Timeslips Shortcut Keys

Transaction List dialog boxes Name List dialog boxes

(ex: Client List dialog box)

Timeslips provides many ways to access commands and dialog boxes. These shortcut keys are available in specific areas of Timeslips. To access a command, press the key or keys indicated. For example, press Ctrl+N to create a new record. This means that you press and hold the Ctrl key, and then press the N key.

Slip List dialog box New transaction .............................................. Ctrl+N Open transaction ............................................ Ctrl+O Find transaction ..................................... Ctrl+Shift+F Go to transaction ...................................Ctrl+Shift+G Print list of transactions....................................Ctrl+P Update transaction list ............................Ctrl+Shift+L Delete selected transaction ..........................Ctrl+Del Name Information dialog boxes
(ex: Client Information dialog box)

New name ....................................................... Ctrl+N Open name .......................................... Enter, Ctrl+O Sort by Nickname 1................................ Shift+Ctrl+1 Sort by Nickname 2................................ Shift+Ctrl+2 Delete name................................................. Ctrl+Del

Transaction Entry dialog boxes

(ex: the Accounts Receivable Entry dialog box)

New slip ...........................................................Ctrl+N Duplicate slip ......................................... Shift+Ctrl+D Open slip ........................................................ Ctrl+O Find slip ..................................................Ctrl+Shift+F Go to slip ............................................... Ctrl+Shift+G Bookmark slip .........................................Ctrl+Shift+K Start/stop time on slip .......................F5, Ctrl+Shift+T Print list of slips................................................Ctrl+P Update slip list ........................................ Ctrl+Shift+L Delete selected slip ......................................Ctrl+Del New transaction .............................................. Ctrl+N Switch to transaction list .................................. Ctrl+L Revert transaction................................................Esc Save transaction ..............................................Ctrl+S Find transaction ..................................... Ctrl+Shift+F Go to transaction ...................................Ctrl+Shift+G Move to first transaction............................ Ctrl+PgUp Move to previous transaction............................PgUp Move to next transaction...................................PgDn Move to last transaction............................ Ctrl+PgDn Report List dialog box

Slip Entry dialog box

Name list ..........................................................Ctrl+L New name ....................................................... Ctrl+N Revert changes ................................................... Esc Move to previous page of info ...................... Shift+F6 Move to next page of info...................................... F6 Save name ...................................................... Ctrl+S Move to first name ....................................Ctrl+PgUp Move to previous name.................................... PgUp Move to next name .......................................... PgDn Move to last name.....................................Ctrl+PgDn Name fields on slips New name ..............................................Ctrl+Shift+N Open name ............................................Ctrl+Shift+O Show nickname 1................................... Ctrl+Shift+1 Show nickname 2................................... Ctrl+Shift+2 Switch to task (from Expense field)........ Ctrl+Shift+3 Switch to expense (from Task field) ....... Ctrl+Shift+4 Description and notes fields

New slip ...........................................................Ctrl+N Duplicate slip ......................................... Ctrl+Shift+D Clone field from the previous slip .......... Ctrl+Shift+C Clone the rest of the fields......................Ctrl+Shift+E Add/remove bookmark ...........................Ctrl+Shift+K Use default rate ...................................... Ctrl+Shift+L Update rate rule..................................... Ctrl+Shift+U Switch to slip list .............................................. Ctrl+L Revert changes on slip ........................................ Esc Save slip ..........................................................Ctrl+S Find slip ..................................................Ctrl+Shift+F Go to slip ............................................... Ctrl+Shift+G Move to first slip........................................ Ctrl+PgUp Move to previous slip........................................ PgUp Move to next slip............................................... PgDn Move to last slip........................................ Ctrl+PgDn New report ...................................................... Ctrl+N Open report..................................................... Ctrl+O Print report .......................................................Ctrl+P Acquire filters from other windows......... Ctrl+Shift+F Move to previous page of reports ................ Shift+F6 Next to next page of reports.................................. F6 Delete selected report...................................Ctrl+Del Report Entry dialog box New report ...................................................... Ctrl+N Print report .......................................................Ctrl+P Switch to report list .......................................... Ctrl+L Acquire filters from other windows......... Ctrl+Shift+F Save report ......................................................Ctrl+S Revert report........................................................Esc

Date fields

Same as previous date........................................... S Today .......................................................................T Previous day............................................ <, +, Down Next day ........................................................ >, -, Up Calendar ................................................................. C

Select entire contents of field .......................... Ctrl+A Copy selected text to clipboard ....................... Ctrl+C Delete selected text and place in clipboard..... Ctrl+X Paste text from clipboard ................................ Ctrl+V Delete the selected text ............................... Ctrl+Del Revert the last entry ........................................ Ctrl+Z Spell check the current word ................................. F4 Spell check the entire field ........................... Shift+F4 Grammar check the entire field .................... Shift+F5 Open list of abbreviations ............................. Ctrl+F7 Insert private text indicator ............................. Alt+Ins

Timeslips Shortcut Keys

Other Common Commands Show Navigator........................................... Ctrl+F10 Close all dialogs, except the Navigator .......... Ctrl+W Stop all timers for the current login ............... Ctrl+F5 Stop all timers in the current database............Alt+F5 Show summary of slip entry .................................. F9 Switch to Mini Slip View ........................ Ctrl+Shift+M Report list ........................................................ Ctrl+R Dial the phone ................................................. Ctrl+D

Timeslips provides many ways to access commands and dialog boxes. These shortcut keys are available in specific areas of Timeslips. To access the command, press the key or keys indicated. For example, press Ctrl+N to create a new record. This means that you press and hold the Ctrl key, and then press the N key.

Accessing Billing Commands Open Billing Assistant.............................Ctrl+Shift+B Update Billing Assistant data .................. Ctrl+Shift+L

Generate bills (outside Billing Assistant) .........Ctrl+B Approve or clear a group of bills.............Ctrl+Shift+A Budgets list ..................................................... Ctrl+G

Client billing history..........................................Ctrl+H Timekeeper billing history ...................... Ctrl+Shift+H

Accessing Lists of Names Timekeeper list................................................ Ctrl+U Client list ........................................................... Ctrl+I Client reference list ................................ Ctrl+Shift+R Task list ............................................................Ctrl+Y Expense list ........................................... Ctrl+Shift+Y

Accessing Lists of Data Slip list (time and expense entries)................. Ctrl+M Accounts receivable transaction list ................ Ctrl+T Client funds transaction list.............................. Ctrl+F

Timeslips Main Toolbar

Dial the Phone Cut Paste Client List Time Sheet Entry Timekeeper List Expense List Create a Report Navigator

The following buttons are available on the main Timeslips toolbar. You can choose to show or hide this toolbar in the Interface page of the Personal Preferences dialog box.

Copy New Outlook Link

Slip List

Task List Billing Assistant

Help

Pressing the Shift key clicking a List toolbar button is a shortcut to open the associated data entry dialog box. For example, Shift+clicking the Client List toolbar button opens the Client Information dialog box.

Accounts Receivable List

Client Funds List

Reports List

Timeslips Shortcut Menus

Shortcut menus are available on any field within Timeslips. Right-click on any field to open a menu of available commands specific to that field. Right-click on any area between fields to open a menu of available commands for the current dialog box. Shortcut menus display common commands and include their keystroke combinations and toolbar buttons, when available.

Users Guide

License agreement You can review the license agreement at any time. Within Sage Timeslips, select Help; Contents and Index and select Sage Timeslips Software License Agreements from the Contents page. Copyright 1992-2012 Sage Software, Inc. All rights reserved. Portions of Sage Timeslips, Sage Timeslips Import, Mini Sage Timeslips, Navigator Editor, Procedure Editor, Station Administrator, related products and services, and associated documentation were created by third parties and are hereby acknowledged as follows: 1994-2011 Borland Software Corporation. 1990-2011 Flexera Software, Inc. 2007 GraphicEx is released under the Mozilla Public License, v. 2.0. If a copy of the MPL was not distributed with this file, You can obtain one at http://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/. 1998-2011 MCM Design 1995-2011 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. 1995-2006 Wintertree Software, Inc. 2003-2009 WPCubed GmbH Trademarks Sage, the Sage logos, Timeslips, the Timeslips logo, TAL, Timeslips eCenter, Timeslips Today, TSTimer, ACT!, "It Turns Time Into Money," and the Sage product and service names mentioned herein are registered trademarks or trademarks of Sage Software, Inc. or its affiliated entities. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista, the Windows logo, Excel, and Outlook are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Pentium is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation. AMD is a registered trademark of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. AOL is a registered service mark of AOL LLC. QuickBooks is a registered trademark and service mark of Intuit Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Technical support Consult the Help system found in Sage Timeslips under the Help menu, or our web site at http://www.SageTimeslips.com before contacting us for technical support. For info on technical support, refer to http://www.SageTimeslips.com/support. Terms of technical support are subject to change without notice.

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 Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction to Sage Timeslips
Overview .......................................................................................1-2
Installing Sage Timeslips .................................................................1-2 Using online Help ............................................................................1-2 Other learning resources .................................................................1-2

How Sage Timeslips Implements Time Billing...........................1-3

Understanding time billing processes.............................................1-3 Types of Information Entered in Sage Timeslips...........................1-4 Programs Installed with Sage Timeslips .........................................1-6

Sage Timeslips Features................................................................1-8

Disabling features ............................................................................1-8 Purchasing add-on products...........................................................1-8

Users Guide Terms and Considerations ....................................1-8 Other Reference Materials ...........................................................1-9 Technical Support ........................................................................1-9

Chapter 2

Installing Sage Timeslips

Overview .......................................................................................2-2 Preparing to Install.......................................................................2-2
Reviewing system requirements......................................................2-2 Finding the serial number and configuration code .......................2-4 Understanding single-user configurations .....................................2-4 Understanding network configurations .........................................2-4 Understanding station licenses .......................................................2-6

Installing Sage Timeslips..............................................................2-7

Understanding the installation process ..........................................2-7 Downloading the installation file....................................................2-7 Registering Sage Timeslips ............................................................2-10 Installing additional licenses or other add-ons ............................2-10 Installing Sage Timeslips locally....................................................2-11

Getting the Latest Release ..........................................................2-12 Converting from Another Billing System .................................2-12
Entering data manually .................................................................2-12 Importing data with Sage Timeslips Import ................................2-13 Data conversion services ...............................................................2-13

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Chapter 3

Using Online Help and Guides

Overview....................................................................................... 3-2
Reviewing learning resources..........................................................3-2

Using the Online Help System .................................................... 3-3

Understanding Help menu commands..........................................3-3 Understanding Help topics .............................................................3-4 Using context-sensitive Help ..........................................................3-5 Using the Contents page .................................................................3-5 Using the Online Users Guide .......................................................3-5 Using How To topics.......................................................................3-5 Searching the Help system ..............................................................3-6 Printing Help topics ........................................................................3-6

Viewing Training Videos............................................................. 3-7

Accessing and playing training videos............................................3-7

Using Automated Guides ............................................................ 3-8

Accessing guides ..............................................................................3-8 Playing guides ..................................................................................3-9

Using the Tip of the Day ........................................................... 3-10

Chapter 4

Using the Sage Timeslips Interface

Overview....................................................................................... 4-2 Selecting Commands ................................................................... 4-2
Using menus ....................................................................................4-2 Using toolbars..................................................................................4-3 Using shortcut menus and shortcut keys .......................................4-5

Using Navigators.......................................................................... 4-6

Choosing the type of navigator to use ............................................4-7 Displaying the navigator .................................................................4-7

Playing Procedures ...................................................................... 4-7

Creating your own procedures .......................................................4-8

Entering Data ............................................................................... 4-8

Selecting fields..................................................................................4-8 Using dialog boxes...........................................................................4-9 Using text fields ...............................................................................4-9 Using lists of data...........................................................................4-13 Using action buttons .....................................................................4-15 Using check boxes..........................................................................4-15 Using option buttons ....................................................................4-15

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Chapter 5

Quick Start Tutorial

Overview .......................................................................................5-2
Using automated guides ..................................................................5-2 Getting additional information.......................................................5-3 Opening the sample database..........................................................5-3 Quick start premise..........................................................................5-3

Creating Names ............................................................................5-4

Creating timekeepers .......................................................................5-4 Creating tasks and expenses ............................................................5-6 Creating a client ...............................................................................5-9

Tracking Time and Expenses on Slips.......................................5-10

Creating a time slip ........................................................................5-10 Creating an expense slip ................................................................5-13

Entering Transactions ................................................................5-14 Printing Reports .........................................................................5-16 Whats Next?...............................................................................5-16

Chapter 6

Creating a New Database

Overview .......................................................................................6-2
Identifying administrators...............................................................6-2

Understanding Database Concepts .............................................6-3 Using the Create a New Database wizard....................................6-3 Establishing General Settings.....................................................6-11
Entering firm information ............................................................6-11 Setting terminology .......................................................................6-11 Determining aging periods............................................................6-12 Other settings .................................................................................6-13

Using the Getting Started wizard...............................................6-13 Important Setup Options...........................................................6-14

Disabling features ..........................................................................6-14 Controlling access to Sage Timeslips ............................................6-16 Establishing preferences ................................................................6-17 Before entering names ...................................................................6-18 Before entering slips and transactions ..........................................6-18 Before printing bills and statements .............................................6-19

Considerations for Databases with Multiple Users ..................6-20

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Chapter 7

Entering Names
Overview....................................................................................... 7-2 Creating Names............................................................................ 7-2
Selecting a nickname convention ...................................................7-2 Accessing names ..............................................................................7-4 Setting name classifications.............................................................7-5 Assigning billing rates......................................................................7-5 Creating and using custom fields....................................................7-6

Creating Timekeepers.................................................................. 7-8

Entering timekeeper information...................................................7-8 Using My Lists to filter names ........................................................7-9 Allocating fees to timekeepers.......................................................7-11 Maintaining timekeeper history ...................................................7-12

Creating Clients ......................................................................... 7-12

Entering client information ..........................................................7-12 Using client projects ......................................................................7-14 Using bill arrangements ................................................................7-15 Maintaining client history.............................................................7-17

Creating Client References ........................................................ 7-19

Entering reference information ....................................................7-19

Creating Time and Expense Activities ...................................... 7-20

Entering task information.............................................................7-20 Entering expense information ......................................................7-21 Setting up taxes ..............................................................................7-22 Using activity categories................................................................7-24

Setting Up Budgets .................................................................... 7-24

Printing budget reports .................................................................7-26

Searching for Conflicts of Interest ............................................ 7-26

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Chapter 8

Tracking Time and Expenses

Overview .......................................................................................8-2
Choosing the slip-entry method .....................................................8-2

Entering Time and Expense Slips ................................................8-4

Creating time slips ...........................................................................8-5 Timing slips......................................................................................8-7 Creating expense slips......................................................................8-8 Using slip entry commands...........................................................8-10 Understanding values on slips ......................................................8-11 Understanding slip classifications.................................................8-12 Using other slip entry features ......................................................8-13 Finding and viewing slips ..............................................................8-14 Using Mini Slip View.....................................................................8-15

Entering Time Using TSTimer ..................................................8-15

Launching TSTimer.......................................................................8-15 Viewing and maintaining timers...................................................8-16 Converting timers into time slips .................................................8-18 Setting up TSTimer preferences....................................................8-20

Entering Time Using the Time Sheet ........................................8-20

Creating and using time sheet slip templates ...............................8-21 Entering time in time cells.............................................................8-23 Saving time sheet entries ...............................................................8-23 Viewing and editing cell entries ....................................................8-23

Receiving Time and Expense Slips by Email.............................8-24

Setting up Sage Timeslips to receive slips by email......................8-24 Receiving slips from email messages.............................................8-25 Correcting entries with errors .......................................................8-26

Approving Slips to Appear on Bills ...........................................8-27

Setting up slip approval .................................................................8-28 Entering slips..................................................................................8-29 Reviewing slips ...............................................................................8-29 Correcting rejected slips ................................................................8-31 Including approved slips on bills ..................................................8-31

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Chapter 9

Entering Transactions
Overview....................................................................................... 9-2
Types of transactions.......................................................................9-2

Entering Accounts Receivable Transactions .............................. 9-3

Accounts receivable transaction types............................................9-3 Entering transactions.......................................................................9-4 Applying payments and credits.......................................................9-6 Transferring unapplied amounts....................................................9-7 Applying write-offs..........................................................................9-9 Applying refunds .............................................................................9-9 Creating invoice transactions..........................................................9-9 Applying reverse payments ...........................................................9-10 Applying discounts ........................................................................9-10 Applying special credits.................................................................9-12 Creating bank deposit slips ...........................................................9-12

Entering Client Funds Transactions ......................................... 9-14

Using bank accounts .....................................................................9-14 Using funds accounts ....................................................................9-15 Client funds transaction types ......................................................9-16 Entering transactions.....................................................................9-17

Viewing Transactions ................................................................ 9-19

Chapter 10

Reviewing Data
Overview..................................................................................... 10-2
Viewing reports..............................................................................10-2 Viewing billing data.......................................................................10-3 Viewing general Sage Timeslips data............................................10-4

Using Sage Timeslips Today to View Data............................... 10-4

Assigning templates to timekeepers..............................................10-5 Displaying Sage Timeslips Today .................................................10-5 Viewing data and printing data ....................................................10-5 Modifying Sage Timeslips Today templates.................................10-6

Using Navigators to View Data................................................. 10-8

Displaying an enhanced navigator................................................10-9 Viewing data ..................................................................................10-9 Modifying enhanced navigators .................................................10-10

Using Alerts to View Data ....................................................... 10-13

Setting up alert rules....................................................................10-13 Triggering alerts...........................................................................10-15 Viewing alerts...............................................................................10-15 Managing alert rules and alerts...................................................10-17

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Chapter 11

Designing and Printing Reports

Overview .....................................................................................11-2
Additional resources ......................................................................11-2

Accessing Standard Reports.......................................................11-3 Customizing Reports..................................................................11-6

Selecting data for reports...............................................................11-8 Sorting report data.........................................................................11-9 Setting report options and formats.............................................11-10 Designing report sections ............................................................11-11 Previewing reports .......................................................................11-22 Saving reports...............................................................................11-22 Using report groups.....................................................................11-22

Printing Reports .......................................................................11-23

Previewing reports to display ......................................................11-23 Printing reports to the printer.....................................................11-25 Printing reports to Excel..............................................................11-25 Printing reports to PDF...............................................................11-26 Printing reports to a rich text file................................................11-26 Printing reports to a text file .......................................................11-26 Printing reports to a delimited file..............................................11-27

Adding New Reports ................................................................11-28

Creating new reports based on standard reports .......................11-28 Creating new user-defined reports .............................................11-30 Creating new graph reports.........................................................11-31 Creating new label reports...........................................................11-32

Chapter 12

Billing Clients
Overview .....................................................................................12-2 Preparing for Billing...................................................................12-4
Entering billing data ......................................................................12-4 Updating bill arrangements...........................................................12-5 Splitting charges on bills................................................................12-6 Setting up clients to receive bills by email ....................................12-7

Reviewing Billing Data .............................................................12-10

Using pre-bill worksheets to review billing data ........................12-11 Using Billing Assistant to review billing data .............................12-12 Using Firm Assistant to review billing data................................12-15

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Determining the Appearance of Bills...................................... 12-16

Understanding bill layouts..........................................................12-17 A tour of the Design page............................................................12-20 Setting options that affect multiple bill sections........................12-21 Hiding or reordering bill layout sections ...................................12-24 Setting options that affect specific bill sections..........................12-27 Designing bill layout sections .....................................................12-30 Assigning bill layouts to clients...................................................12-38 Including messages on bills.........................................................12-39

Generating Bills........................................................................ 12-40

Configuring the report definition for bills .................................12-40 Previewing bills to display...........................................................12-41 Editing bills onscreen ..................................................................12-42 Printing the bill run.....................................................................12-44

Reviewing and Approving Bills ............................................... 12-45

Placing bills on Proof Stage.........................................................12-45 Using Audit Stage with electronic bills.......................................12-46 Approving bills ............................................................................12-47 How approving bills affects Sage Timeslips ...............................12-47 Undoing approved bills...............................................................12-48 Reprinting bills ............................................................................12-49

Printing Post-Billing Reports .................................................. 12-50

Printing a history bill...................................................................12-50

Chapter 13

Generating Statements
Overview..................................................................................... 13-2 Setting up Clients to Receive Statements by Email.................. 13-2 Determining the Appearance of Statements ............................ 13-6
Accessing statement layouts..........................................................13-7 A tour of the Design page..............................................................13-9 Assigning statement layouts to clients........................................13-10

Printing Statements ................................................................. 13-10

Configuring the report definition...............................................13-10 Previewing statements to display................................................13-11 Printing and finalizing statements..............................................13-12

Table of Contents
Timeslips Users Guide

Chapter 14

Linking Sage Timeslips with Outlook

Overview .....................................................................................14-2 Synchronizing Names ................................................................14-3
Setting up name synchronization .................................................14-3 Linking client fields with contact fields ........................................14-4 Linking client names with contact names ....................................14-5 Understanding the synchronization process................................14-6

Creating Outlook Records within Sage Timeslips ....................14-8

Enabling auto population..............................................................14-8 Entering email addresses ...............................................................14-9 Creating Outlook records..............................................................14-9 Example of auto-population .......................................................14-12

Creating Slips within Outlook .................................................14-13

Entering email addresses .............................................................14-13 Creating time and expense slips..................................................14-13 Using the Create Slip from Outlook dialog box.........................14-14 Examples of auto-population......................................................14-16

Chapter 15

Updating and Removing Data

Overview .....................................................................................15-2 Updating Rates ...........................................................................15-2 Updating Slips ............................................................................15-4 Closing and Reopening Slips .....................................................15-5
Closing slips ...................................................................................15-5 Including closed slips on reports ..................................................15-6 Reopening slips ..............................................................................15-6

Hiding Names.............................................................................15-7
Changing name classifications ......................................................15-8

Purging Data and Closing Periods ............................................15-9

Purging names ...............................................................................15-9 Purging slips and transactions ....................................................15-10 Consolidating histories................................................................15-10 Completing the purge function ..................................................15-11

Archiving Slips..........................................................................15-12
Archiving slips while purging......................................................15-12 Moving slips between databases..................................................15-12

Restoring Archives....................................................................15-13
Including temporary slips on reports .........................................15-14 Removing temporary slips from the database............................15-14

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Chapter 16

Managing Databases
Overview..................................................................................... 16-2 Opening Databases .................................................................... 16-2 Maintaining Database Security ................................................. 16-2
Setting global security options ......................................................16-3 Maintaining security profiles ........................................................16-4 Setting timekeeper access rights....................................................16-4

Auditing Sage Timeslips Data ................................................... 16-5

Reviewing data with the Data Entry Assistant .............................16-5 Enabling audit trails ......................................................................16-6

Using Station Administrator ..................................................... 16-8 Protecting Your Database.......................................................... 16-9

Making an effective backup plan ..................................................16-9 Backing up and restoring your database ....................................16-10

Verifying Data Integrity........................................................... 16-13 Sharing Data with Other Databases........................................ 16-16
Using the exchange process.........................................................16-16 Maintaining connected databases...............................................16-17

Sharing Data with Other Programs ........................................ 16-18

Importing data with TSImport ...................................................16-18 Exporting data .............................................................................16-19

Chapter 17

Posting Data to Your General Ledger

Overview..................................................................................... 17-2 Using Sage Timeslips Accounting Link .................................... 17-2
Understanding accounts ...............................................................17-2 Linking to the general ledger.........................................................17-5 Collecting data ...............................................................................17-8 Transferring data ...........................................................................17-8 Transferring WIP...........................................................................17-9 Converting to accrual method ....................................................17-10 How TAL posts to the general ledger .........................................17-11

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Introduction to Sage Timeslips

Overview
Installing Sage Timeslips Using online Help Other learning resources

1
1-2
1-2 1-2 1-2

How Sage Timeslips Implements Time Billing

Understanding time billing processes Types of Information Entered in Sage Timeslips Programs Installed with Sage Timeslips

1-3
1-3 1-4 1-6

Sage Timeslips Features

Disabling features Purchasing add-on products

1-8
1-8 1-8

Users Guide Terms and Considerations Other Reference Materials Technical Support

1-8 1-9 1-9

Introduction to Sage Timeslips

Timeslips Users Guide

Introduction to Sage Timeslips

Overview
Welcome to Sage Timeslips, one of the best-selling time and billing programs for the past 20 years! This chapter will introduce you the program, describe the basic concepts of time and billing, and summarize what you will find in the remainder of this users guide and in the online Help system. This is not a comprehensive users manual. It is a guide to help you install Sage Timeslips and set it up for your business. It also provides an overview of the main features.

Installing Sage Timeslips

In Chapter 2, Installing Sage Timeslips, we provide detailed instructions for installing Timeslips as a new product. This chapter also includes instructions for installing other Sage Timeslips add-ons.

Using online Help

The online Help system contains complete information about every feature in Timeslips, from general overviews to step-by-step procedures to contextsensitive help for each dialog box. Timeslips also includes interactive guides to illustrate some features and assist new users in learning the program. See Chapter 3, Using Online Help and Guides for a complete explanation of these features.

Other learning resources

We offer many other resources to help you learn the basics of Sage Timeslips. These resources include a quick start tutorial, training videos, and guides that automate features. See Reviewing learning resources on page 3-2 for more information on the resources we provide.

1-2

How Sage Timeslips Implements Time Billing

Understanding time billing processes

How Sage Timeslips Implements Time Billing

The following sections summarize time billing processes and describe how Timeslips implements time billing.

Understanding time billing processes

Time and billing typically involves capturing time and expenses for each client and generating bills for each client. You can also print and analyze reports about your practice.

Tracking time and expenses Primarily, you use Sage Timeslips to account accurately for your time, whether you plan to bill for it or not. You can also track expenses, whether they are reimbursable or not. If you manage multiple projects or matters for clients, you can record the amount of time spent and expenses incurred for each project. Generating bills for clients Billing focuses on managing accounts receivable balances for your clients. This includes generating professional-looking bills and statements; applying payments and credits to bills; and calculating taxes, interest for overdue balances, and finance charges. The bills that Sage Timeslips generate can include time and expense charges that are based on an hourly rate, a flat fee, or some other billing arrangement. Printing practice management reports Practice management includes analyzing various elements of your business such as employees, clients, fees, and rates. Sage Timeslips provides a wide variety of reports that evaluate the performance, productivity, and profitability of your business.

1-3

Introduction to Sage Timeslips

Timeslips Users Guide

Types of Information Entered in Sage Timeslips

When tracking time and expenses and generating bills for clients, there are several types of information that you will use in Timeslips. Timeslips stores this information in your database. Timekeepers, clients, tasks, and expenses
You can customize the terms used to Note identify names throughout Timeslips. For example, you can replace the default term timekeeper with attorney.

Timeslips uses many types of names to help track your time and billing information: A timekeeper is the person whose time is spent working for the client. A client is the person, organization, or project being charged for the work being performed by timekeepers at your firm. Tasks are time-based services rendered to the client. They are typically billed at an hourly rate. Expenses are costs incurred on behalf of the client or items purchased for the client. They are typically measured by quantity and price.

For more information on names, see Chapter 7, Entering Names. Time and expense slips A slip is a record of an event that you can bill to a client. There are two types of slips: A time slip is a dated record that describes a specific task-based charge. You typically calculate the amount of a time slip by multiplying the time spent and the billing rate. An expense slip is a dated record that describes a specific expense-based charge. You typically calculate the amount of an expense slip by multiplying the number of items and the price per item.

Each slip also tracks a timekeeper, client, activity, date, and optionally, a detailed description associated with the event. For more information on entering slips, see Chapter 8, Tracking Time and Expenses.

1-4

How Sage Timeslips Implements Time Billing

Types of Information Entered in Sage Timeslips

Accounts receivable transactions Timeslips maintains an accounts receivable balance (the balance due) for each client. You can use accounts receivable transactions to describe changes to a clients accounts receivable balance. Typically, you increase the balance due by sending a bill to the client, and you decrease the balance due by receiving a payment. For more information on accounts receivable transactions, see Entering Accounts Receivable Transactions on page 9-3. Client funds transactions Timeslips can optionally maintain client funds balances (such as retainers or trust fund accounts) for each client. You can use client funds transactions to describe changes to the client funds balance. Typically, you increase the client funds balance with a payment or deposit to the account, and you decrease the client funds balance by withdrawing funds to pay the account receivable balance. For more information on client funds transactions, see Entering Client Funds Transactions on page 9-14. Client history and timekeeper history As you approve bills, Timeslips keeps monthly records detailing the billing totals associated with each client and timekeeper. For more information, see Maintaining timekeeper history on page 7-12 and Maintaining client history on page 7-17.

1-5

Introduction to Sage Timeslips

Timeslips Users Guide

Programs Installed with Sage Timeslips

Many firms will use only the main Sage Timeslips program to track time and expenses, and print reports and bills. Timeslips also includes several supporting programs. This section provides a brief description of each program available with Timeslips. For more information on any of these programs, refer to the online Help included with each program. Sage Timeslips Sage Timeslips is the main application that you will use to enter names; track time and expenses; print bills, statements, and reports; and track accounts receivable balances and client funds balances. You can also use Sage Timeslips to customize database settings and set up preferences for each timekeeper. Mini Timeslips In firms with multiple timekeepers, you may have several timekeepers using Sage Timeslips. Some of your timekeepers may not need to access all available features. Mini Timeslips provides a compact, simpler version of Sage Timeslips. Mini Timeslips users are able to enter slips and print some reports, but these users cannot generate bills or track balances. TSTimer TSTimer is a smaller, complementary application that runs in your workstations system tray. TSTimer allows timekeepers to track time quickly without having to open Timeslips. TSTimer allows you to enter as much or as little information as you want to describe the task. When you are ready to print reports or bills, you can send the time entries to Sage Timeslips. See Entering Time Using TSTimer on page 8-15 for more information. Timeslips Import You can use Sage Timeslips Import (TSImport) to import data from other sources for use with Timeslips. This is useful if you are coming to Sage Timeslips from another time and billing system, if you are using hardware devices such as expense capturing systems, or if you want to use data from another software program with Sage Timeslips. See Importing data with TSImport on page 16-18 for more information.

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How Sage Timeslips Implements Time Billing

Programs Installed with Sage Timeslips

Navigator Editor Navigators are menu systems that group related features to help guide you through Sage Timeslips. With Navigator Editor, you can edit the navigators included with Sage Timeslips or create your own new navigators. This allows you to customize the appearance and content of your navigators to suit your business practices or specific types of employees. See Using Navigators on page 4-6 for more information. Procedure Editor Procedures can automate Sage Timeslips by running scripts or macros. Procedure Editor lets you edit the procedures included with Sge Timeslips or create your own new procedures. Users can play procedures individually or attach them to navigator buttons. See Playing Procedures on page 4-7 for more information. Station Administrator In multiple-user firms, Station Administrator can help you monitor the status of each workstation that is logged into a Timeslips database. See Using Station Administrator on page 16-8 for more information.

1-7

Introduction to Sage Timeslips

Timeslips Users Guide

Sage Timeslips Features

Sage Timeslips is a feature-rich application with the versatility to accommodate many different types and sizes of businesses. Sage Timeslips provides scalability and add-on products to make Sage Timeslips best fit your business needs.

Disabling features
There may be features that your firm will not use. Sage Timeslips allows you to disable features you do not need, effectively removing them from the program. The result is a simplified Sage Timeslips interface that hides commands and fields you do not use. See Disabling features on page 6-14 for more information.

Purchasing add-on products

We provide add-on products that extend the Timeslips feature set. For example, you can purchase add-ons that allow you to track time on a Palm device or that provide industry-standard electronic billing formats. To review the current addon products available, visit our Web site at http://www.SageTimeslips.com. Within the users guide, the add-on graphic will indicate functionality available only when using an add-on product.

Users Guide Terms and Considerations

When reading this users guide, you should consider the following: Menu names are printed with initial capital letters and in italics, for example, the File menu, the Edit menu or the Names menu. Menu commands are indicated in the format Menu; Submenu; Command. For example, the command Setup; Security; Global is executed by selecting Global from the Security submenu of the Setup menu. Buttons and special keys that perform specific operations in Timeslips are printed in bold, for example, the Print button or the F1 key.

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Other Reference Materials

Purchasing add-on products

Other Reference Materials

For more info on using online Help and Note guides, see Chapter 3, Using Online Help and Guides

For further information on any feature, refer to the Help system available within Sage Timeslips. Context-sensitive Help is available for every dialog box in the program by pressing F1. Each field within a dialog box is detailed in the Help topic for that dialog box. You can find additional Help commands on the Help menu. Sage Timeslips includes a number of automated guides and training videos. Guides are interactive tours within the program, designed to help you learn by doing. Training videos show examples of using specific features. Sage Timeslips provides additional files in PDF Format. These PDF files offer bill samples, reports samples, an electronic copy of this users guide, and an electronic copy of the upgraders guide. You can access these files through the Other Documents submenu of the Help menu.

You can access additional PDF files through the Other Documents submenu of the Help menu.

Technical Support
Before contacting our Technical Support department, please consult this users guide and the online Help system. If you require technical support after reviewing these resources, please refer to http://www.sagetimeslips.com/Support-and-Training/Overview or call 800-285-0999 for your support options.

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Introduction to Sage Timeslips

Timeslips Users Guide

1-10

Installing Sage Timeslips

Overview Preparing to Install
Reviewing system requirements Finding the serial number and configuration code Understanding single-user configurations Understanding network configurations Understanding station licenses

2
2-2 2-2
2-2 2-4 2-4 2-4 2-6

Installing Sage Timeslips

Understanding the installation process How to install Sage Timeslips Registering Sage Timeslips Installing additional licenses or other add-ons Installing Sage Timeslips locally

2-7
2-7 2-8 2-10 2-10 2-11

Getting the Latest Release Converting from Another Billing System

Entering data manually Importing data with Sage Timeslips Import Data conversion services

2-12 2-12
2-12 2-13 2-13

Installing Sage Timeslips

Timeslips Users Guide

Installing Sage Timeslips

Overview
This chapter includes information about installing Sage Timeslips on a network drive and local workstations. It also discusses installing Add-On products and linking to third-party programs. This chapter is for the Sage Timeslips system administrator. Because installing Sage Timeslips involves some important decisions, we suggest that only your firms system administrator follow the processes in this chapter. We suggest that you review this entire chapter before attempting these installation procedures.

Preparing to Install
The following sections describe information you need before you begin the installation procedure.

Reviewing system requirements

Before upgrading Sage Timeslips, verify that your system meets the necessary hardware and software requirements. The following table lists the minimum and recommended requirements for using Sage Timeslips.

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Preparing to Install
Reviewing system requirements

System Requirements and Recommendations Minimum

Operating system Windows 7 Ultimate, Windows 7 Professional, Windows Vista Business, Windows Vista Ultimate, Windows XP SP3 PC with 500 MHz Intel Pentium, AMD, or compatible processor 1 GB

Recommended
Windows 7 Ultimate, Windows 7 Professional, Windows Vista Business, Windows Vista Ultimate, Windows XP SP3 PC with 1 GHz Intel Pentium, AMD, or compatible processor 2 GB or higher

Note
See Microsofts Web site or documentation for additional requirements. Performance improves as CPU speed is increased. Performance improves as the amount of RAM is increased, especially for your server station. Database growth and installation of Sage Timeslips Add-ons will require additional disk space.

Computer/ processor RAM (Memory)

Free hard disk space

300 MB for installation (excluding your database)

300 MB for installation (excluding your database) 75 MB additionally required for your database 100 MB additionally recommended for files created over time (such as backup files, report files, PDFs of bills and reports, etc.) Adobe Reader X or higher to review PDF files. (Adobe Reader X is included on the Sage Timeslips CD-ROM.) 25 MB hard disk space additionally required. CD-ROM drive 4x or higher Super VGA or better resolution, supporting 1024x768 or higher, high color depth, normal fonts PC-compatible keyboard, mouse, printer

Adobe Reader

Adobe Reader to review PDF files. (Adobe Reader X is included on the Sage Timeslips CD-ROM.) 25 MB hard disk space additionally required. CD-ROM drive Super VGA or better resolution, supporting 1024x768, 256 colors, normal fonts PC-compatible keyboard, mouse, printer

See Adobes Web site or documentation for additional requirements.

CD-ROM drive Display/Monitor

Required for installation only

Peripherals

Printing on both sides of paper requires duplex-compatible printer

14.4 KBps modem if using the dialing features within Sage Timeslips. Scanning functionality in Slip Attachments and Document Access requires TWAIN-compatible scanner Internet connection required for using Sage Timeslips web features, such as eCenter.

56 KBps modem if using the dialing features within Sage Timeslips. Scanning functionality in Slip Attachments and Document Access requires TWAIN-compatible scanner High-speed Internet connection, if using Sage Timeslips web features, such as eCenter. Sound card and speakers for enhanced interaction. A network adapter appropriate to your type of network. MAPI-compliant email program required for sending bills and statements by email, or reprinting bills to email. Microsoft Outlook 2010, 2007, or 2003 required on the Sage Timeslips workstation for using the Outlook Link, or receiving slips by email. Microsoft Word 2010, 2007, or 2003 required for merge functionality and viewing enhanced RTF Microsoft Excel 2010, 2007, or 2003 required for using the Print to Excel feature. Internet Explorer required to access web pages from Sage Timeslips. Highest quality network hardware possible. AOL mail is not compatible with these features. AOL mail is not compatible with these features.

Network connectivity Miscellaneous

If using Sage Timeslips in a multiple-user environment, a network adapter appropriate to your type of network MAPI-compliant email program required for sending bills and statements by email, or reprinting bills to email. Microsoft Outlook 2010, 2007, or 2003 required on the Sage Timeslips workstation for using the Outlook Link, or receiving slips by email. Microsoft Word 2010, 2007, or 2003 required for merge functionality and viewing enhanced RTF Microsoft Excel 2010, 2007, or 2003 required for using the Print to Excel feature. Internet Explorer required to access web pages from Sage Timeslips.

2-3

Installing Sage Timeslips

Timeslips Users Guide

Finding the serial number and configuration code

You will need your serial number and configuration code to install Sage Timeslips, register Sage Timeslips, and to receive technical support (if necessary). Sage sent this information to you in an email message shortly after your order. If you purchased Sage Timeslips from a retail store, this information is located on your CD case.

Understanding single-user configurations

When using Sage Timeslips, a single-user installation refers to any installation that has one station license. Some single-user installations include: Single-user installation with one computer If you purchased a single license of Sage Timeslips and you own a single computer, the program files and database will reside on this computer. Single-user installation on a network workstation with the database on a network workstation If you purchased a single station license of Sage Timeslips and your workstation is connected to a network, you can install Sage Timeslips on your local workstation and maintain your Sage Timeslips database on that workstation. Single-user installation on a network workstation with the database on a network drive If you purchased a single station license of Sage Timeslips and your workstation is connected to a network, you can install Sage Timeslips on your workstation and maintain your database on a network server. If your firm has a backup routine established for the network drive, you can include the Sage Timeslips database in that backup routine.

Understanding network configurations

If you purchased multiple Sage Timeslips station licenses, then multiple users (up to the number of station licenses purchased) can access the database simultaneously. To support multiple-user access, you must install Sage Timeslips in a network environment. This section describes common network configurations: Peer-to-peer networks If your firm has workstations networked in a peer-to-peer environment (where workstations can access drives on other workstations), the first workstation on which you install Timeslips is considered the Timeslips Server.

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Preparing to Install
Understanding network configurations

Network installation If your firm has network workstations and a network server (which contains shared network drives), you can install your initial Timeslips installation on the network server. In this configuration, the your firms network server is the Timeslips Server.

In network installations, after installing Sage Timeslips on the first computer, you can use the local installer to install Sage Timeslips to each network workstation that will access Timeslips. See Installing Sage Timeslips locally on page 2-11 for additional information about configuring your network workstations. You can install Sage Timeslips in many network environments. Our online knowledgebase includes detailed installation instructions for some of these specific network environments. Please visit our web site at http://www.SageTimeslips.com to access our online knowledgebase to see if we have installation instructions for your environment. Using mapped drives During the installation procedure, Sage Timeslips requires you to specify a destination folder for the program files. If you are installing Sage Timeslips on more than one workstation in a network environment, you must use the identical file drive letter and path from each workstation. If you install Sage Timeslips to a network drive and path, then all other workstations should also access Sage Timeslips from that same network drive and path. For example: Sage Timeslips Server (mapped path): H:\Apps\Timeslips Other workstations (mapped path): H:\Apps\Timeslips If a user is going to run Sage Timeslips on the Sage Timeslips Server (for example, in a peer-to-peer network environment), the Server should run Sage Timeslips from the same path that the workstations use. For example: Sage Timeslips Server (actual path): C:\Program Files\Timeslips Other workstations (mapped path): J:\Timeslips Sage Timeslips Server (mapped path): J:\Timeslips

Note

2-5

Installing Sage Timeslips

Timeslips Users Guide

In some configurations, Windows may not permit you to share or modify folders below the Program Files folder. In this case, we suggest that you create another path on the hard drive, install Timeslips to that path, and share the path accordingly. For example: Sage Timeslips Server (actual path): C:\Apps\Timeslips Other workstations (mapped path): J:\Timeslips Sage Timeslips Server (mapped path): J:\Timeslips Using UNC paths Sage Timeslips supports UNC file paths (for example, \\server\apps\timeslips). If you use UNC drive mapping, you must map each network workstation on which you are installing Sage Timeslips with UNC paths. Verifying access rights In order to install and use Sage Timeslips, all network users must have Change file rights (Read, Write, Execute, and Delete) for the installation folder. You must log into Windows with administrator rights to install Sage Timeslips. The Setup program will change Windows access rights to the installation folder for Users group to Full Control.

Understanding station licenses

Every computer that accesses Sage Timeslips must have a network station license. For example, if you want to use Timeslips on three computers, you must purchase three station licenses. Users can also access Sage Timeslips through terminal services. Each user accessing Sage Timeslips through terminal services will use a network station license. When running Sage Timeslips, you can view and maintain network station licenses using Station Administrator. See Using Station Administrator on page 16-8 for more information. If needed, you can purchase additional licenses for Sage Timeslips through our web site at http://www.SageTimeslips or by calling (800) 285-0999.

