the folder in which Setup should install the data files then click Next Server Docs TMBills RTG Bills Select Components ATE Which components should be installed Select the components you want to install clear the components you do not want to install Click Next when you are ready to continue NOTE For network installation install RTG Bills or RTG Timer but not both at once RTG Timer must be installed in a separate folder for each user V RTG Bills 6 0 MB W RTG Timer 10 Accept the Start Menu Folder Se
15. ect and edit bills right in the Preview window e Print bills with option to e mail some or all 2011 Active Practice LLC Learning the Basics 13 e Enter payments you receive e Track receivables and 30 60 90 day aging e Produce reports from a wide selection e Keep track of retainers and trust accounts e Optionally enter time and expenses directly into RTG Bills Client No and Case No RTG Bills has a Client No for each Client In RTG Bills each Client has Cases that are numbered 1 2 etc The Clients in Time Matters match the Clients in RTG Bills and the Matters in Time Matters match the Cases in RTG Bills Each Client in Time Matters is automatically assigned the Client No used by RTG Bills A Client s first Matter is assigned Case No 1 in the TMBills Area of the Matter form in Time Matters A Client s second Matter is assigned Case No 2 and so on You enter a Case No by clicking the Trigger button in the Matter Form to lookup the next Case No See the section Entering Matter Records for specific instructions For more instructions on RTG Bills see 3 2 Entering Matter Records Introduction This topic explains how to work with the TMBills fields on the Matter Form when you enter a new Matter Caution You must enter Matters in Time Matters Do not create new Matters in RTG Bills That defeats to purpose of entering and updating information in one place Time Matters and having it go to RTG Bills See the Time
16. eps 1 Install TMBills with setuptmb exe 2 Install RTG Bills with bills exe These files are found in the TMBills folder on the server or main computer The consultant who installs TMBills gives you the name of the TMBills folder The TMBills folder is found in the Time Matters Shared Files Folder for example WServer Docs T MBills or M Clients TMBills 2011 Active Practice LLC Installation and Setup 9 You need to have the name of the RTG Bills folder when your are installing RTG Bills on a workstation The RTG Bills folder is inside the TMBills folder for example Server Docs TMBills RTG Bills or M Clients TMBills RTG Bills You also need the License Key for RTG Bills provided by your consultant It looks like DCBA ZYXW NMLK Installing TMBills on Workstation To install TMBills 1 Open Windows Explorer Hold down the Windows key between Ctrl and Alt and press the letter E 2 Open the TMBills folder It is in the Time Matters Shared Files Folder for example Server Docs TMBills 3 Double click on setuptmb exe 4 Click Run in the window Open File Security Warning 5 Click Close in the Success window Note Norton Internet Security and other antivirus programs may display a warning when you run setuptmb exe Norton Internet Security can display a Sonar window in the lower right corner If the Sonar window appears 1 Click on Details in the Sonar window 2 Click on Restore 3 Click Yes Cli
17. g records in Time Matters and send them to RTG Bills Reduce the boredom and inefficiency of repetitive manual tasks RTG Bills handles Accounts Receivable and Trust Accounts but is not a full accounting package QuickBooks transactions may be imported into RTG Bills as long as valid Matter numbers are entered in the Memo field TMBills is a product of Active Practice LLC designed specifically for small firms and solo practitioners who use Time Matters 12 Features Software Q Designed specifically for law offices Q Easy to learn and use Q Highly stable Q Affordable Q Indudes RTG Bills time and billing program Synchronization Features 2011 Active Practice LLC 6 TMBills User Manual 1 3 OOOO Synchronize clients and matters from Time Matters to RTG Bills Send Billing Records from Time Matters to RTG Bills Optional Enter Billing records on notebooks and mobile devices Import QuickBooks transaction into RTG Bills Billing Features DODODODOLDLUO Hourly billing Flat fee billing Contingent fee billing Customizable bill formats Letterhead designs Send PDF bills via e mail Receive payments via PayPal link in PDF bills Option Enter time records remotely via Web browser mobile phone Long long list of available reports Much more Quick Start Video The video may be opened and viewed directly or may be downloaded saved and viewed from your MS Windows computer 2011 Active Practice
