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This article applies to:

  • Product: Legal Tracker
  • Subject: Invoices
  • Audiences: Firm

Invoice Delivery on Hold

If you post an invoice to a matter that has incomplete tasks, Tracker uploads and saves the invoice, but it is not delivered to the client until all the incomplete tasks for the matter are resolved.
When an invoice for a matter with incomplete tasks is uploaded, Tracker saves the invoice and assigns a status of
Delivery on Hold
. This feature enables companies to enforce the completion of assigned tasks while allowing billing clerks to complete their billing responsibilities. The invoice is delivered to the client after all of the incomplete tasks for the matter are resolved.
If an invoice has a status of
Delivery on Hold
 for more than 45 days, Tracker automatically rejects the invoice back to the firm.
Tracker provides several tools to help firms manage the resolution of incomplete tasks. For example, billing clerks can trigger reminder email messages to the responsible parties. Tracker also sends automatic reminders to responsible attorneys if tasks are not completed within seven days of the invoice upload.
More Information
Invoice delivery may be held during an accrual period. Some companies set up their accruals modules so that unbilled amounts posted by firms are reviewed during a specific period. During this period, which typically lasts only a few days, any invoices posted by a firm are assigned the
Delivery on Hold
 status and are not delivered. This ensures that the invoice amount is not double counted with the unbilled amount already posted by the firm. Although these invoices have a temporary status of
Delivery on Hold
, law firm users do not need to take action because the invoice will be delivered automatically after the review period.
SpeedPost. If you use SpeedPost to post multiple LEDES invoices in one file, you are notified whether any invoices were held on the Invoice results page. If you use a manual posting method, Tracker displays an alert when an invoice is held. The alert includes a clickable link for viewing the incomplete tasks, responsible users and the email reminder history.

Viewing Delivery on Hold Invoices

The following users can view or access Delivery on Hold invoices:
User type
Details
Company Users
Company users cannot view or access any Delivery on Hold invoices, and those invoices are not included in a company report. The amounts of the invoices will be included in their accruals but the actual invoices will not.
Law Firm Users
The following general rules for viewing and accessing invoices apply to Delivery on Hold invoices:
  • Any law firm user with billing rights can view all invoices across all matters. A user who does not have billing rights but who is a matter participant can view all invoices associated with that matter.
  • A user from the lead firm can view a secondary firm's invoices if the lead firm is the coordinating counsel and as long as a particular invoice is not a Delivery on Hold invoice. Only users from the secondary firm can view the secondary firm's Delivery on Hold invoices.
There are three ways to view held invoices:
  • View all invoices with the
    Delivery on Hold
     status across all matters you have access to.
  • View the invoices associated with a specific matter.
  • Run a report that includes invoices with the
    Delivery on Hold
     status.
View Delivery on Hold Invoices
To view all
Delivery on Hold
 invoices:
  1. Click
    Billing
     in the left navigation.
  2. Click
    View invoices
    . You may need to complete this step if
    Accruals
     displays because unbilled amounts are due.
  3. Any invoice for a matter that has incomplete tasks associated with it is listed under the
    INVOICES ON HOLD
     collapsible section.
  4. Click
    View incomplete tasks
     if you want to view detailed information (including the responsible parties) about the tasks.
    note
    The posting date displays as
    TBD
     and the days pending displays as
    N/A
     because the invoice has not yet been submitted to the company for review.
View Invoices Associated with a Matter
To view the invoices associated with a matter:
  1. Click
    Matters
    , then
    Matter List
     in the left navigation.
  2. Click the matter name for the matter that has incomplete tasks associated with it.
  3. Click
    Invoices
    . Any invoice for a matter that has incomplete tasks associated with it is listed under the
    INVOICES ON HOLD
     collapsible section.
  4. Click
    View incomplete tasks
     if you want to view detailed information (including the responsible parties) about the tasks.
    note
    The age of the invoice displays as two hyphens (--) because the invoice has not been submitted to the company.
Run a Report with Delivery Status Information
To run a report with delivery status information:
  1. Click
    Reports
    , then
    Report List
     in the left navigation.
  2. Click one of the build your own or pre-configured invoices reports links.
  3. Click
    Add fields
     to select the columns you want to include in the report. For example, you may want to add
    Short matter name
     so you can identify the matter in the report.
  4. Add the Delivery status filter. To add the filter, click
    Add
     filters, expand
    All report filters > Invoice fields
    , click
    Select
     for
    Delivery status
    , select the
    Delivery on Hold
     check box then click
    Save
    .
  5. Configure the remainder of the report.
  6. Click
    Run
     in the toolbar.