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Installing Sage Timeslips

Understanding the installation process

Installing Sage Timeslips

Understanding the installation process
After preparing to install (see Preparing to Install on page 2-2), you are ready to install Timeslips. Installing on a single workstation Installing Sage Timeslips for use on a single workstation consists of the following steps: Install Sage Timeslips to the local workstation (see How to install Sage Timeslips on page 2-8). Install other add-ons, if appropriate (see Installing additional licenses or other add-ons on page 2-10).

Installing on a server and multiple workstations Installing Sage Timeslips for use by multiple users consists of the following steps: Install Sage Timeslips to a network folder (see How to install Sage Timeslips on page 2-8). Install Sage Timeslips add-ons, if appropriate (see Installing additional licenses or other add-ons on page 2-10). Run the local installation procedure on each network workstation that will use Timeslips (see Installing Sage Timeslips locally on page 2-11).

Downloading the installation file

When you purchased Sage Timeslips, Sage sent you an email message that contained your serial number and configuration code, along with a link to download the installation file. You must download the installation file (SageTimeslips2012.exe) to follow the instructions below.

2-7

Installing Sage Timeslips

Timeslips Users Guide

How to install Sage Timeslips

1 Start Windows. If any other applications are open, please close them now. If you purchased multiple station licenses and you are installing Sage Timeslips in a network environment, we suggest that you install Sage Timeslips from a network workstation to a network drive. You must log into Windows with administrator rights to install Sage Timeslips. However, you do not need administrator rights to use Sage Timeslips. 2 Start the Sage Timeslips installation by double-clicking on the Sage Timeslips download file. This file is named SageTimeslips2013.exe. The download file will extract the necessary installation file and will open a menu of options.

3 4 5

Click Install Sage Timeslips 2013. The Welcome to Sage Timeslips Setup view opens. Click Next to continue the installation procedure. The Software License Agreement view opens. Installing Sage Timeslips indicates that you agree to the terms of the Software License Agreement. After reading this agreement, select I accept the terms of the license agreement if you agree to the terms and then click Next. The Enter Configuration Code view opens.

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Installing Sage Timeslips

Downloading the installation file

You must enter a valid configuration code to install Sage Timeslips. Sage sent this code to you shortly after you purchased the program. If you purchased

Sage Timeslips from a retail store, this information is located on your CD case. After entering the configuration code, click Next.

Enter the configuration code

Verify that the Timeslips configuration settings correspond to the code that you entered. If the configuration settings are incorrect, click Back to re-enter your Timeslips code; otherwise, click Next to continue. The Select the Destination Folder view opens.

Select the folder where you want to install Timeslips. By default, the Setup program installs Timeslips in the C:\Program Files\Timeslips folder. If necessary, click Browse to select a different location. If you are installing Timeslips on multiple workstations in a network environment, you must use identical installation paths on each workstation. See Using mapped drives on page 2-5 for additional information. After selecting the appropriate drive and folder, click Next to continue the installation procedure. The Select Installation Type view opens.

Select the type of installation that you want the Setup program to perform. We recommend that you perform a Complete installation to ensure you install all the components. Click Next to continue. The User Information view opens.

2-9

Installing Sage Timeslips

Timeslips Users Guide

10 Enter your user name, company name, and Timeslips serial number in the corresponding fields of the User Information view. Your Timeslips serial number displays on the back of the Timeslips Users Guide. Click Next to continue. The Ready to Install Timeslips view opens. 11 The Setup program is ready to install Timeslips on your workstation or network drive. Click Install to begin installing Timeslips. After copying the necessary program files to your computer, the Select Program Folder view opens. 12 Select the program folder where you want to create Timeslips shortcuts. Click Next to continue. 13 Sage Timeslips completes the installation procedure. Choose additional options (creating desktop shortcut, installing Adobe Reader, reviewing the readme document, or checking for program updates) and click Finish.

Registering Sage Timeslips

When you run Sage Timeslips, you may be presented with a screen containing instructions for registering your software. If you choose not to register at that time, you will be allowed to use Timeslips for 30 days, before you must register the program. After 30 days, you not be able to use Timeslips until you register.

Installing additional licenses or other add-ons

In a multiuser environment, Note install addons before installing Sage Timeslips locally.

You can enhance Sage Timeslips by purchasing additional products, station licenses, or functionality called Sage Timeslips add-ons. You can install add-ons directly from the Sage Timeslips installation CD-ROM.

How to install Sage Timeslips Add-Ons

1 2 3 Within Sage Timeslips, select Help; Purchase Add-on. Enter the configuration code for your Sage Timeslips Add-On product. This configuration code was sent to you in an email message. Click Next. Verify that the configuration code corresponds to the Sage Timeslips Add-On feature that you want to install. If the configuration settings are incorrect, click Back to re-enter the configuration code; otherwise, click Next to continue. 4 Sage Timeslips will indicate when your installation is updated. Click Done.

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Installing Sage Timeslips

Installing Sage Timeslips locally

Installing Sage Timeslips locally

After installing Timeslips on a network drive (on the Sage Timeslips Server) and mapping the same drive letter from each workstation to the appropriate folder on the Sage Timeslips Server, you can install Sage Timeslips locally on each workstation. The local installer copies program files from the Sage Timeslips Server to a network workstation. This allows users to run the Sage Timeslips from their workstations while sharing a database on the Sage Timeslips Server. See Using mapped drives on page 2-5 for additional information about mapping network workstations to the Sage Timeslips program folder.

How to locally install Sage Timeslips on your network workstation

1 2 At the network workstation, start Windows. If any other applications are open, close them now. From the Windows taskbar, select Start; Run and click Browse. Select Setup.exe within the Loclinst folder (Timeslips\Loclinst on the Sage Timeslips Server, by default). Click OK. The Welcome to the Sage Timeslips Local Installer view opens. Click Next, the Select Installation or Update view opens. Select the type of local installation to run on the current workstation. Install: Click this button if you are installing Timeslips on this workstation for the first time. The Select Installation Type view opens (see step 4). Update: If Timeslips is already installed on this workstation, click this button to verify that the latest Timeslips program files are installed. The Ready to Install Sage Timeslips view opens (see step 8).

Select the type of installation that you want the Setup program to perform. We recommend that you perform a Complete installation to ensure you install all the components. Click Next to continue. The Select the Destination Folder view opens.

Select the local folder where you want to install your Timeslips program files. By default, the Setup program installs Sage Timeslips in the C:\Program Files\Timeslips folder. If necessary, click Browse to select a different location. After selecting the appropriate drive and folder, click Next to continue the installation procedure. The Ready to Install Timeslips view opens.

2-11

Installing Sage Timeslips

Timeslips Users Guide

The Setup program is ready to install Sage Timeslips on your workstation. If you want to change any of the Setup programs settings, click Back. If you want to begin installing the Sage Timeslips program files, click Next. After copying the necessary program files to your computer, the Select Program Folder view opens.

Select the program folder where you want the Setup program to create your Sage Timeslips shortcuts. After selecting the appropriate program folder, click Next to continue. Sage Timeslips completes the installation procedure. Choose additional options (creating desktop shortcut, installing Adobe Reader, reviewing the readme document, or checking for program updates) and click Finish.

Getting the Latest Release

We may occasionally issue a Service Release (SR) for Sage Timeslips. We recommend that you periodically check to ensure you are using the most up-todate release. Within Sage Timeslips, select Help; Sage Timeslips on the Web; Download Latest Update. Automatically updating Sage Timeslips locally In a network environment, when the Sage Timeslips administrator updates Sage Timeslips on the Timeslips Server with a service release, Sage Timeslips can detect new files. As other workstations open Sage Timeslips, the update process will update files on workstations automatically.

Converting from Another Billing System

If you have time and expense data from another program, you will want to transfer as much of that information as possible into your Sage Timeslips database. There are three methods of transferring information: manual entry, the Timeslips Import program, and the Timeslips data conversion service (see Data conversion services below).

Entering data manually

You must manually enter any past client and timekeeper histories (other than billed slips) if you want Timeslips to track them. For more information about client and timekeeper histories, look up billing history in the online Help.

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Converting from Another Billing System

Importing data with Sage Timeslips Import

Importing data with Sage Timeslips Import

To avoid manual entry of large amounts of data, Sage Timeslips Import (TSImport) can accept input from source files in a variety of formats. TSImport can import ASCII files and use them to create several types of data in your Sage Timeslips database. Within Sage Timeslips, select File; Import to run TSImport. If you have clients with existing balances, you must import the balances (TSImport cannot import payments). After you import clients with existing balances, Sage Timeslips can properly age the first bill and update the figures from that point onward. If you have been billing your clients from another billing system, spreadsheet, or database, chances are you will be able to transfer name, address, and balance information electronically to Sage Timeslips with TSImport. TSImport can import other types of data such as timekeepers, tasks, expenses, time and expense slips, and client references. If you installed TSImport, see the online Help system for TSImport for more information.

Data conversion services

We provide data conversion services for users converting data from a different time and billing software package. We can convert your data from most thirdparty programs. The fee for this service depends on the source of the data and amount of data to convert. If you are interested in our data conversion service, please send a message to [email protected] regarding your conversion inquiry.

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Installing Sage Timeslips

Timeslips Users Guide

2-14

Using Online Help and Guides

Overview
Reviewing learning resources

3-2
3-2

Using the Online Help System

Understanding Help menu commands Understanding Help topics Using context-sensitive Help Using the Contents page Using the Online Users Guide Using How To topics Searching the Help system Printing Help topics

3-3
3-3 3-4 3-5 3-5 3-5 3-5 3-6 3-6

Viewing Training Videos

Accessing and playing training videos

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Using Automated Guides

Accessing guides Playing guides

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3-8 3-9

Using the Tip of the Day

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Using Online Help and Guides

Timeslips Users Guide

Using Online Help and Guides

Overview
We want to make it as easy as possible for you to learn the many features and functions of Sage Timeslips quickly. To assist you learning Sage Timeslips, we have included several resources. Before using any of these learning tools, you should start the program. The Timeslips installer creates the Timeslips program group. Select Start; Programs; Timeslips; Timeslips to start Timeslips.

Reviewing learning resources

We provide many tools to help new users and upgraders learn features and functionality in Timeslips, including: The Help system: This details every aspect of the program. It includes context-sensitive information for each screen, overview topics that explain program concepts, and step-by-step instructions. See Using the Online Help System on page 3-3 for more info. Training Videos: These videos introduce some common features and provide step-by-step instructions on how you can use them to implement Timeslips in your firm. See Viewing Training Videos on page 3-7 for more info. Interactive Guides: These tours demonstrate how to perform a task by using the actual commands and screens. They are designed to get you involved, entering data while learning about Sage Timeslips. See Using Automated Guides on page 3-8 for more info. Navigators: These provide a graphical interface to the commands found on the menus. Navigators can open automatically when you start Sage Timeslips. See Using Navigators on page 4-6 for more info. Quick Start Tutorial: Chapter 5 of the users guide allows you to use the sample database to become familiar with the basic data-entry and reporting functionality in Sage Timeslips. Tip of the Day: This provides tips for Sage Timeslips. Tips can include data-entry shortcuts and an additional information about functionality. See Using the Tip of the Day on page 3-10 for more info.

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Using the Online Help System

Understanding Help menu commands

Using the Online Help System

This users guide is a starting point; it introduces you to Sage Timeslips. Use it to get oriented with the main features. The Help system contains complete documentation, including overviews of all major concepts and step-by-step procedures for performing each function. Use the Help system as your primary resource for Sage Timeslips information. This section describes the information available in the online Help system and the ways you can access it.

Understanding Help menu commands

Commands on the Help menu provide access to the online Help system. Along with the typical Help menu items, this menu includes the following commands: Online Users Guide: Provides overviews of the different areas of Timeslips. Choose an area to learn more about those features, or search for a topic using index keywords to the left. How To: Provides step-by-step instructions for common objectives in Timeslips. Whats New: Describes the features that are new to this version of Sage Timeslips. Upgraders can use this command to find information on new features added in this and past upgrades. Tip of the Day: Provides tips about different areas of Sage Timeslips (see Using the Tip of the Day on page 3-10). Guides: Opens automated guides that can walk you through tasks using your own data (see Using Automated Guides on page 3-8). View Training Videos: Opens training videos that can show how to use features (see Viewing Training Videos on page 3-7). Sage Timeslips on the Web: Opens commands that access our Web site. In order to use these commands, you must have Internet access and a default browser set up. Other Documents: Opens commands that access documents to complement this users guide and online Help system. You will use Adobe Reader to open these documents.

3-3

Using Online Help and Guides

Timeslips Users Guide

Understanding Help topics

A Help topic is a single page in the Help system. You can access Help topics in many ways, including by pressing F1, clicking a Help button, and searching the index. The following sections discuss each method. In any Help topic, an underlined phrase typically indicates that more details are available about that topic. Click the underlined phrase to move to that topic. Each topic has a unique title, allowing you to find it easily in the index. Some topics contain additional links directly below the title that provide access to related information.
Click See also... to open a list of related topics.

Click on underlined text to move to a related Help topic.

The most common links are: Overview: Opens a topic the describes how the current features interacts with other features. See also... Lists topics for related features. How to... Lists step-by-step topics related to the current feature. See example... Lists examples of how you may use the current feature.

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Using the Online Help System

Using context-sensitive Help

Using context-sensitive Help

Many of our Help topics describe the fields available on the current screen. To access context-sensitive Help, click Help on the toolbar, click the Help button on a dialog box, or press F1.

Using the Contents page

The Contents page of the Help system includes topics organized into books , and pages . This structure allows you to approach the major features of Timeslips individually.

Double click on a closed book to open it. Double click on a page to view that Help topic.

Using the Online Users Guide

The online users guide opens when you select Help; Online Users Guide. This guide organizes information into general categories. Click on any topic to learn more about it. For example, first-time users of Sage Timeslips that want information on the settings available can choose Setting Up Timeslips from the Online Users Guide.

Using How To topics

We also provide an index of all How to... topics. Select Help; How To to open this list of topics. Click on any topic any of the subject areas for quick access to the related topics.

3-5

Using Online Help and Guides

Timeslips Users Guide

Searching the Help system

Throughout this users guide, you will notice references to the Help system providing more information. For example: For more information about clients, look up overview of clients in the online Help system. To find this topic, select Help; Online Users Guide and use the Index page. Enter the index keyword overview of clients and click Display.

Enter the topic that you want to display.

The closest match is displayed in the list. Double click on any topic is display it.

Printing Help topics

The Contents page of the Help Topics dialog box groups Help topics into books and pages. A book , represents a heading that groups related topics. A page represents a specific Help topic.

If you click the Print button with Printing Reports highlighted, you can print all pages within this book.

Double click on a closed book to open it. Double click on a page to view that Help topic.

3-6

Viewing Training Videos

Printing Help topics

Viewing Training Videos

Sage Timeslips provides many training videos to help new users get started entering data in Timeslips and more experienced users explore more advanced features before using them. Select Help: View Training Videos to view the available training videos.

We offer several groups of training videos.

3-7

Using Online Help and Guides

Timeslips Users Guide

Using Automated Guides

Timeslips also provides many How to automated guides that focus on completing specific tasks. Each automated guide uses instructional hints to provide you with information about the current screen. These hints will also guide you through steps to complete each task or tutorial exercise.

Accessing guides
Select Help; Guides or click in the lower left corner of the Sage Timeslips window to open the Guides page of the Guides and Procedures dialog box. This dialog box is divided into several pages, accessed by clicking the tabs on top.
Click the tabs at the top of the dialog box to access the different pages.

Each page contains a list of procedures: Guides: These are the interactive tours that provide you with step-bystep instructions for completing a particular task. Some examples are: creating clients, creating time slips, and printing reports. Your Own: You can create your own automated procedures to streamline your work. Timeslips displays these procedures on this page, allowing you to access and play them easily. Select Special; Automated Procedures to access these procedures. On Navigator: The procedures associated with the current navigator are displayed here.

Look up automated procedures in the Help system for more info on creating procedures.

3-8

Using Automated Guides

Playing guides

Playing guides
To use any guide, simply highlight its name and click Play. While a guide is playing, you will notice the Automated Procedure Active control bar in the top right corner of your screen. It will contain messages and sometimes prompts you to click the Continue button. When a guide pauses on a dialog box, a hint for the current field opens. You can move through the fields to view the hints by pressing the Tab key or by clicking on the field you want. You can also move between fields and hints sequentially by clicking Previous and Next buttons on the Hints dialog box.

Hints provide instructions and additional information throughout guides.

You may exit a guide at any time by clicking the Stop button on the Automated Procedure Active control bar or by pressing Ctrl+Break.

3-9

Using Online Help and Guides

Timeslips Users Guide

Using the Tip of the Day

The Tip of the Day is an interactive tool that Sage Timeslips uses to provide you with tips about different areas of the program. When you open Sage Timeslips, the Tip of the Day displays in the top right corner.

Click Tell me more to open a Help topic related to the current tip.

Look up tip of the day in the online Help system for more info.

For some areas of the program, Sage Timeslips will show only those tips related to the current dialog box. In other areas, Timeslips will show tips for the entire program. For example, if the Slip Entry dialog box is open, then only tips related to slips are available.

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Using the Sage Timeslips Interface

Overview Selecting Commands
Using menus Using toolbars Using shortcut menus and shortcut keys

4-2 4-2
4-2 4-3 4-5

Using Navigators
Choosing the type of navigator to use Displaying the navigator

4-6
4-7 4-7

Playing Procedures
Creating your own procedures

4-7
4-8

Entering Data
Selecting fields Using dialog boxes Using text fields Using lists of data Using action buttons Using check boxes Using option buttons

4-8
4-8 4-9 4-9 4-13 4-15 4-15 4-15

Using the Sage Timeslips Interface

Timeslips Users Guide

Using the Interface

Overview
You can access most areas of Sage Timeslips in more than one way. Navigator buttons and shortcut menus provide alternatives to the traditional menu bar. Many menu commands have equivalent toolbar buttons and keystroke combinations. For data entry, Sage Timeslips uses a number of controls common to most Windows programs. This chapter explains these controls.

Selecting Commands
Sage Timeslips provides several ways to select commands. You can use either the mouse or the keyboard to perform most program functions.

Using menus
For more info on menus, look up Timeslips menus in the online Help.

A menu bar is located just below the title bar of each application window. The menu bar lists the major categories of operations available in each application. The following menus are available in Sage Timeslips: File: Contains commands that perform file-related tasks, such as creating new databases, backing up and restoring files, exporting and importing data, and purging outdated information. Edit: Includes standard Windows clipboard commands such as cut, copy, paste, and delete. Slips: Includes commands for entering and maintaining time slips and expense slips. Transactions: Includes commands for maintaining accounts receivable transactions, client funds transactions, and bank deposit slips. Names: Contains commands to define and update information related to clients, timekeepers, tasks, expenses, references, and budgets. Bills: includes commands related to billing, such as printing pre-bill worksheets, bills, and statements; accessing Billing Assistant; and reprinting bills. Reports: Provides commands to find reports that best meet your needs, customize existing reports, and create new reports.

4-2

Selecting Commands
Using toolbars

Special: Contains commands that perform special functions such as checking for spelling and grammar errors, searching for text, and displaying the navigator. Setup: Contains commands to customize Timeslips, set preferences for timekeepers, enable access security, and establish data entry shortcuts. Window: Lists all open windows in the program, along with standard Windows commands to tile, cascade, or close all windows. Help: Allows you to access automated guides, training videos, and the online Help system.

Using toolbars
For more information on toolbars, look up toolbars in the online Help.

Toolbars provide you with easy access to commands. The main toolbar appears beneath the menu bar.

The main toolbar provides quick access to most of the data-entry and reporting areas in Sage Timeslips. Position the mouse pointer over a toolbar button to display a ToolTip indicating the buttons functionality. In addition to the main toolbar, many dialog boxes also include their own toolbars (see Toolbars in dialog boxes on page 4-4). Toolbars also have the following properties: Movable: You can move a toolbar to any place on your screen by clicking on its handle and dragging it to the desired location.

The handle is the raised double line located at the end of a toolbar.

Dockable: You can dock a toolbar to any side of its related dialog box by clicking on its title bar and dragging it close to the desired side. When the outline changes shape, release the mouse button to dock the toolbar. Double-clicking on the handle of a docked toolbar will return it to its last floating position.

4-3

Using the Sage Timeslips Interface

Timeslips Users Guide

Toolbars in dialog boxes Toolbars appear on the top or right side of many of the dialog boxes. The buttons that appear on the toolbar are primarily designed to help manipulate the items shown in the dialog box.
When you encounter additional toolbar buttons, press F1 for info on those buttons.

Many of the functions available from the toolbars are universal. They are available in different places but serve the same purpose. Not all of these buttons are available in every part of the program.
Add a new record to the database. The shortcut key is Ctrl+N. Open details about the highlighted item in a list. You can also doubleclick on the highlighted item to perform the same function. The shortcut key is Ctrl+O or Enter. Save the current record. The shortcut key is Ctrl+S. If the dialog box was opened from within another dialog box, this button is replaced by Return, which saves the record and returns you to the original dialog box. Delete a record from the database. Deleting a record is often a serious operation that can affect other areas of the database. We recommend that you perform a database backup before using this command. The shortcut key is Ctrl+Del. Discard any changes made to a record that you are editing. The shortcut key is Esc. Display a list of records. You can use the list to view or go to other records. The shortcut key is Ctrl+L. Display the first record. The shortcut key is Ctrl+PgUp. Display the previous record, if any. The shortcut key is PgUp. Display the next record, if any. The shortcut key is PgDn. Display the last record. The shortcut key is Ctrl+PgDn. Update the list or report with any changed information, such as changes that occurred on other stations. The shortcut key is Shift+Ctrl+L.

4-4

Selecting Commands
Using shortcut menus and shortcut keys

Using shortcut menus and shortcut keys

Many commands are also available on shortcut menus. A shortcut menu opens when you click the right mouse button (or right-click) while the cursor is positioned on a specific area of a dialog box. The commands on shortcut menus differ depending on the area of the dialog box from which they are accessed. When you right-click on an area between fields, the shortcut menu provides keystrokes for toolbar buttons.

When right-clicking in a text field, the shortcut menu usually contains standard text-editing commands, spell-checking and grammar-checking commands, and text-formatting commands. Look up shortcut keys in the online Help for a detailed list of shortcut keys.

Many commands have keyboard equivalents for fast access. Menus and shortcut menus display keystroke combinations and toolbar buttons next to their commands. Some key combinations are common to many Windows programs: Ctrl+N for New, Ctrl+O for Open, Ctrl+S for Save. Other combinations are used as standards throughout Sage Timeslips. For example, F6 and Shift+F6 will navigate between pages of most tabbed dialog boxes. Refer to the Shortcut Keys card in the front of this users guide.

4-5

Using the Sage Timeslips Interface

Timeslips Users Guide

Using Navigators
Look up navigators in the online Help for more info about navigators.

While you can access commands and functionality from menus, Sage Timeslips also provides navigators. Navigators group commands into major topics and show workflow between them. Navigators allow you to perform most data entry and data reviewing tasks without having to locate commands in menus. They can show more clearly than standard menus how commands are related to real-life business tasks. Sage Timeslips provides two types of navigators: Enhanced navigators Enhanced navigators group related commands together as well as provide important information related to each group of commands.

Use the navigation section of the enhanced navigator to access groups of commands.

Click a topic icon to change the topic displayed on the navigator.

Click a navigator button to play the associated procedure (macro).

Use the data sections of the enhanced navigator to review related information. See Using Navigators to View Data on page 10-8 for more information.

If you do not want additional information to display or cannot fit larger navigators onscreen, you should use a classic navigator.

4-6

Playing Procedures
Choosing the type of navigator to use

Classic navigators Classic navigators group related commands together.

Classic navigators provide access to groups of commands. Click a topic icon to change the topic displayed on the navigator.

Click a navigator button to play the associated procedure (macro).

Choosing the type of navigator to use

Each workstation can set up preferences to determine which type of navigator to use. Select Setup; Preferences to access preferences and then switch to the Navigator/Procedures page. Set the Format to either Classic or Enhanced and then choose the Template that you want to use.

Displaying the navigator

You can use preferences to open the navigator automatically when Sage Timeslips opens. Select Setup; Preferences to access preferences, switch to the Startup/Exit page, and set the Navigator to Yes. You can click Navigator from the toolbar to open the navigator manually.

Playing Procedures
While you will typically use navigators to play automated procedures, you can also play these procedures individually. Select Special; Automated Procedures to open the Guides and Procedures dialog box. This dialog box groups procedures into three pages: Guides: Lists the automated guides that Sage Timeslips provides for common tasks (see Playing guides on page 3-9). Your Own: Lists procedures that you have created. On Navigator: Lists procedures used by the current navigator.

Highlight a procedure name and click Play to play the procedure. 4-7

Using the Sage Timeslips Interface

Timeslips Users Guide

Creating your own procedures

For more info on editing procedures, see the online Help included with the Procedure Editor.

Sage Timeslips allows advanced users to create and edit procedures. Working with procedures is straightforward if you are comfortable writing macros for Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, or other simple programs. After creating procedures, you can create or edit navigators and attach the procedures to navigator buttons. Certified Consultants can help you with the process of writing procedures. To find the name of a Certified Consultant in your area, visit our web site at http://www.SageTimeslips.com or call (800) 285-0999.

Entering Data
In Sage Timeslips, you enter all data through the dialog boxes that open when you select commands. Toolbars offer the most common data entry commands. Within the dialog boxes, you use a variety of controls to enter data and change settings. The following sections explain these controls.

Selecting fields
Although a dialog box can contain many fields and controls, you can interact with only one of these at a time. The active field or control in a dialog box is said to have the focus. Before you can enter data or make a selection, you must select the field to work with. The simplest way to select a field is to click on an item with the mouse. If you want to change focus with the keyboard, you can use the following keys: Key
Tab, Shift+Tab Alt+Home, Alt+End F6, Shift+F6 F7, Shift+F7

Movement
Move to the next or previous item in the dialog box. Move to the first or last item in the dialog box. Move to the next or previous page in a tabbed dialog box. Move to the next or previous group of fields. You may also move to fields with underlined characters by using the Alt+<letter key> for the underlined characters.

4-8

Entering Data
Using dialog boxes

Using dialog boxes

Some dialog boxes contain more fields than will fit on your screen at one time. These dialog boxes will have multiple pages with tabs along the top or left side. Click any of the tab names to switch pages.

Use the tabs to view additional fields.

Depending on the size and resolution of your monitor, you may be able to resize a dialog box to display more fields.

Using text fields

You use text fields for direct entry of text or numbers. Sage Timeslips inserts typed characters into the text field at the insertion point location.

Text fields accept direct entry of text characters.

4-9

Using the Sage Timeslips Interface

Timeslips Users Guide

Text fields support standard Windows editing commands and operations:

For more info, look up entering descriptions in the online Help.

Click: Clicking the mouse at any location in a text field places the insertion bar ( | ) at that location. You can also click and drag to highlight a portion of the text in a field. Double-click: Highlights the entire word at the mouse location. Replace: If you type while one or more characters is highlighted, the new entry replaces the previous entry. Cut, Copy, and Paste: You can use the Edit menu commands to cut, copy, and paste text from one text field into another. Undo: The Edit; Undo command reverses your most recent edit.

Some text fields are used specifically for entering descriptive notes, dates, or time values. These text fields are described in the following sections. Resizing description fields When entering slip descriptions, you can increase the Description field to show more text. Click to increase the visible description or click to decrease the visible description. Resizing description fonts When viewing or entering descriptions for slips or transactions, you can increase the font size to make text more readable or you can decrease the font size to fit more text onscreen. Click within a description field to resize and press Ctrl++ to increase the font size or Ctrl+- to decrease the font size. Using abbreviations in text descriptions
For more info, look up abbreviations in the online Help.

Abbreviations are codes that you create to speed entry of frequently typed words, phrases, and sentences. Select Setup; Abbreviations to open the Abbreviations dialog box. Once defined, you can type the abbreviation in certain fields, such as the Description field of a slip:

4-10

Entering Data
Using text fields

When you enter characters like punctuation or a space, Sage Timeslips expands abbreviation codes into the associated full text.

Abbreviations can also be interactive, prompting the timekeeper for additional information when they expand. This allows you to standardize your slip descriptions, while varying specific details like the client name, location of the meeting, or resulting plans. Entering dates Whenever you enter dates, Sage Timeslips provides special commands that speed up data entry. These commands can be typed in any date field. Key
T S

Command
Today Same as other

Additional Information

This command works in paired date fields, such as the Start date and End date on a slip.

or > or + or < or -

Increment date Decrement date

You can also select dates from a pop-up calendar by clicking the Date button to the right of the Date field or pressing C. When entering a single date (for example, on a payment), the Date Entry dialog box opens.
Click the month or year fields, or use the arrow keys on either side of these fields to change the calendar displayed.

Click the Today button to select todays date.

4-11

Using the Sage Timeslips Interface

Timeslips Users Guide

If the date field is part of a date range (indicated by two adjacent date fields), the Date Range dialog box opens.
Click the Apply this rule field to use a relative date rule.

Click the Same As button to use the same Ending date as the Starting date.

Some date fields can use relative dates, which determine dates automatically, relative to today. Built-in relative dates include last month, last quarter, last year, month to date, year to date, this week, and this month. Entering time values When you enter time values, Sage Timeslips provides the Time Range dialog box to speed data entry. This dialog box allows you to enter start and stop times and will automatically calculate the elapsed time. You can open this dialog box by clicking the Time button Time field or by pressing S when the cursor is in the field. to the right of the

Use the Options field to choose to add to, subtract from, or replace the current duration.

Using time cells When entering time on the time sheet (select Slips; Time Sheet; Time Entry), you enter your time for a particular day in a cell. The simplest way to enter time here is to click on a cell and enter the time spent directly within that cell. You can enter the time spent in either hours.decimal format or hours:minutes format. You can also select a cell and click Timer to track time as you work. 4-12

Entering Data
Using lists of data

Using lists of data

Sage Timeslips uses lists to display groups of data. The functionality of these lists depend on the type of list you are using. Using lists to view data When you view a list of data, such as names, slips, or transactions, Sage Timeslips provides tools to help you find the data you want.
Use buttons on the toolbar to maintain items on the list. Click on column headings to sort the list. Tabs at the top of lists separate different types of data.

You can use the arrow keys to move through the list to select an item. If the items on the list are arranged in alphabetical order, the list supports speed search. For example, if you type the letter e, the highlight will be positioned on the first item on the list that begins with e. Sometimes it is easier to find data when you group the list by a specific field. Click on column headings to sort the list of data by that field. Selecting data from list boxes List boxes display a list of possible values for a field. You typically use list boxes to select names. For example, the Client field within the Slip Entry dialog box shows the available clients. You can use this field to select a client for the slip.

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Using the Sage Timeslips Interface

Timeslips Users Guide

Selecting data from group list boxes Sage Timeslips uses group list boxes when a field can have multiple values. For example, when you are choosing names for a report, you can use a group list box to mark each name to include. A to left of an item indicates that item is selected as part of the group. You can toggle a highlighted name between marked and unmarked by clicking the check box next to it. The can also be added or removed using the four commands on the shortcut menu: Mark, Remove Mark, All, and None. Mark and Remove Mark work on the currently highlighted items, while All and None work on all items in the list.

Instead of selecting names individually, you can enter a nickname range to select.

Using My Lists to filter names Sage Timeslips allows you to set up custom lists (My Lists) of clients, tasks, and expenses. Timekeepers can view data from these custom lists throughout Sage Timeslips, instead of having to search through the complete lists of names. Use the My List Setup page of the Timekeeper Information dialog box to set up these custom lists. Right-click on a client, task, or expense name list to toggle between the full lists of names or your custom lists.

Right-click on a name list to toggle between your custom list of names and all names.

For more information on setting up and using My Lists, see Using My Lists to filter names on page 7-9.

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Entering Data
Using action buttons

Using action buttons

Action buttons perform an operation that uses the data or settings entered into a dialog box. In most cases, selecting an action button closes the dialog box before the action is performed. The three most common action buttons are OK, Cancel, and Help.

Using check boxes

Check boxes designate a setting as being marked () or unmarked (blank). A marked setting is on. For example, mark a bill format option for that option to affect the bill. Clicking the check box toggles the mark.

Using option buttons

You can use option buttons to select from among mutually exclusive items. Click an item to mark it.
Use option buttons to select from mutually exclusive items.

4-15

Using the Sage Timeslips Interface

Timeslips Users Guide

4-16

Quick Start Tutorial

Overview
Using automated guides Getting additional information Opening the sample database Quick start premise

5
5-2
5-2 5-3 5-3 5-3

Creating Names
Creating timekeepers Creating tasks and expenses Creating a client

5-4
5-4 5-6 5-9

Tracking Time and Expenses on Slips

Creating a time slip Creating an expense slip

5-11
5-11 5-13

Entering Transactions Printing Reports Whats Next?

5-15 5-17 5-17

Quick Start Tutorial

Timeslips Users Guide

Quick Start Tutorial

Overview
This Quick Start introduces you to the basic data entry processes of Sage Timeslips: adding names, entering slips, and entering transactions. We include a premise for each process to provide an example of why you might add each type of data.

Using automated guides

Sage Timeslips offers guides to provide step-by-step assistance in performing a particular function. Click in the lower left corner of the Sage Timeslips window to open the Guides page of the Guides and Procedures dialog box.

Highlight an automated guide to play and click Play.

Automated guides open appropriate dialog boxes for you and provide hints for the various fields in the dialog box. When a guide pauses on a dialog box, a hint for the current fields opens. You can move through the fields to view the hints by pressing the Tab key or by clicking on the field you want. You can also move through fields and hints sequentially by clicking Previous and Next on the Hints dialog box.

5-2

Overview
Getting additional information

Getting additional information

At the end of each guide, Sage Timeslips will ask if you would like to view an overview of the current topic within the online Help system. Click Yes for more information on the current topic. See Chapter 3, Using Online Help and Guides for more information about the Help system.

Opening the sample database

You can use the sample database that is installed with Sage Timeslips to explore the features and functionality of Sage Timeslips. You can also use this database with the quick start tutorial in this chapter.

How to open the sample database 1

2 3

Click in the lower left corner of the Sage Timeslips window to open the Guides page of the Guides and Procedures dialog box.
Select Switch to sample database at the bottom of the guides list. Click Play. Sage Timeslips will switch to the sample database.

Quick start premise

Your name is Chris Harding. You are a new attorney at Willis & Henderson, P.C. You are responsible for several clients and will generate bills each month. Your responsibilities require you to learn the setup and operation of Sage Timeslips.

5-3

Quick Start Tutorial

Timeslips Users Guide

Creating Names
When tracking time and expenses in Sage Timeslips, you use names to specify who (the timekeeper) performed what activity (the task or expense) for whom (the client). These names are the building blocks that form the structure of your entire Sage Timeslips database.

Creating timekeepers
At the firm of Willis & Henderson, P.C., all employees who track time are set up as timekeepers.

Exercise 1 Adding a timekeeper As a new employee, you will define yourself as a new timekeeper and enter your billing rates.
1 2 3 Click in the lower left corner of the Sage Timeslips window to open the list of automated guides. Highlight How to add Timekeepers and click Play. After reading the Information message box, click OK to close it. Sage Timeslips displays the list of timekeepers in your firm. You want to create a new timekeeper record. Click New on the Timekeeper List dialog box. from the toolbar

4 5

Within the Timekeeper Information dialog box, enter C. Harding in the Nickname 1 field and ChrisH in the Nickname 2 field. These nicknames will identify you throughout Sage Timeslips. Click Continue on the Automated Procedure Active control bar.

Sage Timeslips shows the fields for this timekeeper. 7 8 9 Enter your full name, Chris L. Harding, in the Name field. Press Tab to enter your initials, CLH, in the Initials field. From the Title field, select Attorney.

10 Within the Email address field, enter [email protected].

5-4

Creating Names
Creating timekeepers

11 Each timekeeper can have several different hourly rates. This allows billing rates to vary from timekeeper to timekeeper. Enter 90 in Rate 1, 100 in Rate 2, and 120 in Rate 3 to define your billing rates. 12 Optionally use the overhead rate to track the rate your firm pays employees. Enter 60.00 in the Hourly cost field.

13 Click Save

from the toolbar to save the new timekeeper.

14 If Sage Timeslips prompts you to check for conflicts, click OK.

Most toolbar buttons, such as Save and New , have keyboard accelerators. The shortcut menu (accessed by right-clicking on the toolbar) lists the accelerator equivalents for toolbar buttons.
15 Sage Timeslips asks you if you want more information about timekeepers. Click Yes to view the Overview of Timekeepers Help topic or No to close the Confirm dialog box. 16 The new timekeeper now appears on the Timekeeper List dialog box. Click Close to close the Timekeeper List dialog box.

For more information on creating timekeepers, see Creating Timekeepers on page 7-8.

5-5

Quick Start Tutorial

Timeslips Users Guide

Creating tasks and expenses

Tasks are the activities that timekeepers perform, the individual events that make up the whole day, or the parts of a particular job. Tasks are typically measured in hours. Examples of tasks include meetings and research. Sage Timeslips calculates the value for most time slips (slips created with a task) by multiplying the hourly rate by the number of hours. Expenses are reimbursable costs. Expenses are measured in units other than hours. Examples of expenses include photocopies and mileage. Sage Timeslips calculates the value for expense slips (slips created with an expense) by multiplying a unit price by a numerical quantity. You will create one task and one expense to become familiar with each process.

Exercise 2 Adding a task As you counsel your clients, you will be conducting both in-house and off-site meetings. In this exercise, you will add the new task, Counsel, to the database.
1 2 3 Click in the lower left corner to open the list of guides.

Highlight How to add Tasks and click Play. After reading the Information message box, click OK to close it. Sage Timeslips opens the list of tasks defined for your firm. You want to create a new task record. Click New Task List dialog box. from the toolbar on the

4 5

The Task Information dialog box opens. Enter Counsel in the Nickname 1 field and C300 in the Nickname 2 field. These nicknames will identify this task throughout Sage Timeslips. Click Continue on the Automated Procedure Active control bar.

Sage Timeslips shows the fields for this task. 7 Enter Counseling analysis and advice in the Name field. This full name takes the place of the task nickname on bills. Because you will bill at timekeeper rates, there is no need to define task rates.

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Creating Names
Creating tasks and expenses

You can use slip-making defaults to save time when entering slips. Sage Timeslips enters values in these fields automatically on a new slip when you select this task.
8 9 Your counseling meetings typically last two hours. Enter 2 in the Time spent field. A brief, general-purpose description will be useful on most slips containing this task. Enter Counsel with client concerning in the Description field.

You can use slip-making defaults to save time when creating slips. Default values are used automatically when you select this task.

10 Click Save

from the toolbar to save the new task.

11 The new task now appears on the task list. Click Yes to view the Overview of Tasks Help topic or No to close the Confirm dialog box. 12 Press Ctrl+W to close the Task List dialog box.

For more information on creating tasks (time activities), see Entering task information on page 7-20.

5-7

Quick Start Tutorial

Timeslips Users Guide

Exercise 3 Adding an expense Willis & Henderson has just added Superfast Parcel Service as a delivery carrier. In this exercise, you will add the new expense, SPS Shipping, to the database.
1 2 3 Click in the lower left corner to open the list of guides.

Highlight How to add Expenses and click Play. After reading the Information message box, click OK to close it. Sage Timeslips opens the list of expenses defined for your firm. You want to create a new expense record. Click New the Expense List dialog box. from the toolbar on

4 5

The Expense Information dialog box opens. Enter SPS Shipping in the Nickname 1 field and E108 in the Nickname 2 field. These nicknames will identify this expense throughout Sage Timeslips. Click Continue on the Automated Procedure Active control bar.

Sage Timeslips shows the fields for this expense. 7 8 9 Enter the full name, Superfast Parcel Service shipment, in the Name field. The full name takes the place of the expense nickname on bills. You can enter up to 20 prices for an expense. Enter 8.75 in the first Price field for shipments. Enter 1 as the default Price Level. Enter 1 in the Quantity field as the default quantity for shipments.

Use slip-making defaults to save time when creating slips. Default values are used automatically when you select this expense.

5-8

Creating Names
Creating a client

10 Click Save

from the toolbar to save the new expense.

11 The new expense now appears on the expense list. Click Yes to view the Overview of Expenses Help topic or No to close the Confirm dialog box. 12 Press Ctrl+W to close the Expense List dialog box.

For more information on creating expense activities, see Entering expense information on page 7-21.

Creating a client
The term client refers to the person or organization that you will charge for work performed by your company. Timeslips maintains extensive settings and billing information settings for each client, including accounts receivable balances, budgets, tax and interest rates, flat fee arrangements, and bill format settings.

Exercise 4 Adding a client You bring a new client to the firm. In this exercise, you will add the new client, Kelley Engineering Services, to the database.
1 2 3 Click in the lower left corner to open the list of guides.

Highlight How to add Clients and click Play. After reading the Information message box, click OK to close it. Sage Timeslips opens the list of clients defined for your firm. Click New from the toolbar on the Client List dialog box to open the Client Information dialog box. Enter Kelley Engineering in the Nickname 1 field and 06-0165 in the Nickname 2 field. These nicknames will identify this client throughout Sage Timeslips. In the Set up this record to match fields from list, highlight Client defaults. Click Continue on the Automated Procedure Active control bar.

4 5

6 7

Sage Timeslips opens the Client Information dialog box. 8 Enter Kelley Engineering Services in the Name field.

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Quick Start Tutorial

Timeslips Users Guide

Enter the following items in the remaining fields: Address: City: State: ZIP: Phone: Fax: Email Address: In reference to: 2765 Commercial Street Wakefield MA 01880 (781) 555-3042 (781) 555-9910 [email protected] General counsel

The General page of the Client Information dialog box includes information about each client, including the clients billing address.

10 Click Save

from the toolbar to save the new client.

11 If Sage Timeslips prompts you to check for conflicts, click OK. 12 The new client now appears on the client list. Click Yes to view the Overview of Clients Help topic or No to close the Confirm dialog box. 13 Press Ctrl+W to close the Client List dialog box.