18. in the TMBills Area shown above It links the matters in Time Matters with the corresponding cases in RTG Bills To enter the Case No click the Trigger button at the top right of the Matter form ojo Matter Form Change z File Edit View Process Help Trigger Eg save a close fH sae 4 4e Di EM BOSS Beare li Secondary Additional elated Notes Documents Phone E Mail Billing Timeline Double click on the Trigger Case No Lookup and insert next Case No ty Select Trigger EN EERE Lookup next Case No for this Client Update RTG 2011 Active Practice LLC Learning the Basics 15 Save and Close the Matter or continue entering information in the Matter Warning If you manually change the Case No you may overwrite an earlier Case already in RTG Bills The Case No Lookup trigger checks for other cases for the same Client and assigns the next higher number Optional Enter a Case Abbreviation In the above screenshot the AutoCase field shows a default Case Abbreviation for the new Matter Case Abbreviations are used in RTG Bills to identify each of a Client s cases The Case Abbreviation is limited to 10 characters You may want to enter your own more descriptive Case Abbreviation You don t need the name of the Client in the Case Abbreviation since the Client name is always shown along with the Case Abbreviation You may enter your own 10 character Case Abbreviation in the Case Abbr field You may
19. l in the E mail address of the person to receive the Invoice You may leave it blank if an E mail address has been entered for the Client in the Edit a Client window Main Menu Clients Select the Client Fill in the E mail field If you check Send Bills Automatically RTG Bills gives you the option each time you send out Invoices to E mail them individually or in batches Sending PDF Invoices via E mail It takes several steps to send a PDF Invoice or a batch of PDF Invoices via E mail At the end you have the option to cancel sending by clicking No To send PDF Invoices via e mail 1 Print the Invoices in order to finalize them as you would for paper Invoices You may print them to paper or save paper by selecting a PDF printer driver to save paper 2 Go to Main Menu Bills Reprint as PDF 3 Choose All Matters or One Matter If you choose All Matters select the cut off date for the batch of Invoices you want send 4 Click Print 5 Press Yes at the window Send 1 message Or Send x messages for multiple Invoices 6 Updates and Upgrades Updates are minor releases that add features and fix bugs Upgrades are major releases that add important features or add compatibility with new releases of other software IMPORTANT Before updating or upgrading TMBills RTG Bills or Time Matters lease check the TMBills Updates page These programs work together Updating one of them typically requires the latest updates f
20. lect Start Menu Folder Where should Setup place the program s shortcuts Setup will create the program s shortcuts in the following Start Menu folder To continue dick Next If you would like to select a different folder dick Browse 11 Finish installing RTG Bills by going through the remaining windows To setup RTG Bills on the workstation 2011 Active Practice LLC Installation and Setup 11 1 Open RTG Bills from the icon on the Windows desktop or from the Start Menu For Windows 7 right click and select Run as Administrator 2 Go to Main Menu File Update Yes Check The Internet For Upgrades Check all the items Press Install 3 If this window appears fill in the License Key Press OK Enter the name of the licensed user You may use x either the name of an individual or the firm name Enter the license key for Version 2 23 that was sent Cancel to you by RTG Help Licensed To License Key Order on the Web Otherwise go to Main Menu Setup Licensed User Fill in your firm name and License Key 4 File Update Yes Check The Internet For Upgrades Check all the items Press Install Note Some updates may require that run through Step 4 twice Simply click Check The Internet For Upgrades again and press Install again 2011 Active Practice LLC 12 TMBills User Manual 3 3 4 Learning the Basics TMBills and RTG Bills Introduction TMBills
21. links Time Matters practice management software with RTG Bills timekeeping and billing software TMBills lets you enter Clients Matters and Billing records in Time Matters and then send them to RTG Bills RTG Bills is a full featured timekeeping and billing program designed for the needs of law offices It is not an accounting program but does track Accounts Receivable Trust Accounts and is QuickBooks Friendly TMBills and RTG Bills take the place of Billing Matters and are simpler than PCLaw for timekeeping and billing Learning TMBills There is not much to learn With TMBills you to enter Client and Matter records in Time Matters and synchronize them to RTG Bills You may enter Billing records in Time Matters and send them to RTG Bills or you may enter Billing records directly in RTG Bills if you prefer You enter clients and matters in Time Matters in the normal ways About all you need to learn to use TMBills is e How to add a Case No when entering a Matter in Time Matters e How to click the Trigger button to send Client and Matter information or Billing records to RTG Bills e How to use RTG Bills for billing described below You will also want to know how to apply TMBills Updates That is easy and is explained in Installation of TMBills Updates Learning RTG Bills RTG Bills is your timekeeping and billing program Tt comes with extensive learning materials You use RTG Bills to e Create and preview bills e Corr
