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Task and Accounting Codes

Task Code Alerts | Overview

Task Code Alerts | Overview

When you want more detailed information about the fees that your law firms charge, you can require that they include Uniform Task Based Management System (UTBMS) task and activity codes in their invoices. System Administrators can configure matter types to require the codes by default, but those requirements can be modified for an individual matter.
Important basic concepts to understand:
  • Task codes can be required at the matter template or individual matter level.
  • Task codes and timekeeper audits can be combined at the matter level.
  • Task code alerts can be inclusive or exclusive of tax.

Using Task Codes to Manage AFAs

Companies can use alternative fee arrangements (AFAs) with pre-configured task codes and task code alerts as a form of task-based budgeting to monitor and control spending. Task code alerts are pre-defined actions that occur when spending for a set of task codes approaches a defined threshold. Task code alerts provide the ability to automatically reduce or reject invoices based on negotiated costs, and help automate enforcement of task code-based billing arrangements.
Setting up and managing alternative fee arrangements by using pre-configured task codes involves these areas of Tracker:
  • Options to include or exclude tax in task code alerts, and a column to capture line item costs are defined in Settings (
    Settings
     > 
    eBilling & Financial Setup
     section >
    Pre-configured Task Code Alerts
    ).
  • Settings to include or exclude tax in task code amounts and enable/disable timekeeper audits are defined in the matter type template (
    Settings
     > 
    Matter Setup
     section >
    Matter Type-Templates & Matter Setup
    ).
  • Task code amounts, including any variance (amount by which spend exceeds the allowed amount) are shown in the matter's
    Budget
    tab.
  • Additional columns for task code alert audits appear on the invoice's Profile tab.

Task Code Alert Notifications

When there are pending actions for task code alerts, a notification appears in the following places:
  • The
    Task Code Alerts
     collapsible section of the matter's
    Budget
    or
    Budget/Fees
     tab.
Tip | Task code alerts differ from law firm budgets in that law firm budgets span a specified period of time, such as a fiscal year. Task code alerts apply to the entire life of a matter.

Task code alert setup workflow

  1. The task code sets to be monitored are defined in the
    Setup Options
     collapsible section of the matter template. (
    Settings
    >
    Matters Setup
     section >
    Matter Type-Templates & Matter Setup
    ) For an individual matter, the company matter administrator can change this.
  2. For individual matters, company and firm matter admins set task code spending limits.
  3. To ensure firm is aware of limits when they submit invoices, firms acknowledge final spending limits that have been approved by the company.
  4. The company locks the task code spending limits to prevent additional changes to the spending limits.
Steps to Take
  • Discuss implementing task code AFAs with your Client Success Manager or Tracker Support to take advantage of our general recommendations and best practices.
  • Communicate with your firms to agree on task code fee schedules, and let them know that invoices might be auto-reduced or auto-rejected to keep billing in compliance with agreed-on amounts.
  • Task codes must be enabled for your company. See Setting Up Pre-configured Task Code Alerts
  • Your Tracker Coordinator must enable pre-configured task code alerts on the Miscellaneous Financial Options page in Tracker Settings. See Configuring Miscellaneous Financial Options.
  • Options to include/exclude tax in pre-configured task code alerts, and a column to capture line item costs must be configured. See Setting Up Pre-configured Task Code Alerts.
  • Configure audit actions for matter type templates. This setting is configured on the Matter Type Template page (
    Settings
    >
    Matters Setup
     >
    Matter Type-Templates & matter setup
    ) Use the
    Action to Take for Task Code Alerts
     setting in the matter type template to designate actions to be taken when task code alerts are triggered for all matters of that type. See Enable Task Code Alerts in a Matter Template for details.

Reviewing invoices for task code alerts

On the matter's
Invoice
tab, invoice reviewers can adjust, ignore, hold, or automatically reduce the invoice by task code set, phase, or task code.
When a submitted invoice contains an alert at the task code level, the reviewer has the standard options—Ignore, Hold, and Auto-reduce—to handle the alert. If spending limits have been created at the level of the code set or phase, the reviewer might also have to handle alerts at that level.

This article applies to:

  • Product: Legal Tracker
  • Audiences: Company