For more information on creating clients, see Creating Clients on page 7-12.

5-10

Tracking Time and Expenses on Slips

Creating a time slip

Tracking Time and Expenses on Slips

In Sage Timeslips, you use slips to track time and expenses. A slip can detail a part of a job or an entire job for a particular client by a specific timekeeper. Every slip requires a timekeeper, a client, and a task or expense. While Sage Timeslips offers many ways to enter slips, in this example you can will enter slips within the Slip Entry dialog box.

Creating a time slip

You use time slips to track work done on an hourly basis. You can track the duration of a time slip with the stopwatch timer or you can enter it afterward.

Exercise 5 Creating a time slip In this exercise, you will create a time slip for a meeting with the new client, Kelley Engineering.
1 2 3 Click in the lower left corner to open the list of guides.

Highlight How to enter time slips and click Play. After reading the Information message box, click OK to close it. Sage Timeslips opens the current list of slips entered for your firm. Click New from the toolbar on the Time and Expense Slip List dialog box to create a new slip. You want to enter a time slip. Set Type to Time. Set Timekeeper to C. Harding.

4 5 6

After clicking within any of the nickname lists, you can use the speed-search feature. As you begin typing the letters of a nickname, Sage Timeslips will jump to the closest match on the list. 7 Set Task to Counsel. Notice that Sage Timeslips enters the slip-making defaults for you within the Description field and the Time spent fields. You defined these defaults in Exercise 2. Set Client to Kelley Engineering. Enter upcoming court date. after the text in the Description field to describe the work represented by the slip.

8 9

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Timeslips Users Guide

10 The Start date and End date fields are automatically set to todays date. In this case, you will enter a different date for the meeting. Click next to the Start date field to open a calendar. a. b. c. Set the Month to September, set the Year to 2013, and then click on the 16th of the month. In the Ending date fields on the right side of the dialog box, click Same As to make the ending date the same as the starting date. Click OK to close the Date Range dialog box.

11 Since Willis & Henderson does not use the Time estimated field, you will leave it at 0:00:00. 12 The meeting ran longer than the default of two hours. Enter 2.5 in the Time spent field. When you click in a different field, Sage Timeslips automatically converts the decimal number into an hours:minutes:seconds format. 13 You can enter unbillable time as a separate slip or as part of a slip with billable time. You will charge Kelley Engineering for only a portion of the meeting. You want to assign a half hour of the meeting as unbillable time. Enter .5 in the Do Not Bill time field at the bottom of the slip. If the Markup, Adjustment, and Do Not Bill time fields are not visible, click Markup, Adjustment, and Do Not Bill time on the time slip. 14 To see how unbillable time will affect the slip value, click on the slips Value at the top right of the slip. Note that the Billed Value is $180.00, reflecting the reduced billable time. Click Done to close the Slip Values dialog box. 15 If you had a file attachment related to this work, you could attach it to the bottom of the slip. You do not have an attachment for this slip.

5-12

Tracking Time and Expenses on Slips

Creating a time slip

Nicknames identify who is doing what type of work for which client.

You can enter free-form text to describe the work performed.

16 Click Save from the toolbar to save the new time slip. You can also save the current slip by creating a new slip or viewing a previous slip. 17 The new time slip now appears within the list of slips. Click Yes if you want to view the Overview of Time and Expense Slips topic. 18 The slip you just entered is highlighted within the list of slips. Click Open from the toolbar to open the Slip Entry dialog box and view the slip.

For more information on creating time slips, see How to create a time slip on page 8-5.

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Timeslips Users Guide

Creating an expense slip

You use expense slips to track charges for sales, expenses, and disbursements. You should enter items that are tracked as a quantity multiplied by a unit cost, such as mileage or photocopies, as expense slips.

Exercise 6 Creating an expense slip You need to create an expense slip for a package you sent to Kelley Engineering by Superfast Parcel Service.
1 Click New from the toolbar on the Slip Entry dialog box to start a new slip. By default, Sage Timeslips copies the Timekeeper name from the time slip you made in Exercise 5. If you changed your preferences, set the Timekeeper to C. Harding. Set Type to Expense to make the slip an expense slip. Set Expense to SPS Shipping. Notice that Sage Timeslips enters the slipmaking defaults you defined in Exercise 3 in the Price field and the Quantity field. Set Client to Kelley Engineering. Enter Sent lot plans to Benjamin. in the Description field. Enter 09/16/2013 for both the Start date and End date fields. You can leave the remaining fields at their default values. Click Save save the changes made to this slip. Press Ctrl+W to close all open dialog boxes. to

2 3

4 5 6 7 8

For more information on creating expense slips, see How to create an expense slip on page 8-8.

5-14

Entering Transactions
Creating an expense slip

Entering Transactions
Transactions are financial exchanges between you and your clients. You can use transactions to pay a clients balance, write off billable charges, or transfer amounts to and from client funds accounts.

Exercise 7 Entering a payment ABC Corporation sent you a check for $2200.00 to apply to their outstanding balance. In this exercise, you will enter this amount as a payment.
1 2 3 Click in the lower left corner to open the list of guides.

Highlight How to enter payments and click Play. After reading the Information message box, click OK to close it. Sage Timeslips opens the list of accounts receivable transactions entered for your firm. Click New from the toolbar on the Accounts Receivable List dialog box.

4 5 6 7 8 9

On the Accounts Receivable Entry dialog box, the Type field is automatically set to Payment and the payment method is set to Check. Set Client to ABC. Enter 9/16/13 in the Date field. You want to include the check number for this payment. Enter 6370 in the Check No. field. In the Amount field, enter 2200 for the amount of the check. There are two open invoices listed below the Description field. Click Apply All to apply the payment to both invoices. The Paid columns reflect the amounts paid on the invoice.

If you want to apply a payment to a single invoice, you can highlight an invoice on the list and click the Apply One button.

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Quick Start Tutorial

Timeslips Users Guide

10 The payment amount exceeded the balance due, mark Remaining amount applies to future invoice. This amount, $100.00, is indicated in the Not yet applied field.

You can apply payments directly to open invoices.

11 Click Save

from the toolbar to save the payment.

12 The payment now appears on the list of transactions. Click Yes if you want to view the Overview of Accounts Receivable Transactions topic. 13 Press Ctrl+W to close all open dialog boxes.

For more information on accounts receivable transactions, see Entering Accounts Receivable Transactions on page 9-3.

5-16

Printing Reports
Creating an expense slip

Printing Reports
Sage Timeslips provides over 100 reports that help you analyze your data and generate bills and statements.

Exercise 8 Printing a Slip Listing report You want to view a report of all slips in the database. In this exercise you will print a Slip Listing report.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Click in the lower left corner to open the list of guides.

Highlight How to print a slip listing and click Play. After reading the Information message box, click OK to close it. Sage Timeslips opens the Report Entry dialog box. Click Print to print the slip listing to the display. Click More to view additional pages of the report or Print to print the report to the printer. Your new slips appear at the end of the report. Press Ctrl+W to close all open dialog boxes.

Whats Next?
Now that you have learned about basic data entry and report procedures, you are ready to use other functions and features in Sage Timeslips. To learn more about the features Sage Timeslips offers, please use the other automated guides while accessing this sample database, review the remaining chapters of this users guide, and access the online Help system.

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Quick Start Tutorial

Timeslips Users Guide

5-18

Creating a New Database

Overview
Identifying administrators

6
6-2
6-2

Understanding Database Concepts Using the Create a New Database wizard Establishing General Settings
Entering firm information Setting terminology Determining aging periods Other settings

6-3 6-3 6-11

6-11 6-11 6-12 6-13

Using the Getting Started wizard Important Setup Options

Disabling features Controlling access to Sage Timeslips Establishing preferences Before entering names Before entering slips and transactions Before printing bills and statements

6-13 6-14
6-14 6-16 6-17 6-18 6-18 6-19

Considerations for Databases with Multiple Users 6-20

Creating a New Database

Timeslips Users Guide

Creating a New Database

Overview
Before you can begin entering your firms data in Sage Timeslips, you must create a database. A database is a collection of files that stores all the information you track with Sage Timeslips. These files are stored together in a folder on a hard disk where you and other users can access them. Databases can be personalaccessed by one useror sharedaccessed by many users. You can create as many databases as you need. After you create a database, you can configure settings that will reflect the way you will use Sage Timeslips. You can set up general database settings will affect all users and personal settings that will affect individual users. As you conduct business, you will be entering data often in Sage Timeslips. We provide important timesavers called defaults that can simplify data entry. Defaults are settings that Sage Timeslips automatically uses until you choose or enter another value. For example, default values enable you to enter names, slips, and transactions without filling in each field in a dialog box manually. This chapter describes the steps and considerations involved in creating a new database. This chapter also helps you consider timesaving setup options before you begin to use Sage Timeslips regularly. The advantage of certain setup features might not be clear until you have had some experience with all features. Occasionally review the way you work with Sage Timeslips to determine if you can better automate certain functions.

Identifying administrators
Every Sage Timeslips site should have someone assigned to manage issues such as installation, security, network administration, and database backups. We consider these people Timeslips administrators. They should be trustworthy and knowledgeable because they will have full access to the database and will be controlling access for other users. They will also be performing crucial database functions that could result in data loss if done incorrectly. We recommend that you ensure that only the Timeslips administrator is in charge of performing the functions described in this chapter.

6-2

Understanding Database Concepts

Identifying administrators

Understanding Database Concepts

Your valuable dataall of your clients, slips, payments, and moreis stored in a database. Sage Timeslips stores each database as a group of files in its own folder. You should make a note of the location of each database. You will need to know the location of the database in order to perform some database management tasks. Each database contains a master file named Main.db. When opening a database, you will be prompted to locate this file. While your firm will typically work with only one database, a single copy of Sage Timeslips can maintain several databases. For example, you may work for several companies, tracking their billing information, and each company needs its own database. Some firms may require that employees use their own databases to track slips and clients. Each database can support multiple simultaneous users. In firms where multiple users will access Sage Timeslips, the database must be located on a shared hard disksuch as a file serverand you must assign a separate station license to each workstation. Sage Timeslips lists the number of station licenses purchased and the number in use in the About Sage Timeslips dialog box (select Help; About Timeslips). To purchase additional licenses, call (800) 285-0999 or visit our web site at http://www.SageTimeslips.com.

Using the Create a New Database wizard

Creating a new database is easy with the Create a New Database wizard. This wizard walks you through creating a new database and prompts you for each piece of information needed.

The following steps detail the process of creating a Sage Timeslips database using the Create a New Database wizard. Sage Timeslips also offers commands to create a database based on your current database or to create a database based on a database backup. Look up creating databases in the online Help for more information about these commands.

Starting the Create a New Database wizard

1 2 If necessary, start Sage Timeslips (select Start; Programs; Sage Timeslips; Sage Timeslips, by default). Open the Create a New Database wizard: If you are opening Timeslips for the first time, the Welcome to Sage Timeslips dialog box opens at startup.

6-3

Creating a New Database

Timeslips Users Guide

You can create a new database or select an existing database to open.

Click Create a New Database to start the Create a New Database wizard. Otherwise, select File; New; Database to start this wizard.

Select a Database Style Sage Timeslips may be able to supply you with a database structure that suits your profession. This can help simply the setup process for your firms database. These profession-specific databases include terminology, task names, expense names, and custom fields familiar to your industry. If you purchased an electronic billing or audit house link, Sage Timeslips also provides databases that contain custom fields and activity names required to audit your billing data.

You can create a database pre-populated with data for a specific profession or create an empty database.

You must install the electronic billing or audit house add-on before you can create a database based on the specific electronic billing or audit firm. See Installing additional licenses or other add-ons on page 2-10 for more information on how to install Sage Timeslips Add-Ons. 6-4

Using the Create a New Database wizard

Identifying administrators

1 2

Select the appropriate profession, electronic billing, or audit house database from the list. To create an empty database, mark Empty Database. Click Next to continue creating the new database.

For more information on profession-specific or electronic billing databases, look up profession databases or electronic billing in the online Help.

Select Database Location Sage Timeslips stores each database as a group of files in its own folder. You should make a note of the file path to each database. You will need to know the location of the database in order to perform some database management tasks.

Select the location of the new database.

Select the folder where you want Sage Timeslips to create the database. If necessary, click Browse to select a different location. Click Next to continue creating the new database.

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Creating a New Database

Timeslips Users Guide

Enter Firm Name Your firm name will appear on reports and bills that you print through Sage Timeslips.

1 2

Enter the name of your firm. Click Next to continue creating the new database.

Select the Number of Decimal Places Sage Timeslips allows you to select how it tracks and displays numerical values, such as rates, fees, markups, and discounts. Select the number of decimal places that you want to track when storing numeric values.

Choose how Sage Timeslips tracks and displays numerical data.

1 2

Select the number of decimal places to track for these values. Click Next to continue creating the new database.

6-6

Using the Create a New Database wizard

Identifying administrators

Select First Month of Fiscal Year Sage Timeslips allows you to set your companys start month for the fiscal year. This is important when tracking historical data or printing year-to-date reports.

Select the starting month of your firms fiscal year.

1 2

Select the starting month for your fiscal year. Click Next to continue creating the new database.

Select Next Invoice Number This view determines the invoice number Sage Timeslips prints on the next invoice. This number increments as you generate and approve invoices.

Select the starting invoice number for invoices generated in Timeslips.

1 2

Use the default invoice number, 10000, or enter a custom invoice number. Click Next to continue creating the new database.

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Creating a New Database

Timeslips Users Guide

Select Bill Layout Bill layouts determine where items are positioned on bills and the level of detail that appears for each individual charge on the bill. You can double click the Preview box to preview the level of detail for each choice. Click Done when you are finished to return to the wizard. The layout you select provides Sage Timeslips with a starting point for the default bill layout. Before you generate bills, you can adjust the bill layout as needed.

Select the default bill layout that Sage Timeslips will assign to clients.

Optionally include a cover page on the bill that can summarize billing totals and include custom greetings.

1 2 3

Select the default bill layout. Choose the level of detail to show for each time and expense entry. Click Next to continue creating the new database.

For more information on controlling the level of detail on bills, see Determining the Appearance of Bills on page 12-16.

6-8

Using the Create a New Database wizard

Identifying administrators

Select Accounting Link If you want to transfer your transactions to a general ledger, Sage Timeslips lets you choose an accounting package link.

Select an accounting link so you can send transaction information to your general ledger.

1 2

Select an accounting link. Click Next to continue creating the new database.

Select Features If you will not use some features, Sage Timeslips lets you disable them.

Unmark features to hide them in Sage Timeslips.

1 2

Unmark any features that you want to hide. Click Next to continue creating the new database.

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Creating a New Database

Timeslips Users Guide

For more information on enabling or disabling features, see Disabling features on page 6-14.

Ready to Create Your Database Sage Timeslips is ready to create your database.
1 Click Back to modify any of the database settings or click Next to create your database. After creating the new Sage Timeslips database, the Database has been created successfully view opens. Mark Open General Settings to review additional setup options. Click Finish to close the Create a New Database wizard. Sage Timeslips opens the General Settings dialog box, where you can establish settings for the database.

2 3

6-10

Establishing General Settings

Entering firm information

Establishing General Settings

After Sage Timeslips creates the new database, the General Settings dialog box opens. You should enter several pieces of important information here before proceeding. If you are unsure of any settings or need to change them later, you can select Setup; General to open the General Settings dialog box.

Entering firm information

Enter the name, address, and phone numbers for your firm in the Firm Info page of the General Settings dialog box. This information can appear on bills, statements, and reports.
Use the tabs at the left of the dialog box to access other pages of the General Settings dialog box.

Setting terminology
The Terminology page of the General Settings dialog box controls the labels that Sage Timeslips uses to identify timekeepers, clients, activities (both time and expense), references, and projects. Although this guide uses these standard terms, you may want to label them more appropriately for your business. If you are using a professional database, the terminology is already customized. If you are using a client project naming method (as described later in this chapter), it may make sense to change the client label. When you change a terminology label, menus and dialog boxes will reflect the new label.

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Creating a New Database

Timeslips Users Guide

Use the fields on the Terminology page to customize terminology throughout Sage Timeslips.

For more information on changing database terminology, look up terminology in the online Help system.

Determining aging periods

The Financial page of the General Settings dialog box determines the aging periods used by your firm to track overdue balances. You can define up to six aging periods. By default, Sage Timeslips uses four aging periods of 30, 60, 90, and 120 days, but you can choose any length for the periods, up to 999 days. Use these periods to determine when to begin charging interest and when to print past-due messages on a bill.

6-12

Using the Getting Started wizard

Other settings

Using the Aging Periods fields, you can determine how to track overdue balances.

For more information on aging periods, look up financial settings in the online Help.

Other settings
You can set options on the remaining pages of the General Settings dialog box. You can select Setup; General at any time to change these settings later. When you are finished with the General Settings dialog box, click OK to accept your settings. For more information on general settings, look up general settings in the online Help system.

Using the Getting Started wizard

After creating a database and closing the General Settings dialog box, the Getting Started wizard opens. You can use this wizard to configure personal settings for the timekeeper using the program. Since your new database does not yet contain timekeeper names, this wizard will prompt you to enter your name, initials, and primary and secondary nicknames. Sage Timeslips uses this information to create the first timekeeper record.

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Creating a New Database

Timeslips Users Guide

Sage Timeslips can include the full name or initials on bills and reports.

If you are a new user, the remaining views of the wizard allow you to accept some default settings or establish your own values. The last view of the Getting Started wizard asks if you want to view training videos. If you select No, you can view these videos later by selecting Help; View Training Videos.

Important Setup Options

In addition to the settings you have already established, there are several setup areas that you should configure before using Sage Timeslips. You may not need to make changes in each of these areas, but you should review the following topics to be sure.

Disabling features
Sage Timeslips is a feature-rich product. It may include features that your firm will not use. You can simplify the Sage Timeslips interface and speed data entry by removing features that you do not need. Configuring Sage Timeslips manually You can manually hide any features included with Sage Timeslips by using the Features Enabled dialog box (select Setup; Features Enabled). The Features Enabled dialog box displays the list of features that you can enable or disable. Click on any feature to view a description of that feature below it.

6-14

Important Setup Options

Disabling features

You can review and disable features using the Features Enabled dialog box.

To hide a feature, select the appropriate item from the Feature group field, select the feature you want to hide, and then unmark the check box to the left. For more information on disabling features, look up disabling features in the online Help system. Configuring Sage Timeslips automatically You can also set up Sage Timeslips to review how you use features. Sage Timeslips can periodically notify you when you are not using features.

Timeslips can notify you of features you are not using.

You can then choose to review information about that feature, or disable the feature to hide it from the interface.

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Creating a New Database

Timeslips Users Guide

The Timeslips Message Center can also inform you of features.

You can set up this functionality within the Firm: Other page of the General Settings dialog box (select Setup; General). This allows you to determine how Sage Timeslips will notify you of feature usage.
You can determine how Timeslips will notify you of feature usage.

If you do not want Sage Timeslips to notify you of your feature usage, you can disable feature usage messages. On the Features Enabled dialog box (select Setup; Features Enabled), select Feature usage messages from the list of features and click on the Disable this feature link.

Controlling access to Sage Timeslips

You may consider certain information contained in your Sage Timeslips database as sensitive or confidential, such as client balances. Some menu commands allow users to edit or delete data. which can result in data loss if used improperly. To prevent unauthorized or inexperienced users from performing certain functions, Sage Timeslips offers password protection for each timekeeper as an optional feature. For more information on security settings, see Maintaining Database Security on page 16-2. Enabling audit trails In addition to the security settings, you can establish audit trails on names and transactions. An audit trail tracks a history of changes to these records in the Sage Timeslips database and logs who was responsible for those changes. You can control how much data the audit trail tracks and generate a report on the changes. For more information on audit trails, see Enabling audit trails on page 16-6.

6-16

Important Setup Options

Establishing preferences

Establishing preferences
The Personal Preferences dialog box (select Setup; Preferences) contains many options and settings to customize your use of Sage Timeslips.
Select the appropriate tab to access different groups of preferences.

Some examples: When starting the program, you can open the most frequently used data entry dialog box. If you have customized your own navigator, you can set it to open by default when you start Sage Timeslips. When creating slips, you can choose to copy the timekeeper, client, and other fields from the previous slip, or start the timer on a new time slip. You can customize the keystrokes used when entering slips. You can set a default path for bills and reports that you print to file. You can configure settings for checking for speller and grammar errors. You can turn off special offers and product messages. When exiting Sage Timeslips, you can choose to back up the database.

For more information on establishing preferences, look up preferences in the online Help system.

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Creating a New Database

Timeslips Users Guide

Before entering names

Before entering names, you should consider the following checklist:
Determine if nicknames should follow a standard format (see Formatting nicknames on page 7-3). Determine if clients should follow the client project method (see Using client projects on page 7-14). Define templates for clients, timekeepers, tasks, and expenses that can copy defaults to new names (see Setting name classifications on page 7-5 and Using new name defaults on page 7-3). Define custom fields if you need to track other data for clients, timekeepers, tasks, and expenses (see Creating and using custom fields on page 7-6).

Before entering slips and transactions

Before entering slips and transactions, you should consider the following checklist:
Set up slip approval to determine which slips are ready for billing (see Approving Slips to Appear on Bills on page 8-27). Optionally disable features or fields that you do not plan to use (see Disabling features on page 6-14). Define the rules that Sage Timeslips uses to select billing rates automatically on slips (see Assigning billing rates on page 7-5). Set up abbreviations for use when entering text throughout Sage Timeslips (see Using abbreviations in text descriptions on page 4-10). Customize personal preferences to suit the way you use Sage Timeslips (see Establishing preferences on page 6-17). Set up custom fields for fee allocation (see Allocating fees to timekeepers on page 7-11). Enter tax settings: jurisdictions, tax rate rules, and tax profiles (see Setting up taxes on page 7-22). Set up security to limit database access (see Maintaining Database Security on page 16-2). Enable audit trails to track changes (see Enabling audit trails on page 16-6).

6-18

Important Setup Options

Before printing bills and statements

Define bank accounts to group client funds accounts (see Using bank accounts on page 9-14). Define client funds accounts to track retainers for clients (see Entering Client Funds Transactions on page 9-14). Enter or modify the default transaction phrases. The Transactions page of the General Settings dialog box (select Setup; General) determines the default phrases used when creating accounts receivable transactions. Define time sheet slip templates so users can enter time using the time sheet (see Entering Time Using the Time Sheet on page 8-20). Set up database alerts to monitor accumulated charges for specific clients and timekeepers (see Using Alerts to View Data on page 10-13).

Before printing bills and statements

Before generating bills and statements, you should consider the following checklist:
Enter titles that you can assign to timekeepers. You can use titles to sort some reports and summarize information on bills. Enter messages that can appear on bills (see Including messages on bills on page 12-39). If you have TAL (Timeslips Accounting Link) or TAL Pro (Timeslips Accounting Link Pro), set up accounts and link to your general ledger (see Using Sage Timeslips Accounting Link on page 17-2 or the TAL Pro Quick Start Guide). Design or modify the bill layouts that control the appearance of bills (see Determining the Appearance of Bills on page 12-16). If you are preparing bills for electronic delivery, set up formatting requirements (see Using Audit Stage with electronic bills on page 12-46).

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Creating a New Database

Timeslips Users Guide

Considerations for Databases with Multiple Users

Sage Timeslips permits all licensed workstations to access the same database simultaneously. When multiple users are accessing the database, Sage Timeslips may restrict some actions. There are three basic types of restrictions: Multiple timekeepers cannot edit the same record simultaneously. If one timekeeper is editing a record, the record is locked to prevent editing by other timekeepers. Usually, the dialog box title will have dashes added to indicate that the record is locked. For example, Client Information becomes - Client Information -. If other stations attempt to edit the record, Sage Timeslips notifies them to wait. If a record has recently been edited on another station, Sage Timeslips may notify you that a change has taken place and will update the record you are editing. Certain commands can be performed by only one station at a time. These include File; Archive, Slips; Close Slips, Setup; Accounting Link, Setup; G/L Accounts, and printing bills to printer or to file. Certain commands will run only when all other stations are out of the database. These are called critical functions. They include the File menus Backup, Restore, Data Verification, and Purge commands and the Setup menus General, Custom Fields, and Security commands. No other station will be able to use the database until a critical function is complete. You can use the Station Administrator program to view other stations that are accessing the database. See Using Station Administrator on page 16-8 for more information. Sage Timeslips will also prevent critical functions if other programs on the same computer are accessing the Sage Timeslips database, such as Timeslips Import or third-party programs.

6-20

Entering Names
Overview Creating Names
Selecting a nickname convention Accessing names Setting name classifications Assigning billing rates Creating and using custom fields

7
7-2 7-2
7-2 7-4 7-5 7-5 7-6

Creating Timekeepers
Entering timekeeper information Using My Lists to filter names Allocating fees to timekeepers Maintaining timekeeper history

7-8
7-8 7-9 7-11 7-12

Creating Clients
Entering client information Using client projects Using bill arrangements Maintaining client history

7-12
7-12 7-14 7-15 7-17

Creating Client References

Entering reference information

7-19
7-19

Creating Time and Expense Activities

Entering task information Entering expense information Setting up taxes Using activity categories

7-20
7-20 7-21 7-22 7-24

Setting Up Budgets
Printing budget reports

7-24
7-26

Searching for Conflicts of Interest

7-26

Entering Names
Timeslips Users Guide

Entering Names
Overview
When tracking time and expenses in Sage Timeslips, you use names to specify who (the timekeeper) performed what activity (the task or expense) for whom (the client). These names are the building blocks that form the structure of your entire database. In this chapter, you will learn about creating clients, timekeepers, tasks, and expenses. These names that appear on slips, transactions, and other records in Sage Timeslips. The Names menu contains the commands that you use to maintain this information. Additional Names menu commands provide access to client references, client history, timekeeper history, and budgets. Because terminology is customizable, the name terminology that we use in this guide (timekeeper, client, task, expense, project, and reference) may differ from the terminology in your database. You can use the Terminology page of the General Settings dialog box (select Setup; General) to customize terminology to suit your business (see Setting terminology on page 6-11).

Creating Names
When you create names, you assign up to two nicknames to each of your timekeepers, clients, tasks, and expenses. You use nicknames to identify these names throughout Sage Timeslips when creating slips, entering transactions, and selecting records for bills and reports.

Selecting a nickname convention

The primary nickname (Nickname 1) is required for all name records. It can contain up to 30 characters and should store an easily identifiable name. In addition, each Nickname 1 must be unique. The secondary nickname (Nickname 2) is optional. It can contain up to 15 characters and is often used for codes, such as your offices internal work codes for tasks and expenses. Use names or codes to establish a convention that best suits your business. You can use any naming convention such as initials, abbreviations, code numbers, or names and codes. Sage Timeslips can accommodate any system you might devise, but you should consider the implications for bills, quick retrieval of slips, and alphanumeric sorting on reports.

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Creating Names
Selecting a nickname convention

Formatting nicknames
Look up formatting nicknames in the online Help for more info on these formatting options.

The Nicknames page of the General Settings dialog box (select Setup; General) contains several settings that can affect the format of nicknames. You can set the number of characters available for each nickname. If your firm uses a specific coding scheme, the settings that you enter in the Auto-format fields will enforce your method.

You can set up formatting rules to enforce a consistent naming scheme.

For example, you can allow only certain characterssuch as numbersat certain positions. You can also force a special charactersuch as a hyphento always appear at a certain position. If you leave the Auto-format nickname 2 field blank, it will automatically increment using the settings in the Next number for nickname 2 fields. Using new name defaults Use the settings on the New Names page of the General Settings dialog box to apply default values to name records when you create them. This can save time and help you avoid data entry mistakes. For each type of name (timekeeper, client, task, and expense), you can select a template name as a source for billing rates, custom fields, and other values.

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New names can automatically use default values from name templates.

If you are using the client project naming system (see Using client projects on page 7-14), you can choose to draw default values from the master client associated with the new project you are creating.

Accessing names
Each type of name record has a List dialog box that you use to select and open a name record. For example, the Client List dialog box contains client names. Each individual name record has an Information dialog box where you enter the nicknames and other details. If you highlight a name on the Client List and click Open , the Client Information dialog box opens for that client.

Sage Timeslips automatically groups names by their classification. Click the appropriate tab to view names of different classifications.

Both the Names menu and the main toolbar contain commands for opening the lists of clients, timekeepers, tasks, and expenses.

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Creating Names
Setting name classifications

Setting name classifications

Each name record has a classification that determines if it is available throughout Sage Timeslips. For example, you might have finished a project for a client and you dont want that clients name appearing throughout Sage Timeslips, but you want to keep this information in the database for historical purposes. Each name list dialog box groups names according to these classifications. You can assign classifications in the Information dialog box for a name. For example, to change the classification for a client, open the Client Information dialog box and change the Classification field in the top right corner.
To change classifications, you can optionally select a new value from the Classification field.

For more info on changing classifications, see Changing name classifications on page 15-8 or look up classifications in the online Help.

Assigning billing rates

Sage Timeslips provides each timekeeper, client, and task with a rate table in its Information dialog box. A rate table is a list of rates associated with a name.
When creating slips, you can optionally select which rate to use from the rate table.

On time slips, you determine the billing rate by selecting a rate source and a rate level. The rate source indicates which rate table the slip will use for its billing rate. The rate level indicates which rate from the rate table to use on the slip. For example, if you were going to use the second billing rate on a timekeeper rate table, you would set the rate source to Timekeeper and the rate level to 2. Typically, you will set up rate tables for only one type of name. For example, if your company bills by timekeeper rates, it probably does not also bill by task rates. In the Rates page of the Client Information dialog box, you can set up default values for rate source and rate level for each client, so that the correct rate is automatically assigned to each clients time slips. You can also define rate selection rules that apply a particular rate based on the combinations of timekeepers and tasks that you select on slips for the client. 7-5

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Creating and using custom fields

When creating names, you may want to enter data that Sage Timeslips does not normally track. For example, you may want to enter birthdays for each of your employees. You can create new custom fields for clients, timekeepers, and activities (tasks and expenses). You can also use these custom fields to group information. This is useful if you need to sort report records by one of your custom fields. Select Setup; Custom Fields to open the Custom Fields dialog box. Click New to open the New Custom Field dialog box, where you can create a new custom field.

The custom field Type determines the type of information this new field can store.

There are many types of custom fields available: Text: Use this type to enter a salutation, a contact name, a case number, or any other text information you may need to track. Date: Use this type to represent a date, such as an inception date, last contact date, or any other date that you want to track. List: Use this type to create your own list of items. For each client, you can select one item from the list. For example, you could create a Billing Cycle list that includes monthly, quarterly, and annual choices. Timekeeper: Use this type to assign an originating or responsible attorney to a client. This type is only available as a client custom field. Percent: Use this type to track a percentage, such as a bonus amount. Money: Use this type to assign a monetary amount, such as a budget amount. Number: Use this type to assign a numeric value. Hours: Use this type to assign a time value.

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Creating Names
Creating and using custom fields

Each type of custom field has specific attributes that you can define.

You can mark the This is a required field check box to require an entry in the field when you create a new name. Sage Timeslips indicates that this field is required with an asterisk (*) to the left of the custom field on the Custom page of the Information dialog box.

When you create a new name that has custom fields associated with it, you can assign values for custom fields in the Custom page of the Information dialog box. For example, if you create a custom field for clients, you can assign values to the custom field in the Custom page of the Client Information dialog box.

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Creating Timekeepers
Timekeepers are attorneys, secretaries, architects, engineers, delivery people any person whose time and expense are recorded. You will track the work performed by timekeepers on time slips and expense slips, and then print reports and bills based on those slips. You can define timekeepers in the Timekeeper Information dialog box and review billing history in the Timekeeper History dialog box. You can access both of these dialog boxes from the Names menu.

Entering timekeeper information

For more info on timekeeper fields, look up overview of timekeepers in the online Help.

To add a new timekeeper:

1 2 3 4 Select Names; Timekeeper Info to open the list of timekeepers. Click New to open the Timekeeper Information dialog box. Enter the nicknames for the client. If you have set up templates for name information (see Using new name defaults on page 7-3), you can select a template from the list. Click Apply Defaults.

The Timekeeper Information dialog box provides fields for identifying the timekeeper, setting up email addresses, establishing billing rates, and assigning custom fields values.
You enter information about each timekeeper in your firm in the Timekeeper Information dialog box.

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Creating Timekeepers
Using My Lists to filter names

You can set up Minimum hours for each timekeeper. This value indicates the minimum number of hours that should be entered for the timekeeper. Using this information, you can print the Missing Time by Period report (select Reports; Timekeeper) to identify timekeepers with missing time. You can also set up an Hourly cost for each timekeeper. This number indicates the hourly rate that you pay your employees. This information is used on the Overhead Cost Analysis report (select Reports; Timekeeper. Changing rates on slips As part of your year-end process, you may update the billing rate of timekeepers. Sage Timeslips offers the Update Rates wizard to simplify this process. For more information, see Updating Rates on page 15-2. Security and logins Sage Timeslips implements database security through timekeepers. If security is enabled, a timekeeper must log in to access the Sage Timeslips database, usually by entering a password. This allows the Sage Timeslips administrator to regulate timekeeper access to each program area. For more information, see Maintaining Database Security on page 16-2.

Using My Lists to filter names

For info on setting up and using My Lists, look up my lists in the online Help.

Sage Timeslips allows you to set up custom lists (My Lists) of clients, tasks, and expenses for each timekeeper. This allows timekeepers to view shorter lists of names throughout Sage Timeslips, instead of having to search through the complete lists of names. After setting up My Lists, timekeepers will be able to toggle between all names and the custom lists of names on any client, task, and expense name list. Setting up My Lists Use the My List Setup page of the Timekeeper Information dialog box to set up My Lists.

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When you set up My Lists for timekeepers, you will use familiar selection filters that can limit the names displayed.
Click the Client Selection button to set up a custom list of clients. Click the Activity Selection button to set up custom lists of tasks or expenses.

For example, Chris Harding will be working with only three of the clients in the database. To be able to limit client lists to only those three clients, David can set up My Lists for clients. To set up the custom name list:
1 2 3 On the My List Setup page of the Timekeeper Information dialog box, click the client Selection button to open the My Client List Selection dialog box. From the Filters list, add a Client Selection filter. Select the three clients to add to the My Lists for clients.

Mark the clients to include on the My Clients list.

Click OK to save the new filter and then click OK close the My Client List Selection dialog box. Click Save to save the settings for the timekeeper.

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Allocating fees to timekeepers

Using My Lists in Sage Timeslips Sage Timeslips uses My Lists for the currently logged-in timekeeper. Timekeepers can right click on any client list, task list, or expense list to toggle between all names and the names specified on My Lists. For example, when viewing a client list such as the Client field in the Slip Entry dialog box, timekeepers can toggle between viewing all clients in the database and viewing only those clients on the My Clients list.

Select My Clients from the shortcut menu to view only those clients on the My Clients list.

Sage Timeslips will now display only the three clients that are on the My Clients list.

When timekeepers add names to the database, name lists associated with the new name automatically use the All setting. For example, when you add a new client, the Client List dialog box (select Names; Client Info) will automatically toggle back to use All Clients. This allows all timekeepers to see the new name.

Allocating fees to timekeepers

Fee allocation allows you to compensate employees according to income received by your firm. There are two ways to determine fee allocation:
For info on setting up fee allocation, look up fee allocation in the online Help.

By contribution: You can allocate fees according to the timekeeper who performed the tasks recorded on the time slips for a client. By percentage: For each client, you can assign an allocation percentage to as many as three timekeepers. It does not matter if the timekeeper did any of the work for the client.

While the fee allocation features were designed with the legal profession in mind, any firm that pays commissions to its employees can use them.

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Maintaining timekeeper history

Sage Timeslips records monthly and inception-to-date billing history totals for each timekeeper. Billing history consists of many values that Sage Timeslips collects as you approve bills. For example, Sage Timeslips maintains historical totals for hours, fees, and costs, with separate values to distinguish billable from unbillable amounts. Select Names; Timekeeper History to open the Timekeeper History dialog box. See also Maintaining client history on page 7-17.

Creating Clients
The term client refers to the person, organization, or project that you are billing for work performed by your company. You will use the Client Information dialog box to track the nicknames, contact information, and extensive billing information for each client. This dialog box contains many more pages than the Information dialog boxes for timekeepers or activities. This is due to the amount of information tracked for each client and level of customization available to clients when setting up billing options. Additional dialog boxes maintain client references and client history totals.

Entering client information

For more info on client fields, look up overview of clients in the online Help.

To add a new client:

1 2 3 4 Select Names; Client Info to open the list of clients. Click New to open the Client Information dialog box and enter the nicknames for the client. If you have set up templates for name information (see Using new name defaults on page 7-3), you can select a template from the list. Click Apply Defaults.

Sage Timeslips divides the Client Information dialog box into several pages, each containing related information: General: This page provides fields for the billing address and contact information. It also includes the client status fields (see Setting client status fields on page 7-14).

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Creating Clients
Entering client information

Custom: Custom fields allow you to track data that Sage Timeslips does not typically track. They can classify clients into unique categories for selection and sorting on bills and reports (see Creating and using custom fields on page 7-6).

Click a tab at the top of the dialog box to switch to a different page of the Client Information dialog box.

Rates: Use this page to define up to 20 billing rates, You can optionally set up rate selection rules to automatically select the rate on a slip based on the client, timekeeper, and task on the slip. Arrangement 1: This page defines the billing arrangements that you use to charge your clients for time and expenses. These arrangements include write-ups, write-downs, progress and interim billing, and flat fees. The client hold options can delay some or all charges. For more information, see Using bill arrangements on page 7-15. Arrangement 2: This page establishes additional charges, including taxes, interest, and finance charges. It includes the rounding method for time charges and markup percentages for activities. Accounts Receivable: This page shows the balance due for each client, invoice numbering settings, and rules to determine how Sage Timeslips applies payments to invoices (see Entering Accounts Receivable Transactions on page 9-3). Client Funds: Use this page to his page to maintain client funds accounts, which track trust and escrow accounts. You can also set up options to automatically pay new charges from client funds and request replenishment of the funds account. See Using funds accounts on page 9-15.

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Layout: Use this page to determine which layouts to use when generating bills and statements for this client (see Assigning bill layouts to clients on page 12-38). You can also use this page to determine which messages to display on bills (see Including messages on bills on page 12-39). Notes: This text field holds miscellaneous client information, including confidential notes that you do not want printed on a bill.

Setting client status fields The General page of the Client Information dialog box contains four status check boxes. To set a client status field, simply mark the associated check box: Master Client: This status is used with the client project system (see Using client projects on page 7-14) to designate a central client for whom separate projects are defined. The master client supplies the address shown on multi-project bills and statements and optionally provides default fields for new projects. Sage Timeslips displays an ( ) to the left of the master client name on the Client List dialog box. Slips default to No Charge: Use this status to track clients for whom the work you do is most often billed at no charge. If you select this option, Sage Timeslips sets the Billing status field to No Charge on time and expense slips for the client. You can override this setting if needed. Overhead only: Use this status to track clients for whom the work you do is never billed. While an Overhead client will not appear on a bill, you can still track slips for internal use. This allows you to maintain accurate productivity records for your firm and a complete audit trail of work done. Restrict slip entry: Selecting this status will cause a warning message to appear when you create a slip for the client. A practical use for this status is for clients whose unpaid balances may lead your firm to prohibit doing additional work for the client.

Using client projects

For more info on projects, look up client projects in the online Help.

There are two ways to set up projects for clients: using the client project naming method that is described here and using client references (Creating Client References on page 7-19). The client project naming method allows you to set up clients with multiple projects. Each project can maintain its own client settings, such as bill arrangements, client budgets, accounts receivable balances, and client funds balances. To use this method, you must enter Nickname 1 in a specific format for clients with projects. This format uses a client name, the project separator character (such as a period or a dash), and a project identifier.

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Using bill arrangements

You must set up the project separator before naming your clients. This setting is located in the Nicknames page of the General Settings dialog box (select Setup; General). The suggested project separator is a period, but you can change it to any other character unlikely to appear in a client name.
Select a project separator that will identify projects.

For an example of nicknames, you can name the projects for client Atlantic as Atlantic.Project01, Atlantic.Project02, and so on.

You can consolidate these related projects onto one bill or bill them separately. You can print reports to subtotal each project and provide a total for all projects for the client. Client references do not have these same abilities and are used only to select and group slips on bills and reports. Establishing master clients You designate one project as the master client by marking the Master Client check box in the General page of the Client Information dialog box. When adding new projects for the client, Sage Timeslips can fill in the billing address and other options automatically with values from the master client. Use the Client Information group box on the New Names page of the General Settings dialog box (select Setup; General) to determine what information Sage Timeslips copies to a new project.

Using bill arrangements

There are several basic types of bill arrangements: slips, adjustments, flat fees, and progress and interim billing. Adjustments are write-ups or write-downs to charges from time and expense slips. They can be a percentage of the slip charges or a flat amount. Flat fees are fixed amounts that you bill either in place of or in addition to slip charges. You can apply flat fees to one bill or a series of bills. Progress and interim arrangements allow you to choose bill amounts at the time of billing. You can define a bill arrangement for fees (time charges) and another one for costs (expense charges), or define an arrangement that covers both types of charges (full bill). Certain types of bill arrangements (for example, the percent complete flat fee) apply only to time charges.

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You define bill arrangements in the Arrangement 1 page of the Client Information dialog box. The following bill arrangements are available for each client:
For more info on bill arrangements, look up billing arrangements in the online Help.