22. nge the Bill Date entry from today s date to the earlier date 2011 Active Practice LLC Learning the Basics Sending a Billing Records in Batches to RTG Bills After saving any number of the Billing records in Time Matters 1 Press the Trigger button on the Billing List toolbar or on a Billing Form toolbar 2 Double click on Send Billing to RTG Note All unsent TM Billing records are sent to RTG Bills whenever you use any Trigger to Send Billing to RTG Bills Method 2 Creating Billing Records from Other Records in Time Matters To create a Billing Record from another Time Matters record 1 Complete the other record e g an Event record 2 At the top of the record click Process Send to Billing or click the Send to Billing icon green arrow 3 If necessary edit the Hours and Description 4 Press the Trigger button on the Form Toolbar 5 Double click on Send Billing to RTG Note You you may wait to Send Billing to RTG Bills until after you have enter any number of Billing records in Time Matters All unsent TM Billing records are sent to RTG Bills whenever you use a Trigger to Send Billing to RTG Bills Method 3 Entering Billing Records in RTG Bills You may choose to enter Billing records directly into RTG Bills but you lose the automation feature in Time Matters that can save you time To enter Billing records in RTG Bills you work in the RTG Bills Timekeeping window Opening the Timekeeping Window
23. o search 1 Click on the Matters button 2 Click on the Search button 3 Enter a word or part of a word 2011 Active Practice LLC a TMBills User Manual 5 2 Type a Matter Number or a Matter Abbreviation Then press Enter or click Edit Matter Number fr 0001 3 What To Search Client Names Matter Names 1 Type search words and press Enter Search for v Search E mail Invoices You may configure RTG Bills to send out Invoices to selected clients as PDF files via e mail RTG Bills can send out E mails with PDF Invoices automatically or it can create PDF files that you manually attach to E mails that you create with your E mail program For instructions on configuring RTG Bills to send Invoices via e mail automatically go to RTG Bills Help Contents Menus and Buttons Setup Menu Email To setup E mail you will need the settings from your E mail program including the server names username and password so that RTG Bills can send E mails over the Internet Set a Matter to Send PDF Invoices 2011 Active Practice LLC Advanced RTG Bills Features 25 To set a Matter to send PDF Invoices first Edit a Matter e Press Matters List button Start typing the Client Press Enter Choose the Matter At the Edit a Matter window 1 Click the PDF tab 2 Check Reprint Bills as PDF Files 3 Check the box Send Bills Automatically 4 On the Address tab fil
24. om prepayments and retainers the Retainer Reports give separate totals for each Group After creating Bills run the report Retainers Applied Automatically to see how much money to transfer from your Trust Account into your firm s bank account When you use Group 1 for Trust Funds the Group 1 total is the amount you need to transfer 2011 Active Practice LLC Standard Tasks 23 4 4 5 4 Trust Accounts RTG Bills handles both retainer accounts and a trust accounts using its Retainers feature To handle funds held in trust for a dient set up a Retainer account according to the instructions in RTG Bills Help These steps are illustrated in an online slideshow For help go to RTG Bills Help Contents Other Topics Retainers and a Trust Account Also see the section in this manual Advanced RTG Bills Features An extensive set of instructional materials is available for RTG Bills You will find detailed information and step by step instructions in the RTG Bills Help system Just click the Help button on the RTG Bills Main Menu or any Help button in the program Additional detailed instructions are available online at RTG Software site map N D KNOWIECO RTG Bills Slide Shows This section on Advanced RTG Bills Features supplements the material available from RTG Software Finding Information Search for a Client or Matter You may search for a word or part of a word in any Client or Matter record T
25. on Recurring Charges see that section in RTG Bills Help Check Repeat From the list that appears choose Quarterly Click Save to save this transaction 2011 Active Practice LLC Standard Tasks 21 4 3 Retainers When a client pays a retainer you need to set up the Matter to handle the retainer RTG Bills has a clear online slideshow that explains how to set up and accept retainers Retainer accounts are used to handle both prepaid fees and Trust Accounts To handle a retainer 1 Create a Retainer Account for the client s Matter 2 Enter a Retainer transaction These tasks are explained in RTG Bills online slideshow ttp www rtasoftware com slides retainer htm SLIDE The RTG Bills Help system also explains these tasks Go to RTG Bills Help Contents Other Topics Retainers and a Trust Account Bank Accounts and Trust Funds If you have one Trust Account and if you hold all prepayments in your Trust Account you do not need to be concerned with Groups All of your retainers and trust account funds go into your single Trust Account at your bank The Retainer reports in RTG Bills show you the transactions and balance in your Trust Account However if you have a Trust Account and also receive some prepayments or retainers that do not go into Trust then you use Groups in RTG Bills to keeps your Trust Fund and prepayments or retainers separate Groups for Trust Accounts and Retainers If you need to keep Trust Acc
