Preset Billing Rules help firms capture billable time consistently and in line with client expectations. Many firms have standard billing practices or client-specific guidelines that define how much time can be billed for certain activities. Preset Billing Rules allow you to define those standards in advance. This rule type works alongside Restriction Billing Rules to manage your firm's time tracking processes.
When users perform case activities with configured activity tags, they are automatically prompted to log time. You can define default time entry information, such as hours and billing codes to prefill ledger information - ensuring accuracy, consistency, and compliance while reducing manual entry.
Smart Time Capture works hand-in-hand with Preset Billing Rules by surfacing these prompts at the right moment, helping attorneys and paralegals capture time for everyday work that might otherwise go unbilled.
Managing Billing Rules
Any Power User with Accounting or Administrator in your firm can navigate here via Tools & Settings > Accounting Setup > Billing Rules, and selecting the Preset Billing Rules tab at the top of the screen.
Adding a New Preset Billing Rule
Click + New Preset Rule to open the Preset Billing Rule creation form.
- Rule Name: Use this field to describe what the rule does and why it exists. This information is for internal reference only.
- Active: This toggle determines if the rule is enabled. If left unchecked, the rule is not enforced, allowing you to adjust the rules without having to constantly add or delete. If checked, the rule is active and will be enforced.
- Trigger: Select one or more Activity Tags to trigger this rule. When any of the selected tags are used to create an activity, the user will be prompted to log a related time entry.
- Hours: Specify a default number of hours to pre-fill when a user is prompted to log time. Enter zero (0) hours if there is no standard amount for a particular activity, so users are reminded to enter the actual time spent.
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Ledger Description: Set a default Billing Code and Ledger Description text for the time entry. Use the text field to search for Billing Codes in your firm by typing the task code, activity code, quick code, or pre-defined description.
- Note: Users have the option of modifying the Hours and Ledger Description when saving the time entry, so the presets defined here can be overridden as needed on an individual case ledger basis.
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Precedence: Use this field to specify the order in which Preset Billing Rules are applied to an activity. Lower number values will be applied before higher numbers; rules with no Precedence set will be applied last.
For example, an activity may be tagged with both Document and Letter to Client. If you have a Preset Billing Rule for Document activities, it will prompt the user to log time. However, if you want more specific default hours or billing codes for Letter to Client, you can create a separate rule for that tag and assign it a Precedence with a lower number value so it takes priority.
If more than one rule is triggered for a given activity, the user logging time will be asked to select which Preset data to fill into the time entry from among the triggered Preset rules.
Editing a Preset Billing Rule
From the Preset Billing Rules grid, either click on the Edit button (pencil icon) of the rule you wish to edit, or click on the row to open the detail panel and click the "Edit" button in the panel.
Deleting a Preset Billing Rule
To delete a Preset Billing Rule, click on the Delete button (trash icon) on the rule from the Preset Billing Rules grid or from the rule detail panel.