Slips: This bill arrangement uses the values on slips. These values can include adjustments and markups that you enter on slips. They also include markups defined for tasks or expenses in the Billing page of the Task Information or Expense Information dialog box or client-based markups defined in the Arrangement 2 page of the Client Information dialog box. Adjust total charges: This type of adjustment affects all the charges to which it is applied (fees, costs, or full bill). Adjust by Timekeeper: This type of adjustment (commonly used in a law firm) affects slips assigned to a particular timekeeper. Adjust by Task/Expense: This type of adjustment (commonly used in an accounting firm) affects slips assigned to a particular task or expense. Absolute flat fee: The flat fee amount is charged without regard to slip values. Minimum flat fee: The flat fee amount is charged if it exceeds the slip charges. If slip charges exceed the flat fee amount, Sage Timeslips bills the slip charges instead. Maximum flat fee: The flat fee amount is the most that can be billed. Sage Timeslips bills slip charges if they do not exceed the maximum. When charges reach the flat fee amount, Sage Timeslips bills the flat fee instead of the slip charges. Flat fee plus charges: The flat fee amount is added to slip charges. This flat fee type is useful for billing amounts that remain constant every billing cycle. On the bill, the flat fee amount is not itemized separately from the slip charges. To annotate a recurring fee, use a recurring slip instead. Contingency flat fee: Slips are shown on all bills, but nothing is charged to the client until the final bill. At this point, you can calculate the amount to bill your client, based on the accumulated slips, a flat fee amount of your choice, or a percentage of either amount. Minimum hours flat fee: This bill arrangement calculates the value of fees based on the number of hours worked. Instead of using slip rates, it applies an absolute flat fee for a specified number of hours worked. It assigns an hourly rate to slips beyond the specified threshold. If the hours threshold is not reached, an option determines whether you will charge the entire flat fee or a prorated amount. This type of flat fee covers time charges only.

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Maintaining client history

Percent Complete flat fee: This type of flat fee (commonly used by architects) is divided into phases, each making up a percentage of the total fee. You bill the client based on the percentage of each phase that is complete at the time of the bill. This type of flat fee covers time charges only. The bill can optionally print a table of phases. Progress billing: total: This bill arrangement keeps time slips in WIP over a series of bills until the final bill. You determine the charges on each bill. Slips covered by the arrangement will not print on the bill until the final bill. On the final bill, you can optionally correct the difference between the value of the slips and billed charges. When you approve the final bill, Sage Timeslips removes the slips from WIP and updates billed slip values and histories. Progress billing: by Activity: This bill arrangement is similar to the Progress billing: total arrangement, but it allows you to view available WIP and determine new time charges by task or by activity category (see Using activity categories on page 7-24 for more information). Interim billing: total: This bill arrangement is similar to progress billing in that it tracks a cumulative total of slips and you determine the charges on each bill. However, with interim billing, slips are printed and removed from WIP on each bill. When you approve the final bill, Sage Timeslips updates billed slip values and timekeeper histories. Interim billing: by Activity: This bill arrangement is similar to the Interim billing: total arrangement, but it allows you to view available WIP and determine new time charges by task or by activity category (see Using activity categories on page 7-24 for more information).

Maintaining client history

When you approve a bill, Sage Timeslips updates history totals for each client. Select Names; Client History to open the Client History dialog box.
For more information on client history, look up client billing history in the online Help.

The pages of this dialog box organize history totals into different time periods. Review the To Date page for the total billing history that also shows totals for month to date (MTD), year to date (YTD), inception to date (ITD), previous month, and previous year. Click View to set options that determine the types of data and amount of detail to display. In addition to invoice and payment information, client history includes many other details, such as billable and unbillable totals for hours, fees, and costs. Amounts are also shown for markups, flat fees, adjustments, interest, finance charges, taxes, and client funds accounts.

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Select a tab to view history totals by month, quarter, year, or since client inception.

This information is available on the Client History by Period report (select Reports; Client). Setting the start of your fiscal year You can set the starting month of your fiscal year in the Financial page of the General Settings dialog box (select Setup; General). This setting will affect the column labels in the Client History and Timekeeper History dialog boxes and many history-based reports. Editing history values You can manually edit some values in the History dialog box. Generally, you would only do this when transferring data from other time and billing systems. The editable cells have a white background; they are available only in the Months page of the History dialog box. After entering initial totals, we recommend that you let Sage Timeslips update billing history totals for you as you approve bills. Consolidating history values by period At the start of a new fiscal period, you can use the Purge dialog box to consolidate monthly totals from earlier periods into the Prior column (see Purging Data and Closing Periods on page 15-9). This process removes the columns that you are consolidating so that you can view only recent periods.

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Entering reference information

Creating Client References

You can use references an alternative to client projects (see Using client projects on page 7-14) for creating subgroups of charges for a client. Depending on your business, you might use another term, such as cases, jobs, matters, or phases. The Client References dialog box allows you to maintain references for open clients or template clients. To open the Client References dialog box, select Names; Client References.

Entering reference information

For more info on reference fields, look up references in the online Help.

Like clients, each reference can have two nicknames. This provides two ways to select and sort slips by reference on bills and reports. To add a new reference:
1 Select Names; Client References to open the Client Reference List dialog box. Select the appropriate client from the Client list and click New the Reference Entry dialog box. Enter the reference nicknames and click OK. to open

2 3

The Client Reference Setup dialog box (click Client Setup from the Client Reference List dialog box) provides fields for defining auto-format rules for reference nicknames (see Formatting nicknames on page 7-3), requiring references for clients, and defining a default reference for a client.

Client can also use references that you have set up for template clients.

You can specify a default reference for this client, and require references on slips for this client.

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Creating global references In addition to defining specific references for each client, you can also define references for template clients. Using references from a template client is useful if your references tend to be global (the same for all clients). If you assign a template client in the Client Reference Setup dialog box, the Show References for the Template Client button at the bottom of the dialog box allows you to easily switch between reference lists for the client and its assigned template client. Using references After you have defined references, you can assign them to slips. When generating bills and reports, you can then use references to select records for the report or to sort information on the report. Sage Timeslips cannot track accounts receivable balances for references and cannot make payments to a particular reference. If your references require separate bills and billing records, you should use the client project method instead (see Using client projects on page 7-14).

Creating Time and Expense Activities

The term activity refers to any job or part of a job that you normally undertake for a client. Sage Timeslips differentiates time activities from expense activities. Time activities are services rendered at either an hourly or flat rate. Examples include conferences, research, and court appearances. Expense activities are costs incurred or an item purchased, and are measured by quantity and price. They may represent an inventory of items purchased and sold to clients, or charges incurred on behalf of clients, such as photocopies or long-distance telephone charges.

Along with nicknames, each activity can have a full name of up to 60 characters. Sage Timeslips can use this name instead of nicknames on bills and reports.

Entering task information

For more information on tasks fields, look up tasks in the online Help.

To add a new task:

1 2 3 Select Names; Task Info to open the list of tasks. Click New to open the Task Information dialog box and enter the nicknames for the task. If you have set up templates for name information (see Using new name defaults on page 7-3), you can select a template from the list.

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Entering expense information

Click Apply Defaults.

In addition to the rate table, you can indicate whether the task is billed at an hourly or flat rate. There are also several fields whose values you can use as defaults when making a new time slip.

Use slip-making defaults to save time when creating slips. Timeslips enters the default values automatically when you use this task.

Additional tabbed pages of the dialog box provide fields for selecting applicable tax rate rules, entering markup information, and assigning values to any custom fields you have defined for activities.

Entering expense information

For more information on expense fields, look up expenses in the online Help.

To add a new expense:

1 2 3 Select Names; Expense Info to open the list of expenses. Click New to open the Expense Information dialog box and enter the nicknames for the expense. If you have set up templates for name information (see Using new name defaults on page 7-3), you can select a template from the list.

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Click Apply Defaults.

Use slip-making defaults to save time when creating slips. Timeslips enters the default values automatically when you use this expense.

Most of the fields in the Task Information dialog box are also available here: defaults for creating slips, tax rate rules, markup information, and custom fields for expenses.

Setting up taxes
For more information on taxes, look up taxes in the online Help.

In Sage Timeslips, a tax profile is a combination of tax rate rules that determines how Sage Timeslips calculates taxes. You can define tax profiles to accommodate any situation or locality with which you do business. A tax rate rule specifies a tax rate percentage, a jurisdiction (such as federal, state, city, or county), and the type of charges to which the tax appliestime, expense, or both. After defining the appropriate jurisdictions, you can create a tax rate rule to apply a tax rate to a jurisdiction. When you generate a bill for a client, Sage Timeslips applies taxes based on every tax rate rule in a tax profile.

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Setting up taxes

Select Setup; Taxes to open the Taxes dialog box. This dialog box allows you to set up tax profiles, tax rate rules, and jurisdictions.
Using the tabs at the top of the dialog box, you can switch to the appropriate page of the Taxes dialog box, where you can maintain tax profiles, tax rate rules, and tax jurisdictions.

There are several steps necessary to charge tax on a clients bill:

1 Set up tax jurisdictions, tax rate rules, and tax profiles with the appropriate information. Use the Taxes dialog box (select Setup; Taxes) to enter this information. Tax rates can change. Please verify the tax rates that you are using. 2 3 For each task that is taxable, open the Billing page of the Task Information dialog box and mark the check box for any applicable tax rate rules. For each expense that is taxable, open the Billing page of the Expense Information dialog box and mark the check box for any applicable tax rate rules. In the Arrangement 2 page of the Client Information dialog box, select a tax profile that includes the tax rate rules you have defined.

Default tax settings When you create a new database, Sage Timeslips installs default sales tax settings (tax profiles, tax rate rules, and tax jurisdictions) for U.S. states and territories. This information is up-to-date as of the time of publication. However, you should be aware of any changes to tax laws and modify these tax settings accordingly.

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Using activity categories

For more info on categories, look up categories of tasks and expenses in the online Help.

Sage Timeslips provides categories as a way of grouping related tasks or expenses. For example, you may want to group together a variety of office chargessuch as photocopies, staples, and paperas Office supplies on a bill. Select Setup; Categories to open the Categories dialog box, where you can define category names. Use the Category field within the General page of the Task Information dialog box to assign categories to tasks. Use the Category field within the General page of the Expense Information dialog box to assign categories to expenses.

You can use categories in several ways: You can define replacement slips by category rather than by activity. This allows a replacement slip to substitute for several different activities instead of just one. You can determine interim and progress billing calculations by category (see Using bill arrangements on page 7-15). On the bill layout, you can summarize slips by activity by setting the Slip style for the Time Charges from Slips section to Summarize by Task or setting the Slip style for the Expense Charges from Slips section to Summarize by Expense. When you choose these settings, activities associated with categories are grouped together and printed by category on the bill. Many reports can filter and sort information by categories.

The Category Listing prints the names of all categories defined in your database. By default, this report is located in the System page of the Report List dialog box.

Setting Up Budgets
When working on some projects, you may want to compare your firm's current hours, fees, and costs against projected forecasts. The budgeting feature can help you better understand how your firm is doing at any time. Sage Timeslips allows you to set up budgets for individual names (such as specific clients or specific timekeepers) or for your entire firm. You can optionally break down the information for individual timekeepers, tasks, and expenses to help you track this information.

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Setting Up Budgets
Using activity categories

Setting up budget details Select Names; Budgets to open the Budget Setup dialog box, which lists all current budgets. A budget compares actual slip values to estimates for hours, fees, and costs. Budget reports will compare bugets amounts with actual values.
Use the tabs at the top of the dialog box to switch to the different types of budgets.

You can break budgets down to a second level. For example, set Break down by to Timekeeper to track budgets for individual timekeepers for a client.

To enter a budget, click New to open the Budget Entry dialog box. You can define budgets in several ways. A client budget simply budgets hours, fees, and costs for the client. Create timekeeper, task, and expense budgets to budget the hours, fees, and costs for the client broken down by a selected timekeeper, task, or expense. Use reference budgets to create separate budgets for specific client references. Each budget can use a date range to budget for a specific period of time.

Timeslips can track budget information for hours, fees, and costs.

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Timeslips Users Guide

Calculating budgets Clicking the Calculate button opens the Budget Calculation dialog box, displaying the current status of budgeted vs. actual values along with several analysis columns: difference, percent difference, billed, and WIP. It is important to calculate budgets before printing budget reports.

Printing budget reports

Although calculating budgets allows you to compare budgets to actual values onscreen, budget reports can analyze your budget data and provide a hard copy. The Report List dialog box contains many types of budget reports. For example, the Timekeeper page (select Reports; Timekeeper) contains several reports that focus on timekeeper budgets, and the Client page (select Reports; Client) contains several reports that focus on client budgets

Searching for Conflicts of Interest

For more info, look up conflict checking in the online Help.

When entering new clients or timekeepers, you can automatically search throughout your database for potential conflicts of interest. Select Setup; General to open the General Settings dialog box and switch to the Conflict Checking page. Use the options here to determine if Sage Timeslips will search for conflicts automatically and in which areas Sage Timeslips will search. When viewing details of any client (within the Client Information dialog box) or any timekeeper (within the Timekeeper Information dialog box), you can manually start a conflict check. Click Check for Conflicts from the toolbar to check for conflicts at any time.

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Overview
Choosing the slip-entry method

8
8-2
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Entering Time and Expense Slips

Creating time slips Creating expense slips Finding and viewing slips Using Mini Slip View

8-4
8-5 8-8 8-14 8-15

Entering Time Using TSTimer

Launching TSTimer Viewing and maintaining timers Converting timers into time slips

8-15
8-15 8-16 8-18

Entering Time Using the Time Sheet

Creating and using time sheet slip templates Entering time in time cells Saving time sheet entries

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8-21 8-23 8-23

Receiving Time and Expense Slips by Email

8-24

Setting up Sage Timeslips to receive slips by email8-24 Receiving slips from email messages 8-25 Correcting entries with errors 8-26

Approving Slips to Appear on Bills

Setting up slip approval Reviewing slips Correcting rejected slips

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Timeslips Users Guide

Tracking Time and Expenses

Overview
In your daily use of Sage Timeslips, you track time spent on your work and you track costs that you incur on behalf of your clients, so you can bill these charges to your clients. This chapter introduces time and expense slips and describes how to enter them. Sage Timeslips uses slips to store time and expense data. Time slips and expense slips detail the client who will be billed for charges, the timekeeper who did the work, and the activity that classifies the work done. There are two types of slips that you can enter: Time slips track hourly work measured by the time spent. These slips usually are associated with services. For example, a time slip might track research done of behalf of a client. Expense slips track reimbursable costs measured by quantity and price. These slips are usually associated with sales and disbursements. For example, an expense slip might track supplies purchased for a client.

Bills and many reports draw their information from your slips.

Choosing the slip-entry method

Because you may need to enter time and expenses in varying levels of detail, Sage Timeslips offers multiple ways to enter time. This allows you to choose the method that best meets your firms needs. Regardless of how you choose to create slips, they will be available within Sage Timeslips so you can view them in various areas (such as the Time and Expense Slip List dialog box), include them on reports, and bill them to your clients. The following sections describe these slip-entry methods: Entering detailed time records on the Slip Entry dialog box Some professionals require a greater level of detail on slips. For example, some types of attorneys need to enter detailed descriptions for each individual time entry. Using the Slip Entry dialog box, these professionals can enter as much detail as needed to describe their work properly. See Entering Time and Expense Slips on page 8-4 for more information about entering slips using the Slip Entry dialog box.

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Overview
Choosing the slip-entry method

Entering time records in TSTimer Some professionals require the flexibility to enter and save partial time records that they can complete later. For example, while these professionals are tracking time for services, they might not yet know which client or task they will charge for the work. TSTimer allows you to save time records with as much or as little information as you want to enter. When you want to include these charges on reports or bills, you can convert them to time slips and enter additional information as needed. TSTimer also allows professionals to enter time records without having to open the full Sage Timeslips application. See Entering Time Using TSTimer on page 8-15 for more information about entering slips using TSTimer. Entering time totals on a time sheet Some professionals will prefer to enter only totals of their time. For example, consultants and other service professionals often do not need to record time in the level of detail that attorneys or accountants require. These professionals will often have a greater number of smaller tasks involved in their projects. They can quickly enter their time spent at the end of the day, using the Time Sheet Slip Entry dialog box as a weekly time sheet. This method is also convenient for quickly reviewing many entries at once. See Entering Time Using the Time Sheet on page 8-20 for more information about entering slips using the Time Sheet Slip Entry dialog box. Entering time and expense slips by email Timekeepers who are out of the office may not have access to Sage Timeslips or Sage Timeslips eCenter. These professionals can still enter time and expense slips if they can access email. Using this method, timekeepers send specially-formatted messages to an email account that Sage Timeslips can access. Sage Timeslips can scan for these messages and translate them into slips. See Receiving Time and Expense Slips by Email on page 8-24 for more information about entering slips by email.

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Timeslips Users Guide

Entering Time and Expense Slips

On a typical work day, you will use Sage Timeslips to enter time and expense slips. These slips detail who (the timekeeper) did what (the task or expense) for whom (the client). Sage Timeslips offers the Time and Expense Slip List dialog box and Slip Entry dialog boxes to simplify entering slips. You can use Time and Expense Slip List dialog box to display a list of slips. To open the Time and Expense Slip List dialog box, click Slip List from the main toolbar or select Slips; Time and Expense Slips.
The Time and Expense Slip List dialog box can display all slips in Sage Timeslips or a group of slips. Right click on the column headings to change the fields appearing on the slip list.

You can use Slip Entry dialog box (see Creating time slips on page 8-5) to review, create, and edit slips. To open the Slip Entry dialog box, click Open from the Time and Expense Slip List dialog box, or press Shift and click Slip List from the main toolbar. There are several program preferences that can help you access and enter slips. These are located on the Personal Preferences dialog box (select Setup; Preferences). Look up personal preferences in the online Help system for more info.

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Entering Time and Expense Slips

Creating time slips

Creating time slips

When creating expense slips, Sage Timeslips offers many shortcuts that can simplify slip entry. See Using slip entry commands on page 8-10. To edit an existing time slip, find the slip that you want to edit, open the slip in the Slip Entry dialog box, edit the fields as necessary, and save the changes.

How to create a time slip

1 Click Slip List slips. Click New or select Slips; Time and Expense Slips to open the list of

2
The slip status indicates if the slip is work is process, is in Proof Stage or has been billed. Nicknames identify who is doing what type of work for which client.

to open the Slip Entry dialog box.

Enter free-form text to describe the work performed. You can enter when the task happened (the start date) and how long the task took (the time spent).

The billing rate x the time spent determines the value of the slip. Click the On/Off switch to start or stop the stopwatch timer or you can enter the time spent manually.

3 4

Set Type of the slip to Time. Enter the details of the time slip.

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Timeslips Users Guide

For more info on any slip field, press F1.

The name fields indicate which timekeeper did what type of work for which client. Sage Timeslips may fill in some slip fields automatically, depending on your default settings (see Using slip entry commands on page 8-10).
Select the appropriate timekeeper, task, and client for this slip. Optionally, select the appropriate reference. If you defined references for

the client, you can select one from the Reference field.
Optionally, enter extra text. Use the Extra field to enter up to 16 characters of free-form text. You can use this text as a selection filter when generating bills and reports. Optionally, describe the work done using the Description field.

This text details the work performed for the client and can appear on bills and reports. Sage Timeslips offers many tools to help entering descriptions, such as abbreviations, spell-checking, formatting fonts, and resizing fonts. Look up entering descriptions in the online Help for more information.

Enter the date range covered by the slip

By default, Sage Timeslips enters todays date in the slips Start date and End date fields. You can enter a new date in the Start date field, press T for todays date, or click the Date button to select a date. See Entering dates on page 4-11 for information. Sage Timeslips uses the Time estimated field on some reports to calculate the variance between estimated and actual time.

Optionally, enter the slips estimated time.

Enter the duration of the work You can enter the duration in the Time spent field, click the Time button to calculate time based on start and stop times, or click the Timer switch to time your work. See Entering time values on page 4-12 and Timing slips on page 8-7 for information on time entry commands. Select the slips billing status. Typically, most slips will be Billable, but you

can also set this status so you do not charge the client for the work. If the Billing status and rate settings fields are not available, click Billing status and Rate Settings on the time slip.

Optionally, mark the Recurring check box.

Use this check box only for slips If you do

you want to bill each billing period.

Optionally, you can choose to hold the slip for a future billing.

not want to bill the slip at this time, mark the Hold check box.
Optionally, choose a billing rate. Sage Timeslips automatically selects a rate using the rate rules youve set up for each client. You can override these settings by selecting the slips Rate Source and Level on the slip. Alternatively, you can enter a rate in the Rate Value field.

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Timing slips

Optionally, use the Markup, Adjustment, and Do Not Bill time fields to modify the slips value. These fields allow you to modify the billable value of

the slip on a slip-by-slip level.

If the Markup, Adjustment, and Do Not Bill time fields are not available, click Markup, Adjustment, and Do Not Bill time on the time slip.

Optionally, use the Attachment fields to attach a file to a slip. 5 Click Save to save the slip

These fields allow you to include an associated file (like a receipt scan) with the slip.

Timing slips
When creating time slips, you can enter time spent values manually or you can use the stopwatch timer to track time as you work. From the Slip Entry dialog box, click Timer from the toolbar to start or stop a time slip. From the Slip Entry dialog box, click on the stopwatch to start or stop a time slip.

In the Slip Entry dialog box, the Time spent field is highlighted in red on active slips. On these slips, you can see the Time spent field accumulating time.

Click the On/Off switch to start or stop accumulating time.

For more info on timers, see Entering Note Time Using TSTimer on page 8-15.

The Slips page of the Personal Preferences dialog box contains the Permit multiple timers simultaneously running on this station option. You can use this setting to determine if multiple timers can be active for the same login simultaneously. When you start Sage Timeslips, you log in as a timekeeper. This timekeeper name appears in the lower right corner of the Sage Timeslips window. Sage Timeslips associates an active time slip with the logged-in timekeeper who started it, not the name is on the slip. No other timekeeper can stop the timer (except by selecting Slips; Stop All Timers). Selecting Slips; Stop All Timers will stop all active timers and all active time slips in the current database. Selecting Slips; Stop My Timers will stop all active timers and all active time slips for that the current login started in the current database. This command stops the timers and time slips whether or not you are the timekeeper on the slip.

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Timeslips Users Guide

Creating expense slips

When entering expense slips, Sage Timeslips offers many shortcuts that can simplify slip entry. See Using slip entry commands on page 8-10. To edit an existing expense slip, find the slip that you want to edit, open the slip in the Slip Entry dialog box, edit the fields as necessary, and save the changes.

How to create an expense slip The following steps explain how to create a new expense slip. To edit an existing slip, find the slip you want to edit and make changes as necessary.
1 Click Slip List slips. Click New or select Slips; Time and Expense Slips to open the list of

to open the Slip Entry dialog box.

Nicknames identify who incurred what type of expense for which client.

Enter free-form text to describe the expense incurred. You can enter when the expense was incurred (the start date), the amount purchased (the quantity), and the unit cost (the price).

Attach a file, such as a receipt, to the slip.

3 4

Set Type to Expense. Enter the details of the time slip.

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Entering Time and Expense Slips

Creating expense slips

Select the appropriate timekeeper, expense, and client for this slip.
For more info on any slip field, press F1.

The name fields indicate which timekeeper incurred what type of expense for which client. Sage Timeslips may fill in some slip fields automatically, depending on your default settings (see Using slip entry commands on page 8-10).

Optionally, select the appropriate reference. If you defined references for

the client, you can select one from the Reference field.
Optionally, enter extra text. Use the Extra field to enter up to 16 characters of free-form text. You can use this text to select slips on bills and reports. Optionally, describe the items purchased

Use the Description field to describe the expense further. This text can appear on bills and reports. Sage Timeslips offers many tools to help entering descriptions, such as abbreviations, spell-checking, formatting fonts, and resizing fonts. Look up entering descriptions in the online Help for more information.

Enter the date range covered by the slip

By default, Sage Timeslips enters todays date in the slips Start date and End date fields. You can enter a new date in the Start date field, press T for todays date, or click the Date button to select the date. See Entering dates on page 4-11 for information. Use the Quantity field to enter the number of items. For example, this could be the number of copies made or miles driven.

Enter the expense quantity Enter the expense price

Use the Price field to enter the unit price of each item. For example, if the slip is for mileage, you might charge 29 cents a mile. In that case, enter .29 as the Price and the number of miles as the Quantity. can also set this status so you do not charge the client for the work.

Select the slips billing status. Typically, most slips will be Billable, but you

If the Billing status and rate settings fields are not available, click Billing status and Rate Settings on the time slip.

Optionally, mark the Recurring check box.

Use this check box only for slips

you want to bill each billing period.

Optionally, you can choose to hold the slip for a future billing. If you do

not want to bill the slip at this time, mark the Hold check box.
Optionally, use the Markup and Adjustment fields to modify the slips value. These fields allow you to modify the value on a slip-by-slip level. If the Markup and Adjustment fields are not available, click Markup and Adjustment on the expense slip.

Click Save

to save the slip.

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Timeslips Users Guide

Using slip entry commands

There are several methods that you can use to speed data entry when creating slips in the Slip Entry dialog box: Duplicating slips or fields The Duplicate button slip. creates a new slip, copying all fields from the current

If you right-click on the toolbar of a new slip, you can use the Editing menu to copy fields to the new slip. Clone Field copies the value of the current field from the previous slip. Clone Rest copies all values from the previous slip, starting with the current field and continuing to the bottom of the slip. Customizing movement in the Slip Entry dialog box The Slip: Movement Rules page of the Personal Preferences dialog box (select Setup; Preferences) allows you to set the tab order and define custom keystroke combinations to move the focus to specific fields on the Slip Entry dialog box.

You can set up hot keys to jump to a specific slip field.

You can determine which fields Sage Timeslips will jump to when pressing F7.

When creating slips, it is not necessary to edit each field manually. Other dialog boxes in Sage Timeslips can supply default values for new slips. The Slips page of the Personal Preferences dialog box contains settings that determine which fields Sage Timeslips copies from the previous slip to a new slip.
Sage Timeslips can automatically copy fields from the current slip to a new slip.

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Understanding values on slips

Using default values When you create new task names and expense names, you can assign slipmaking defaults to these names. This helps you when you create slips, because Sage Timeslips automatically applies slip-making defaults from the current task or expense to the slip. See Creating Time and Expense Activities on page 7-20 for more information. When you create clients, you can set up rate selection rules. These rules determine which billing rate Sage Timeslips will use on time slips for each client. You can set up rate selection rules on the Rates page of the Client Information dialog box. See Creating Clients on page 7-12 for more information. You can also set up reference settings for each client. These settings determine if Sage Timeslips will automatically assign a reference to a slip. You can set up reference settings on the Client Setup page of the Client References dialog box. See Creating Client References on page 7-19 for more information.

Understanding values on slips

Each time and expense slip tracks two values: Slip value: On a time slip, this is the Rate multiplied by the Time spent. On an expense slip, this is the Quantity multiplied by the Price. This value appears in the upper right corner of the Slip Entry dialog box.
Click on a slips value to open the Slip Values dialog box.

Billed value: This reflects the effects of client bill arrangements such as flat fees and adjustments. Slip-based adjustments, rounding, and markups will also affect billed values. Depending on settings like bill arrangements and slip adjustments, the billed value may differ from the slip value. On the Slip Entry dialog box, click Slip Value at the top of the slip to open the Slip Values dialog box. This dialog box lists the slip value, billed value, and profitability of the slip.

Sage Timeslips calculates the Profitability of a slip by subtracting the Slip Value from the Billed Value.

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Timeslips Users Guide

Understanding slip classifications

A slips classification determines how Sage Timeslips can use the slip. When you create a new slip, it is considered an open slip. As you maintain your database, you may alter names or slips, which in turn may change the slip classification. Slips can have the following classifications: Open: When you create a slip, it has a classification of Open. Open slips are visible throughout Sage Timeslips and are available for reporting and billing. Closed: Closed slips are not visible in Sage Timeslips, nor are they available for billing, however you can include them on reports. You can reopen closed slips for further use or purge them from the database if you no longer need them. See Closing and Reopening Slips on page 15-5. Inactive: If you change a clients Classification to Inactive or Closed, slips for that client are also considered inactive. These slips are not visible in Sage Timeslips nor are they available for billing, however you can include inactive slips on reports. See Hiding Names on page 15-7. Temporary: If you bring slips into Sage Timeslips from another source (for example, from another program), you can designate these slips as temporary slips. These slips are not visible in Sage Timeslips, nor are they available for billing, but you can include them on reports. See Including temporary slips on reports on page 15-14.

When preparing reports to print, you can set up a selection filter to include slips based on the slip classification.

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Entering Time and Expense Slips

Using other slip entry features

Using other slip entry features

Several other features relate directly to working with slips: Bookmarking slips
For more info, look up bookmarks in the online Help.

You can use bookmarks to identify certain slips for convenient retrieval. You can click Bookmark to toggle a bookmark on or off. On the slip list, you can use the View by field to show bookmarked slips or click Go To to locate slips by bookmark. Entering slip notes Notes allow you to communicate with other timekeepers about slip details or changes to slips. Click Slip Notes from the toolbar to view or enter slip notes.
Enter slip notes that other timekeepers can view. Slip notes will never appear on bills.

For example, when using the slip approval feature (see Approving Slips to Appear on Bills on page 8-27), an approver can use slip notes to indicate why a slip was rejected. Or, if youre not using slip approval, a timekeeper can use slip notes to highlight changes made to another timekeepers slip. Dialing the phone Select Names; Dial the Phone to open the Dial the Phone dialog box. If your computer has a modem installed and configured, you can select a client and dial the phone using any of the clients phone numbers.

When dialing the phone, Sage Timeslips can automatically create a slip and track the time spent on the call.

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Timeslips Users Guide

Editing many slips at once You can export settings from one slip to other slips. Click Export to copy specific fields from the current slip to other slips. Use this feature when you need to make the same change to a group of slips (see Updating Slips on page 15-4). Viewing the slip entry summary Select Slips; Slip Entry Summary to open the Slip Entry Summary dialog box.
Click the Clear toolbar button to reset the summary values.

The Slip Entry Summary dialog box totals new and edited slips.

This summary shows totals for slips added and edited since the last time this summary was cleared. It also shows the total amount of time entered manually and with timers.

Finding and viewing slips

For more info, look up finding slips in the online Help.

You can use the slip list (select Slips; Time and Expense Slips) to view all slips at once. You can also find the specific slips you want to review. Sage Timeslips offers many ways to limit this list to show a smaller group of your open slips. The following fields are located at the top of the slip list: You can use the Time/Expense/Both tabs to view only time slips, only expense slips, or all open slips. You can use the View by field to view all slips that match a simple filter, like all slips for client Atlantic. You can use the Selection button to view all slips that match multiple filters, like all slips for client Atlantic that have not been billed.

When you find the slip that you want, double click on the slip or click Open to view the details of the selected slip. You can also use the buttons on the toolbar to navigate through the other slips that you have found. You can review slip information in many other areas of Sage Timeslips. See Chapter 10, Reviewing Data for more information.

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Using Mini Slip View

Using Mini Slip View

Selecting Slips; Mini Slip View reduces the size of the Slip Entry dialog box to fit in a corner of your screen. This is useful when you want to work in another program while timing your work in Sage Timeslips. The shortcut (right-click) menu includes additional commands.
Mini Slip View displays slips in a much smaller interface.

Entering Time Using TSTimer

Timekeepers who primarily use Sage Timeslips to track services they are providing to clients may want a simpler time-tracking method. TSTimer is a complementary application included with Sage Timeslips that allows timekeepers to track time quickly with timers. Timers allow you to enter as much or as little information as you want. For example, as you track time for multiple tasks, you can choose to identify only the client. Before billing clients, you can easily convert timers into time slips and then enter any other information Sage Timeslips needs.

Launching TSTimer
TSTimer can automatically load when Note you start your workstation. See Setting up TSTimer preferences on page 8-20.

TSTimer is a separate application in the Sage Timeslips program group. You can start TSTimer in the same way you start other applications from the Start menu. For example, in Windows XP, open the Start menu, select All Programs, and select TSTimer from the Sage Timeslips program group. When TSTimer is loaded, it appears as an icon in your system tray. Rightclick on the TSTimer icon to access TSTimer commands. Place your mouse pointer over the TSTimer icon to display the total number of timers and the number of active timers.

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Timeslips Users Guide

Viewing and maintaining timers

The TSTimer List dialog box provides a quick way to view and maintain timers. To open the TSTimer List dialog box, double-click on the TSTimer icon in the system tray or right click on the TSTimer icon and select View Timers.
The logged in timekeeper is indicated at the top of the list. Use the toolbar buttons to maintain timers.

Red highlight lets you quickly identify an active timer. You can place the mouse pointer over a timer to view the names associated with it.

TSTimer preferences can affect Note how TSTimer displays and maintains timers. See Setting up TSTimer preferences on page 8-20.

This dialog box lists all timers for the currently logged-in timekeeper. This dialog box does not include information from slips. Timekeepers cannot see timers for other timekeepers. Each timekeeper can have up to 30 timers. For each timer displayed, the list includes the timer name and time spent, but you can place your pointer over a timer to display the names assigned to the timer. Use the toolbar buttons and shortcut (right-click) menu to maintain timers. Depending on your preferences, you can always display the TSTimer List dialog box on top of other applications. This allows you to track tasks in other applications easier. Creating timers To create a timer, right click on the TSTimer icon click New from the TSTimer toolbar. and select New Timer, or

Using preferences, TSTimer can automatically create a new timer if no timers exist when you open it. New timers can also track time automatically. Entering or editing timer information You can use the TSTimer Entry dialog box to enter or edit timer information. Select a timer from the list and click Open to view timer details.

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Viewing and maintaining timers

TSTimer automatically assigns the timer name. You can assign a different timer name to help identify the timer on the TSTimer List dialog box.

TSTimer automatically assigns the currently logged-in timekeeper to the timer. You can optionally select task, client, and reference names for the timer.

Timers can track time as you work, or you can enter the Time spent manually.

Using TSTimer preferences, you can require specific types of names on a timer. Starting and stopping timers To start or stop timers you can simply double-click on a timer on the list. When reviewing timer details in TSTimer Entry, you can use the stopwatch switch. Sage Timeslips also includes commands and options that can affect timers. See Timing slips on page 8-7 for more information. Merging timers While you are working with timers, you may want to transfer the time from one timer to another. TSTimer allows you to merge the time spent from one timer to another, even if the task, client, or reference names do not match. To merge time from one timer to another, click on the source timer and drag it onto the target timer. When you drop a timer onto another timer, TSTimer will remove the time spent from the source timer and add it to the target timer.

TSTimer changes the mouse pointer to indicate that you are about to combine timers.

When you combine timers, TSTimer removes the time spent from the source timer and adds it to the target timer.

When merging timers, if any fields are blank on the target timer, they will assume the values of the corresponding fields from the source timer.

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If you hold the Ctrl key while dragging and dropping a timer, TSTimer will remove the source timer after combining the time spent. You can also drag and drop timers onto existing time slips. See Converting timers into time slips on page 8-18 for more information.

Converting timers into time slips

For more info on converting timers to time slips, look up converting timers into time slips in the TSTimer Help.

To bill or report on the time spent captured by timers, you must convert the timers into time slips. Use one of the following methods: Clicking the Convert toolbar button From the TSTimer List dialog box, you can convert a timer to a new time slip. Select the source timer from the list and click Convert to Slip from the toolbar. TSTimer will create a new slip in Sage Timeslips and copy the associated fields to the new slip. When you save the new time slip, TSTimer will delete the source timer.

Click Convert to Time Slip from the toolbar to convert the selected timer to a time slip.

When converting timers to time slips, TSTimer copies fields from the timer to the time slip.

Dragging and dropping a timer onto an existing time slip If both TSTimer and Sage Timeslips are open, you can drop a timer onto an unbilled time slip in Sage Timeslips. (You cannot drop a timer onto the time sheet.) When you drop a timer onto a time slip, TSTimer transfers time spent and timer notes to the slip. If the Date on the timer is later than the End date on the time slip, TSTimer will update the End date with the timer Date. Using TSTimer preferences, TSTimer can prevent you from dropping a timer onto a slip that contains different names. You can also determine how TSTimer will copy timer notes to the time slip.

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Entering Time Using TSTimer

Converting timers into time slips

Drag and drop a timer onto a time slip to transfer the time spent and timer notes to that slip.

If you hold the Ctrl key while dragging and dropping the timer, TSTimer can automatically delete the timer after transferring time spent and timer notes. Dragging a timer onto a new time slip If both TSTimer and Sage Timeslips are open, you can drop a timer onto a new time slip in the Slip Entry dialog box. TSTimer transfers time spent, timer notes, and any names from the timer that you have not yet assigned on the slip. TSTimer preferences can prevent you from dropping a timer onto the slip that contains different names. You can also determine how TSTimer will copy timer notes to the time slip.

Drag and drop a timer onto a new time slip to transfer the time spent and timer notes to the slip. TSTimer will also transfer names that are not yet assigned to the slip.

You can automatically delete the timer when transferring information to a time slip. When you hold the Ctrl key while dragging and dropping the timer, TSTimer will delete it after transferring time spent and timer notes.

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Timeslips Users Guide

Setting up TSTimer preferences

TSTimer offers preferences that allow you to customize its functionality. Rightclick on the TSTimer icon and select Edit Preferences to customize TSTimer.
Preferences provides many options that control TSTimer.

Entering Time Using the Time Sheet

As an alternative to the detailed method of time entry (see Entering Time and Expense Slips on page 8-4), timekeepers can quickly enter time on a time sheet. The time sheet enables timekeepers to track their time for a given week using a familiar spreadsheet format.

The days and dates for the current week are listed across the top of the time sheet. You must create time sheet slip templates to enter time on the time sheet.

The time sheet totals each day at the bottom of the time sheet. You can click Print from the toolbar to print the current time sheet.

The rows of the dialog box represent time sheet slip templates. Time sheet slip templates provide information needed to convert time sheet entries into slips. See Creating and using time sheet slip templates on page 8-21.

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Creating and using time sheet slip templates

The columns of the dialog box represent days of the week. The days of the week determine the Start date that Sage Timeslips uses on the time slips. You can use the Date field to change the week currently displayed. The intersection of a row and column forms a cell. The values in each cell represent the total time spent on that day for all slips associated with the current time sheet slip template. You can use the Time Sheet Slip Entry dialog box to review slip totals or you can enter time directly in a cell to create new slips. You can customize the Time Sheet Slip Entry dialog box to suit your firms needs. Click Options on the Time Sheet Slip Entry dialog box to access settings such as determining the first day of the week on the time sheet, or the format for time entries on the time sheet.

Creating and using time sheet slip templates

For more info on time sheet slip templates, look up time sheet slip templates in the online Help.

Before you can create slips using the Time Sheet Slip Entry dialog box, you must create time sheet slip templates. Time sheet slip templates provide names and other information needed to create slips from time entered on the time sheet. Sage Timeslips provides two methods of creating time sheet slip templates: Using the Time Sheet Slip Template Entry dialog box Select Slips; Time Sheet; Slip Templates or click Show template list from the Time Sheet Slip Entry dialog box to enter slip templates using this method.

Only Active templates will appear on the time sheet.

You can optionally specify the rate and bill status settings on each template.

When creating templates using this dialog box, you can select timekeeper, client, task, and optionally reference names. Each template must have a unique name.

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You can also include optional fields, such as a slip description, rate settings, and the billing status. When you create a slip using the Slip Entry dialog box that includes Court Date, Sage Timeslips uses the default description from the Task Information dialog box. When Sage Timeslips creates time slips from entries on the time sheet, it will use the default description from the Time Sheet Slip Template Entry dialog box. Creating templates directly on the time sheet You can also create templates quickly on the time sheet. Click Click to select names from the template list to enter slip templates using this method.

When you click Click to select names, Sage Timeslips opens the New Time Sheet Template dialog box, where you can quickly create a new template.

When creating templates here, you can which names appear on the template. Sage Timeslips automatically assigns these templates to the current timekeeper. If needed, you can edit the template later (right click on a template and select Open) to enter rate, description, and billing status information.

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Entering time in time cells

Entering time in time cells

The time sheet provides many ways to view and enter time. The simplest way to enter time is to click on a cell and enter the time spent directly within this cell. You can enter the time spent in either hours.decimal format or hours:minutes:seconds format. You can also select a cell and click Timer to track time as you work. When using a timer, Sage Timeslips highlights the cell in red. The time sheet allows you to enter time for a single slip or multiple slips in each cell. To create a single entry, simply click on the cell and enter the time spent. After entering time spent for single slip, you can click New to the right to enter each successive slip for that cell. from the toolbar

Saving time sheet entries

After entering time on the time sheet, clicking Save to save the entries. Sage Timeslips uses information (such as client names and task names) from the associated time sheet slip template to create new slips from the entries.

Viewing and editing cell entries

For info on the appearance of time sheet cells, look up time sheet slip entry in the online Help.

Values in the cells of the time sheet represent actual slips, either entered through the time sheet or entered through the Slip Entry dialog box. Each value can represent a single slip or multiple slips. Editing time sheet entries You can click on any cell to edit its contents. You can also use the Slip Entry dialog box to edit an associated slip (click on any cell and click Open to view the associated slip). Viewing non-template totals Sage Timeslips automatically totals all cells at the bottom of the time sheet. You can also display daily totals from slips that do not match an existing slip template. Click Options to open the Time Sheet Slip Entry Options dialog box and mark Show non-template totals to include the Non-template Totals field at the bottom of the time sheet. When displaying non-template totals, Sage Timeslips also includes these values as part of the Daily Totals at the bottom of the time sheet.

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Receiving Time and Expense Slips by Email

Some timekeepers need to create time and expense slips while they are out of the office. Sage Timeslips can create slips from information it receives within specially formatted email messages.

For more information, look up creating slips:from email messages in the online Help. Other ways to create slips while out of the office Sage Timeslips offers other solutions for timekeepers who need to track time while out of the office. Please visit www.SageTimeslips.com for information on Sage Timeslips eCenter.

Setting up Sage Timeslips to receive slips by email

Before Sage Timeslips can create slips by email, you must set up this feature. This includes choosing which messages to read and then indicating the format used to identify slips fields in those messages. Select Setup; Receive Slips by Email to set up this feature.
Use the Message filtering options to determine which messages Sage Timeslips will accept. Please note that you have to enter a Subject line indicator in order to use this feature. Use the Name selection options to determine the format Sage Timeslips expects for name fields. Use the Message processing options to determine how Sage Timeslips processes individual messages.

For example, you can set up Sage Timeslips to receive messages only from timekeepers it recognizes, using nickname 1 to identify all names, and Sage Timeslips can reply to each message indicating if a slip was created successfully.