Resolving Incomplete Tasks and Delivering the Invoice

Regardless of whether you view one Delivery on Hold invoice or a list of invoices, clicking
View incomplete tasks
 lets you view a list of the tasks that must be completed before Tracker will deliver the invoice(s). The list also includes the attorneys responsible for the incomplete tasks and a history of the email reminders that were sent regarding the incomplete tasks. From this list, you can send additional email reminders.
Possible incomplete tasks include the following:
  • Matter profile incomplete (applicable only to the lead firm in a matter).
  • Status report due (applicable only to the lead firm in a matter).
  • Budget or budget reforecast due.
  • Service of process (SOP) response due.
When all of the incomplete tasks are resolved, the invoice is delivered immediately to the client without further action by your law firm.
Resolving Incomplete Tasks
Any user who is a Matter Administrator or Matter Editor can resolve incomplete tasks in the matter. We strongly recommend that your firm require the lead attorney or that attorney's delegates to resolve tasks because of the following:
  • The lead attorney and delegates have the most direct access to the information required to complete the tasks.
  • The lead attorney and delegates receive alerts when a task becomes due so they are aware of the tasks before an invoice is submitted.
  • Requiring other users, such as billing clerks, to resolve incomplete tasks can result in exposure of sensitive information.
  • Your clients evaluate attorney performance based on the data entered in Tracker so the lead attorney and delegates have the greatest interest in providing accurate and current information.
note
Attorneys are always responsible for the data entered in Tracker. Your clients expect that matter information, budget, and status reports in a matter come directly from your lead attorney and their law firm evaluations are based on that assumption. Consequently, even if the lead attorney does not directly enter the information, the lead attorney must specify or dictate the information to the person who does.
Determining whether an Invoice Was Delivered
When an invoice is delivered, the invoice status changes from
Delivery on Hold
 to
Pending
. Tracker displays the posting date, which is the date the invoice was delivered.
When an invoice is rejected, Tracker sends a rejected email notification to the user who posted the invoice and to any Matter Administrator or Matter Editor for the matter associated with the invoice. Matter Administrators and Matter Editors also receive Action Items alerts.

How Delivery on Hold Affects Invoice Dates

The following invoice dates are affected by Delivery on Hold invoices:
Date type
Details
Date Posted
An invoice is not considered posted until the invoice is delivered. The
Date Posted
 column displays
TBD
 until the invoice is delivered. The invoice is delivered immediately when all incomplete tasks are complete and the
Date Posted
 column shows the date the invoice was delivered.
Invoice Date
The invoice is entered by the billing clerk when the invoice is uploaded. It is not changed when an invoice is held. There may be a significant delay between the invoice date and the date posted (the delivery date) because of the Invoice Delivery on Hold feature. For example, a billing clerk uploaded an invoice with incomplete tasks, which triggered the
Delivery on Hold
 status. The billing clerk entered an invoice date of 01/01/2019. The firm attorney took 40 days to complete all of the incomplete assigned tasks. When the invoice is finally delivered to the client, the invoice date remains 01/01/2019, but the date displayed in the
Date Posted
 column is 02/09/2019 (the date the invoice was actually delivered).
Created on Date
The Created on date, which is displayed in the footer of every invoice, is a timestamp generated by Tracker to show when the invoice form was saved. This date is used for auditing purposes. It cannot be edited or altered by the Delivery on Hold feature.