00:01: In this video, we'll walk through how to complete flat free billing in CARET legal
00:06: from setup to invoicing.
00:10:
00:11: As the first step, let's set up flat fee services.
00:15: To get started, navigate to the top right corner and select firm settings.
00:22: Then go to billing and accounting and
00:25: choose flat fee service descriptions.
00:30: This is where you can create and manage your flat fee services.
00:34: Each service includes a name,
00:37: practice area,
00:39: default description,
00:40: and default price.
00:42: To add a new service, click the plus icon at the top right corner of the table.
00:49: Enter the service details.
00:51: For this example, we'll use real estate purchase flat fee.
01:00: Add a practice area,
01:02: default service description,
01:04: default price,
01:09: and click the checkmark to save your changes.
01:13: If you need to edit an existing service, click the pencil icon on the right, make
01:20: your updates, and confirm by selecting the checkbox.
01:24: After the setup has been completed, we can start creating our flat fee entries.
01:32: To create a flat fee entry, head to the time section.
01:37: You'll land on the time entry step.
01:40: So switch over to the flat fees tab.
01:43: Click the plus icon in the green banner to create a new flat fee.
01:50: In the form, select the matter,
01:56: timekeeper, date,
01:58: service type,
02:05: quantity,
02:07: edit description and rate if needed.
02:10: Once all required fields are complete, click Save.
02:15: Your new flat fee now appears on the top list with the status of Not Invoiced.
02:22: You can also create flat fees directly within a matter under
02:29: the time and expenses tab.
02:34: Using the same process, once you open the matter page, click on the Time Expenses
02:39: tab.
02:40: Similar to the Time section, you'll be brought to the Time Entry step first and need
02:45: to switch to the Flat Fees table to complete the same action by clicking the plus
02:50: sign and adding a new flat fee.
02:52: Once
02:55: the flat fees have been added,
02:58: we can proceed to the next step, which is invoicing unbilled flat fees.
03:04: We are going to navigate to the accounting section and
03:08: you will be brought to the invoices and payments tab.
03:12: Click the plus icon to the right side of the green banner.
03:16: Here you will see two invoice options,
03:20: Invoice Unbilled Activities and New Invoice from Scratch.
03:24: We are going to review both options.
03:27: Option 1 is Invoice Unbilled Activities.
03:31: You will select this option to bill existing flat fees.
03:37: In the Generate Invoice for Hours and Expenses screen, use filters to narrow
03:42: results, results such as the date range,
03:45: matter selection, or any other applicable filters.
03:51: I'm going to select our
03:54: matter.
04:07: All unbilled activities, for that matter, in the specified date range will be
04:11: captured in the new invoice.
04:13: If you'd like to see the details of what is being captured, click on the manually
04:19: select items and turn on the toggle show details.
04:26: Our matter will be displayed and click on the arrow next to the flat fees line and
04:33: you can now see the details of captured flat fees and any additional activities such
04:40: as time entries or client costs if they would have Once
04:46: reviewed,
04:48: select matter or head
04:51: back to select all items to generate button and then click generate invoice.
04:58: Confirm the date and the due date, then click generate.
05:04: Your invoice will be generated and you'll see the confirmation on the bottom left
05:09: along with the invoice number.
05:11: Now by design, the system is going to leave me here on this generation page so that
05:16: I can continue modifying my filters, selecting additional matters individually, or
05:22: build group of matters and generating additional invoices.
05:27: Once done, click back to all invoices in the top left corner to be brought back to
05:33: the accounting module and start reviewing the draft bill.
05:40: Now, let's review the option number two.
05:43: The alternative to this is where we don't have the flat fees items created yet, so
05:49: we can complete
05:50: a new invoice from scratch.
05:52: In the accounting module, with the invoices and payments tab selected, click the
05:59: plus sign menu to create the new invoice from scratch.
06:07: Choose the matter
06:13: and click start invoice.
06:16: You will land on the invoice detail page.
06:20: This is your blank canvas where you'll start adding new fees and expenses that have
06:26: not been added to the system yet.
06:28: Click the plus sign icon in the line item section to add a flat fee.
06:36: In the type drop down list, you'll see the options to add a new service, time
06:44: entry, or soft cost.
06:47: Select Service as a type and
06:51: choose your flat fee.
06:56: Update the details and price if needed and any other details.
07:02: You can also apply a discount as
07:06: a percentage or a dollar amount.
07:09: To save your line item, select Save and Close or Save and New if you need to add
07:14: additional flat fees or other items.
07:17: like time or expenses.
07:21: And we now see that the flat fee is added to our invoice.
07:25: At the top right, the subtotal and the balance have been updated as well.
07:31: Once ready,
07:33: click Create on the bottom right to generate the invoice.
07:40: Your invoice will start in a draft status.
07:44: We can start reviewing the draft from here or
07:47: click Back to All Invoices to see this invoice in the list view.
07:55: As you can see, we now have two drafts,
07:59: the one we created from the existing flat fee using the invoice unbilled activities
08:04: option,
08:06: and another one created from scratch.
08:09: To open the draft again to see the details,
08:12: click on the invoice number.
08:17: From here,
08:20: you can edit each line item by clicking the pencil icon,
08:26: apply an invoice level discount,
08:30: add notes that will be visible on the invoice or internal notes.
08:35: You can also print a PDF using the print icon in the top right.
08:41: Note the draft invoices will include a draft watermark in the preview.
08:51: By clicking the Actions button on
08:55: the upper right corner of the screen, you can submit an invoice for approval if
09:01: another person in the firm needs to review and do the final approval or
09:07: you can skip submit for approval and approve it directly.
09:13: Once approved, the invoice becomes final.
09:17: You can print a final invoice
09:20: if needed and you'll notice that the draft watermark is no longer present.
09:25: Once
09:33: invoice is finalized,
09:37: you can now apply trust retainer funds if applicable.
09:42: Otherwise, the invoice is now ready to be sent to the client by mail or by emailing
09:48: directly from Carrot Legal.
09:51: And that is how you complete flat filling in CARET little from setup to invoicing
09:57: and approval.
09:57: Thanks for watching.