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Receiving Time and Expense Slips by Email

Receiving slips from email messages

Receiving slips from email messages

After you have set up Sage Timeslips to receive slips by email, Sage Timeslips can scan your email messages for new slips. Depending on your settings for this feature, the scanning process can start automatically when you open Sage Timeslips. You can also manually scan for new slips at any time using the Slips; Scan Email for Slips command. If email messages are in the correct format, Sage Timeslips processes them automatically and creates new slips. Reviewing slips that Sage Timeslips receives When Sage Timeslips processes email messages, it places the entries on the Entries from Email dialog box whether slips are created successfully or not. You can open this dialog box by selecting Slips; Slip Entries from Email.
The list of entries shows when email messages were received and when slips were created from them.

Use the View by field and Selection button to filter entries on the list.

Entries that Timeslips cannot translate into slips are marked with an Error. You must correct these entries before Timeslips can create a slip from them.

Use the buttons on the toolbar to maintain email entries, view details of the source message, and go to the created slip.

You can view this list any time to review the status of received messages, search for text within the entries, and even open slips created from entries. You can access these commands on the toolbar. Sage Timeslips uses this list to keep track of slips that were create from received messages. Do not delete an entry from this list unless you also delete the message from your Inbox, otherwise Sage Timeslips will attempt to create another slip from that message.

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Correcting entries with errors

If the sender did not enter codes correctly or didnt include all required fields, Sage Timeslips will mark the email entry with an error. You must correct entries with errors before Sage Timeslips can create slips from these entries. From the Entries from Email dialog box (select Slips; Slip Entries from Email), select the entry and click Open

Errors are indicated in bold red text. Enter the correct values for these fields. You can use information from the Original email content field to help you.

When editing entries with multiple errors, you can save the updated values while you are researching remaining errors.

When you are ready to create a slip, click Create New Slip.

Sage Timeslips will indicate incorrect fields in red. You can use the Original email content field to determine the correct values for these fields. After making corrections, click Create New Slip to create a slip from the entry. It is important that the messages sender does not resend the message with corrections; otherwise Sage Timeslips could create duplicate slips from the entries.

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Correcting entries with errors

Approving Slips to Appear on Bills

Some firms need more control over the slips that are included on bills. For example, new timekeepers may enter incorrect or private information on slips. Remote timekeepers might enter many slips by email or through Timeslips eCenter. In these scenarios, incorrect or unauthorized charges could get past a review cycle and be included on a bill. The slip approval feature adds more safeguards to the billing cycle, requiring approvers to authorize slips before they can appear on bills.

For more information, look up approving slips to appear on bills in the online Help system. Understanding approval statuses Sage Timeslips uses three statuses for slip approval: Pending As timekeepers enter slips, Sage Timeslips sets their approval status to Pending. This status indicates that the slip is awaiting slip approval. Pending slips will not appear on bills. Rejected If an approver requires the timekeeper to change details on the slip, the approver will change the slips approval status to Rejected. This status indicates that the slip must be edited and resubmitted for slip approval. Rejected slips will not appear on bills. Approved When an approver authorizes a slip to appear on a bill, the approver will change the slips approval status to Approved. This status indicates that the slip can appear on bills.

When you use this feature, these statuses can appear on slips throughout Sage Timeslips, such as within the Slip Entry dialog box or on the Time and Expense Slip List dialog box. The following diagram illustrates how timekeepers and approvers use slip approval statuses within the slip approval process:

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Setting up slip approval

For more info, look up setting up slip approval in the online Help.

Before you can use the slip approval feature, you must enable this feature within global security, indicate which timekeepers are approvers, and then indicate which timekeepers require slip approval. Enabling the slip approval feature You can enable the slip approval feature within the Global Security dialog box. (Select Setup; Security; Global to open this dialog box.)

Mark Enable Slip Approval to enable this feature.

Enabling slip approval security for approvers You also use Sage Timeslips security to set up access rights that allow approvers to change the slip approval status for slips. (Select Setup; Security; Profiles to maintain security profiles.)
You may want to create a new security profile for approvers.

For more info on setting up security rights, look up security rights in the online Help.

Mark Change slip approval status for the security profile that approvers will use.

Remember, only approvers should be able to change the slip approval status. Otherwise unauthorized charges can appear on bills.

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Entering slips

Indicating which timekeepers need slip approval In some offices, only certain timekeepers may need to have their slips approved before billing. Within the Timekeeper Information dialog box, you can require slip approval on a timekeeper-by-timekeeper basis. (Select Names; Timekeeper Info to maintain timekeepers.)
Mark Slips require approval to be billed

Entering slips
When slip approval is enabled, Sage Timeslips automatically sets the slip approval status for new slips to Pending.

Please note that when you print bills, Sage Timeslips reviews the slip approval status only for those timekeepers that require approval.

Reviewing slips
Look up reviewing slips for slip approval in the online Help for more info.

Before slips can appear on bills, approvers must review pending slips for timekeepers that require approval. Approvers will change the status for these slips as needed, approving slips to appear on bills or rejecting slips that need corrections.

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Sage Timeslips offers many areas where you can review slips and change statuses, such as the Slip Entry dialog box, the Time and Expense Slip List dialog box, and the Billing Assistant.
On the Time and Expense Slip List dialog box, approvers can click on a slip approval status within the list to change it. On the Slip Entry dialog box, approvers can click on a slip approval status in the top right corner to change it.

Approvers can also change other fields on slips without affecting the slip approval status. For example, an approver might correct text within the description. However, if a timekeeper without rights to change the approval status edits a slip, Sage Timeslips will automatically change the approval status for that slip to Pending. See Correcting rejected slips on page 8-31 for additional info. Using slip notes Because multiple employees in your firm may be reviewing and editing slips, you can use slip notes to communicate with them about changes to slips. Click Slip Notes from the toolbar at any time to review or enter slip notes. For example, an approver can use slip notes to indicate why a slip was rejected, or a timekeeper can use slip notes to highlight changes made to a slip.

Depending on the preferences set up for slips, Sage Timeslips can automatically open slip notes when an approver rejects a slip.

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Correcting rejected slips

Correcting rejected slips

For more info, look up correcting rejected slips in the online Help.

If an approver rejects a slip, the timekeeper must edit that slip before it can appear on a bill. Timekeepers can find their rejected slips anywhere in Sage Timeslips that they can review the slip approval status. We recommend using the slip list (select Slips; Time and Expense Slips) to review rejected slips because it offers useful tools, such as filtering slips by timekeeper or slip approval status.

When timekeepers edit rejected slips, Sage Timeslips automatically resets the slip approval status to Pending. (Please note that if an approver edits a rejected slip, Sage Timeslips will not change the approval status.) Approvers can then review the slips again to determine if they are ready for billing. See Reviewing slips on page 8-29 for more information.

Including approved slips on bills

When you generate bills, Sage Timeslips will automatically exclude Pending and Rejected slips for those timekeepers that require slip approval.

See Chapter 12, Billing Clients for more information on preparing for billing.

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Entering Transactions
Overview
Types of transactions

9
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Entering Accounts Receivable Transactions

Accounts receivable transaction types Entering transactions Applying payments and credits Transferring unapplied amounts Applying write-offs Applying refunds Creating invoice transactions Applying reverse payments Applying discounts Applying special credits Creating bank deposit slips

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Entering Client Funds Transactions

Using bank accounts Using funds accounts Client funds transaction types Entering transactions

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Viewing Transactions

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Entering Transactions
Overview
In your daily use of Sage Timeslips, you can enter transactions, such as payments, that affect accounts receivable and client funds balances. This chapter describes the types of transactions you can use to increase or decrease these balances and shows you how to enter them.

Types of transactions
You will use the following transaction types to track financial exchanges: Accounts receivable transactions These transactions increase or decrease a clients accounts receivable balance the amount owed for the services that your firm provides to the client. Invoices, refunds, and reverse payments increase a clients balance. Payments, credits, and write-offs decrease a clients balance. Click Accounts Receivable List , from the toolbar or select Transactions; Accounts Receivable to open the list of accounts receivable transactions. See Entering Accounts Receivable Transactions below for more info. Client funds transactions These transactions move money into and out of client funds accounts. A client funds account is a balance that represents funds your firm stores for a client. Perhaps you charge a retainer for future services or have control over a trust fund for a client. Client funds accounts allow you to keep track of these funds and provide a clear audit trail on reports and bills. Click Client Funds List , from the toolbar or select Transactions; Client Funds to open the list of client funds transactions. See Entering Client Funds Transactions on page 9-14 for more info.

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Accounts receivable transaction types

Entering Accounts Receivable Transactions

Sage Timeslips maintains an accounts receivable (A/R) balance for each client. You can use transactions to detail increases or decreases to a clients A/R balance. You typically increase the A/R balance by sending a bill and decrease it by receiving and entering a payment. Sage Timeslips can generate A/R transactions automatically, such as when you approve bills. You can enter A/R Transactions manually, such as when you receive a check from a client and enter a payment.

Accounts receivable transaction types

For more info on accounts receivable transactions, look up accounts receivable transactions in the online Help.

The invoices you send and the payments you receive modify your clients accounts receivable balances. You can also correct balances as needed with credit and refund transactions. The following A/R transaction types are available: Payment: When you receive money from a client to pay existing charges, you enter a payment. A payment reduces a clients A/R balance when you apply it to one or more invoice transactions. If a payment exceeds the client balance, Sage Timeslips can hold the excess money to offset future bills. See Applying payments and credits on page 9-6. Credit: Use this transaction to remove an incorrectly billed charge. You apply credits to specific invoices or to a future invoice, reducing a clients A/R balance. See Applying payments and credits on page 9-6. If you want to adjust unbilled charges, use bill arrangements instead. See Using bill arrangements on page 7-15. Write-off: Use this transaction to write off bad debts. It decreases the clients A/R balance. See Applying write-offs on page 9-9. Refund: Use this transaction to reverse the effects of an overpayment. Sage Timeslips adds the amount to the clients A/R balance to correct the overpayment. See Applying refunds on page 9-9. Invoice: An invoice transaction represents charges that you have billed. It details amounts for fees, costs, interest, and taxes on fees or costs. Sage Timeslips creates invoice transactions automatically when you approve bills (see Approving bills on page 12-47). You can also enter invoice transactions to represent a starting balance for a client. See Creating invoice transactions on page 9-9. Reverse Payment: Use this transaction to reverse the effects of a payment, usually in the case of a returned check. It increases the clients A/R balance. See Applying reverse payments on page 9-10.

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Transfer: Use this transaction to distribute money from an overpayment to other projects. See Transferring unapplied amounts on page 9-7. Transfer To Funds: Use this transaction to send monkey from an overpayment to a funds account to use later. See Transferring unapplied amounts on page 9-7. Discount: Use this transaction to discount an invoice. You may discount an invoice, for example, due to early payment. You can also modify client settings to apply discounts automatically if payments are received early. See Applying discounts on page 9-10. Special Credit: Use this transaction to credit or discount an invoice that is already paid in full. See Applying special credits on page 9-12.

Reports based on A/R transactions are available in the A/R Transactions page of the Report List dialog box (see Accessing Standard Reports on page 11-3).

Entering transactions
The steps for entering accounts receivable (A/R) transactions vary according to transaction type. However, some steps are common for each type. Use these steps to enter A/R transactions; refer to the sections that follow for specific instructions on each transaction type.

How to enter an A/R transaction

1 Click Accounts Receivable List from the main toolbar or select Transactions; Accounts Receivable to open the list of A/R transactions. Click New to open the Accounts Receivable Entry dialog box.

2 3

Select the transaction type and enter the date of the transaction.

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Entering Accounts Receivable Transactions

Entering transactions

Select the client for the transaction. Optionally, you can click Find Client by Invoice to search for the client.

The Accounts Receivable Entry dialog box lists the current accounts receivable and funds balances.

Enter additional details for this transaction. Please note that the transaction Amount can automatically default to the clients current A/R balance total or you can enter an amount manually. Look up Transactions pagein the online Help for more info. The Description field may contain a default description. You can modify or replace the default description as needed. Look up Transactions pagein the online Help for more info.

Click Save

to save the transaction.

Reviewing the Status column The transaction list contains a status column, which identifies the status: Proof Stage (red envelope) approved transactions (yellow envelope) transactions that have been posted to the general ledger This information also appears within the Accounts Receivable Entry dialog box. Sage Timeslips marks approved transactions with the date and invoice number.

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Applying payments and credits

When entering payments and credits, you can control how Sage Timeslips applies the amount of the transaction to current invoices. Setting automatic payment rules By default, Sage Timeslips applies payments and credits to invoices according to automatic payment rules. You can set up these rules within the Accounts Receivable page of the Client Information dialog box.
Choose if Sage Timeslips will pay the oldest or newest invoice first. Choose the order that Sage Timeslips pays fees, costs, and interest.

When applying payments or credits to multiple invoices, choose if Sage Timeslips will pay off an entire invoice first, or if it will pay specific charges (like fees or costs) on all invoices first.

When you save new payments and credits, Sage Timeslips applies that transaction according to the automatic payment rules. Distributing payments manually If you mark the Require manual distribution check box, the automatic payment rules do not apply. You can apply a transaction manually by entering amounts in the Fees Paid, Costs Paid, or Interest Paid columns for any of the invoices. The following buttons are also available when entering payments and credits: Apply All: This button is available only on payments. Click this button to apply the payment to as many open invoices as possible, following the automatic payment rules. Apply One: Click this button to apply the payment or credit to the highlighted invoice. Transfer Money: This button is available only on payments. Click this button to divide the payment among other projects or client funds accounts (see Transferring unapplied amounts on page 9-7).

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Transferring unapplied amounts

How to enter a payment or credit

1 Click Accounts Receivable List from the main toolbar or select Transactions; Accounts Receivable to open the list of A/R transactions. Click New to create a new transaction.

2 3 4

Set Type to Payment or Credit, as appropriate. If you are entering a payment, then also select a Payment Type. Select the client for the transaction. Optionally, you can click Find Client by Invoice you are paying or crediting. to search for the invoice

5 6

Enter the date and description of the transaction. Enter the transaction amount. Please note that the transaction Amount can automatically default to the clients current A/R balance total or you can enter an amount manually. Look up Transactions pagein the online Help for more info. Sage Timeslips applies the transaction amount, based on payment distribution rules (see Setting automatic payment rules on page 9-6 and Distributing payments manually on page 9-6).

Click Save

to save the transaction.

Transferring unapplied amounts

If you use client projects (see Using client projects on page 7-14), you may receive a check paying bills for several projects. Or, if you maintain client funds accounts, you may receive a check that pays new charges and also includes a deposit to a client funds account. Sage Timeslips provides two transaction typesTransfer and Transfer To Fundsfor distributing one payment among multiple projects or funds accounts. While you can enter these transactions manually, the Transfer Money dialog box provides a more convenient method. When you enter these transactions, your client will see the correct check amount on the bill, even if the payment was divided into several transactions.

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How to transfer money to projects or funds accounts

1 Enter the full amount of the payment as normal (see How to enter a payment or credit on page 9-7). After applying the correct amount to the current client, the Not yet applied field shows the unapplied amount. You can distribute this amount to other projects or funds accounts. Click Transfer Money to transfer the unapplied money. To transfer an amount to another project for the current client: a. Set Apply to to the appropriate option: All invoices Lists all related projects with unpaid invoices. Invoice by date Lists only projects with invoices for the date you specify. Use this option when paying off a single consolidated bill. No Invoices Not yet applied Lists all related projects with unpaid invoices. Sage Timeslips applies the transferred amount to future invoices for the selected project. If you use this option, you can later manually edit the associated payments to distribute the money as needed. If you have set up automatic discount for a client (see Setting up automatic discount on page 9-10), set Apply to to No Invoices Not yet applied. When you later apply the associated payments, Sage Timeslips prompts you to create a discount if applicable. b. Click Apply All to apply the entire amount in the Total unapplied field to as many projects as possible starting from the top of the list. Otherwise, highlight the To Apply field for the appropriate project and click Apply One to apply as much money as possible to the projects unpaid balance. You can also enter an amount manually. If you enter an amount in excess of the unpaid balance, Sage Timeslips will apply it to future invoices for the project.

2 3

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Applying write-offs

To transfer an amount to a client funds account for the current client or a related project: a. b. In the Transfer to Client Funds group box, highlight the To Apply field for the appropriate funds account. To apply the entire amount in the Total unapplied field, click Apply One. Or, you can manually enter the amount to transfer. When you move the focus to another field, Sage Timeslips updates the Total unapplied field to reflect the transfer amount.

Click OK when you have entered all transfer amounts. Sage Timeslips applies any amount still remaining in the Total unapplied field to a future invoice for the current client. If you transferred money to a project, Sage Timeslips creates the appropriate Payment and Transfer transactions. If you transferred money to a funds account, Sage Timeslips creates the appropriate Payment To Account and Transfer To Funds transactions.

Applying write-offs
You enter write-offs similarly to payments and credits. You apply the write-off amount to one or more invoices. The difference is that you must fully apply the entire amount of the write-off to current invoices. You cannot apply any of the write-off amount to future invoices.

Applying refunds
You can only apply a refund to a payment that has unapplied amount (an amount that has been applied to future invoices). When you create a refund for a client, Sage Timeslips lists any payments with unapplied amounts for the client. You can select one of the payments and apply either a full or partial refund to the unapplied amount.

Creating invoice transactions

You can create invoice transactions in several different ways: When you approve a bill, Sage Timeslips generates an invoice transaction automatically. If you create a new client and enter starting balances (on the Accounts Receivable page of the Client Information dialog box), Sage Timeslips generates invoice transactions automatically for each balance. You can also enter an invoice transaction manually to represent a starting balance or balance correction for a client.

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Applying reverse payments

When entering a reverse payment, you must select a specific payment transaction to reverse. When you save a reverse payment, you can charge a finance charge as a fee for the reverse payment.
When reversing a payment, you can also apply a finance change.

If your bank assesses a fee for a returned check, you can use this finance charge to pass along the fee to the client. On the transaction list, the original payment is marked REV in the status column to indicate that it has been reversed.

Applying discounts
The discount transaction type allows you to offer clients an incentive to pay bills early by giving a discount. Setting up automatic discount You can set up rules that will automatically apply a discount to eligible charges. The Accounts Receivable page of the Client Information dialog box contains settings that determine the nature of the discount. You can enter the discount percentage and the number of days after billing for which the discount is available. Additionally, you can decide whether the discount should apply to fees; costs; both fees and costs; or fees, costs, and interest. For example, suppose you bill a client $1000.00, consisting of $800.00 in fees and $200.00 in costs. You set up a 10% discount for 20 days applied to fees only. The potential discount is $80.00 on fees. Once the client pays $800.00 toward the bill (within 20 days), they will receive the discount applied to their next bill. Because you applied the discount to fees only, you must apply the total amount of the $800.00 payment directly to fees in order for the client to receive the discount.

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Applying discounts

Viewing potential discount amounts The bill will show the discount amount and the date by which the client must make a payment in order to take the discount. You can edit the discount phrase along with other phrases that appear on the bill (Setting global phrases: on page 12-22). When you approve the bill, Sage Timeslips creates an invoice transaction. The Accounts Receivable Entry dialog box for the invoice transaction will contain a Discount page that shows the potential discount amount and the date through which the client is eligible for the discount. The Entry page contains an Apply New button that allows you to apply a discount. Prepayment and automatic payment from client funds You may have a prepayment or have set up automatic payment from a client funds account. If the available money satisfies the discount requirements, Sage Timeslips will automatically create the discount when you approve the bill. Entering a payment for a client who is eligible for a discount When you enter a payment that meets the discount requirements for a client, Sage Timeslips asks if you want to apply the discount. Click Yes to create a discount transaction. Sage Timeslips applies the discount amount to the invoice first. If the payment amount exceeds the amount due on the invoice after the discount is applied, Sage Timeslips applies the difference to a future invoice. Manually entering a discount You can apply a discount manually by creating a new transaction and selecting Discount as the transaction type. You can apply the discount to any open invoice. You must fully apply the entire amount of the discount. You cannot apply any of it to future invoices. If you have not set up the automatic discount for the client, enter the discount amount. If you have set up the automatic discount, Click Apply Discount To One to let Sage Timeslips calculate the amount of the discount and apply it to the selected invoice.

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Applying special credits

Occasionally, you may need to issue a credit or discount for a bill that has already been paid in full. The special credit transaction allows you to do so.

How to apply a special credit

1 2 3 4 Click Accounts Receivable List from the main toolbar or select Transactions; Accounts Receivable to open the list of A/R transactions. Highlight the invoice transaction that you want to use as the source of the special credit and click Open. Click Apply New and select Special Credit from the menu that opens. The Accounts Receivable Entry dialog box contains two pages. In the Source Invoice page, enter amounts for fees, costs, and interest that you want to credit. Sage Timeslips adds these amounts together in the Amount field. Sage Timeslips does not confirm the values you enter against the amounts on the original invoice. 5 In the Applied To page, you can apply the special credit to an existing invoice, if any, or mark Remaining amount applies to future invoice.

Creating bank deposit slips

In Sage Timeslips, bank deposit slips provide a method of associating payment and deposit transactions with a deposit that you make to a specific bank. You can define specific banks as bank accounts in the Bank Accounts dialog box (select Setup; Bank Accounts). For accurate data entry, you can check the total amount of a bank deposit against the transactions you enter in Sage Timeslips. Additionally, you can print a Bank Deposit Slip Listing report (select Reports; A/R Transactions) to accompany the checks to the bank.

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Creating bank deposit slips

How to create and use a bank deposit slip

1 Select Transactions; Bank Deposit Slips. If you have not entered a bank deposit slip today, Sage Timeslips prompts you to create a new bank deposit slip. a. b. Click Yes to open the Bank Deposit Slip Entry dialog box. Select a bank account and enter the total amount of the bank deposit. Sage Timeslips automatically takes the Deposit Number from the Bank Account Entry dialog box. You can control the starting number there.

When creating a bank deposit slip, you can specify that total that you plan to deposit.

c. 2 3

Click OK to accept the setting for the new bank deposit slip.

At the bottom of the Bank Deposit Slips dialog box, click New and select a transaction type from the menu that opens. Enter the details of the transaction as you normally would. Sage Timeslips automatically marks the Deposit Slip check box and displays the bank account and bank deposit slip number next to it. Click Save and Return to save the transaction and return to the Bank Deposit Slips dialog box. The transaction you entered displays on the list. Continue entering the rest of the transactions for the current bank deposit slip. The Total Entered shows in red text if it doesnt match the Total Planned. Click to close the Bank Deposit Slips dialog box. If the Total Planned does not match the Total Entered, a reminder message appears.

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Entering Client Funds Transactions

You can use client funds accounts to track retainer fees or manage trust funds for your clients. You can set funds accounts to automatically pay new charges on a bill and to maintain minimum balances. You use client funds transactions to increase or decrease funds account balances.

Using bank accounts

For more info on bank accounts, look up bank accounts in the online Help.

Sage Timeslips allows you to set up bank accounts for your firm and funds accounts for each client. Bank accounts provide a way to group funds accounts for multiple clients. You may want to create a bank account in Sage Timeslips to represent all accounts at a particular bank or all accounts belonging to related clients. When printing funds-related reports, you can group information by bank account, allowing you to review this information easily. Select Setup; Bank Accounts to open the Bank Accounts dialog box, where you can maintain all your firms bank accounts. Click New or Duplicate to create a bank account or click Open to edit an existing one. This dialog box allows you to set up bank details and custom terminology for each bank account.

You can set up custom transaction terminology for each bank account.

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Entering Client Funds Transactions

Using funds accounts

Using funds accounts

For more info on funds accounts, look up funds accounts in the online Help.

Each client can have multiple funds accounts. This allows you to track funds for different cases or matters separately. Use the Client Funds page of the Client Information dialog box to maintain funds accounts for each client.

How to enter a new funds account

1 From the Client List dialog box, select the client for whom you want to add a funds account and click Open 2 .

Switch to the Client Funds page of the Client Information dialog box. The Accounts list displays the current funds accounts.

The Balances total field totals all funds accounts for the current client.

Click New to create a new funds account or click Open to review the details of a funds account.

3 4 5 6 7 8

Click New below the list to create a new client funds account. Enter the name of the new funds account in the Name field. Use the Bank account field to select the bank account with which to associate the new funds account. Use the Applies to field to choose the type of charges this funds account can pay and optionally mark Automatic payment of new charges on the bill. Use the Current balance field to set the starting balance of the account. Optionally, set Style on the bill to choose to show funds activity from this account on the bill.

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If you want to request replenishment automatically, you can set the requirements for replenishment using the When the balance falls below and request replenishment to fields. The replenish message uses the text associated with the Please replenish client funds with bill phrase (see Setting global phrases: on page 12-22).

Enter the details of a funds account.

10 Click OK to save the new funds account.

Client funds transaction types

For more info on funds transactions, look up funds transactions in the online Help.

Sage Timeslips provides the following transaction types for use with client funds accounts: Payment From Account: Use this transaction to apply money from the client funds account to the clients A/R balance. This transaction also decreases the client funds account balance. When you create a payment from account, Sage Timeslips automatically creates a corresponding payment transaction. Payment To Account: Use this transaction to detail a payment from the client that increases the client funds account balance. Deposit: This transaction also increases the client funds account balance. You can use it to track third-party deposits separately from client deposits. When you create a funds account with a starting balance, Sage Timeslips automatically creates a deposit to represent the starting balance. It is marked as approved (Reviewing and Approving Bills on page 12-45). Withdrawal: Use this transaction to remove money from the client funds account without affecting the accounts receivable balance. You can use it to pay third-party charges.

Select Reports; Funds Transactions to print reports based on client funds transactions. 9-16

Entering Client Funds Transactions

Entering transactions

Entering transactions
The following steps explain how to create a new client funds transaction. To edit an existing transaction, find the transaction and make changes as necessary.

How to enter a client funds transaction

1 Click Client Funds List from the main toolbar or select Transactions; Client Funds to view the current list of funds transactions. Click New to create a new client funds transaction.

2 3 4

Select the transaction type and enter the date of the transaction. Select the client for the transaction. Optionally, you can click Find Client by Invoice to search for the client.

The Account field below the Client field lists each funds account for the current client. Select the funds account for this transaction.

The Funds account balance field lists the current balance for the selected funds account.

The A/R balance field also lists the current accounts receivable balance for the selected client.

Enter the transaction amount in the Amount field. Please note that for some transaction, the Amount can automatically default to the clients current A/R balance total or you can enter an amount manually. Look up Transactions pagein the online Help for more info.

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Entering Transactions
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If you are creating a payment from account, a list of invoices with unpaid amounts appears below the Description field. Use the buttons at the bottom of the dialog box to apply the payment (see Applying payments and credits on page 9-6). The Description field contains a default description for each transaction type. Sage Timeslips stores this default text in the Transactions page of the General Settings dialog box. Modify or replace the default description as needed. Each client funds account is associated with a specific bank account. Default descriptions for client funds transactions are contained in the Bank Account Entry dialog box for the associated bank account.

Click Save

to save the transaction.

Reviewing the Status column The transaction list contains a status column, which identifies the status: Proof Stage (red envelope) approved transactions (yellow envelope) transactions that have been posted to the general ledger This information also appears within the Client Funds Transaction Entry dialog box. Sage Timeslips marks approved transactions with the date and invoice number. Displaying client funds transactions on the bill A payment from account transaction appears in the same section of the bill as payments and credits. You can print all four types of transactions in a separate section on the bill using the Style on the bill setting in the Client Funds Account Entry dialog box (select a funds account and click Open on the Client Funds page of the Client Information dialog box).

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Viewing Transactions
Entering transactions

Viewing Transactions
For more info on viewing transactions in lists, look up filters:filtering slip and transactions lists in the online Help.

You can review transaction details at any time. Use the Accounts Receivable List dialog box (select Transactions; Accounts Receivable) and the Client Funds List dialog box (select Transactions; Client Funds) to view many transactions at once. Within these dialog boxes, you can use the View by field and Selection button to limit the transactions displayed. Double click on a transaction or click Open to view the details of the transaction. If needed, use the buttons on the toolbar to move through the current transactions. You can review transaction information in many other areas of Sage Timeslips. See Chapter 10, Reviewing Data for more information.

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9-20

Reviewing Data
Overview
Viewing reports Viewing billing data Viewing general Sage Timeslips data

10
10-2 10-3 10-4 10-5 10-5 10-5 10-6

10-2

Using Sage Timeslips Today to View Data

Assigning templates to timekeepers Displaying Sage Timeslips Today Viewing data and printing data Modifying Sage Timeslips Today templates

10-4

Using Navigators to View Data

Displaying an enhanced navigator Viewing data Modifying enhanced navigators

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10-9 10-9 10-10

Using Alerts to View Data

Setting up alert rules Triggering alerts Viewing alerts Managing alert rules and alerts

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Reviewing Data
Overview
As timekeepers enter slips, transactions, and other billing data, you can review that data using many different tools. You can view data in dialog boxes as you enter it or you can print reports. Sage Timeslips also offers interactive tools that allow you to display specific data and drill down to the source records. This chapter introduces reports that you can use to view most types of Sage Timeslips data. This chapter also introduces the Billing Assistant and Firm Assistant that you can use to view billing data. We discuss each of these topics in detail in later chapters of this users guide. The remainder of the chapter details Sage Timeslips Today, Enhanced Navigators, and Alerts. These tools allow you to set up Sage Timeslips to present specific data. Using these tools, Sage Timeslips actively informs you about the status of your data at all times.

Viewing reports
Sage Timeslips offers over 100 standard reports that can display your data in many formats. You can view the standard reports, manually modify them to suit your organization, or create your own reports. Select a report group from the Reports menu to open the Report List dialog box. For example, select Reports; Slips to view slip-based reports.
Switch to a different page to view other report groups.

See Chapter 11, Designing and Printing Reports for more info. 10-2

Overview
Viewing billing data

10

Viewing billing data

Sage Timeslips offers tools that provide an overview of your billing data and an opportunity to edit any billing data quickly. Because these tools are closely related to the billing cycle, we describe them in more detail in Chapter 12, Billing Clients. Billing Assistant: Use Billing Assistant to view billing details for clients that are ready to bill. Like the Pre-bill worksheet (select Bills; Pre-bill Worksheet), Billing Assistant offers insight into each clients up-to-theminute status and provides every detail that contributes to the calculation of the clients next bill.

Billing Assistant shows billing details for clients that are ready to bill.

See Using Billing Assistant to review billing data on page 12-12. Firm Assistant: You can also use Firm Assistant to view billing totals for all clients in your firm at once.

Firm Assistant shows additional billing totals for all clients.

See Using Firm Assistant to review billing data on page 12-15. 10-3

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Viewing general Sage Timeslips data

Sage Timeslips also offers tools for you to use to view many different types of data through a central location in Sage Timeslips: Sage Timeslips Today: You can customize Sage Timeslips Today so timekeepers can view and edit almost any information from one location. See Using Sage Timeslips Today to View Data below for more info. Navigators: Enhanced navigators can also present up-to-date information that can be useful when choosing commands. See Using Navigators to View Data on page 10-8 for more info. Alerts: You can create alerts to notify timekeepers when particular data-related events occur, like overdue balances. See Using Alerts to View Data on page 10-13 for more info.

Using Sage Timeslips Today to View Data

You can use Sage Timeslips Today to view data from almost any area of Sage Timeslips.
Timeslips Today can display data from many areas of Sage Timeslips. When you place the cursor over a section heading, Sage Timeslips displays when it last updated the section.

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Using Sage Timeslips Today to View Data

Assigning templates to timekeepers

10

Without Sage Timeslips Today, you may have to open multiple dialog boxes and print various reports to find the information you want. Instead of searching for this information manually, you can view this data using Sage Timeslips Today. For more information on viewing Sage Timeslips Today, look up viewing Timeslips Today in the online Help system. Please note that Sage Timeslips Today is also displayed as part of enhanced navigators. See Using Navigators to View Data on page 10-8.

Assigning templates to timekeepers

You can use templates to determine which data is displayed in Sage Timeslips Today. Sage Timeslips installs several of these templates. You can assign them to specific timekeepers, so Sage Timeslips knows which template to display for each timekeeper. You can assign templates to timekeepers using the Assign Sage Timeslips Today Templates dialog box (select Special; Sage Timeslips Today; Assign Templates).

Displaying Sage Timeslips Today

You can display Sage Timeslips Today automatically when you start Sage Timeslips or you can open Sage Timeslips Today manually when you want to view data. Displaying Sage Timeslips Today automatically To open Sage Timeslips Today when you start Sage Timeslips, you must edit your preference settings. Select Setup; Preferences to open the Personal Preferences dialog box, switch to the Startup/Exit page, and set Sage Timeslips Today to Yes. Displaying Sage Timeslips Today manually If Sage Timeslips Today is not already open, you can select Special; Sage Timeslips Today; Show Sage Timeslips Today to display it.

Viewing data and printing data

When viewing Sage Timeslips Today, you can refresh the data displayed, print sections, or drill down to the source data.

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Refreshing data Sage Timeslips Today can present a large amount of information from many areas of the program. To optimize program performance, Sage Timeslips refreshes data displayed in Sage Timeslips Today periodicallyusually every fifteen minutes. You can also force Sage Timeslips to update data. Right-click on any section and select Update Section to update data for that specific section or select Update All Sections to update data within all sections at once. Printing sections Many firms design their own Sage Timeslips Today template to display information most important to them. Sage Timeslips allows you to print this information easily, without having to design new reports. Simply right click on Sage Timeslips Today and select Print all sections or Print current section. Drilling down to source data When viewing lists of records in Sage Timeslips Today, you can easily drill down to the specific area of Sage Timeslips that contains that data. For example, if Sage Timeslips Today includes a slip list, you can double-click on a slip from the list to view or edit slip details within the Slip Entry dialog box.

Modifying Sage Timeslips Today templates

While Sage Timeslips provides pre-made Sage Timeslips Today templates that present key data about your company, advanced users can also create or modify templates to present the data most important to them. For example, you can create your own Sage Timeslips Today template to display triggered alerts, slips with active timers, slips or transactions created within the last week, clients with overdue balances, and more.

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Using Sage Timeslips Today to View Data

Modifying Sage Timeslips Today templates

10

Opening the template you want to modify

For more info on editing Sage Timeslips Today, look up editing Timeslips Today Templates in the online Help.

While viewing the template that you want to edit, right click on the template and choose Edit. Sage Timeslips switches to the Edit Sage Timeslips Today dialog box, where you can edit the current template. If needed, you can also open another template to edit or create a new template.

You can drag and drop sections from the section list onto the current template.

Adding or removing sections While in editing Sage Timeslips Today templates, you can add or remove template sections. To add a section, click on the section from the section list to the right, drag it onto the template where you want it, and then release the mouse button. To remove a section, click on the section and then click Delete .

For more information on the available Sage Timeslips Today sections, look up available Sage Timeslips Today sections in the online Help. Customizing sections You can use section options to customize individual sections. Right click on any section and choose Options to access these options. You can set up options to change the way data is displayed in the section. For example, you can assign selection filters to limit the data displayed, set up sort settings to determine the order of the data, or specify the maximum number of records displayed in the section.

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By customizing sections, you can use the same type of section to display different information. For example, you can add two Slip List sections, using the section options to display only time slips in the first section and only expense slips in the second section. Another use is to add two Slip List sections, using filters to display this weeks slips in the first section and last weeks slips in the second section. You can also set up options to determine the look of the section. For example, you can customize the section title, font, and background color.

Using Navigators to View Data

You can use enhanced navigators to access commands and review data.
Enhanced navigators allow you to access groups of commands while reviewing related information.

For more information on viewing enhanced navigators, look up enhanced navigators in the online Help system.

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Using Navigators to View Data

Displaying an enhanced navigator

10

Displaying an enhanced navigator

You must first choose the navigator format and template to use. You can display a navigator automatically when you start Sage Timeslips or you can open a navigator manually when you want to use it. Choosing which navigator to display To choose the style of navigator, you must edit your preference settings. Select Setup; Preferences to open the Personal Preferences dialog box and switch to the Navigator page. Choose Enhanced Mode and choose a Template. Displaying navigators automatically To open a navigator when you start Sage Timeslips, you must also edit your preference settings. Select Setup; Preferences to open the Personal Preferences dialog box, switch to the Startup and Exit page, and set Navigator to Yes. Displaying navigators manually If a navigator is not already open, you can click Navigator or select Special; Navigator to display it. from the toolbar

Viewing data
When viewing enhanced navigators, you can refresh the data displayed or drill down to the source data. Refreshing data The data displayed on enhanced navigators can originate from many different areas of Sage Timeslips. To optimize program performance, Sage Timeslips refreshes this data periodicallyusually every fifteen minutes. You can also force Sage Timeslips to update data. Right-click on any data section and select Update Section or Update All Sections. Drilling down to source data When viewing lists of records within an enhanced navigator, you can easily drill down to the specific area of Sage Timeslips that contains that data. For example, if a navigator section includes a slip list, you can double-click on a slip from the list to view or edit slip details within the Slip Entry dialog box.

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Modifying enhanced navigators

Sage Timeslips provides pre-made navigator templates that you can use to access commands and view data. Enhanced navigators are composed of many elements that advanced users can modify. For example, you can change which Sage Timeslips Today template is used or you can customize sections that display data. Opening the template you want to modify You must first display the enhanced navigator template that you want to modify. See Displaying an enhanced navigator on page 10-9 for information on displaying an enhanced navigator. Selecting the Sage Timeslips Today template to display The first page of an enhanced navigator displays a Sage Timeslips Today template. You can use the template that displays by default, you can display another pre-made template, you can modify a pre-made template, or you can use a template that you created. When you have decided which Sage Timeslips Today template to use with the enhanced navigator, you can assign it within the Navigator Settings dialog box. Click Change settings in the bottom left corner of the enhanced navigator.
Click Browse and select the Sage Timeslips Today template that you want to use.

If you want to edit the sections displayed on the Sage Timeslips Today page of the navigator, simply right click on the Sage Timeslips Today topic and choose Edit. You can use the same techniques that you use to modify Sage Timeslips Today templates. See Modifying Sage Timeslips Today templates on page 10-6 for more information on modifying individual Sage Timeslips Today templates.

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Using Navigators to View Data

Modifying enhanced navigators

10

Editing navigation sections Sage Timeslips uses navigator files to determine which navigation elements (buttons, labels, and lines) display on each topic of enhanced navigators. You must use the separate Navigator Editor application if you want to change these elements. From the Windows Start menu, select Navigator Editor within the Sage Timeslips program group. You can then access the pre-made navigator files within the Enhanced Navigator folder, which is below your Sage Timeslips installation folder. For more information on editing navigator files, see the online Help system included with Navigator Editor. If you do not want to edit individual navigator topics, you can still change the order that these topics appear within the enhanced navigator. Click Change settings in the bottom left corner of the enhanced navigator.
You can change the order of each topic on the navigator and the additional sections that appear within each topic.

Editing data sections Sage Timeslips includes data sections on every enhanced navigator topic except for the Sage Timeslips Today topic. You can choose which data sections appear within each navigator topic and modify how data appears within each data section.

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To choose which data sections appear in each topic, click Change settings in the bottom left corner of the enhanced navigator.
You can choose which data sections appear in the lower left, upper right, and lower right corners of each topic.

To change how data appears in each data topic, view the navigator topic and click the Options link on the specific section. These options can change the way data is displayed in the section. For example, you can assign selection filters to limit the data displayed, set up sort settings to determine the order of the data, or specify the maximum number of records displayed in the section. You can also set up options to determine the look of the section. For example, you can customize the section title, font, and background color.

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Using Alerts to View Data

Setting up alert rules

10

Using Alerts to View Data

You can use alerts to notify timekeepers when particular data-related events occur. For example, you can create an alert rule to notify you when a clients accounts receivable balance has exceeded $1000 or when a timekeeper has entered slips for the week exceeding 40 hours. Without the use of alerts, you may have to open multiple dialog boxes and print various reports to find this information. Instead of searching for these details, you can use an alert system to notify you of information that you requested. The following steps summarize the process of using alerts: Setting up alert rules The system administrator or individual timekeepers create alert rules. Alert rules determine the type of data to review and who to notify when the conditions of a rule are met. See Setting up alert rules on page 10-13 for more information. Triggering alert rules As timekeepers enter data, Sage Timeslips reviews that data. If data satisfies any alert rules, Sage Timeslips triggers an alert. See Triggering alerts on page 10-15 for more information. Viewing alerts Sage Timeslips displays triggered alerts to the timekeepers associated with the alert rule. Timekeepers can view alerts one at a time or in a list. See Viewing alerts on page 10-15 for more information. Managing alerts The system administrator or individual timekeepers can manage alert rules and view the details of associated alerts. See Managing alert rules and alerts on page 10-17 for more information.

For more information on viewing alerts, look up alerts in the online Help system.

Setting up alert rules

In order for Sage Timeslips to notify timekeepers of data-related events, you must first set up alert rules. Alert rules determine the type of data to review and the timekeeper to notify when the conditions of the rule are met. You use the Alert Rule wizard to create alert rules. This wizard walks you through the alert-creation process. The views of the wizard and data available for each view depend on the selections you make on the previous views.

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How to create an alert rule The steps below show you how to create an alert rule. In this example, you want to notify D. Brickley when a timekeeper enters a slip for client Eastern that is greater than $1000.
1 2 3 Select Special; Alerts; Manager to open the Alert Manager dialog box. Click New to open the Alert Rule wizard.

The Select Timekeeper to Notify view opens. In this example you want Sage Timeslips to notify David Brickley when this alert rule triggers an alert. Select D. Brickley and click Next. The Select Name Type view opens. Use this view to select the name type that the alert reviews. In this example, you want to review data for a specific client. Select Client, mark Select from a list of names, and click Next. The Specific Client Selection view opens. Use this view to select the specific clients that this alert rule will review. In this example, you only want to review slips for client Eastern. Mark Eastern on the list and click Next. The Select Data Type view opens. The data available on this view depends on the selection you made on the previous view. In this example, you want to review slip data. Select Slip and click Next. The Select Data Fields view opens. This view contains a list of the available data fields that you can review. In this example you want to review the slip value. Select Value and click Next. The Select Field Details view opens. Use this view to determine how this alert reviews individual slip values or the total value or all slips. In this example, you want to review slips individually. Select Value and click Next. The Select Comparison Type view opens. In this example, you want to trigger alerts when a slips value is over $1000. Select Is greater than, enter 1000 in the right-most field, and click Next.

