Law Firm Matter Budgets| Alerts and Notifications
Tracker notifies law firm and company users of budget events and due dates by sending Action Items alerts and email notifications.
Law firm alerts when the company requires a budget
Tracker helps companies enforce budget due dates by holding law firms' invoices on a matter if a required budget is overdue or rejected. Therefore, it is important for law firm users to be aware of budget due dates. Tracker notifies law firms of budget due dates and events through Action Items alerts and also with email notifications if the user's preferences allow them.
Initial budget due date
If a budget is required for a matter, the initial budget will be due a certain number of days after the matter was created or the law firm was added to the matter. Law firm users with a matter role of editor or higher receive Action Items alerts and email notifications (if their preferences allow email notifications) that they must enter a budget for the matter.
The initial due date is specified in the matter template for the type of matter, such as Claim or Litigation. The matter template can be edited only by a Tracker Coordinator. If a required budget is not submitted by the due date, Tracker will hold the firm's invoices.
Next fiscal year budget due date
If a matter spans multiple fiscal years, a new budget is due every year. To ensure efficient workflows and processes, all required law firm matter budgets are due at the same time each year. Thus, the next year's phased budgets and fiscal-year monthly, quarterly, and annual budgets for all matters are due the same number of days before the start of the next fiscal year. Law firm users with a matter role of editor or higher receive Action Items alerts and email notifications when required budgets are due for the next fiscal year.
Viewing budget due dates
Users can see budget due dates by viewing the Calendar of Events. The Company Tracker Coordinator determines the month in which the budgets are due during System Setup; however, only a Tracker database administrator can change the due date for budgets. In addition, it is important to note that budget, accrual, and status report due dates are all related, and they are controlled by the Calendar of Events, which can only be edited by a System Administrator or higher. For more information, see Calendar of Events.
Company user alerts when a law firm creates or modifies a budget
When a law firm user creates or modifies a law firm matter budget, the budget is considered pending, and company users who are assigned financial data review authority (budget reviewers) receive an Action Items alert and an email notification to review the budget. The budget reviewer must then review the budget and approve, reject, or edit it.
Also, any company user who has selected the option to receive notifications when a budget is created or updated will receive an email notification of the budget, even if no review is required of that user.
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Company budget actions do not generate company alerts. If a company financial reviewer creates or edits a law firm matter budget, no alerts or emails are sent, and no budget review is required.
The law firm can submit invoices for a matter with a pending required budget. Tracker holds invoices only if a required budget has not yet been created (is overdue) or if the company rejects the budget.
View a list of financial data reviewers
View a list of budget reviewers (company users who have been granted financial data review authority for a Matter) who will receive Action Items alerts and email notifications.
- Click theMatter Optionstoolbar button orBudget Optionsif you are accessing the matter from Budget.
- Scroll down to theFinancial Data Edit Authoritysection. The matter roles of the company users who have financial data review authority are listed next toWhich company users can edit?These users can edit, approve, or reject budgets, and they will receive Action Items alerts and email notification when a budget is pending review or when company budgets are due.
- ClickParticipantsto see the names and email addresses of the users with the corresponding matter role. For example, if the financial data reviewers are listed as matter administrators in the Matter Options page,Participantslists the names and email addresses of all company matter administrators for the matter.
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Financial data (budget) reviewers are determined in the Budget and Accrual Setup. Users who have been granted special group access such as by virtue of an organizational unit or practice group will not receive alerts or have access to the law firm budgets via the Financial Review page.
View a Budget
- SelectMatters>Matter listin the left navigation.
- Click the name of the matter to open it.
- Select theBudgettab.
- In theBudget Statussection, clickviewnext to the name of the firm whose budget you want to view.
Lock a budget
A budget financial data (budget) reviewer can lock the budget so it cannot be edited.
- SelectMatters>Matter listin the left navigation.
- Click the name of the matter to open it.
- Select theBudgettab.
- In theBudget Statussection, clickviewnext to the name of the firm whose budget you want to lock.
- Select the three small dots icon on the toolbar, then clickLock Budget.
Law firm alerts when a company edits or rejects a budget
If a company reviewer edits or rejects a budget, the lead law firm user receives an Action Items alert and an email notification (if the user's preferences allow email notifications). If a company reviewer approves a budget, the law firm is not notified.
If a required budget is rejected, Tracker will hold invoices from the law firm until the budget is modified.
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Tracker does not hold invoices if an approved budget was subsequently modified by the law firm, and the modifications were rejected. That is, if the initial required budget was approved, the law firm then modified it, and the company reviewer rejected the modification, invoices will not be held because the modification was not required and the original budget is still valid.
A budget that has been edited by a company reviewer is displayed on the Action Items for law firm users with the right permissions. However, there is no consequence if the law firm user never views the modification; the law firm can still post invoices, and the modified budget remains in place. If a law firm user acknowledges a change in the budget, the acknowledgment will appear under Status in the Budget Status section of the Budget Profile page.