26. or the others 2011 Active Practice LLC z TMBills User Manual 6 1 6 2 6 3 Updates and Upgrades Policy TMBills from Active Practice includes RTG Bills from RTG Software TMBills connects Time Matters practice management software to RTG Bills time and billing software IMPORTANT Before updating or upgrading TMBills RTG Bills or Time Matters please check the TMBills Updates page http updated These programs work together Updating one of them Dale requires the latest updates for the others Updates for the current version are made available for free as user installed downloads Upgrade Protection 60 per year for unlimited users covers any upgrades of TMBills and RTG Bills released during a 12 month period Without Upgrade Protection upgrades are available at a discount off the new price of TMBills and RTG Bills software Technical Support via e mail is included with Upgrade Protection Downloads UE updates and up grades are available here RTG Bills updates are available directly from within the RTG Bills program RTG Bills Menu File Upgrade or Update Updates have a different letter in the version such as 2 23c RTG Bills upgrades are available from the RTG Software website Upgrades change to a different number such as from 2 23x to 2 24 If it is over one year since you purchased TMBills you need a new license key for a new version of RTG Bills See the RTG Bills Upgrades instructions
27. ount funds separate from other prepayments then use the Groups feature in RTG Bills Create Group 1 as your Trust Account Create Group 2 for prepayments and retainers that do not go into your Trust Account When create a Retainer Account for a Matter in which you receive Trust Funds 1 Enter Trust in the Description field 2 Enter 1 in the Group field 2011 Active Practice LLC 22 TMBills User Manual Edit A Retainer Account ms EE gt Cient Number SOO D Cancel Account Mn Type Clientlevel Help Description Trust Delete Group f1 Replenishing Retainer If balance is below n 00 Enter D if vou do not want the bill to f request an additional retainer Replenish to n 00 When you create a Retainer Account for a Matter on which you will accept a prepayment that does not go into your Trust Fund 1 Enter Prepayment in the Description field 2 Enter 2 in the Group field Retainer and Trust Account Reports A number of reports are available for tracking information on retainers and trust accounts e Retainer Ledger All transactions and balances grouped by account e Retainer Account Summary Clients Matters and Retainer Balances with Total e Retainers Applied Automatically After creating bills run this report to show what to transfer out of the Trust account e Retainers Used and Received Retainer transactions listed in date order When you use Groups to separate Trust Funds fr
28. ularly enter various kinds of Time Matters records such as Events Notes Phone records or Documents Methods 1 and 2 are compatible You may enter some records using one method and others using the other They all go to the same place Method 3 Entering Billing records in RTG Bills is simple and lets you keep a Timekeeping window open and available at all times Note For Methods 1 and 2 there is a limit of 3000 characters about 500 words or 1 5 typewritten pages for the Description in a Time Matters Billing record to be Sent to RTG If you try to send a record with more than 3000 characters you will receive an error message with instructions For Method 1 the limit is huge 36 901 characters or over 7 single spaced typewritten pages You may enter Billing records in Time Matters in multiple ways Perhaps the simplest way is to use the Matter List To enter a Billing record in Time Matters 1 Select a Matter on the Matter list You can start typing a Matter name Quick Pik will find it for you 2 Press the Add Billing button on the Main Toolbar You may need to add it by right clicking your Toolbar and choosing Customize 3 Fill in the Hours and Description 4 Press the Trigger button on the Form Toolbar 5 Double click on Send Billing to RTG If you prefer you may send Billing records to RTG in batches skipping steps 4 and 5 Note If the Date of Service for a Billing record is different from today you need to cha
29. upport Ar RTG Bills is available directly from RTG Software at To install an RTG Bills upgrade yourself 1 Install the current update for TMBills See the previous section in this manual 2 If it is over one year since you purchased TMBills request a RTG Bills License Key from us Contact us at or 800 575 0007 3 Download the upgrade from www rtgsoftware com dlupg ht 4 Backup RTG Bills Main Menu Backup 5 Copy the RTG Bills database location to the Windows Clipboard a Go to Main Menu Setup Database b Right click on the folder name and choose Select All c Right click again on the folder name and choose Copy This step saves you time later when you need to enter the the Database Location 6 Close RTG Bills on all computers 7 Carefully follow the instructions on the webpage for installing the RTG Bills upgrade httr 8 At the Select Data Location window be sure to delete the folder name and paste the correct folder copied in 4c above or enter the correct folder for your database Accept the default program folder 2011 Active Practice LLC Updates and Upgrades 29 Select Program Location ATE Where should RTG Bills and RTG Timer be installed A Setup will install RTG Bills and RTG Timer into the following folder To continue dick Next If you would like to select a different folder dick Browse C Program Files Rtabills Browse Enter the RTG data folder e g Server
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