Setup firm administration

Setting up service charges

Before you assess service charges for past due invoices, the firm administrator (or staff member with security permission to add and edit billing information) should enter service charge information into the application. Once you have added service charge information, you can apply charges to clients on the Billing tab of the Clients setup screen.

Adding a new service charge

To add a new service charge in DT Practice, follow these steps.
  1. Choose Setup > Service Charges.
  2. Select the
    Add
     button.
  3. Enter an appropriate
    Description
     for the service charge. Enter a
    Description
     that will be easily identifiable by anyone applying service charges. Examples might be
    Low Risk - 6%
    ,
    Standard - 12%
    , and
    High Risk - 18%
    , or some other means of distinguishing the rates charged to various clients.
  4. Enter an Annual Rate as a percentage (up to four decimal places).
  5. Enter the number of grace days after due date before service charges are billed to clients in the
    Grace Days
     field.
  6. Use the
    Calculate from
     list to choose the date from which the charges should be calculated. Choices are Invoice Date, Due Date, and Due Date + Grace Days. If you choose Due Date + Grace Days, the application will calculate the date based on the number of grace days you entered in the
    Grace Days
     field.
  7. Enter the minimum outstanding balance required before the application will calculate service charges. Balances below this amount will not be assessed the charge.
  8. Enter the minimum service charge amount. This minimum will be charged when there is a calculated service charge but it is less than the minimum amount.
  9. If you wish to set a maximum amount for service charges, mark the
    Maximum Charge
     checkbox and enter an amount. If the application calculates an amount greater than this amount then the maximum amount will be charged.
  10. Mark the
    Compound Service Charges
     checkbox if you wish to calculate service charges on outstanding service charges.
  11. Mark the
    Round to dollars
     checkbox if you wish to round all service charges to the nearest dollar.
  12. Select
    Enter
     to save the new service charge.
note
  • You can add, edit, or delete service charge entries on the fly by right-clicking in a related field elsewhere in the application and choosing the desired action from the shortcut menu. An example of such a field is the
    Assess Service Charges, use rate:
     field in the Billing tab of the Client setup screen.

Activating service charges for the firm

Before you can assess service charges, you must follow these steps to enable the charges at the firm level.
  1. Choose Setup > Firm and click the Billing and A/R tab.
  2. Mark the
    Assess Service Charges, use rate
     checkbox
  3. Select a service charge rate from the drop-down list next to the checkbox.
  4. Select
    Enter
     to save your changes.

Activating service charges for clients

Before you can assess service charges for your clients, you must follow these steps to enable the charges at the client level.
  1. Choose Setup > Clients.
  2. Select a client and select the
    Edit
     button.
  3. Go to the Billing and A/R tab.
  4. Mark the
    Assess Service Charges, use rate
     checkbox.
  5. Select a service charge rate from the drop-down list next to the checkbox.
  6. Select
    Enter
     to save your changes.
  7. Repeat these steps for each client who is eligible for service charges.
    tip
    You can update service charge information for multiple clients at once by selecting the
    Edit multiple Clients
     link at the bottom of the Clients setup screen and then using the
    Edit Multiple Clients
     dialog to change service charge information for the selected clients.

This article applies to:

  • Product: DT Practice