PCLaw Glossary | Legal Bookkeeping Definitions

All Tab (Matter Manager)

The All tab displays client ledger transactions, calendar events, and notes associated with the matter.

Anticipated Disbursements

An anticipated disbursement is a cost to the firm that has not yet occurred, but is expected. The disbursement is posted to the Client ledger as two separate entries. A positive entry is flagged with the invoice number, indicating the disbursement is included on the invoice. A negative unbilled entry is also included on the Client Ledger.
When the actual disbursement occurs and is posted to PCLaw, the negative and actual entry will negate each other, and thus will not affect the net billed amount of any future invoices.

Appointment

An appointment is a Calendar event that needs to be performed on a specific day and time.

Appointment Area

The appointment area of the Calendar displays appointments for a day, a week, or a month, and compares time posted against a daily goal. If Include Holidays is selected in System Settings, the holiday is displayed on the required day on both the Day and Week view.

Appointment History

You can view a history of an appointment by opening the original appointment or any of its continuances. In the Continuances window, click the View button. The View button is not available when creating a continuance.

Appointment Listing

The Appointment Listing displays Calendar and Notes information in a report format. The report shows what is due for a specified reminder date or due date and can include one or more of appointments, to do's, or notes. The user has a choice of viewing only uncompleted or completed events, or both.

Appointment Schedule

The Appointment Schedule displays appointment and to do information in a Calendar format. The schedule can be displayed in a daily, weekly, or monthly view beginning at the start date of the program. Events are displayed for a specified reminder date or due date.

Appointment Sheet

Use the Appointment Sheet to add multiple appointments at one time. A matter summary is provided at the bottom of the window if the appointment is associated with a matter.

Archiving (to a matter)

The process of moving a matter from your hard drive to another storage location (for example, a thumb drive). The system retains a brief description of the matter and the place where it was archived.

Asset Account

A category of General ledger (G/L) account that records assets. An Asset account is a debit balance account.

Assets

Resources owned by your firm (such as bank accounts, furniture and computer equipment).

Assigned Lawyer

The lawyer or timekeeper who is primary timekeeper for a matter.

Associated Matters Tab (Contact Manager)

The Associated Matters tab enables you to work with matters associated to the selected contact.

Associated Template

Using an Electronic Billing custom tab, an associated template sends a copy of the electronic invoice to the printer or screen, allowing the firm to save it for their records.

Associated Type of Law

The type of law assigned to a matter that is marked for task-based billing. This type of law is defined on the Billing/Past Due/Taxes tab of the Open Matter window and should not be confused with the type of law defined on the Matter tab. When an associated type of law is selected, all entries for this matter are restricted to explanation codes associated with the specified type of law.

Auto Track Time Reduction

Auto Track Time Reduction creates a time adjustment entry whenever the hours of a time record are reduced in the Correct Time Entry window.

Auto Transfer from Trust

When mass billing, trust funds can be transferred automatically to the general account to pay all or part of a bill. The transfer is displayed on the bill. The user has the option to print the trust check, general receipt, or both.

AutoFill

Button used in the Trust-to-General Transfer function to list all matters that have an A/R balance and a trust balance. You choose one or more of these matters for the transfer.

Automatic Fee Allocation

A method PCLaw uses to distribute fees among the working lawyers for a matter. Lawyers are compensated based on the work they perform.

Automatically Create Disbursements at Billing

Automatically Create Disbursements at Billing is a feature that places a one time or per-bill charge on the client's invoice. The charge can be a flat amount or calculated as a percentage of fees.

Automatically General PDF Output

The Output>PDF option on Bill Selection windows creates a .PDF file of the bill in addition to any other output selections.