Use the views of the Alert Rule wizard to set up the new alert rule.

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Triggering alerts

10

10 The Select Date Range view opens. You can use this view to set a date range for the alert. In this example, you do not want to limit the alert to a date range. Click Finish to create the alert rule and close the Alert Rule wizard.

Sage Timeslips displays the new alert rule in the Alert rules list.
The alerts description reflects the selections you made on the Alert Rule wizard.

See Managing alert rules and alerts on page 10-17 for more information on using the Alert Manager dialog box.

Triggering alerts
Sage Timeslips reviews alert rules whenever a timekeeper saves data. This is most common as timekeepers enter or edit slips and transactions. Additionally, Sage Timeslips reviews alert rules while saving data during advanced processes such as approving bills. If data satisfies an alert rule, Sage Timeslips triggers an alert. If the timekeeper to be alerted is not logged into Sage Timeslips, the alert will display when that timekeeper opens Sage Timeslips. See Viewing alerts on page 10-15 for more information on how Sage Timeslips displays alerts. You can also use the Alert Manager dialog box to maintain triggered alerts. See Managing alert rules and alerts on page 10-17 for more information.

Viewing alerts
Sage Timeslips triggers alerts that satisfy alert rule conditions when timekeepers save data (see Triggering alerts on page 10-15 for more information). Timekeepers can view triggered alerts in the following ways: Viewing alerts at startup: When timekeepers start Sage Timeslips, all alerts triggered since their last session are displayed. Depending on the settings in the Alert Manager dialog box (select Special; Alerts; Manager), Sage Timeslips displays alerts in the Alert dialog box or the Alert List dialog box when you log into Sage Timeslips. Viewing alerts automatically as you work: If the timekeeper associated with an alert is logged into Sage Timeslips, the alert will immediately display for the timekeeper in the Alert dialog box when it is triggered. Viewing alerts manually: Timekeepers can review triggered alerts at any time, using the Alert List dialog box.

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Sage Timeslips can display each alert separately, or it can display a list of alerts.

You can use the buttons on the alert to dismiss the current alert, remind you of the alert at a later time, or open the record associated with the alert.

You can use the toolbar buttons to view or dismiss the current alert.

If you are viewing a Sage Timeslips Today template that contains a Sage Timeslips Message Center section, Sage Timeslips displays the alerts here instead of the Alert dialog box. Using the Alert dialog box Sage Timeslips opens the Alert dialog box to display individual alerts. From this dialog box, timekeepers can: click Dismiss to close the alert. This alert will not display again. enter a time increment and click Remind to close the alert. Sage Timeslips will redisplay the alert after the time increment passes. click Open to open the data record that triggered the alert, where timekeepers can view or edit the data.

While you can continue with other processes while the alert is open, you must click either Dismiss or Remind to close the alert. Using the Alert List dialog box You can use the Alert List dialog box (select Special; Alerts; List) to display multiple alerts at once. From this dialog box, timekeepers can: select an alert and click Open to open a specific alert (see Using the Alert dialog box on page 10-16). select an alert and click Dismiss to close the alert. Sage Timeslips will remove the alert from the list and will not display the alert again.

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Using Alerts to View Data

Managing alert rules and alerts

10

Managing alert rules and alerts

Select Special; Alerts; Manager to open the Alert Manager dialog box. Here you can view the status and details of all alerts, as well as determine how alerts display when you open Sage Timeslips.
You can unmark the Active check box for an alert to disable it.

When you select a rule on the Alert rules list, alerts triggered from that rule are displayed in the Alerts list.

Sage Timeslips can display alerts in a list, instead of displaying them individually.

The Alert rules list displays all alert rules. Use the toolbar buttons to the right to manage alert rules. For example, you can create a new alert rule, duplicate the selected alert rule, open the selected alert rule, or delete the selected alert rule. If you delete an alert rule, Sage Timeslips automatically deletes all the corresponding alerts for that rule. The Alerts list displays the alerts triggered from the selected alert rule. Use the buttons at the bottom of the dialog box to maintain alerts. For example, you can open the Alert dialog box to display the selected alert, dismiss or activate the selected alert, delete the selected alert, or delete all dismissed alerts.

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10-18

Designing and Printing Reports

Overview
Additional resources

11

11-2
11-2

Accessing Standard Reports Customizing Reports

Selecting data for reports Sorting report data Setting report options and formats Designing report sections Previewing reports Saving reports Using report groups

11-3 11-6
11-8 11-9 11-10 11-11 11-22 11-22 11-22

Printing Reports
Previewing reports to display Printing reports to the printer Printing reports to Excel Printing reports to PDF Printing reports to a rich text file Printing reports to a text file Printing reports to a delimited file

11-23
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Adding New Reports

11-28

Creating new reports based on standard reports 11-28 Creating new user-defined reports 11-30 Creating new graph reports 11-31 Creating new label reports 11-32

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Timeslips Users Guide

Designing and Printing Reports

Overview
Sage Timeslips provides comprehensive reports in several areas. These reports are based on information from slips, clients, timekeepers, tasks, expenses, and transactions. The reporting functionality in Sage Timeslips allows you to: Access reports You can access all of the standard reports from the Report List dialog box. See Accessing Standard Reports on page 11-3. Customize reports Before printing any report, you can use the Report Entry dialog box to customize it to fit your firms needs. See Customizing Reports on page 11-6. Print reports Sage Timeslips offers a variety of printing formats, such as printing to your default printer, saving reports as PDF files, or exporting reports to Excel. See Printing Reports on page 11-23. Add new reports You can add new customized reports to Sage Timeslips. This makes it easy for you to build lists of reports that your firm uses. See Adding New Reports on page 11-28.

This chapter focuses on selecting a report, setting up the report to fit your firms needs, and printing the report.

Additional resources
Sage Timeslips provides additional resources to help you learn how to design and print reports: The online Help system describes all standard reports in detail and describes the fields available on each report. For more information on creating, designing, and printing reports, look up reports in the online Help. Sage Timeslips also provides a Sample Reports Guide in portable document format (PDF). To review samples of the reports available in Sage Timeslips, select Help; Other Documents; Report Samples.

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Accessing Standard Reports

Additional resources

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Accessing Standard Reports

The Report List dialog box allows you to view, set up, and print any report. Click Reports from the toolbar or select a report group from the Reports menu to open the Report List dialog box. For example, if you want to print a timekeeper-based report, you can select Reports; Timekeeper to open the Timekeeper page of the Report List dialog box.
Select a tab to view the reports for a particular report group.

When you select a report from the Report List, Sage Timeslips shows an example of that report.

If you dont know which report you want to print, you can select reports from the list and view the report examples and description to the right, you can click Overview to read additional details about each report, or you can use the Find a Report wizard (select Reports; Find a Report) to find a report. The default report groups on the Report List dialog box are:
For more info on each report in the report list, see Report List dialog box in the online Help.

Billing: Contains reports relating to the billing cycle. Some examples include: Aged A/R Balances by Date, Pre-Billing Worksheet, Generate Bills, and Generate Statements. See Chapter 12, Billing Clients for more info on billing. Slips: Contains reports involving data from time and expense slips. Some examples include: Slip Listing, Productivity by Period, Slip Summary Listing, and Time Sheet Slip Entry. See Chapter 8, Tracking Time and Expenses for more info on entering time and expense slips.

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A/R Transactions: Contains reports involving data from accounts receivable transactions. Some examples include: A/R Transaction Listing, Invoice Listing, and Payment Distribution. See Chapter 9, Entering Transactions for more info on accounts receivable transactions.

Funds Transactions: Contains reports involving data from funds transactions. Some examples include: Bank Account Listing, Funds Account Listing, and Funds Transaction Listing. See Chapter 9, Entering Transactions for more info on client funds transactions.

Client: Contains reports involving data from clients. Some examples include: Client Budgets, Client Info Listing, and Envelopes. See Chapter 7, Entering Names for more info on clients. Timekeeper: Contains reports involving data from timekeepers. Some examples include: Fee Allocations, Overhead Cost by Period, and Timekeeper Collections. See Chapter 7, Entering Names for more info on timekeepers. Activity: Contains reports involving data from tasks and expenses. Some examples: Task Budgets, Markup Analysis, and Task Rate Analysis. See Chapter 7, Entering Names for more info on tasks and expenses. System: Contains reports listing global information. Some examples include: Abbreviation Listing, Category Listing, and Custom Fields Listing. See Chapter 6, Creating a New Database for more info on databases. Tax: Contains reports involving tax data. Some examples: Tax Collection Summary, Tax Jurisdiction Listing, Tax Profile Listing, and Tax Rate Rule Listing. See Chapter 7, Entering Names for more info on taxes. Other: Contains miscellaneous reports. Some examples: Convert to Accrual Method, Firm Budgets with Groups, and G/L Transfer Register.

You can print reports right from the Report List dialog box. This allows you to print the report using the reports standard settings or any settings that you have saved with the report. If needed, you can edit report settings before printing the report. See Customizing Reports on page 11-6.

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How to print a report from the Report List dialog box

1 2 Click Reports from the main toolbar to open the Report List dialog box.

From the pages of the Report List dialog box, locate and highlight the report that you want to generate. If the report does not exist on the list, you can use the Create a Report wizard to add it (see Adding New Reports on page 11-28).

3 4 5

Optionally, use the filter fields (when available at the bottom of the Report List dialog box) to set the range of data to include. Use the Print to field to select the destination for the report. We suggest that you set Print to to Display as you change report settings. When you are satisfied with the report, set Print to to Printer or another device (see Printing Reports on page 11-23).

For some reports, the Report List offers fields where you can set up quick filters that can limit the data included on the report. Use the Print to field to choose the destination of the report.

Click Print to print the report.

For more detailed information on printing reports, see Printing Reports on page 11-23.

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Customizing Reports
Sage Timeslips allows you to customize standard reports to meet your firms needs. The following example shows the ways you can customize reports.
You can design report headers using the Design page of the Print Preview dialog box.

10/17/2008 5:13 PM

Willis & Henderson, P. C. Slip Listing

Page

Selection Criteria Slip.Classification Clie.Selection Slip.Date Open Include: ABC; Atlantic 9/26/2008 - 9/30/2008

You can select the data to include on reports using the Filters page of the Report Entry dialog box.

Rate Info - identifies rate source and level

Slip ID Dates and Time Posting Status Description Date: 9/27/2008 26 TIME 9/27/2008 WIP Court appearance with Mr. Whitley.

Timekeeper Activity Client Reference D. Brickley Trial and Hearing Atten ABC Bismark v. ABC

Units DNB Time Est. Time Variance 8.00 1.00 7.00 1.00 7.25 0.00 0.00 0.00

Rate Rate Info Bill Status

Slip Value

175.00 T@2

1400.00

You can set up font styles for reports using the Design page of the Print Preview dialog box.

27 TIME D. Brickley 9/27/2008 Communicate (other co WIP Atlantic Meeting with in-house reps and opposing counsel regarding documents; Further correspondence to opposing counsel; Drafting discovery responses; Review faxes from Sal Jacobs; Telephone conference with opposing counsel; Emails to Scott Hilt regarding motions; Telephone conference with other in-house attorneys 31 TIME 9/27/2008 WIP Drafted letter to DEQP. D. Brickley Draft/revise ABC ABC v. DEQP D. Brickley Research Atlantic

150.00 T@1

1087.50

1.50 0.00 0.00 0.00 2.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

175.00 T@2

262.50

You can set up sorting and subtotal options using the Sort page of the Report Entry dialog box.

32 TIME 9/27/2008 WIP Researched prior cases against Atlantic filed by competitor companies.

150.00 T@1

300.00

Total: 9/27/2008 Billable Unbillable Total 17.75 1.00 18.75 2875.00 175.00 3050.00

You can design report footers using the Design page of the Print Preview dialog box.

For Internal Use Only.

You can access each of these tools through the Report Entry dialog box. We discuss these methods of customizing reports in the following sections.

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From the Report List dialog box, select a report and click Open Report Entry dialog box. You can use the Report Entry dialog box to:

to open the

Select report data You can use the Filters tab of the Report Entry dialog box to select which records will appear on the report. See Selecting data for reports on page 11-8. Sort report data You can use the Sort tab of the Report Entry dialog box to determine the order of records on the report. See Sorting report data on page 11-9. Set report options You can click the Options button to set up formatting options for the report. See Setting report options and formats on page 11-10. Design report sections You can click Design Reports from the toolbar to design headers, footers, font styles, fields for labels and userdefined reports, and more. See Designing report sections on page 11-11.
Use the Sort tab to sort the data appearing on reports.

Use the Filters tab to filter the data appearing on reports.

Click the Options button to set up report options and formats. Click the Design Reports button to design report sections.

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Selecting data for reports

While you may want to include all available data on some reports, you will want to limit the data that appears on other reports. You can set up report selection filters to limit the data that appears on a report. While some reports include default report filters, usually if you do not set up filters for a report, Sage Timeslips will include all open records on that report. To set up a report filter, open the Filters page of the Report Entry dialog box, select a filter group, select a specific filter, and then click Add . For example, you can use report filters to print a Slip Listing that includes only open slips for client Nickerson by timekeeper D. Brickley.

For more info on setting up filters, look up selecting data for reports in the online Help.

Use the Filter Groups field to select a filter group. The list of associated filters, below, will reflect the selected filter group. Select a filter from the list and click Add .

The filters available will vary from report to report.

When you set up report filters, the report will include only those records matching the filters.

Slip ID Dates and Time Posting Status Description 12 4/27/2008 WIP Photocopies.

EXP

Timekeeper Activity Client Reference D. Brickley Copying Nickerson

Units DNB Time Est. Time Variance 25

Rate Rate Info Bill Status 0.15

Slip Value

3.75

23 TIME D. Brickley 8/17/2008 Communicate (in firm) WIP Nickerson Meeting with partners about upcoming Nickerson project. Reviewed past projects for conflicts. 47 TIME 11/22/2008 WIP Conference regarding Nickerson's status; review recent rulings D. Brickley Communicate (in firm) Nickerson

4.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

150.00 T@1

600.00

3.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

150.00 T@1

450.00

You can click Save and save report filters as part of the report definition. See Saving reports on page 11-22 for more information. You can also click Save Template to save report filters as a template for use with other reports or for use with other Sage Timeslips features.

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Sorting report data

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Sorting report data

For more info on sorting reports, see sorting reports in the online Help.

After setting up filters to limit the data appearing on the report, you should decide how you want to organize the information on the report. Use the Sort page to set up sort keys and subtotal options for the report. A sort key is a piece of data by which Sage Timeslips can sort the report. The sort keys available vary from report to report. On the Sort page, select a sort group, select a specific sort key, and click Add to set up sort keys. You can set the Order to be Ascending or Descending. You can also subtotal certain sort keys by setting the Subtotal field. For example, you can sort and subtotal the Slip Listing by each activity name.

Use the Sort Groups field to select a sort group. The list of associated sort keys, below, will reflect the selected sort group. Select a sort key from the list and click Add .

Activity: Communicate (in firm) 23 TIME D. Brickley 8/17/2008 Communicate (in firm) WIP Nickerson Meeting with partners about upcoming Nickerson project. Reviewed past projects for conflicts. 47 TIME 11/22/2008 WIP Conference regarding Nickerson's status; review recent rulings D. Brickley Communicate (in firm) Nickerson

4.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

150.00 T@1

600.00

3.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

150.00 T@1

450.00

Sort keys and subtotal settings allow you to further customize reports, providing additional totals.

Total: Communicate (in firm) Billable Unbillable Total 7.00 0.00 7.00 1050.00 0.00 1050.00

Some sort keys (such as dates) offer other subtotaling categories such as Day, Week, Month, Quarter, and so on. Use the Move Up and Move Down buttons to arrange the order of the sort keys in the list. 11-9

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Setting report options and formats

You can also choose report options and report formats that determine how information appears on the report. Click Options on the Report Entry dialog box to open the Report Options dialog box. These options differ for each report. For example, on the Slip Listing you can choose to show only totals, choose the format of time values, or specify the name formats to display.

The report options and report formats available differ from report to report.

Communicate (in firm) Billable Unbillable Total 7.00 0.00 7.00 1050.00 0.00 1050.00

Settings on the Report Options dialog box allow you to control the format of data on the report.

Copying Billable Unbillable Total 0.00 0.00 0.00 3.75 0.00 3.75

Help is available for each option. Click Help in the top right corner and click on an option for more information. You can also click the Help button below for information on options for all reports.

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Designing report sections

Click Design Reports from the Report Entry dialog box to open the Design tab of the Print Preview dialog box, where you can design many elements of the report.
Use toolbar buttons and menu commands to design reports. Use the tabs to switch between report design and report preview. Use the Report Name field to enter a unique name for each report. Use the work area to design each report section. Use the Go to section field to move to a specific report section.

Use the Field List toolbar to add database fields to reports.

For most reports, you will use this tab to design headers and footers, set up font styles, or adjust margins. However, if you create user-defined reports or print mailing labels, you can also choose which fields will appear in the report body. The Design tab of the Print Preview dialog box offers many tools to help you design reports: Using design menus The commands on the design menus allow you to maintain reports and design report sections.
Use the commands on the design menus to design report sections.

Look up design menus in the online Help system for more information on the each of these menus.

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Using design toolbars The buttons available on the design toolbars provide quick access to many of the commands you can use to design report sections.
Use the buttons on the main toolbar to maintain reports, or cut, copy, and paste fields. Use the buttons on the design toolbar to add or edit objects and fields on the report. Use the buttons on the font toolbar to change the font of the selected field.

Look up design toolbars in the online Help system for more information on each of these menus. Using the ruler The ruler is located at the top of each report. It can help you in three ways:
You can use the ruler to set margins for the report.

It assists in positioning items in the work area. You can also use the Status Line or the Dimensions dialog box to do the same. It contains margin positions used by the body of the report. These margins indicate the leftmost and rightmost locations for report data. By adjusting the margins, you change the area used by the body of the report. You can change the margins of the template by dragging the margin indicators to the appropriate locations on the ruler.

It determines the width of the cells in a table section. See Types of report sections on page 11-13 for more information about table sections.

Using the status line When you select one or more objects, Sage Timeslips displays the following information about the object on the status line at the bottom of the template window:

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The status bar displays information about the selected field.

Location: The left side of the status line shows the location of the object on the page. For example, X:3.27 inches Y:0.51 inches tells you that the upper left corner of the object is located 3.27 inches from the left edge of the page and 0.51 inches from the top edge of the section. Number of objects selected: If you have selected more than one object, the middle of the status line shows the number of selected objects. Object type: The right side of the status line identifies the selected object by showing either its field name or field type.

Types of report sections When you design report sections, there are two types of sections that you will most often design: free-form sections and table sections. On free-form sections, such as the Header - First Page section, you can place fields anywhere in the section and you can also place graphics, lines, and boxes in the section.

In free-form sections, you can move objects anywhere within the section. You can also add lines and boxes to these sections.

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On table sections, such as the Slip Details section on a user-defined slip listing report, you use tables to align fields within a report section. You can place only database fields within this section. You can also use text fields to set up column headings.

In table sections, you can add text fields and database fields within cells of the table. The rows and columns of the table align fields on the report.

You can use the following methods when designing report sections: Adding text fields You can add text fields within a report section as field labels, headings, or custom messages. To add a text field:
1 2 Click the Text button from the toolbar.

Click within the report section where you want to place the new text field. Sage Timeslips places the new text field on the report. Sage Timeslips highlights this field so you can edit the text.

Enter the new text for the text field.

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Adding database fields You can add database fields within a report section to display additional values on the report. To add a database field:
1 2 From the Field List toolbar to the right, set the Field Group to the appropriate group. For example, to add data about your firm, set Field Group to General. From the field list below the Field Group, click on the appropriate field and drag it onto the report section. For example, you can add the firms phone number to a report header section.

You can now move or format the field as necessary.

Adding graphics You can add graphics to free-form report sections. To add a graphic:
1 2 3 Select Tools; Insert; Graphic to select a graphic file. Set the Files of type field to the appropriate graphic type (for example, if you want to insert a bitmap, select Windows Bitmap). Select the folder that contains the graphic that you want to add.

4 5

Select the graphic to insert and click Open. Sage Timeslips places the graphic within the report section. You can now move or format the graphic as necessary.

You can also insert graphic images into free-form report sections by copying images from a graphic program and pasting the graphic into the report section. 11-15

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Adding lines You can add lines within a free-form report section to highlight or separate items on the report. To add a line:
1 2 Click the Line button from the toolbar.

Click within the report section where you want to begin the line and, while holding down the left mouse button, drag the mouse cursor to where you want to end the line.

Release the mouse button when you are at the position where you want to end the line. With the line still selected, you can click the Line Styles button from the toolbar to open the Line Style dialog box, where you can change the style of the current line.

Adding boxes You can add boxes within a free-form report section to surround or call attention to items on the report. To add a box:
1 2 Click the Rectangle button from the toolbar.

Click within the report section where you want to place the top left corner of the box and, while holding down the left mouse button, drag the mouse cursor to where you want to end the box.

Release the mouse button when you are at the position where you want to end the box. With the box still selected, you can click the Line Styles button from the toolbar to open the Line Style dialog box, where you can change the style and fill of the current box.

When drawing boxes, you can place the box behind another field or object for a more complex effect. See Layering fields on page 11-20 for more information.

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Changing font styles You can change the font styles used to display data on reports. For example, you can change the font and bold the font for the firm name on the report header. To change font styles:
1 Within a free-form report section, click on a text field or database field.

Using the Font toolbar, select the font name, font size, and other font options to use for the selected field.

You can also use the Font Styles tab of the Global Report Layout Options dialog box to change font styles for specific types of data on the report. You can also use these options to set the default font for the report. Select Layout; Global Options to open this dialog box. Formatting fields You can format fields on the report to appear in a different style. For example, you can change the format of the date field on the report header to include the day of the week. To format a field:
1 Within a report section, click a field to format.

2 3

Select Tools; Format to open the related Format dialog box. Select the new field format. For example, you could select Full with day of the week for a date field.

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Formatting graphs You can format graph fields on graph reports to appear in a different style. For example, you can switch from the standard bar chart to a pie chart. To format a graph:
1 Within a Graph report section, click on a graph.

2 3

Select Tools; Format to open the related Format dialog box. Select the new graph format and any other graph options and click OK.

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Aligning fields to each other

When designing free-form sections, you can use grids to help align fields in each section. For more info, see moving:layout fields and objects in online Help.

You can align fields with each other on a report to provide a more professional appearance. To align fields with each other:
1 Select the fields to align. Sage Timeslips will align the selected fields with the last field you select. For example, you can align a Phone Number: text label with the Firm Phone 1 database field. If you want to align the database field to the text label, first click on the database field and then hold the Ctrl key and click on the text label. The status bar will indicate the last field selected and will also indicate the number of fields currently selected.

Select Tools; Align Fields; Align Top to align the Last Bill Date database field to the top of the Last bill date: label.

When aligning fields, you may also want to justify the text of those fields.

Aligning fields to margins You can also align fields with report margins to provide a more professional appearance. To align fields with margins:
1 Select one or more fields to align. The status bar will indicate the last field selected and will also indicate the number of fields currently selected.

Choose how to align fields. For example, you can align the fields with the left margin. Select Tools; Align Fields; Snap to Left Margin.

When aligning fields, you may also want to justify the text of those fields.

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Justifying field text You can justify the text within fields to align on the left, right, or center of the field. This is useful when you move or change the alignment of the field on a report. To justify text:
1 Select one or more fields for which you want to justify text. For example, if you centered fields within a report section, you may also want to center justify the text of the field. The status bar will indicate the last field selected and will also indicate the number of fields currently selected.

Click the Center Text Justify button

from the toolbar.

Layering fields You can stack fields and then move the layers up or down to create effects. For example, you can draw a box around a field.
1 2 Click the Rectangle button from the toolbar.

Click on the report section above the top left corner of the field to begin the box and, while holding down the left mouse button, drag the mouse cursor past the bottom right corner of the field to end the box. The box covers the field.

With the new box still selected, select Tools; Field Layer; Move to Back to move the box behind the address fields.

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Working with cells in a table When you work with table sections, Sage Timeslips uses the tables cells to align report data, so your report formatting options are limited. See Types of report sections on page 11-13 for more information about report sections. If you want to add more fields to a table than can currently fit on it, you can use buttons on the toolbar to add rows or columns. Select a cell in the table and click Insert Column
left of it. to insert a column to the

Select a cell in the table and click Insert Row

to insert a row above it.

If you have removed fields from a table, you can delete rows or columns. Select a cell in the table and click Delete Column
column. to delete the current

Select a cell in the table and click Delete Row

to delete the current row.

Using the ruler, you can also determine the width for each column of cells.

The column indicators on the ruler establish the widths of columns on reports.

For more information on working with table sections, look up working with tables in the online Help system.

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Previewing reports
While designing reports using the Design tab of the Print Preview dialog box, you might want to see the effects of your design decisions before printing the report. You can click the Preview tab to preview your changes.
Click the Preview tab to preview the report.

See Previewing reports to display on page 11-23 for more information.

Saving reports
As you make changes to reports, you might want to save certain settings with the report. For example, you may always want to use the same sort settings with a specific report or you may want to send the report to a particular printer. From the Report Entry dialog box, click Save
You can select the page of the Report List dialog box where this report will appear. Choose the settings to save with the report.

to open the Save dialog box.

Mark the settings you want to save as part of the report. You can also assign the report to another report group or change the report name.

Using report groups

Each tabbed page in the Report List dialog box represents a report group. Report groups are categories that you can use to organize reports. You can use the Edit Groups dialog box to change the name of a report group or change the order in which the report groups appear on the Report List dialog box. For example, you can create report groups for individual users. Click Edit Groups from the toolbar to open the Edit Groups dialog box where you can maintain report groups.

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Previewing reports to display

11

Printing Reports
After you set up filters, sort keys, and report options, you are ready to print the report. The Print to field determines the device where you will print the report or the format in which you will save the report. Look up printing reports in the online Help for more information on the methods you can use to print reports.

Previewing reports to display

You can print Sage Timeslips reports to the display to preview report information before printing it to a printer or file. This allows you to quickly see if the report includes the correct data, sorting, formats, and design. See Customizing Reports on page 11-6 for more information on customizing reports. When you print reports to the display, Sage Timeslips previews the report within the Preview page of the Print Preview dialog box. There are two ways to preview reports: From the Report List dialog box or Report Entry dialog box, you can print a report to the display to preview the report.

Set Print to to Display and click the Print button to preview reports.

When using the Design tab of the Print Preview dialog box to design reports, you can switch to the Preview tab, where you can preview the report. See Designing report sections on page 11-11 for more information.

Click the Preview tab to switch to the Preview page.

When you preview reports, you can click on report data to review specific records.

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Clicking on report fields to drill down to source data When you preview reports on the display, you can click on report data on the screen to drill down to the Sage Timeslips records that affect the report. Sage Timeslips presents clickable data in two formats: When you click on an area highlighted in yellow, Sage Timeslips drills down to a specific record. For example, you can click on a time slip to open that slip in the Slip Entry dialog box.

When you click on an area highlighted in blue, Sage Timeslips drills down to a specific field on that record. For example, you can click on the slip date to open that slip in the Slip Entry dialog box and highlight the Start date field.

You cannot drill down on data that represents a total because totals are generated from more that one record in Sage Timeslips. When you drill down to report data, if you make any changes, Sage Timeslips will highlight changed records in a red highlight. After you are done making changes to the report data, click Update to refresh the report with your changes. If you do not have many slips or transactions in your database, you may want Sage Timeslips to update your report data automatically. If you mark Automatically update the report after making changes on the Preview page, Sage Timeslips will update the displayed report every time you make a change.

See previewing reports in the online Help system for more information on previewing reports interactively.

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Printing reports to the printer

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Printing reports to the printer

You can print Sage Timeslips reports to any printer accessible by your workstation. Set Print to to Printer and click Print to print the report to your default printer. You can click Print Setup from the Report Entry dialog box to set up the default printer. You can click Save from the Report Entry dialog box to save the printer selection as part of the report definition. Set Print to to Printer... and click Print to open the Print dialog box, where you can select the printer to print the report.

Printing reports to Excel

If you want to perform your own calculations on report data, Sage Timeslips allows you to export report data to a Microsoft Excel worksheet. Set Print to to Microsoft Excel file and click Print to print the report to an Excel worksheet. Before printing the report, Sage Timeslips opens the Print to Excel dialog box, where you can set up options that determine how the report will print.
Choose where the worksheet will print.

Choose how to format data in the worksheet.

Sage Timeslips will not transfer totals or total headings to Excel. Even if you have set up subtotals for the report, the Excel worksheet will include only the detail from the report, excluding calculated subtotals, totals, and their headings. However, the values within the worksheet will reflect any sort keys that you have set up. Although you are able to suppress zero values on reports, Sage Timeslips will always include zero values when printing to Excel. This will make it easier for you to perform calculations on columns of data. Look up excel in the online Help system for more information on printing reports to an Excel worksheet.

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Printing reports to PDF

If you want to distribute reports electronically, you can print Sage Timeslips reports to PDF (portable document format) files. Set Print to to PDF file and click Print to print the report to a PDF file. When you print to this format, Sage Timeslips creates a file that contains an exact representation of a printed report. This is convenient because it allows you to send PDF copies of the report to other employees in your firm or to your clients. In order to view PDF files, workstations must have Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Printing reports to a rich text file

If you want to edit reports in a word processing program, you can print Sage Timeslips reports to RTF (rich text format) files. Set Print to to RTF file and click Print to print the report to an RTF file. Even with all of its report formats and report options, you may need to format report information in a way that Sage Timeslips cannot. When you print to this format, Sage Timeslips creates a file that is editable in word processing programs. This format preserves the fonts, formatting, and positioning of report data, while still allowing you to edit the report. Changing the font size and style should not disrupt the formatting. Sage Timeslips does not support graphic images when printing to an RTF file.

Printing reports to a text file

If you want to edit reports in a word processing program, you can also print Sage Timeslips reports to text files. Set Print to to Text file and click Print to print the report to a text file. When you print to this format, Sage Timeslips creates a file that is editable in word processing programs, but does not retain any of the formatting or layout of the original report. This file contains plain text only.

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Printing reports to a delimited file

If you want to export report data for use within another program, such as a database program, you can print Sage Timeslips reports to delimited files. When printing delimited files, Sage Timeslips separates each data value with a specific type of character. This makes the data easily readable by other types of programs. Set Print to to CSV file and click Print to print the report to a file that places quotes around text data, does not place quotes around numerical data, and separates all data values with commas. For example, the file might include lines that look like this: "Bishop","Hours",5.00,"Fees",180.0000,"Costs",65.50 Set Print to to Tab-delimited file and click Print to print the report to a file that places quotes around text data, does not place quotes around numerical data, and separates all data values with tabs. For example, the file might include lines that look like this: "Bishop" "Hours" 5.00 "Fees" 180.0000 "Costs" 65.50

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Timeslips Users Guide

Adding New Reports

Sage Timeslips provides many standard reports on the Report List dialog box. If needed, you can create additional reports to use with the standard reports installed with Sage Timeslips.

Creating new reports based on standard reports

You can create new reports based on the standard reports provided in Sage Timeslips. This is useful, for example, if you want to save a copy of the Slip Listing report that uses different saved filters or different report options. If you know which report you want to make a copy of, you can duplicate the report. How to duplicate a report
1 2 3 4 Click Reports from the main toolbar to open the list of reports.

On the Report List, select the report that you want to duplicate. Click Duplicate to duplicate the report.

You can then customize the report and save the copy as a new report. See Customizing Reports on page 11-6 for more information on customizing reports.

Look up how to duplicate reports in the online Help system for more information on duplicating reports.

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Creating new reports based on standard reports

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If you do not know which report you want to make a copy of, you can use the Create a Report wizard to create the new report based on your selections.

How to create a new standard report

1 2 3 4 Click Create a Report wizard. from the main toolbar to open the Create a Report

Mark Choose a standard report to customize and click Next. Use the views of this wizard to select the new report. On the Select a Report view, select the report that you want to base the new report upon.

Sage Timeslips displays the reports that match your selections. Select a report and click Next.

You can optionally use the remaining views of the wizard to customize the new report.

Look up how to create new reports based on standard reports in the online Help for more information on creating standard reports.

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Creating new user-defined reports

You can create new user-defined reports if you want to print reports that include specific fields from slips, clients, or transactions. How to create a new user-defined report
1 2 3 Click Create a Report wizard. from the main toolbar to open the Create a Report

Mark Create a completely new report based on one of the following types of data and click Next. Select the type of user-defined report to create and click Next. For example, to create a detailed report that includes slip data, select Slip Detail.

On the Select Fields for User-Defined Report view, choose the fields that you want to include on the first row of the report. Click Next.

Choose a data group, choose a data field from the list below, and click Add to add the data field to the report.

5 6

You can optionally use the remaining views of the wizard to customize the new report. If needed, you can also use the Design page of the Print Preview dialog box to add and remove fields manually.

Look up creating reports in the online Help for more information on creating user-defined reports.

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Creating new graph reports

11

Creating new graph reports

You can create new graph reports. This is useful when you want to graph specific slip information. How to create a new graph report
1 2 3 4 Click Create a Report wizard. from the main toolbar to open the Create a Report

Mark Create a completely new slip-based or client-based report and click Next. Select Graphs (Slips) and click Next. You can use the remaining views of the wizard to customize the new report. On the Report Format view, use the Graph this field and Also graph this field settings to choose the data values to graph.

Choose the data values that you want to graph.

If needed, you can also use the Design page of the Print Preview dialog box to change the type of graph (for example bar chart or pie chart) you are using.

Look up How to create graph reports in the online Help system for more information on creating graph reports.

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Creating new label reports

You can create new label reports. This is useful when you want to include specific information on printed labels. How to create a new label report
1 2 3 4 Click Create a Report wizard. from the main toolbar to open the Create a Report

Mark Create a completely new slip-based or client-based report and click Next. Select Client Labels and click Next. Select the label style that you want to use and click Next.

Choose the type of labels to create.

5 6

You can use the remaining views of the wizard to customize the new report. If needed, you can also use the Design page of the Print Preview dialog box to design the dimension or content of the label further.

See How to create label reports in the online Help system for more information on creating label reports.

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Billing Clients
Overview Preparing for Billing
Entering billing data Updating bill arrangements Splitting charges on bills Setting up clients to receive bills by email

12
12-2 12-4
12-4 12-5 12-6 12-7

Reviewing Billing Data Determining the Appearance of Bills

Understanding bill layouts A tour of the Design page Hiding or reordering bill layout sections Designing bill layout sections Assigning bill layouts to clients Including messages on bills

12-10 12-16
12-17 12-20 12-24 12-30 12-38 12-39

Generating Bills
Configuring the report definition for bills Previewing bills to display Editing bills onscreen Printing the bill run

12-40
12-40 12-41 12-42 12-44

Reviewing and Approving Bills

Placing bills on Proof Stage Using Audit Stage with electronic bills Approving bills Undoing approved bills Reprinting bills

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12-45 12-46 12-47 12-48 12-49

Printing Post-Billing Reports

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Billing Clients
Overview
You can print bills to charge your clients for services rendered to them or costs incurred on behalf of them. Sage Timeslips provides many tools to help you create accurate, presentation-quality bills. Printing bills is a simple process: you select Bills; Generate Bills you choose the clients and charges that you want to include on bills, and then you print the bills. However, there are a number of steps that precede and follow the process of printing bills. This chapter focuses on the billing cycle, the steps needed to generate bills and correctly update histories and accounts receivable balances based on the billings. It discusses many of the commands found in the Bills menu.

The following sections detail steps of the billing cycle. Please note that each step of the billing cycle comprises several smaller steps. Some firms may not use every step of the billing cycle.

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Overview

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You can use the Prepare Billing and Note Finish Billing topics of the Office Manager navigator to access many of the steps involved in the billing cycle.

The billing cycle consists of these actions: Preparing data for billing: Entering billing data (such as time slips, payments, and client billing arrangements) over the course of your firms bill cycle. See Preparing for Billing on page 12-4. Reviewing billing data: Reviewing billing data for accuracy and completeness. See Reviewing Billing Data on page 12-10. Determining the appearance of bills: Setting up bill layouts to establish the content and appearance of bills and assigning layouts to each client. See Determining the Appearance of Bills on page 12-16 Printing bills: Using the Bills; Generate Bills or Bills; Billing Assistant commands to print bills and place them in Proof Stage while you review them. See Generating Bills on page 12-40. Reviewing and approving bills: Using the Bill Stages dialog box to indicate whether the printed bills are ready to be sent to clients. See Reviewing and Approving Bills on page 12-45. Printing post-billing reports: Reprinting bills; printing other reports such as statements, Aged A/R Balances, and the G/L Transfer Register. See Printing Post-Billing Reports on page 12-50.

The following sections of this chapter will discuss each of these steps in detail. Definitions Some businesses use the terms bills, invoices, and statements interchangeably. Sage Timeslips defines these as separate concepts. A bill is a document that you send to the client that describes new charges and states changes to the clients accounts receivable balance and funds account balance. An invoice is a portion of a bill that reflects new charges. When you print and approve a bill, Sage Timeslips creates an invoice transaction that represents the totals of new charges (time, expense, interest, and tax). A statement is a document that shows a history of invoices, payments, and other transactions with a running balance. Statements are useful to remind clients of balances due.

In addition, Sage Timeslips uses the terms fees and time charges interchangeably and the terms costs and expense charges interchangeably. Your business may use other terms for expense charges, such as disbursements.

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Preparing for Billing

Before generating bills, you should confirm that Sage Timeslips will bill the charges you are expecting it to bill. This step of the bill cycle includes entering data in Sage Timeslips that you will bill to your clients, updating bill arrangements that determine how to calculate new charges for each client, and optionally setting up billing features like split billing and sending bills by email.

Entering billing data

Before generating bills, you should confirm that you have entered the following information in your Sage Timeslips database. Sage Timeslips provides many tools to help you review billing information. See Reviewing Billing Data on page 12-10 for more information.
Note

Time and expense slips Time slips detail services provided to your clients, and expense slips detail expenses and disbursements charged to your clients. On each slip, you can include text descriptions, rates, and billing options. See Entering Time and Expense Slips on page 8-4 for more info. Payments and other accounts receivable transactions Accounts receivable transactions allow you to modify your clients accounts receivable balances. For example, you enter payments to reduce the accounts receivable balance. See Entering Accounts Receivable Transactions on page 9-3 for more info. Client funds transactions Client funds transactions allow you to manipulate a client funds account, putting money into and taking money out of your clients funds accounts. You can optionally apply money from funds accounts against the accounts receivable balance. See Entering Client Funds Transactions on page 9-14 for more info. Client information You can track extensive billing data and other related information for each client. Sage Timeslips stores the client address so you know where to send bills. You can use the email addresses to send a PDF copy of the bill. Other client information determines the clients bill arrangement settings and bill layout. See Creating Clients on page 7-12 for more information.

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Preparing for Billing

Updating bill arrangements

12

Tax information If your tax system has new rules or settings, confirm that you have assigned clients the correct tax profiles. Also confirm that tasks and expenses are using the appropriate tax-rate rules. See Setting up taxes on page 7-22 for more info.

Updating bill arrangements

For more info on billing arrangements, look up billing arrangements in the online Help.

As you prepare bills, the most common element that you need to review is the setting of bill arrangements for each client. Bill arrangements are rules for calculating new charges. Many firms simply use the default setting for bill arrangements, which is to bill clients only for the charges that appear on time and expense slips. However, if your firm needs to bill a different amount than the charges on slips, you can use bill arrangements to determine the amount to bill. Using bill arrangements When working with bill arrangements, you will most likely need to update flat fees, add adjustments (write-ups and write-downs), or determine amounts for progress or interim bills. Flat fees often change from one bill to the next. Some flat fees may require a different fee amount. For flat fees that have been distributed across a series of bills (called a job), you may need to indicate that this is the final bill of the job. You enter bill arrangements in the Arrangement 1 page and Arrangement 2 pages of the Client Information dialog box. See Using bill arrangements on page 7-15 for a description of the available bill arrangements. Excluding slips from bill arrangements or holding charges Time and expense slips can also affect bill arrangements. You can exclude a slip charge from being covered in the bill arrangement charge by setting its Billing status to Override. You can also exclude a slip from the next billing entirely, by marking its Hold check box. If you want to hold all slips from billing for a client, you can use Hold options on the Arrangement 1 page of the Client Information dialog box. Adjusting bill amounts If you are not using a flat fee, your slip charges may exceed or fall short of your expected charges. You can use write-ups or write-downs to adjust new slip chargesentering one of three adjustment-style bill arrangements or an adjustment on a specific slipso the values match your expectations. If you need to correct an overcharge from past billings, do not use write-downs. Instead, use a credit accounts receivable transaction (see Applying payments and credits on page 9-6). 12-5

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Splitting charges on bills

For more info on split billing, look up split billing in the online Help.

Split billing allows a firm to split charges automatically from one clientthe primary clientamong one or more other clientssecondary clients. You determine how Sage Timeslips splits charges by establishing split billing rules. A primary client is the client who collects and generates the charges to bill. These charges are the slips you enter for the primary client and the billing arrangements you set up for the primary client. When splitting the fees and costs, the primary client may be responsible for paying some of the charges. Secondary clients are responsible for paying some of the charges generated by the primary client. In addition to charges split from the primary client, secondary clients may also have their own charges (for example, slips entered directly for the secondary client). There are two steps to splitting your bills using Sage Timeslips: Creating the split billing rules Billing the primary client, which invokes the split billing rules

Setting up rules for split billing Before you can split charges, you must first set up split billing rules. Use the following dialog boxes to maintain split billing information: Select Bills; Split Billing Rules to open the Split Billing Rule List dialog box, where you maintain rules for primary and secondary clients.

You can set up split billing rules for primary and secondary clients.

When you select a primary client rule, you can view the secondary client rules associated with it.

