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Budgets

View current and prior budgets

You can view budgets and related information for a matter from the Budget tab on the Matters List page. If a matter has multiple law firm matter budgets submitted by different firms, you can view either the total budget for all firms on the matter or each individual firm's budget. You can either view the current budget or a previous budget version, and you can compare the selected budget to the version immediately preceding it.

Select the budget to view

You can use Budget on the Matters List page to view the entire budget history for a matter. In other words, you can view the current budget and every previous budget, whether a law firm matter budget or a company budget. In addition, if multiple firms have submitted budgets for the same matter, you can view the total budget for the entire matter, or you can view each firm's budget individually.
By default, when you open Budget, it displays the total budget for all firms on the matter. You can change the view using the budget view selectors, which are drop-down lists that appear at the top of the main budget page. The first drop-down list shows either the total matter budget, or the individual law firms that have submitted budgets; and the company budget, if available. The second drop-down list displays options for either law firm budgets or company budgets. The third drop-down (directly below the first two) displays historical versions of the budget.
  1. Select Matters > Matter list in the left navigation.
  2. Select the hyperlinked name of the matter you want to work with.
  3. Click Budget.
  4. From the first drop-down list, select the law firm whose budget you want to view. The default view is the total budget amount for all firms.
  5. In the second drop-down list, select the type of budget you want to view, either law firm or company.
  6. In the third drop-down list, select the version of the budget you want to view. The default is the current version and click Change view.
Alternatively, under the Budgeting section, Budget Status subsection, you can view a law firm matter budget by clicking view next to the name of the firm whose budget you want to view.
Compare the selected budget to the preceding version
The Compare to prior budget feature lets you display the selected budget as well as the version immediately preceding it for quick comparison.
To view the comparison, click the Compare to prior budget link below the third drop-down.
The prior budget amounts are displayed in gray strikethrough above the selected budget amounts. To hide the comparison, click Don't compare to prior budget below the third drop-down.

Budget status

When viewing individual law firm budgets (for example, after selecting a particular firm's budget), the Budget Status sub-section displays the following information:
  • Status Whether the budget is pending approval or acknowledgment, and by whom.
  • Locked Status Whether the budget has been locked by a company user so that it may not be modified (only company users can lock or unlock budgets).
  • Last Revised By Who revised the budget last, and when.
  • Revision Comments Every time a budget is modified, the user making the changes must provide comments.
Actual vs budget
The Actual vs. Budget section shows the actual amount billed on the matter compared to the budget. This section is divided into two parts: 1) the Fiscal Year Budget, which represents the year-to-date budget of the matter , and 2) the Total Matter Budget, which represents the life-to-date budget of the matter .
The Fiscal Year Budget is determined by the company's fiscal year, which may not be the calendar year. This is set by the Company Tracker Coordinator. The Fiscal Year Actual Billings number is based on the billing period of the invoices of law firms or vendors, not the date posted or date approved.
Budget spreadsheet
The Budget Spreadsheet shows the breakdown of fees and expenses in the budget. Regardless of the format of the budget, you can view it monthly, quarterly, or annually. For example, if you have an annual fiscal-year budget of $400,000, you can select View Quarterly and see a Budget Total of $100,000 for each quarter.
If the budget has a phased format, the Budget Spreadsheet view selector includes a View Budget Phases option. You can still view a phased budget monthly, quarterly, or annually. If View Budget Phases is selected, a description of the phases is included in the spreadsheet.

This article applies to:

  • PRODUCT: Legal Tracker
  • Subject: Budget
  • Audiences: Company

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