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Setting up clients to receive bills by email

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You can create and edit split billing rules for primary clients.

Click New in the Primary Client rules group box to set up a primary client and create a primary rule for this client.

Click New in the Secondary Client rules group box to set up a secondary client and create a secondary rule for this client.

Splitting slip charges When you print a bill for a primary client, the slips entered for that client will be split according to the split billing rules. The split charges will appear on both the primary clients bill and the secondary clients bill. When you approve this bill, Sage Timeslips will modify the original slips for the primary client and will create new slips for the secondary client to reflect the split charges. You can also enter slips for secondary clients. These slips will not affect the primary clients bill and will appear in their own section on the secondary clients bill, separate from the split billing charges. When you print a bill for a client that is part of a split billing rule, Sage Timeslips must also print bills for all other clients associated with the split billing rule.

Setting up clients to receive bills by email

For more info on sending bills by email, look up sending bills to clients by email in the online Help.

When you send bills to the printer and approve them, Sage Timeslips can also send PDF copies of the bills to your clients by email. First, you must set options for each client and set options for the bill run. To send bills by email, you must use a MAPI-compliant email system, such as Outlook, Outlook Express, or Eudora (please check with your system administrator to determine if your email system is MAPI-compliant). Maintaining bill email templates When you send bills via email, Sage Timeslips sends a text email message to your client and attaches the approved bill as a PDF (portable document format) file. Sage Timeslips uses email templates to determine the subject line and body text of the email message. The PDF file of the bill will be attached to the email message. 12-7

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You can select Setup; Email Templates to maintain bill email templates.

Use the buttons on the right to duplicate, edit, or delete the selected template, or create a new template.

Click New, Duplicate, or Open to open the Email Template Entry dialog box, where you can specify the name of the bill email template, the subject of the email message, and body text of the email message.

Specify the subject line of the email message.

Specify the body text of the email message.

On the Layout page of the Client Information dialog box, use the Email template field at the bottom of the page to select the bill email template for each client.
Select the bill email template to use for each client.

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Setting up clients to receive bills by email

12

Assigning email addresses to clients In order to send bills by email, you must set up options for each client. Use the Email address and CC Email addresses fields to assign email addresses to each client that will receive bills by email. These fields are on the General page of the Client Information dialog box.
Use the buttons on the right to duplicate, edit, or delete the selected template, or create a new template. Enter a valid email address for each client. You can also enter CC email addresses (carbon copies) for each client.

Email addresses should be in the format [email protected]. Examples of valid formatting include [email protected] and [email protected]. Identifying clients to receive bills by email When you approve bills, Sage Timeslips can automatically select clients to receive bills by email. Mark Send bills via email for each client that should be selected automatically. This option is on the Arrangement 2 page of the Client Information dialog box.
Mark Send bills via email for each client that will receive bills by email.

Before printing and approving bills The Send bills via email report option (in the Report Options dialog box) determines if Sage Timeslips will prompt you to send bills via email on approval. If you mark this option before you print bills, then when you approve bills from this bill run, Sage Timeslips opens the Email Bills to Clients dialog box.
Sage Timeslips will send bills to marked email addresses. This list includes all clients on the bill run that have email addresses. It automatically selects clients that have Send bills via email marked within the Client Information dialog box.

Choose which bills to send via email and click OK to continue.

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Reviewing Billing Data

Before printing bills, you should review billing charges to ensure you will bill the expected charges. The following list summarizes the easiest ways to review billing information. Each of the following features displays nearly all elements of a bill and provides additional details on charges. Use the Pre-bill Worksheet to print a hard copy of the billing information, so that others in your firm can review the data (see Using pre-bill worksheets to review billing data on page 12-11) before you generate bills. Use the Billing Assistant dialog box to interactively explore and edit billing data for clients that are ready to bill. Here, you can view bill totals for each client and the detailed records that produce them (see Using Billing Assistant to review billing data on page 12-12). Use the Firm Assistant dialog box to review a billing overview for your entire firm with totals and subtotals for each client. Here, you can view billing totals for all clients at once (see Using Firm Assistant to review billing data on page 12-15).

Please note that after you use one of these methods to review billing information, you can also print bills to the screen to review them. See Chapter 12, Previewing bills for more information. Using slip approval If you use the slip approval feature, approvers must also approve slips before those slips can be included on bills. Pending slips and rejected slips will not appear on bills. See Approving Slips to Appear on Bills on page 8-27 for more information.

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Using pre-bill worksheets to review billing data

12

Using pre-bill worksheets to review billing data

For more info on the pre-bill worksheet, look up prebill worksheet in the online Help.

When you print bills, they hide much of the original information and settings that is used to calculate the total charges. For example, If you are using flat fees, adjustments, markups, progress bills, or interim bills, the details of individual slip charges are often omitted. The Pre-bill Worksheet report can display every detail affecting a bill. You should use it when preparing bills to review the details of each charge.

How to print worksheets To print the Pre-bill Worksheet:

1 2 Select Bills; Pre-bill Worksheet. The Report Entry dialog box opens to this report. Use the settings available here to determine how worksheets will print. a. b. c. If you want to exclude some clients or some charges, you can use the Filters page to set up selection filters. If you want to sort the individual slips on the worksheet or subtotal those charges for each client, use the Sort page to set up sorting. If you want to omit some types of information (for example, bill messages), client Options to access the Report Options dialog box.

For more details on how to use any of these report settings, see Customizing Reports on page 11-6. 3 When you are ready to print worksheets, set the Print to field to the proper destination and click Print.

When printing this worksheet to display, you can drill down to review specific data. See Previewing reports to display on page 11-23 for more information. If you dont want to see all the billing details, but only billing totals, you can use the Totals Only Worksheet report (select Reports; Billing). This worksheet shows the billing totals for all clients in a columnar report.

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Using Billing Assistant to review billing data

For more info, look up using the billing assistant in the online Help.

If you are in charge of the billing process or are responsible for editing any errors found when printing Pre-bill Worksheets, you can use Billing Assistant to review billing data and make corrections. To open Billing Assistant, click Billing Assistant select Bills; Billing Assistant. from the main toolbar or

Click on any underlined field or total to review additional details.

Click Change Billing Rule to determine which clients are ready for billing.

The client list shows all clients that are ready for billing.

Sage Timeslips shows which clients are ready to bill The List View of Billing Assistant uses billing rules to determine which clients are ready for billing. Click the Change Billing Rule button at the top of the screen to set up your own billing rule to fit how your firm bills clients. For example, you may want to print bills for clients with new charges or you may want to print bills for clients who havent received bills in the past 30 days. When clients match your billing rule, they are automatically included on the list.

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Using Billing Assistant to review billing data

12

You can review information like the current balance or the current bill stage from this list. If need, you can click on a column heading to quickly sort the list.

Click on a client to review billing information in the Billing Overview to the right.

For more info on displaying clients on this list, look up how to select which clients appear in billing assistant in the online Help.

Reviewing details for a specific client When you click on a client from the list, you can review billing information for that client. You can review totals for the next bill to the right. If you see a problem, click on a link to drill down to more detailed information.
The Billing Overview section to the right of the screen displays totals and other information for the clients next bill. Click on any underlined amount or click the Go to Billing Details button at the top of Billing Assistant to drill down to billing details.

For more info on displaying details of totals, look up how to review details of each total in billing assistant in the online Help.

The Billing Details screens include a list of pages to the right, so it is easy for you to move to the information you need. Each page groups a specific type of billing information for the client.

Click on the links along the left side of the screen to navigate to other billing details.

The page heading indicates which details you are viewing.

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Print worksheets and bills quickly As you work within Billing Assistant, you can determine which clients and which slips will appear on the next bill run. In order for bills to reflect your selections, you must print your bill run from Billing Assistant.

When you unmark clients...

For more info on printing bills from Billing Assistant, click the Help button from the current screen of Billing Assistant.

...Sage Timeslips excludes them from the run.

When reviewing billing details for a specific client, you can use the Print button in the bottom left corner to print that clients bill.

Click Print from any Billing Details screen to print a bill for the current client.

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Using Firm Assistant to review billing data

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Using Firm Assistant to review billing data

For more info on the Firm Assistant, look up using the firm assistant in the online Help.

While you can use Billing Assistant to check which clients are ready to bill and review billing details for each client, you can use Firm Assistant to review billing totals for all clients in your firm. The Firm Assistant dialog box contains two pages for reviewing billing totals: Details: Shows the up-to-the-minute status for each client in your database. Summary: Provides grand totals for all clients in your database.

Double-clicking on a total on the Details page will open the associated dialog box, where you can review and edit the original source data. For example, double-clicking on an Interest amount opens the Arrangement 2 page of the Client Information dialog box, where you can review or edit interest settings for the client.
Use the Details page to review totals for each client. Use the Summary page to review a summary of all clients.

Double click on a value to opens the dialog box associated with the value.

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Determining the Appearance of Bills

To accommodate the variations in billing styles among firms, Sage Timeslips provides many ways to establish the bills appearance to suit your needs.

Use bill layouts to control the appearance of the headers, footers, column headings, the order of sections, and much more. After creating or editing bill layouts, you can assign them to each client.

Hamilton Services Corporation P.O. Box 286 Hamilton, MA 01936

Invoice submitted to: North Shore Consulting 24 Grove Street Porter MA 02198

November 01, 2007 In Reference To: 2007-2008 sales compaign. Invoice # 10005

Professional Services

Use the Report Entry dialog box to select data to include in the bill run, set sort options, and more.

Hrs/Rate 10/11/07 Edited first draft of project evaluation. 10/14/07 Drafted plan for spring promotional campaign. 10/26/07 Read first 15 pages of draft and returned them with extensive revisions. 3.00 125.00/hr 6.00 125.00/hr 1.00 125.00/hr Amount For professional services rendered Additional Charges : Qty/Price 10.00 $1,250.00

Use bill layouts to set which slip fields to include for each charge.

10/30/07 Copies for October Total costs

60 0.10

6.00 $6.00

Total amount of this bill Previous balance 10/25/07 Payment - Thank You

$1,256.00 $2,200.00 ($200.00)

Balance due

$3,256.00

Thank you for your business!

The two main items that determine the appearance of bills are: Bill layouts You can design bill layouts to control the format of the bill, including the placement of fields, fonts, and graphics. See the following sections for more information on designing bill layouts. Bill settings You can establish bill settings to determine which clients and which charges appear on the bill, set sort options, and set up billing options. See Configuring the report definition for bills on page 12-40 for more information on bill settings.

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Determining the Appearance of Bills

Understanding bill layouts

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Understanding bill layouts

For more info on designing bills, look up designing layouts:bill layouts in the online Help.

Your bills should present the work you do for clients in a professional-looking manner. You can edit bill layouts to change the appearance of your bills. When generating bills for your clients, Sage Timeslips uses bill layouts to determine the format and position of items on each client's bill. These formatting and positioning options determine how printed bills will look. For example, you will commonly edit bill layouts to adjust the headers and footers to match company stationery. When you create a new bill layout, Sage Timeslips offers many samples that you can use as a starting point for your bill layout. There are two basic styles of bills:

Hamilton Services Corporation P.O. Box 286 Hamilton, MA 01936

Invoice submitted to: North Shore Consulting 24 Grove Street Porter MA 02198

November 01, 2007 In Reference To: 2007-2008 sales compaign. Invoice # 10005

Professional Services Hrs/Rate 10/11/07 Edited first draft of project evaluation. 10/14/07 Drafted plan for spring promotional campaign. 10/26/07 Read first 15 pages of draft and returned them with extensive revisions. 3.00 125.00/hr 6.00 125.00/hr 1.00 125.00/hr Amount For professional services rendered Additional Charges : Qty/Price 10/30/07 Copies for October Total costs 60 0.10 6.00 $6.00 10.00 $1,250.00

Total amount of this bill Previous balance 10/25/07 Payment - Thank You

$1,256.00 $2,200.00 ($200.00)

Balance due

$3,256.00

Thank you for your business!

Bill Layout for Pre-Printed Forms

Bill Layout for Blank Paper or Letterhead

When you create a bill layout that will be used to print bills on pre-printed forms, Sage Timeslips will position bill fields to line up with the form fields. If you change the bill design, please verify that bill fields still line up with form fields. When you create a bill layout that will be used to print bills on blank paper or company letterhead, you can design the bill anyway you like without having to design the layout to print on a bill form. Visit www.SageTimeslips.com to purchase pre-printed bill forms that you can use with Sage Timeslips. Look up pre-printed forms in the online Help system for more information on the bill forms that are available. 12-17

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Maintaining bill layouts You will most likely use one or two bill layouts for all of your clients. However, you can create as many bill layouts as needed. You use the Bills page of the Bill and Statement Layout List dialog box to maintain bill layouts.
1 2 Within Sage Timeslips, select Bills; Bill and Statement Layouts to open the Bill and Statement Layout List dialog box. Click on the Bills tab to switch to the Bills page.

The Bills page of the Bill and Statement Layout List dialog box lists the available bill layouts.

Use the toolbar buttons to the right to maintain bill layouts.

To open an existing bill layout:

1 2 3 Open the Bills page of the Bill and Statement Layout List dialog box. Select a bill layout and click the Open toolbar button.

Sage Timeslips opens the selected bill layout in the Design page of the Bill Preview dialog box. Use the toolbar buttons and menu commands on this page to edit the bill layout as needed. See A tour of the Design page on page 12-20 for more information.

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Determining the Appearance of Bills

Understanding bill layouts

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To create a new bill layout:

1 2 Open the Bills page of the Bill and Statement Layout List dialog box. Click the New Layout wizard. toolbar button. Sage Timeslips opens the Create a New

The settings on the Create a New Layout wizard determine how Sage Timeslips initially formats your bill layout. After creating your new bill layout, you can change any of the settings on the bill layout as needed.

Use the views of this wizard to select the type of bill layout to create, choosing a predefined layout and the amount of detail you want to include. If you previously printed your bills on bill forms, you can base your new bill layout on one of the popular pre-printed forms that Sage Timeslips offers.

When you click Finish, Sage Timeslips opens the new bill layout in the Design page of the Bill Preview dialog box. You can use the toolbar buttons and menu commands available on this page to further customize the new bill layout. See A tour of the Design page on page 12-20 for more information.

To duplicate an existing bill layout:

1 2 3 Open the Bills page of the Bill and Statement Layout List dialog box. Select a bill layout to duplicate and click the Duplicate create a new bill layout based on a current layout. toolbar button to

Sage Timeslips creates a new bill layout in the Design page of the Bill Preview dialog box. The design of this bill layout is based on the bill layout that you duplicated. You can use the toolbar buttons and menu commands available on this page to customize the duplicated bill layout. See A tour of the Design page on page 12-20 for more information.

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A tour of the Design page

The Design page of the Bill Preview dialog box offers many tools and resources that allow you to design and customize sections of bill layouts.
Use menus to access commands that help you design specific sections or global options that affect the entire bill. Use the tabs to switch between the Design and Preview pages. Use the Layout name field to assign a unique name to the bill layout. Use the toolbar buttons to add or edit fields and objects on the bill layout. Using the Field List toolbar, you can click and drag database fields onto the bill layout.

Use the Go to section field or the scrollbar to move to a specific bill layout section.

Use the work area to add, edit, and format fields and objects on each section.

When you design bill layouts, some options can affect multiple bill layout sections or affect the entire bill layout. See Setting options that affect multiple bill sections on page 12-21 for more information. There may be entire sections that you want to move to another part of the bill or completely hide. See Hiding or reordering bill layout sections on page 12-24 for more information. Finally, you can edit fields and objects on the current section to change how that section displays on the bill. For example, you can change the format in which dates appear for each slip. See Designing bill layout sections on page 12-30 for more information. The Sample Bills Guide includes many examples of how you can design bills. To open this guide from within Sage Timeslips, select Help; Other Documents; Bill Samples.

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Setting options that affect multiple bill sections

You can use the Global Bill Layout Options dialog box to set bill layout options that can affect several sections of the bill.
1 2 From the Design page of the Bill Preview dialog box, select Layout; Global Options to open the Global Bill Layout Options dialog box. Select the appropriate page of the dialog box.

The following pages of this guide summarize the global options. Setting global layout options: Use the Layout page of the Global Bill Layout Options dialog box to set options that affect the appearance of multiple bill layout sections.
Use the Settings fields to choose footers and adjust column headings. Use the Alignment fields to control the alignment of headings.

Use the Billing arrangements fields to control how billing arrangement charges appear on bills.

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Setting global phrases: Use the Phrases page of the Global Bill Layout Options dialog box to change phrases that appear throughout the bill.
You can edit any phrase that appears on the bill.

Phrases that have been edited are bold in the list. Phrase Description indicates how Sage Timeslips uses the current phrase on the bill. Phrases used in section(s) indicates which bill sections use the current phrase.

You can also change phrases that affect a specific section of the bill. See Setting up section phrases on page 12-28 for more information.

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Setting global font styles: Use the Font Styles page of the Global Bill Layout Options dialog box to change fonts that appear in the various parts of the bill.
You can change the font styles for any area of the bill. Font Style used in section indicates which layout sections include the current bill area.

Sample shows you a preview sample of the font style used in the current area. You can quickly change the font for all fonts styles.

You can also change font styles that affect a specific section of the bill. See Setting up section font styles on page 12-29 for more information. Changing font styles can affect the size and placement of fields on the bill layout. Setting global page orientation: Use the Page Orientation page of the Global Bill Layout Options dialog box to set the page size, orientation, and margins for the bill.

The Margins fields allow you to change the left and right margins.

You can also change the orientation and paper size for the current layout.

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Hiding or reordering bill layout sections

There can be over 30 bill sections that appear on the printed bill. You may need to hide some sections, change the order in which they appear, or set options for specific sections. For example, you may want a bill message to appear at the beginning of the bill or you may want to include a page break before the timekeeper summary table. The Configure Layout Sections dialog box lists all bill layout sections that you can show, hide, or reorder.
1 2 From the Design page of the Bill Preview dialog box, select Section; Configure Layout Sections Select a bill layout section from the list and use the Show check box to show or hide the selected section. You can also use the Move Up and Move Down to change the order of the section. Finally, you can click the Options button to set section-specific options.

The section list displays all layout sections that you can reorder or hide. Use the Show column to show or hide a bill section.

You can include a cover page as part of your bill layout.

Use the Move Down and Move Up buttons to reorder bill sections.

Click the Options button to access section-specific options.

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Hiding and showing layout sections on the bill You can use the Show column to show or hide sections from the bill. For example, you can unmark Show for the Time Charges from Slips section to exclude this section from the bill. These charges, however, will still affect the bill total.

On the printed bill:

March 31, 2006 In Reference To: 2007 campaign. Invoice #10000

When Show is marked for the Time Charges from Slips section, the printed bill shows detail from time slips.

Professional Services Hrs/Rate

Amount

2/9/2006 Phone conference with client to review campaign materials. 2/17/2006 Reviewed the three contracts and submitted extensive revisions. Will need to speak with Roger before the final contract can be completed. 2/27/2006 Initial meeting with client to kick off Fall campaign projects. 3/1/2006 Drafted plan for fall campaign.

4.00 150.00/hr 8.00 100.00/hr

600.00 800.00

4.50 NO CHARGE 90.00/hr 5.00 90.00/hr 21.50 450.00

For professional services rendered

$1,850.00

In Sage Timeslips:
Unmark Show for the Time Charges from Slips section.

On the printed bill:

When Show is unmarked for the Time Charges from Slips section, the printed bill hides time slip charges, but shows the total.
March 31, 2006 In Reference To: 2007 campaign. Invoice #10000 Hours

Amount

For professional services rendered

21.50

$1,850.00

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Reordering layout sections on the bill: You can use the Move Down and Move Up buttons to reorder sections on the bill. For example, you move the Previous A/R Balance section above the Total New Charges section.
In Sage Timeslips:
The Previous A/R Balance section appears after the Total New Charges section.

On the printed bill:

Total amount of this bill $1,986.77 $450.00 ($75.00) $2,361.77

The printed bill reflects the order of bill sections.

Previous balance Total payments and adjustments Balance due

In Sage Timeslips:
The Previous A/R Balance section appears before the Total New Charges section.

On the printed bill:

Previous balance $450.00 $1,986.77 ($75.00) $2,361.77

The printed bill reflects the new order of bill sections.

Total amount of this bill Total payments and adjustments Balance due

Accessing section-specific options: You can use the Options button to open the Layout Options dialog box, where you can set section-specific options. See Setting options that affect specific bill sections on page 12-27 for more information.

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Setting options that affect specific bill sections

While you can use the Global Bill Layout Options dialog box to change settings that affect multiple bill sections (see Setting options that affect multiple bill sections on page 12-21), you can also change individual sections. This allows you to customize settings that affect specific bill sections. For example, the Phrases page of the Global Bill Layout Options dialog box includes all phrases that you can change on the entire bill. On the Layout Options dialog box for the Time Charges from Slips section, you can change phrases specific to the Time Charges from Slips section.
1 2 3 From the Design page of the Bill Preview dialog box, select Section; Configure Layout Sections. Select a section from the list and click Options to open the Layout Options dialog box. (This button is not available for all sections.) Select the appropriate page of the dialog box.

The following pages of this guide summarize the options available for each section. These settings will vary for each bill layout section. Setting section format options Use the Section Format page of the Layout Options dialog box to set up how this section appears on bills.
You can set the style for some sections, which allows you to detail or summarize records in this section. You can include page breaks, spaces, or lines before or after this section.

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Adjusting section columns Use the Columns page of the Layout Options dialog box to format widths, spacing, and lines for columns appearing in the current section.

For sections that include tables, you can specify column widths, set gaps, and include lines on the table.

You can also use the ruler on the Design page to adjust widths of table columns.

Setting up section phrases Use the Phrases page of the Layout Options dialog box to specify phrases that appear within the current bill section.

You can edit each phrase that appears in the current bill layout section. Phrases that have been edited are bold in the list.

See the Phrase Description to review the purpose of each phrase.

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Setting up section font styles Use the Font Styles page of the Layout Options dialog box to set fonts that appear within the current bill section.

You can set up font styles for types of data that appear in the current bill layout section.

See the Sample to preview the current font settings.

Some of the examples in the following sections of this guide will use the settings available in the Layout Options dialog box.

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Designing bill layout sections

Each bill is composed of multiple bill layout sections. Each page of the bill begins with the bill header and ends with the bill footer, with a variety of other bill sections in between. You can use the Design page of the Bill Preview dialog box to design specific sections of the bill. Not all bill layout sections are available here to design. Use the Go to section field to select the bill layout section that you want to work with. You can also change settings that control phrasing, font styles, and other options for each section. See Chapter 12, Setting options that affect specific bill sections for more information.
For a complete list of all bill layout sections, look up bill sections in the online Help system.

Some examples of bill layout sections that you can design include: Cover Page - Body: Use this section to design a cover page to use as a personal greeting or to summarize totals (such as services and expenses) included on the bill. Bill Header - First page: Use this section to design the top of the first page of the bill. For example, you can add your company logo to the top of the page. Footer First Page: Use this section to design the bottom of the first page of the bill. For example, you may want to add todays date or the page number to the bottom of the page. Customizable Section 1: This section starts off empty. Use this section to design your own custom section or custom page. For example, you can create a cover page that summarizes bill totals. Time Charges - Itemized: Use this section to design how time charges will display on a detailed bill. For example, you can include billing rates for each charge or expand the Description column. Expense Charges - Itemized: Use this section to design how expense charges will display on a detailed bill. For example, you can include the price for each charge or change the format of dates. Aged Balances Table: Use this section to design how the aged table of owed balances will display on the bill. For example, you can choose which aging periods to include on the table. Tax Table Items: Use this section to design how the optional tax table will display on the bill. For example, you can show one total for each tax rule, or you can break out taxes for fees and taxes for costs. Project Summary Subtotals: Use this section to design how project subtotals will display on the bill when consolidating projects. For example, you can change the font for the values appearing on this table.

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When you design bill layout sections, there are two basic types of sections that you can design: free-form sections and table sections. On free-form sections, such as the Bill Header - First Page section, you can place fields anywhere in the section and you can also add graphics, lines, and boxes to the section.

In free-form sections, you can move fields and objects anywhere within the section. You can also add lines and boxes to these sections.

When designing free-form sections, you can use grids to help you align fields and objects in each section. Look up moving:layout fields and objects in the online Help for more info.

On table sections, such as the Time Charges - Itemized section, you use tables to align fields within a bill section. You can place only text fields and database fields within this section.

In table sections, you can add text fields and database fields within cells of the table. The rows and columns of the table align fields on the bill.

See Adjusting section columns on page 12-28 for information on adjusting columns in table sections.

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The Sample Bills Guide includes many examples of how you can design specific sections of your bill layout. To open this guide from within Sage Timeslips, select Help; Other Documents; Bill Samples. You can use the following methods when designing bill layout sections: Adding text fields You can add text fields within the bill layout section as field labels, headings, or custom messages. To add a text field to the current bill layout section:
1 2 Click the Text Tool button from the toolbar.

Click on the bill layout section where you want to place the new text field. Sage Timeslips places the new text field and highlights it, so you can edit the text.

Enter the new text for the text field.

Adding database fields You can add database fields within the bill layout section to display up-to-date values on the bill. To add a database field to the current bill layout section:
1 From the Field List toolbar to the right, set the Field Group to the appropriate group. For example, to add a client-related field to the current section, set Field Group to Client. From the field list below the Field Group, click on the appropriate field and drag it onto the bill layout section. For example, you can add the clients email address to the current section.

You can now move or format the field as necessary.

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Adding graphics You can add graphics to free-form sections. To add a graphic to the current bill layout section:
1 2 3 Select Tools; Insert; Graphic to open the Open dialog box. Set the Files of type field to the appropriate graphic type (for example, Windows Bitmap). Select the folder that contains the graphic that you want to insert to the current bill layout section.

4 5

Select the graphic to add and click Open. Sage Timeslips places the graphic onto the current bill layout section, where you can move or format the graphic as necessary.

You can also insert graphic images into free-form bill layout sections by cutting or copying images from a graphic program and then pasting the graphic into the free-form section.

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Adding lines You can add lines within the bill layout section to highlight or separate items on the bill. To add a line to the current bill layout section:
1 2 Click the Line button from the toolbar.

Click on the bill layout section where you want to begin the line and, while holding down the left mouse button, drag the mouse cursor to where you want to end the line.

Release the mouse button when you are at the position where you want to end the line. With the line still selected, you can click the Line Styles button from the toolbar to open the Line Style dialog box, where you can change the style of the current line.

You can also automatically add lines before or after bill sections. See Setting section format options on page 12-27 for more information. Adding boxes You can add boxes within the bill layout section to surround or call attention to items on the bill. To add a box to the current bill layout section:
1 2 Click the Rectangle button from the toolbar.

Click on the bill layout section where you want to place the top left corner of the box and, while holding down the left mouse button, drag the mouse cursor to where you want to end the box.

Release the mouse button when you are at the position where you want to end the box. With the box still selected, you can click the Line Styles button from the toolbar to open the Line Style dialog box, where you can change the style and fill of the current box.

When drawing boxes, you can place the box behind another field or object for a more complex effect. See Layering fields on page 12-37 for more information. 12-34

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Changing font styles You can change the font styles used to display data within bill layout sections. For example, you can change the font and bold the font for the firm name on the bill header. To change font styles:
1 Within a bill layout section, click on a text field or database field.

Using the Font toolbar, select the font name, font size, and other font options to use for the selected field.

You can also use font styles to change the font used for specific types of data on the bill. Select Layout; Global Options to open the Global Bill Layout Options dialog box and switch to the Font Styles tab. Formatting fields You can format fields on the bill layout to appear in a different style. For example, you can change the format of the date field on the bill header to include the day of the week. To format a field:
1 Click a field on the bill layout section to format.

2 3

Select Tools; Format to open the related Format dialog box. Select the new field format. For example, you could select Full with day of the week for a date field.

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Aligning fields to each other

When designing free-form sections, you can use grids to help align fields. Look up moving:layout fields and objects in the online Help for more info.

You can align fields with each other on the bill layout to provide a more professional appearance. To align fields with each other:
1 Select the fields to align. Sage Timeslips will align the selected fields with the last field you select. For example, you can align a Phone Number: text label with the Firm Phone 1 database field. If you want to align the database field to the text label, first click on the database field and then hold the Ctrl key while clicking on the text label. The status bar will indicate the last field selected and will also indicate the number of fields currently selected.

Select Tools; Align Fields; Align Top to align the Last Bill Date database field to the top of the Last bill date: label.

When aligning fields, you may also want to justify the text of those fields.

Aligning fields to margins You can also align fields with report margins to provide a more professional appearance. To align fields with margins:
1 Select one or more fields to align. The status bar will indicate the last field selected and will also indicate the number of fields currently selected.

Choose how to align fields. For example, you can align the fields with the left margin. Select Tools; Align Fields; Snap to Left Margin.

When aligning fields, you may also want to justify the text of those fields.

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Justifying field text You can justify the text within fields to align on the left, right, or center of the field. This is useful when you move or change the alignment of the field on the bill layout. To justify text within fields:
1 Select one or more fields for which you want to justify text. For example, if you centered fields within a section, you may also want to center justify the text of the field. The status bar will indicate the last field selected and will also indicate the number of fields currently selected.

Click the Center Text Justify button

from the toolbar.

Layering fields You can stack fields and then move the layers up or down to create effects. For example, you can draw a box around a field.
1 2 Click the Rectangle button from the toolbar.

Click on the bill layout section above the top left corner of the field to begin the box and, while holding down the left mouse button, drag the mouse cursor past the bottom right corner of the field to end the box. The box covers the field.

With the new box still selected, select Tools; Field Layer; Move to Back to move the box behind the address fields.

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Previewing bills While designing bills, you might want to see the effects of your design decisions before printing a bill run. You can click the Preview tab to preview your bill layout.
Click the Preview tab to switch to the Preview page.

When you are ready to print bills, you can also print the bills to Display to preview the content and charges. See Previewing bills to display on page 12-41 for more information.

Assigning bill layouts to clients

You can also use these methods to assign statement layouts to clients.

After creating bill layouts, you must assign them to your clients. You can use the Client Information dialog box to assign bill layouts to individual clients or you can use the Bill and Statement Layout List dialog box to assign bill layouts to one or more clients. Using the Client Information dialog box On the Layout page of the Client Information dialog box, use the Layout fields to select the bill layouts for each client.

You can assign bill layouts to clients for use when printing bills and printing history bills.

Using the Bill and Statement Layout List dialog box On the Bill and Statement Layout List dialog box, you can assign a bill layout to multiple clients at once.
1 Select Bills; Bill and Statement Layouts to open the Bill and Statement Layout List dialog box. From the Bills page, select a bill layout and click Assign. On the Assign Layouts to Clients dialog box, mark the clients to associate with the current bill layout and click Assign.

2 3

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Including messages on bills

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Including messages on bills

For more info on bill messages, look up working with bill and statement messages in the online Help for more info.

Bill messages can add clarity to a bill by detailing billing arrangements, explaining policies, and pointing out overdue charges. Sage Timeslips provides several types of messages to your bills. You can enter messages that will display on all bills, messages that are associated with specific clients, and messages that appear based on how long accounts receivable balances have been overdue. Entering messages You enter messages that can be used by all clients in the Messages dialog box (select Setup; Messages). This dialog box lists all global bill and statement messages available. To edit a message, select it from the list and click Open.
Use the Messages dialog box to edit messages that can appear on bills and statements.

You can also enter custom messages for each client on the Layout page of the Client Information dialog box. Mark the Message 1 or Message 2 field, select Custom from the list, and then click Edit. When editing messages, remember that you can right click in the message text to access the shortcut menu of additional commands. Use these commands to format text, access abbreviations, and insert field data tokens. Showing messages on bills When designing bills, you can also determine which messages to show on the bill (see Hiding and showing layout sections on the bill on page 12-25 for more information).

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Generating Bills
After you have prepared billing data (see Preparing for Billing on page 12-4) and designed the look of the bill (see Determining the Appearance of Bills on page 12-16), you are ready to print bills. You print bills using the Generate Bills report (select Bills; Generate Bills) or through Billing Assistant (select Bills; Billing Assistant). Printing a bill to printer prepares the bill for approval.

Configuring the report definition for bills

For more info on selecting or sorting data, see printing bills in the online Help.

Select Bills; Generate Bills to open the Report Entry dialog box for bills. You can use the Report Entry dialog box to: Select data for the bill run You can use the Filters tab of the Report Entry dialog box to select the data to include on the bill run. For example, you can select specific clients for the bill run. You can use a Slip Date filter to select slips and transactions within a specific date range. You cannot print a bill for a client with a bill in Proof Stage. See Placing bills on Proof Stage on page 12-45 for more information. Sorting billing data You can use the Sort tab of the Report Entry dialog box to sort slips on bills by several levels. However, you can calculate subtotals only for the top level. For example, you may want to sort slips by Activity (with subtotals) and then by Slip Date. You cannot sort bills by Nickname 2 or Full Name because Sage Timeslips uses Nickname 1 to establish multi-project bill groupings. Setting up bill options You can click the Options button to open the Report Options dialog box, where you can set up additional options for the bill run. Bill options include printing the Bill Summary Worksheet (a variation of the Totals Only Worksheet), checking for spelling and grammar errors, or displaying bills that are on Proof Stage.

See Customizing Reports on page 11-6 for more information on setting up selection filters, sort keys, and other options.

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Previewing bills to display

You can print bills to the Display to preview bill information before printing the bill run to the printer. This allows you to quickly see if your bills include the correct data, sorting, formats, and design.

How to preview bills To preview bills to display:

1 2 3
Set Print to to Display and click the Print button.

Select Bills; Generate Bills. On the Report Entry dialog box, set up the report definition for the bill run. (See Configuring the report definition for bills on page 12-40). Set Print to to Display and click Print.

How to preview bills from Billing Assistant To preview bills to display from Billing Assistant:
1 2 3 4 5
Mark Generate Bills, set the print destination to DIsplay, and click the Print button.

Select Bills; Billing Assistant. If you are not viewing the List View, click Switch viewing mode to a list of all clients at the bottom right corner of the screen. Unmark the check boxes on the left to exclude clients from the bill run. Below the list of clients, mark Generate Bills. Set the print destination to Display and click Print.

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Editing bills onscreen

For more info on editing bills onscreen, look up previewing bills in the online Help.

When you preview bills to Display, you can edit billing data or remove items from the bill run. Changing billing data To change data on the bill, click Drill down from the toolbar and click on the data to review or change. When you place the mouse pointer over data on the bill, it will display in yellow or blue. Click on an area highlighted in yellow drill down to a specific record. For example, you can click on a time slip to open that slip.

Click on an area highlighted in blue to drill down to a specific field on that record. For example, you can click on the slip date to open the slip and highlight the Start date field.

Removing slips from the current bill To remove slips from the bill, click Remove slip on the slip to remove. from the toolbar and click

Sage Timeslips does not delete the slip, it just removes it from the bill. If you close the Print Preview dialog box before printing the bill, Sage Timeslips will not remember which slips you removed from the bill. The next time you print bills, Sage Timeslips will include the removed slips.

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Removing bills from the bill run To remove a specific bill from the bill run, use the Filter clients control to move to the client that you want to remove. Click the Remove from Bill Run button to remove the current bill.

Sage Timeslips does not change any data for this client, it just removes the clients bill from the current bill run. If you close the Print Preview dialog box before printing the bill run, Sage Timeslips will not remember which bills you removed from the bill run. The next time you print a bill run, Sage Timeslips will include this bill. Updating previewed bills with changes When you change billing data, you may want Sage Timeslips to update the previewed bill automatically. Mark Automatically update the report after making changes at the bottom of the screen to update the displayed bill when you make a change.

If you are not updating the previewed bill automatically, click Update the toolbar to update the bill when you are done making changes. Other ways to preview billing data

from

Sage Timeslips provides many resources to allow you to review billing data in other ways. See Reviewing Billing Data on page 12-10 for more information.

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Printing the bill run

After previewing bills (see Previewing bills on page 12-38), you are ready to print bills to the printer. On the Report List dialog box or the Report Entry dialog box, you can use the Print to field to determine where to print bills. When you are ready to print bills for your clients, you will typically print the bill run to the printer. This allows you to review a hard copy of the bills before mailing them to your clients. If you do not have any changes for these bills, you can use this copy to mail to your clients. When bills are finished printing to a printer, Sage Timeslips opens the Generation of Bills Completed dialog box.

After printing bills, place them in Proof Stage while managers review them.

You can use this dialog box to approve bills immediately or place them in Proof Stage for further review. We recommend that you place bills on Proof Stage while managers review them. See Placing bills on Proof Stage on page 12-45. Reprinting copies of bills When you print bills to the printer, Sage Timeslips stores copies of each bill image in your database for later use with the Bills; Reprint Bills command. For more information on reprinting bills, see Reprinting bills on page 12-49. Printing matching envelopes or mailing labels
For more info, see printing envelopes for bills in the online Help.

After placing bills on Proof Stage or approving bills, Sage Timeslips will prompt you to print envelopes or labels for the clients in that bill run. If you do not want to print envelopes or labels at this time, click Cancel. If needed, you can unmark the Print matching envelopes or labels option to prevent this step in the future.

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Placing bills on Proof Stage

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Reviewing and Approving Bills

When printing bills is completed, Sage Timeslips will prompt you to approve the bills from the current bill run. Approving a bill updates your clients accounts receivable balances and updates billing histories with new monthly values. See Approving bills on page 12-47 for more information about approving bills. You will most likely want to review these bills for last-minute changes or errors. Instead of approving bills immediately, you should place them in Proof Stage.

Placing bills on Proof Stage

When you place a bill on Proof Stage, Sage Timeslips locks all records associated with the bill so that you can review the data. If you find an error, you can clear Proof Stage to unlock the records, fix the problem, and then print the bill again. If you find no errors, you can approve the bill. While a clients bill is on Proof Stage, you cannot generate any further bills for that client. Before printing another bill for that client, you must approve the bill or clear the bill from Proof Stage. You can review all bills on Proof Stage within the Bill Stages dialog box (select Bills; Approve or Clear Bills). From here you can approve or clear a group of bills at once. You can review the bill stage for a specific client using Billing Assistant (select Bills; Billing Assistant). From here you can approve or clear the current bill for a client. For more information on approving bills from Proof Stage or clearing bills from Proof Stage, look up reviewing bills for bill approval in the online Help. Clearing Proof Stage bills If you find errors on a bill that is in Proof Stage, you must remove that bill from Proof Stage in order to correct errors. If you dont want the next bill to follow selections from the Proof Stage bill, you should clear the bill from Proof Stage. If you want the next bill for the client to include the same slips, transactions, and invoice number as the original bill, you should move the bill to Revision Stage. Revision Stage remembers the data that originally appeared on the bill. You can use Billing Assistant (select Bills; Billing Assistant) to add or remove items from this bill.

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Timeslips Users Guide

Using Audit Stage with electronic bills

If you have installed an electronic bill delivery add-on product or audit firm add-on product, you cannot approve bills immediately after printing. Instead, you must export the bills and send the files to an audit firm for review. Setting up the electronic bill delivery feature Before using an electronic bill delivery feature, you must configure it according to instructions provided with the add-on. Each firm has unique settings and file formats. You must also associate clients with the audit firm in the Electronic Delivery field of the Arrangement 2 page of the Client Information dialog box. For information on setting up an electronic billing add-on, look up electronic billing in the online Help. Printing bills After setting up electronic billing, you will print bills and place them on Proof Stage. Next, select the appropriate electronic bill delivery or audit firm command from the bottom of the Bills menu and click Export. Sage Timeslips prompts you for the name and location of the exported bills. Sage Timeslips will select the correct clients and generate these files. Placing bills in Audit Stage With most audit firms, when the export is complete, Sage Timeslips moves the bills from Proof Stage to Audit Stage. Audit Stage is similar to Proof Stage, locking the bills while the audit firm reviews them. Send the exported files to the recipient firm. Approving electronic bills When the firm contacts you with their assessment, you can approve the bills if no changes are required. If changes are required, you can clear selected bills from Audit Stage and make the necessary changes. When you print the bills again, you will repeat the electronic delivery process. You can use the Bill Stages dialog box (select Bills; Approve or Clear Audited Bills) to approve or clear a group to electronic bills. You can use Billing Assistant (select Bills; Billing Assistant) to approve or clear electronic bills for individual clients.

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Reviewing and Approving Bills

Approving bills

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Approving bills
You can approve bills immediately after printing them, using the Generation of Bills Completed dialog box (see Printing the bill run on page 12-44). However, most firms will use Proof Stage and will approve bills later. You should approve bills as soon as the managers at your firm are satisfied with them. If you do not approve bills, your accounting will not be accurate and new bills will contain charges that have already printed on older bills. Approving a group of bills You can approve a group of bills using the Bill Stages dialog box (select Bills; Approve or Clear Bills). The Proof page of the Bill Stages dialog box displays all clients with Proof Stage bills. Mark the check box to the left of any bill that you want to approve and click Approve. Sage Timeslips will approve all selected bills. Approving a bill for a specific client You can use Billing Assistant if you prefer to approve bills for one client at a time. Billing Assistant displays the current bill stage for each client. For clients with a Proof Stage bill, right click on Proof Stage and choose Approve.

How approving bills affects Sage Timeslips

Approving bills updates your database in the following ways: For a more detailed list of how approving bills affects Sage Timeslips data, look up approving bills:updating data in the online Help. Time and expense slips All slips included on the bill are assigned their final values, which reflect the effects of flat fees and adjustments. They are also marked as billed, so that they will not be printed on future bills. These slips are no longer considered work in process and you can no longer edit these slips. When viewing slip details within the Slip Entry dialog box, billed slips will include the invoice number and date. Accounts receivable and client funds transactions All transactions included on the bill are marked as billed, so that they will not be printed on future bills. For each of these transactions, Sage Timeslips displays a yellow envelope on the Accounts Receivable List dialog box and the Client Funds List dialog box. You can no longer edit these transactions. When viewing transactions details, billed transactions will include the invoice number and date. 12-47

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Billing Clients
Timeslips Users Guide

Sage Timeslips creates a new invoice transaction for any clients that included new charges on the bill. New transactions are created in association with automatic payments from client funds, early payment discounts, and progress bill credits. Client information The Last bill date field is updated for each client. This field is located in the Arrangement 2 page of the Client Information dialog box. This date determines when balances will age and it also affects interest calculations. Billing arrangements are updated. Status and billed totals are updated for flat fees that cover multiple bills. Non-recurring adjustments are deleted. Billing history values Client billing history reflects the updated totals in the current month and any month containing A/R transactions or client funds transactions. Timekeeper history reflects updated totals in the current month.

Undoing approved bills

Sage Timeslips maintains details on the most recently approved bills. If a client reports an error on the bill, you can undo approval of the bill, make any necessary change, and print a new one. To undo bill approval, select Bills; Undo Approved Bills. Within the Bill Stages dialog box, mark the bills to undo and then click Undo. Sage Timeslips prompts you to place the data in Revision Stage or clear the bill. If you want the next bill for the client to include the same slips, transactions, and invoice number as the original bill, you should click Revision to move the bill to Revision Stage. Otherwise, you should click Clear to clear the bill. After undoing an approved bill, you should print and approve a new bill. Please note that some actions in Sage Timeslips, such as purging slips, can prevent you from undoing bill approval. Look up undoing bill approval in the online Help for more information. If you cannot undo approval, simply enter a credit transaction to correct the error.

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Reviewing and Approving Bills

Reprinting bills

12

Reprinting bills
For more info on reprinting bills, look up reprinting bills in the online Help.

After you print and approve a bill, you may need to print another copy. For example, a client may call weeks later and request another copy of the bill, or you may want to send another copy to remind a client of an unpaid balance. Sage Timeslips keeps images of each printed bill in your database. Select Bills; Reprint Bills to open the Reprint Bills dialog box. This dialog box lists all the bills that are available to reprint.

Optionally use the View by field and the Selection button to filter the bills displayed. Mark the bills that you want to reprint.

Choose where to reprint bills.

You can use the View by field or the Selection button to filter the bills listed, which can help you find the bills that you want to reprint. For example, you can list all bills for a specific client or list all unpaid bills. You can also click on column headings to sort the bill list. You can also use the Billing History page of Billing Assistant to reprint bills on a client-by-client basis. Select Bills; Billing Assistant, click the Go to Billing Details button, and then switch to the Billing History page. Because bill images consume hard disk space, you may want to establish a limit on the number of bill images stored per client. Select Setup; General, switch to the Other page, and use the Save the last nn bill images per client field. Sage Timeslips creates bill images only when you print and approve bills.

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Billing Clients
Timeslips Users Guide

Printing Post-Billing Reports

Some reports are most useful at the end of the billing cycle. Typically, you print the Aged A/R Balances report (select Reports; Billing) after billing so you can monitor a clients outstanding debt. If you transfer your accounting information into an accounting programs general ledger, now is a good time to print the G/L Transfer Register. See Transferring data on page 17-8. Other reports may suit your needs at the end of the billing cycle. If there are reports that you want to print as part of your billing cycle, you may want to move them to the Billing page of the Report List dialog box. For more information on reports, look up overview of reports in the online Help system.

Printing a history bill

If you are required to submit a bill to the court, you may need to show both billed and unbilled charges for a client. The History Bill (select Reports; Billing) allows you to combine billed and unbilled slips on a report that resembles a bill, but has no effect on client balances. For more information on history bills, look up history bill in the online Help system.

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Generating Statements
Overview 13-2 Setting up Clients to Receive Statements by Email 13-2 Determining the Appearance of Statements
Accessing statement layouts A tour of the Design page Assigning statement layouts to clients

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13-7 13-9 13-10

Printing Statements
Previewing statements to display Printing and finalizing statements

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Generating Statements
Timeslips Users Guide

Generating Statements
Overview
At the end of the billing cycle, you can send statements to your clients to document the recent changes to clients accounts receivable balances. There are several steps to set up and print statements: You can set up clients to receive statements by email. See Setting up Clients to Receive Statements by Email on page 13-2 for more info. You can establish the appearance of statements. See Determining the Appearance of Statements on page 13-6 for more info. When you are ready to print statements, you can print them to the printer or to a file. After printing, you can finalize the statements to prevent items from appearing on statements again. See Printing Statements on page 13-10 for more info.

Setting up Clients to Receive Statements by Email

For more info on sending statements by email, look up sending statements to clients by email in the online Help.

When you print statements to the printer and finalize them, Sage Timeslips can also send PDF copies of the statements to your clients by email. Before you can send statements by email, you must set up options for each client and set up options for the statement run. To send statements by email, you must: use a MAPI-compliant email system, such as Outlook, Outlook Express, or Eudora (please check with your system administrator to determine if your email system is MAPI-compliant) have an Internet connection

Maintaining statement email templates When you send statements via email, Sage Timeslips sends a text email message to your client and attaches the finalized statement as a PDF (portable document format) file. Sage Timeslips uses email templates to determine the subject line of the email message and the body text appearing in the email message. The PDF file of the statement will be attached to the email message. Sage Timeslips provides statement email templates for each of your firms aging periods. When you send statements by email, Sage Timeslips automatically uses the email template associated with the clients oldest balance. You can use the Statements page of the Email Template List dialog box (select Setup; Email Templates) to edit statement email templates.

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Setting up Clients to Receive Statements by Email

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Sage Timeslips provides a statement email template for each aging period and for the current period.

Select an email template and click Open to view or edit the template details.

Specify the subject line of the email message.

Specify the body text of the email message.

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Generating Statements
Timeslips Users Guide

In order to be able to send statements by email, you must set up options for each client. Assigning email addresses to clients Sage Timeslips can store multiple email addresses for each client. The Phone numbers and Email addresses group box, on the General page of the Client Information dialog box, includes the Email Address and CC Email addresses fields. You must assign a valid email address for each client that will receive statements by email.

Enter a valid email address for each client. You can also enter CC email addresses (carbon copies) for each client.

Email addresses should be in the format [email protected]. Examples of valid formatting include [email protected] and [email protected]. Identifying clients to be sent statements by email The Email options group box, on the Arrangement 2 page of the Client Information dialog box, includes the Send statements via email field. Mark Send Statements via email to determine if Sage Timeslips will automatically mark this client when prompting you to send statements via email. See the next section, Sending statements by email, for more information.
Mark Send statements via email for each client that will receive statements by email.

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Setting up Clients to Receive Statements by Email

13

Sending statements by email When you print statements, the Send statements via email report option determines if Sage Timeslips will prompt you to send statements via email on finalization. This option is located on the Report Options dialog box for the Generate Statements report. For example, you mark this option before you print statements, and clients included on the statement run have email addresses. When you finalize statements from this statement run, Sage Timeslips opens the Email Statements to Clients dialog box. You can use this dialog box to choose which statements to send via email. Click OK to continue.
Sage Timeslips will send statements by email to marked email addresses. This list includes all clients on the statement run that have email addresses. It automatically marks clients that have Send statements via email marked on the Arrangement 2 page of the Client Information dialog box.

For more information on finalizing statements, see Printing Statements on page 13-10.

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Generating Statements
Timeslips Users Guide

Determining the Appearance of Statements

To accommodate the variations in statement styles among firms, Sage Timeslips provides many ways to establish a statement appearance to suit your needs.
Use statement layouts to control the appearance of the headers, footers, column headings, and much more. After creating or editing statement layouts, you can assign them to each client.

Willis & Henderson, P.C. 133 S. Main Street Suite 1402 Essex, MA 01929

ABC Corporation 17 North Thunder Way Suite 1001B Boston MA 02114

May 05, 2008 In Reference To: General counsel.

Date

Description Beginning Balance Invoice #10049 Invoice #10118 Invoice #10159 Payment - Thank You. Check No. 456 Ending Balance Amount Due

Amount 651.00 430.25 538.75 (700.00)

Balance (37.79) 464.42 894.67 1,433.42 733.42 733.42 733.42

Use the Report Entry dialog box to select data to include, set sort options, and more.

4/24/2008 4/29/2008 5/2/2008 5/5/2008

Current 733.42

30 Days 0.00

60 Days 0.00

90 Days 0.00

120+ Days 0.00

Use statement layouts to determine if messages and tables will appear, and to establish project settings.

The two main areas that determine the appearance of statements are: Statement layouts: You can design statement layouts to control the format of the statement, including the placement of fields, fonts, and graphics. Statement settings: You can establish statement settings to determine which clients and which charges appear on the statement, set sort options, and set up statement options.

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Determining the Appearance of Statements

Accessing statement layouts

13

Accessing statement layouts

For more info on designing statements, look up designing layouts: statement layouts in the online Help.

When generating statements for your clients, Sage Timeslips uses statement layouts to determine the format and position of items on each client's statement. These formatting and positioning options determine the appearance of printed statements. For example, you will commonly edit statement layouts to adjust headers and footers to match company stationery. If you previously used pre-printed forms to generate statements, you may be able to modify your statement layout to resemble these forms. Maintaining statement layouts You use the Statements page of the Bill and Statement Layout List dialog box to maintain statement layouts.
1 2 Within Sage Timeslips, select Bills; Bill and Statement Layouts to open the Bill and Statement Layout List dialog box. Switch to the Statements page and use the toolbar buttons to the right to maintain statement layouts.

The Statements page of the Bill and Statement Layout List dialog box lists the available statement layouts.

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Generating Statements
Timeslips Users Guide

To open an existing statement layout:

1 2 3 Open the Statements page of the Bill and Statement Layout List dialog box. Select a statement layout and click the Open toolbar button.

Sage Timeslips opens the selected statement layout in the Design page of the Statement Preview dialog box. Use the toolbar buttons and menu commands on this page to edit the statement layout. See A tour of the Design page on page 13-9 for more information.

To create a new statement layout:

1 2 Open the Statements page of the Bill and Statement Layout List dialog box. Click the New toolbar button.

Sage Timeslips creates a new statement layout and opens it in the Design page of the Statement Preview dialog box.

Use the toolbar buttons and menu commands on this page to edit the statement layout.
See A tour of the Design page on page 13-9 for more information.

To duplicate an existing statement layout:

1 2 Open the Statements page of the Bill and Statement Layout List dialog box. Select a bill layout to duplicate and click the Duplicate toolbar button.

Sage Timeslips creates a new bill layout and opens it in the Design page of the Statement Preview dialog box. The design of this statement layout is based on the statement layout that you duplicated. You can use the toolbar buttons and menu commands available on this page to customize the duplicated bill layout. See A tour of the Design page on page 13-9 for more information.

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Determining the Appearance of Statements

A tour of the Design page

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A tour of the Design page

When you create a new statement layout or open an existing statement layout to edit it, Sage Timeslips opens the statement layout in the Design page of the Statement Preview dialog box.
Use the toolbar buttons and menus to access commands that help you design and edit statements. Use the tabs to switch between the Design and Preview pages. Use the Layout name field to assign a unique name to the statement layout. Use the Go to section field to move to a specific statement layout section. Use the work area to add, edit, and format fields and objects on the statement layout. Use the Field List toolbar to add database fields to the statement layout.

You will use the same resources and methods to design statements that you use to design bills. See Determining the Appearance of Bills on page 12-16 for more information on how to edit bill layouts and statement layouts. The Sample Bills Guide includes many examples of how you can design bills and statements. To open this guide from within Sage Timeslips, select Help; Other Documents; Bill Samples. Within the Sample Bills Guide, see Working with Specific Layout Sections on page 16. Previewing statements While designing statement layouts, you might want to see the effects of your design decisions before printing a statement run. You can click the Preview tab to preview your statement layout.
Click the Preview tab to switch to the Preview page.

Note

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Generating Statements
Timeslips Users Guide

Assigning statement layouts to clients

After creating statement layouts, you can assign them to your clients. You can use the Client Information dialog box to assign statement layouts to individual clients or use the Bill and Statement Layout List dialog box to assign statement layouts to one or more clients. Using the Client Information dialog box On the Layout page of the Client Information dialog box, use the Statement Layout field to select the statement layout for each client.
You can assign statement layouts to clients for use when printing statements.

Using the Bill and Statement Layout List dialog box The Bill and Statement Layout List dialog box allows you to assign a statement layout to multiple clients at once.
1 Select Bills; Bill and Statement Layouts to open the Bill and Statement Layout List dialog box. From the Statements page, select a statement layout and click Assign. On the Assign Layouts to Clients dialog box, mark the clients to associate with the current statement layout and click Assign.

2 3

Printing Statements
A statement will include all accounts receivable transactions created since you last printed statements.

Configuring the report definition

Before printing statements, you can set up selection filters, sort keys, and report options. See Customizing Reports on page 11-6 for more information on setting up reports. Select Bills; Generate Statements to open the Report List dialog box to the Generate Statements report. Set up this report like others, with selection, sorting, options, and formats (see Customizing Reports on page 11-6):

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Printing Statements
Previewing statements to display

13

For more info on selecting data, look up selecting data for reports in the online Help. For more info on sorting data, look up sorting reports in the online Help.

Selecting data for the statement run You can use the Filters tab of the Report Entry dialog box to select the data to include on the statement run. For example, you can select specific clients for the statement run. If you want to print transactions up to the end of the last period, set the Date filter with the end date of the last period.

Sorting statement data You can use the Sort tab of the Report Entry dialog box to sort statements. Transactions that appear on statements automatically sort by date. You can also sort clients by custom field. When printing consolidated (multi-project) statements, keep in mind that sorting by a custom field may force projects onto separate statements if they do not share the same value in the custom field.

Setting up statement options You can click the Options button to can set up additional options for the statement run. For example, you can reprint already finalized transactions, suppress statements that are paid in full or have no new transactions, or show payments distributed to multiple invoices.

See Customizing Reports on page 11-6 for more information on setting up selection filters, sort keys, and other options.

Previewing statements to display

You can print statements to the Display to preview information before printing the statement run to the printer. This allows you to quickly see if statements include the correct data, sorting, formats, and design.

How to preview statements To preview statements to display:

1 2 3
Set Print to to Display and click the Print button to preview statements.

Select Bills; Generate Statements. On the Report Entry dialog box, set up the statement report. Set Print to to Display and click Print.

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Generating Statements
Timeslips Users Guide

Editing statements onscreen When you preview statements, you can edit statement data onscreen. When you place the mouse pointer over data on the bill, it will display in yellow or blue. Click on an area highlighted in yellow to drills down to a specific record. For example, can click on a payment to open the details of that payment.

Click on an area highlighted in blue to drill down to a specific field on that record. For example, you can click on the payment date to open that transaction and highlight the transaction Date field.

When you change statement data, you may want Sage Timeslips to update the previewed statement automatically. Mark Automatically update the report after making changes at the bottom of the screen to update the displayed statement when you make a change.

If you are not updating the previewed statement automatically, click Update from the toolbar to update the statement when you are done making changes. Look up previewing statements in the online Help system for more information on editing statements onscreen.

Printing and finalizing statements

When you have configured all settings, select the output device (using the Print to field) and click Print. When you print statements to the printer or to a file, Sage Timeslips prompts you to finalize the report. Finalizing a statement marks the transactions you included on the statement, so they do not appear on the next statement. However, you can override this marking if needed. Printing matching envelopes or mailing labels
For more info, see printing envelopes for statements in the online Help.

After printing statements, Sage Timeslips will prompt you to print envelopes or labels for the clients in that statement run. If you do not want to print envelopes or labels at this time, click Cancel. If needed, you can unmark the Print matching envelopes or labels option to prevent this step in the future.

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Linking Sage Timeslips with Outlook

Overview Synchronizing Names
Setting up name synchronization Linking client fields with contact fields Linking client names with contact names Understanding the synchronization process

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14-2 14-3
14-3 14-4 14-5 14-6

Creating Outlook Records within Sage Timeslips

Enabling auto population Entering email addresses Creating Outlook records Example of auto-population

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Creating Slips within Outlook

Entering email addresses Creating time and expense slips Using the Create Slip from Outlook dialog box Examples of auto-population

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Linking Sage Timeslips with Outlook

Timeslips Users Guide

Linking with Outlook

Overview
The Outlook Link allows you to connect your Sage Timeslips database with Microsoft Outlook. This link offers functionality that enhances both products:
For more info about the Outlook Link, look up Outlook in the Sage Timeslips online Help.

Synchronizing clients with contacts. When you link Sage Timeslips client names and Outlook contact names, the Outlook Link can automatically update a name when you change the name linked with it. This eliminates double entry. For example, client Eastern in Sage Timeslips is linked with contact Eastern in Outlook. When you update the address for Eastern in Sage Timeslips, the Outlook Link automatically applies those changes to Outlook. See Synchronizing Names on page 14-3 for more information.

Creating Outlook records within Sage Timeslips. When you create Outlook email messages, tasks, meetings, or appointments within Sage Timeslips, the Outlook Link can populate some fields in Outlook for you. For example, while viewing a slip in Sage Timeslips, you create a new Outlook email message. The Outlook Link can automatically populate the messages To and Subject fields. See Creating Outlook Records within Sage Timeslips on page 14-8 for more information.

Creating Sage Timeslips slips within Outlook. When you create Sage Timeslips time or expense slips within Outlook, the Outlook Link can populate some fields of the new slip for you. For example, after you complete an Outlook meeting, the Outlook Link can automatically prompt you to create a new slip to track the meeting time. See Creating Slips within Outlook on page 14-13 for more information.

Outlook requirements The Sage Timeslips Outlook Link supports Outlook 2000, Outlook 2002, Outlook 2003, and Outlook 2007. We require that you install Sage Timeslips and Outlook on the same workstation. If Outlook is not on the same station as Sage Timeslips, the Outlook Link will not work.

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Synchronizing Names
Setting up name synchronization

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Synchronizing Names
You can synchronize client names in Sage Timeslips with contact names in Outlook. This ensures that information for clients and contacts is maintained correctly in both databases, without double entry.

Setting up name synchronization

Before you can synchronize names, you must establish synchronization settings.

How to set up synchronization options

1 2 In Sage Timeslips, select Setup; Sage Timeslips Outlook Link; Settings. The Outlook Link Settings dialog box opens. Switch to the Synchronize page.

Use the Contact folder path field to specify the contact folder that you are linking with Sage Timeslips. Use the Synchronization rules fields to specify how to synchronize Sage Timeslips clients with Outlook contacts.

Within the Select Outlook folder group box, click Browse. Select the contact folder to use with the Outlook Link and click OK. If more than one Sage Timeslips user will be synchronizing Sage Timeslips clients with Outlook contacts, you must select a global contact folder. The Outlook administrator must provide the proper folder rights for Outlooks users who will synchronize names. These users need for Edit rights for all contacts in the global contact folder.

Use the settings within the Synchronization rules group box to enable name synchronization and determine when names synchronization occurs. Mark one or more options to enable name synchronization. Click OK to save the settings.

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Linking Sage Timeslips with Outlook

Timeslips Users Guide

Linking client fields with contact fields

Before synchronizing names, you can optionally verify how the Outlook Link maps fields. This ensures that the proper data is being updated between names.

How to link client fields with contact fields

1 2 In Sage Timeslips, select Setup; Sage Timeslips Outlook Link; Settings. In the Outlook Link Settings dialog box, switch to the Linked Fields page.

Use the Linked Fields page to map client fields to contact fields.

You can click the Use Defaults button to restore the default field links set by the Outlook Link.

To link name fields manually: a. b. c. In the Sage Timeslips Clients list, select the client field that you want to link with a contact field. In the Outlook Contacts list, select the contact field that you want to link with the selected client field. Click Link to link the selected fields.

4 5

If you want to link additional fields, repeat steps 3a through 3c. Click OK to save the settings.

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Synchronizing Names
Linking client names with contact names

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Linking client names with contact names

The Outlook Link uses name links to identify which names can transfer data to each other. The Outlook Link can establish these name links automatically during the synchronization process, or you can establish name links manually. See Understanding the synchronization process on page 14-6 for more information on how the Outlook Link synchronizes names.

How to link client names and contact names manually

1 2 3 4 In Sage Timeslips, select Setup; Sage Timeslips Outlook Link; Linked Data to open the Data Linked with Outlook dialog box. If Sage Timeslips displays a message about linking names, click OK. In the Sage Timeslips Clients list, select the client that you want to link with an Outlook contact. Do one of the following: a. b. 5 6 7 Click Find Equivalent to select the closest match in the Outlook Contacts list automatically, or Manually select the name in the Outlook Contacts list that you want to link with the selected client.

Click Link to link the selected names. If you want to link additional names, repeat steps 3 through 5. Click OK to accept the settings.

For more info on maintaining name links, including clearing name links and setting the ignore status, look up setting up Outlook name synchronization in the Sage Timeslips online Help.

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Linking Sage Timeslips with Outlook

Timeslips Users Guide

Understanding the synchronization process

After you have set up name synchronization, Sage Timeslips can synchronize names with Outlook. The name synchronization process can perform three functions: automatically sets up links between matching client and contact names prompts you to set up links for names that dont exist in the other database updates changed information in linked names

Depending on your synchronization settings and how you start the synchronization process, the Outlook Link will perform each of these functions, or it will just synchronize data between linked client and contact names. Starting the synchronization process Different actions in Sage Timeslips can start the synchronization process. Starting synchronization manually You can start the synchronization process manually by selecting Names; Synchronize Names with Outlook. When you synchronize names in this way, this process will review all client and contact names. Synchronizing when opening the Sage Timeslips database When Synchronize clients when opening the Sage Timeslips database is marked in the Synchronize page of the Outlook Link Settings dialog box, the synchronization process starts when you open this database.

Synchronization can start as soon as you open the database.

When you synchronize names in this way, this process will review all linked client and contact names.

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Synchronizing Names
Understanding the synchronization process

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Updating Outlook contacts when adding or editing Sage Timeslips names When Update Outlook Contacts immediately when editing Sage Timeslips Clients is set to Yes (within the Synchronize page of the Outlook Link Settings dialog box), the Outlook Link updates data in Outlook contacts when you edit linked client names in Sage Timeslips.

When editing clients in Sage Timeslips, you can apply changes to Outlook contacts immediately, or the Outlook Link can prompt you to make changes.

The synchronization process will ignore some types of names. See Names ignored during synchronization on page 14-8. How Sage Timeslips synchronizes names Sage Timeslips follows this process when synchronizing names:
1 The Outlook Link reviews each open Sage Timeslips client and does one of the following: a. b. If the Sage Timeslips client is linked with an Outlook contact, the Outlook Link makes updates to those names as needed. If the Sage Timeslips client name matches an Outlook contact name exactly, the Outlook Link automatically links the names. If information for either name changes in the future, the Outlook Link will update the names. If the Sage Timeslips client is not linked with an Outlook contact, the Outlook Link will prompt you to link the name. This step happens only when you start the synchronization process using the Names; Synchronize Names with Outlook command.

c.

The Outlook Link reviews each Outlook contact. If the Outlook contact is not linked with a Sage Timeslips client, the Outlook Link will prompt you to link the name. This step happens only when you start the synchronization process using the Names; Synchronize Names with Outlook command. If this synchronization process adds a client name to Sage Timeslips that is too long, the Outlook Link will prompt you to shorten it. If this process adds a client name to Sage Timeslips that already exists, the Outlook Link will prompt you to change the new client name.

When the synchronization process is complete, you should select Setup; Sage Timeslips Outlook Link; Linked Data to review the name links.

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Linking Sage Timeslips with Outlook

Timeslips Users Guide

Names ignored during synchronization During the synchronization process, Sage Timeslips will not review or synchronize the following types of names: Sage Timeslips clients that have a name classification of template, inactive, or closed Sage Timeslips clients that are marked <ignore> in the Data Linked with Outlook dialog box Outlook distribution lists

Fields updated during synchronization Sage Timeslips maps data fields between Sage Timeslips clients and Outlook contacts, based on the settings in the Linked Fields page of the Outlook Link Settings dialog box. See Linking client fields with contact fields on page 14-4 for more information. Preventing synchronization through security You can use security settings to prevent unauthorized users from synchronizing names. Use the Outlook Link Name Synchronization option in the Other area of the security profile controls access to synchronization. See Controlling access to Sage Timeslips on page 6-16 for more information about program security.

Creating Outlook Records within Sage Timeslips

You can use the Outlook Link to create Outlook email messages, tasks, meetings, and appointments within Sage Timeslips.

Enabling auto population

When creating Outlook records within Sage Timeslips, you can set up the Outlook Link to auto-populate some Outlook fields for you.

How to enable auto-population for Outlook records

1 2 3 4 In Sage Timeslips, select Setup; Sage Timeslips Outlook Link; Settings. The Outlook Link Settings dialog box opens. Switch to the Synchronize page. Within the Creating email messages, tasks, meetings, or appointments group box, mark Auto-populate Outlook fields with Sage Timeslips data. Click OK to save the settings and close the Outlook Link Settings dialog box.

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Creating Outlook Records within Sage Timeslips

Entering email addresses

14

Entering email addresses

When sending messages, assigning tasks, or inviting contacts to meetings, the Outlook Link also relies on client and timekeeper email addresses that you enter in Sage Timeslips. You can enter email addresses for each client on the General page of the Client Information dialog box. The Outlook link only uses the email address from the Email address field; it does not use email addresses from the CC Email addresses field. You can enter email addresses for each timekeeper on the General page of the Timekeeper Information dialog box.

When you create new Outlook records within Sage Timeslips, the Outlook link uses the email address of the current timekeeper. Look up associating timekeepers with databases within the Sage Timeslips online Help system for more information.

Creating Outlook records

There are two ways to create Outlook records in Sage Timeslips: Select the appropriate command from the Special; Outlook submenu. For example, to create an Outlook task, you could select Special; Outlook; Outlook Task. Select the appropriate command from the main toolbar. For example, to create an Outlook meeting, you could click on the Outlook button on the main toolbar and then select Outlook Meeting. Populating Outlook fields with Sage Timeslips data The Outlook Link can use data in the current Sage Timeslips window to populate fields in the new Outlook record.

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Linking Sage Timeslips with Outlook

Timeslips Users Guide

Email messages Sage Timeslips can populate the following fields when you create Outlook email messages within Sage Timeslips:
Outlook field Timeslips data Alternate Timeslips data

To: CC: Subject:

Clients email address other timekeepers email address reference name

other timekeepers email address (none) task or expense name

Tasks Sage Timeslips can populate the following fields when you create Outlook tasks within Sage Timeslips:
Outlook field Timeslips data Alternate Timeslips data

Subject: Start date: Due date: Date completed: Total work: Actual work: Companies: Notes:

reference name start date end date end date time estimated time spent client name description

task or expense name today's date (none) (none) time spent (none) (none) (none)

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Creating Outlook Records within Sage Timeslips

Creating Outlook records

14

Meetings Sage Timeslips can populate the following fields when you create Outlook meetings within Sage Timeslips:
Outlook field Timeslips data Alternate Timeslips data

Subject: Start date: End date: Required attendees:

reference name start date end date client's email address

task or expense name today's date today's date Other timekeeper's email address

Appointments Sage Timeslips can populate the following fields when you create Outlook appointments within Sage Timeslips:
Outlook field Timeslips data Alternate Timeslips data

Subject: Start date: End date:

reference name start date end date

task or expense name today's date today's date

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Linking Sage Timeslips with Outlook

Timeslips Users Guide

Example of auto-population
You are reviewing the charges for a client's next bill using Billing Assistant and you want to email a question to the client. You click on the Outlook button on the main toolbar, and then choose Outlook Email Message to create a new email message.

When creating Outlook records from Sage Timeslips, the Outlook Link can automatically populate Outlook fields with Timeslips data.

Sage Timeslips will populate the message's To: field with the email address from the current client. Because there is not a specific reference name, task name, or expense name in the current Sage Timeslips window, Sage Timeslips will not populate the Subject: field. For more examples of populating fields in Outlook records, look up creating Outlook records within Sage Timeslips in the Sage Timeslips online Help.

14-12

Creating Slips within Outlook

Entering email addresses

14

Creating Slips within Outlook

When linking Sage Timeslips and Outlook, you can create Sage Timeslips time and expense slips within Outlook.

Entering email addresses

When you create new time and expense slips within Outlook, the Outlook Link uses the email addresses to select timekeepers and clients for the new slip. You can enter email addresses for each client on the General page of the Client Information dialog box. You can enter email addresses for each timekeeper on the General page of the Timekeeper Information dialog box.

For example, you can create a slip from an email message. When choosing the timekeeper for the new slip, the Outlook Link will search through Sage Timeslips timekeeper records to match a timekeeper with an email address on the email message. When choosing the client for the new slip, the Outlook Link will search through Sage Timeslips client records to match a client with an email address on the email message. However, the Outlook Link will not match email addresses that you have entered in the CC Email addresses field in Sage Timeslips.

Creating time and expense slips

The Outlook Link provides two ways of creating time or expense slips from Outlook email messages, tasks, meetings, or appointments: Using the Create Slip When Complete button You can open an Outlook record and use the Create Slip When Complete button to mark an Outlook record for slip creation. Please note that this button may not appear in Outlook in some cases. Please see considerations when using the Outlook link in the online Help for more info. When that Outlook record is complete, the Outlook Link will prompt you to create a slip based on it. For example, if you mark an email message for slip creation, when you send that message the Outlook Link will prompt you to create a slip based on the message.

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Linking Sage Timeslips with Outlook

Timeslips Users Guide

If you mark meetings or appointments for slip creation, the Outlook Link opens the Completed/Meetings Appointments dialog box when it detects completed meetings or appointments. You can use this dialog box to select a completed meeting or appointment for slip creation. For more information about creating slip from meetings and appointments, look up creating slips:based on Outlook records in the online Help. Using the Create Slip command You can create a slip from an Outlook record at any time, even if the Outlook record is not yet complete. To do this, highlight a record within Outlook and use the Timeslips; Create Slip command. For example, if you highlight a task in the Outlook task list and select Timeslips; Create Slip, the Outlook Link will prompt you to create a slip based on that task. When using either method, the Outlook Link opens the Create Slip from Outlook dialog box to allow you to create a slip. When you save the slip information, the Outlook Link saves the new slip in Sage Timeslips. See Using the Create Slip from Outlook dialog box on page 14-14 for more information.

Using the Create Slip from Outlook dialog box

When you create time or expense slips from Outlook, the Outlook Link opens the Create Slip from Outlook dialog box, where you can specify the information for the new slip.

The Outlook Link uses the Create Slips from Outlook dialog box when creating time or expense slips from Outlook. When you save the information, the Outlook Link creates the new slip within Sage Timeslips. This allows you to create slips without having to open Sage Timeslips.

14-14

Creating Slips within Outlook

Using the Create Slip from Outlook dialog box

14

Populating slip fields with Outlook data Depending on where you are working in Outlook, the Outlook Link may be able to populate some of the fields of the new slip automatically. Email messages The Outlook Link can populate the following slip fields when you create a slip based on an Outlook email message:
Slip field Outlook data Alternate Outlook data

Timekeeper Client Start date End date Time spent

User logged into Outlook From: Message start date/time Message sent date/time Elapsed time between message start date/time and message sent date/time Subject:

From, To, CC, or BCC To, CC, or BCC task or expense name

Description

Tasks The Outlook Link can populate the following slip fields when you create a slip based on an Outlook task:
Slip field Outlook data Alternate Outlook data

Timekeeper Start date End date Time estimated Time spent Description

User logged into Outlook Start date Date completed Total work Actual work Subject and Notes

From, To, CC, or BCC

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Linking Sage Timeslips with Outlook

Timeslips Users Guide

Meetings/Appointments The Outlook Link can populate the following slip fields when you create a slip based on an Outlook meeting or appointment:
Slip field Outlook data Alternate Outlook data

Timekeeper Start date End date Time spent Description

User logged into Outlook Start date End date Start time - End time Subject and Descriptions

From, To, CC, or BCC

Examples of auto-population
Using the Create Slip When Complete toolbar button You are sending an email message in regards to a phone conference and you want to create an associated slip. Within the email message, click Create Slip When Complete
When you click the Create Slip When Complete toolbar button, the Outlook record indicates slip creation is pending the completion of the Outlook record.

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Creating Slips within Outlook

Examples of auto-population

14

When you send the email message, the Outlook Link prompts you to create a new slip. The Outlook Link populates many of the slip fields of the Create Slip from Outlook dialog box with Outlook message fields. For instance the slip Description field is populated with the message Subject.

When the Outlook Link prompts you to create a new slip, some of the slip fields can be populated for you.

You can set values for the remaining slip fields or edit any of the slip fields as necessary. Using the Create Slip menu command You are reviewing your tasks in Outlook list and want to create a slip from a task. Within Outlook, you highlight the task from which you want to create a slip.
You can highlight an Outlook record and select Timeslips; Create Slip to create a new slip based on that record.

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Linking Sage Timeslips with Outlook

Timeslips Users Guide

With a task highlighted, select Timeslips; Create Slip. The Outlook Link prompts you to create a new slip. The Outlook Link populates many of the slip fields of the Create Slip from Outlook dialog box with Outlook task fields. For instance the Time estimated field is populated with the Total work amount and the Time spent field is populated with the Actual work amount.

When the Outlook Link prompts you to create a new slip, some of the slip fields can be populated for you.

You can set values for the remaining slip fields or edit any of the slip fields as necessary.

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Updating and Removing Data

Overview Updating Rates Updating Slips Closing and Reopening Slips
Closing slips Including closed slips on reports Reopening slips

15
15-2 15-2 15-4 15-5
15-5 15-6 15-6

Hiding Names
Changing name classifications

15-7
15-8

Purging Data and Closing Periods

Purging names Purging slips and transactions Consolidating histories Completing the purge function

15-9
15-9 15-10 15-10 15-11

Archiving Slips
Archiving slips while purging Moving slips between databases

15-12
15-12 15-12

Restoring Archives
Including temporary slips on reports Removing temporary slips from the database

15-13
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Updating and Removing Data

Timeslips Users Guide

Updating and Removing Data

Overview
During the course of your business, you may need to update your Sage Timeslips data to reflect changes in your organization or to remove data. For example, you may increase your rates at the start of a new fiscal year as well as perform your year-end procedures. Over time, your database will collect many records. Although they are sometimes valuable, older slips, transactions, and names may get in the way of entering data in Sage Timeslips or printing reports. There are several ways to hide infrequently used data until you need it. Keep in mind that as the size of your database increases, it may take longer to perform some functions. When data is no longer needed on reports, you can purge it to remove it from the database.

Updating Rates
For more info on rate selection rules, look up rate selection rules for clients in the online Help system.

Every timekeeper, client, and task has an associated billing rate table that you can use when assigning rates to time slips. You can also set up rate selection rules for each client that automatically assign rates to time slips based on the names selected. At some point, you may need to change a billing rate or rate selection rule. For example, as part of your firms year-end process, timekeepers may increase their rates. If there are unbilled slips in your database that use the changed rate, you may want to update slips to reflect the new rate value. The Update Rates wizard allows you to update rates on selected slips, without having to edit each slip manually. If you change a rate for a timekeeper, client, task, or rate selection rule that is assigned to a slip, Sage Timeslips opens the Update Rates wizard automatically.

15-2

Updating Rates

15

How to update rates on slips We recommend that you make a backup of your Sage Timeslips database before updating rates. See Making an effective backup plan on page 16-9 for more information.
1 2 Select Special; Update Rates to open the Update Rates wizard. Select the rate table containing the changed rate: timekeeper, client, task, or rate selection rules.

Select the type of rate to update.

Click Next to continue. 3 4 Select the timekeeper, client, or task containing the changed rate. Click Next to continue. Select the rates to update. Sage Timeslips will update only slips that use the rate table you selected in step 2. Click Next to continue. This view is not available if you are updating rate selection rules. 5 Select the earliest date for the slips you want to update. You can optionally use selection filters to limit the slips affected by this change. Click Next to continue. The last view of the Update Rates wizard summarizes the settings you have selected. If you need to change any settings, click Back. Otherwise, click Finish to complete the update process.

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Updating and Removing Data

Timeslips Users Guide

Updating Slips
You may occasionally need to edit many slips at once. For example, if a partner leaves the company, another employee may take over that partners clients. In a large database it would be a lot of work to edit one slip at a time. The Slip Export (Mass Update) wizard allows you to export fields (such as the Timekeeper field, in this example) from one slip to other slips.

How to export slip fields to other slips We recommend that you make a backup of your database before updating slips. See Making an effective backup plan on page 16-9 for more information.
1 2 Click Slip List to open the list of slips.

Highlight the slip that contains the fields you want to export and click Open to open the Slip Entry dialog box. You will most likely use this feature as you are editing a slip. Set the slip fields to the values you want. Then export some or all slip fields to other slips.

3 4

Click Export continue.

to open the Slip Export (Mass Update) wizard. Click Next to

Select the fields that you want to export from the slip. Click Next to continue.

Select the slip fields to export to other slips.

This process will not export references unless the destination slips use the same client as the source slip. When you export references, you must also export the client name. 5 You can use selection filters to determine which slips will receive the selected slip fields. Click Next to continue.

15-4

Closing and Reopening Slips

Closing slips

15

6 7

To change any of the current settings, click Back. Otherwise, click Finish to export the slip fields. The Back Up Current Database dialog box opens, prompting you to make a backup. Since you are making changes that cannot be undone, we recommend that you make a backup before exporting slip fields. Select a destination for the backup and click Save. When the back is successful, click OK to continue the slip export. When the export process is finished, Sage Timeslips indicates the number of slips that the wizard updated. Click OK to return to the Slip Entry dialog box.

8 9

Closing and Reopening Slips

Sage Timeslips tracks more slip records than any other type of data in the database. After you approve bills, slips provide vital and detailed records of who was billed, when they were billed, and at what value. There are many reports that use this data for practice management analysis. Consider keeping slips available in the database for as long as you intend to use them in these reports. If your timekeepers have entered thousands of slips into your database, it will take longer to display slips and many reports will take longer to generate. You can use selection filters to limit the records in some lists and reports, but the process that prepares the list or report can still slow down dramatically. You can avoid this delay by closing older slips periodically.

Closing slips
You can close slips to hide them from Sage Timeslips, while still being able to report on them. Select Slips; Close Slips to close slips. Use the Limit slips to fields to determine which slips to close. If you select use filters, you can use the filters interface to specify the slips to close. Otherwise, you can use rules based on the age of the slips. The rules billed, not exported, older than and billed, exported, older than use the computers system date to determine which billed slips to close. For example, if today is April 15th, and you select billed, not exported, older than 1 month, you will close billed slips with an end date of March 15th or earlier. The Include slips on undoable approved bills option determines whether you will close a billed slip that is on an approved bill for which you can undo approval. After setting up your selection filters, click OK to close the slips. Once closed, slips are no longer available for billing and are not visible within Sage Timeslips. Closing slips does not remove records from your database or reduce the size of your database. 15-5

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Updating and Removing Data

Timeslips Users Guide

Including closed slips on reports

Closed slips are available on most slip-based reports. By default, Sage Timeslips will omit closed slips from reports. Sage Timeslips uses the Slip.Classification selection filter to determine if closed slips will appear on reports. You can edit this filter and mark the Closed check box to include closed slips on the report.

When filtering slips by classification, you can mark Closed to include closed slips on the report.

Reopening slips
If you need to access closed slips, you can reopen them. Use the Reopen Slips dialog box (select Slips; Reopen Slips) to select closed slips to reopen.

You can set up selection filters to choose which closed slips to reopen.

You can set up selection filters to choose which closed slips to reopen. When you click OK, Sage Timeslips will update the slips. When you reopen closed slips, those slips will once again be visible throughout Sage Timeslips. Visible slips always have the classification of Open in the Slip.Classification filter on reports and in other functions.
Note

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Hiding Names
Reopening slips

15

Hiding Names
Over time, names in your database (such as clients, timekeepers, tasks, and expenses) can become old or obsolete. You can change classification of a name to hide or remove it from Sage Timeslips.

For example, if you want to change the classification of a client, you can use the Classification field at the top of the Client Information dialog box. The classifications are: Open: The name is active and visible. You can see it in any list of names and its associated records are available on reports by default. Inactive: The name is not currently active. You cannot enter slips or transactions for inactive names. You cannot print bills for inactive name. However, inactive names can appear on reports when you use the classification filter to include inactive names. Closed: The name is obsolete and ready to be deleted. You can delete the closed names with the File; Purge command. Until you purge the name, you can reopen it by changing the classification to Open (see Purging Data and Closing Periods on page 15-9).

You can change classifications at any time. When you change a classification from Open to Inactive, or from Open to Closed, Sage Timeslips displays a confirmation dialog box. For clients, it will list types of associated active data such as unbilled open slips, non-zero balances, and unbilled transactions. Once you change an Open client to Inactive or Closed, Sage Timeslips hides all slips and transactions for that client from the entry dialog boxes, list dialog boxes, and reports. You can include inactive slips and transactions on reports by using classification filters. When you reopen a client, Sage Timeslips restores all hidden and inactive slips and transactions, allowing you to access them within entry and list dialog boxes.

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Updating and Removing Data

Timeslips Users Guide

Changing name classifications

You can change the classification for multiple names at once. This is useful any time you have more than a few names requiring a classification change. For example, if you have finished work for a large number of projects (see Using client projects on page 7-14), you may want to inactivate these projects.

How to change the classification on multiple names

1 Open the appropriate List dialog box. For example, if you want to change classifications for clients, then open the Client List dialog box. Click Change Classification . The Change Classification dialog box displays all open names. To change classifications for inactive or closed names, click on the appropriate page before clicking Change Classification. Mark the names that you want to change. When changing the classification for Open clients, Sage Timeslips will warn you of any conditions that may affect your decision. If you have unbilled charges, unbilled transactions, a non-zero A/R or funds balance, or a bill in Proof Stage or Audit Stage, you may not want to make a client Inactive or Closed.

Sage Timeslips will issue warnings for names that you may not want to close. Highlight a name to view the warnings in the Warnings list.

4 5

Optionally, use the Selection button to set up selection filters to limit the names displayed. When you click OK, a message confirms your intent to change classifications. Click Yes to continue.

15-8

Purging Data and Closing Periods

Purging names

15

Purging Data and Closing Periods

Changing name classifications and closing slips (as discussed in the previous sections) hides data well. However, you will eventually need to remove older data to reduce the size of your database. Closed names and slips, old histories, and approved transactions will eventually become obsolete. You can purge this data to remove it permanently from the database. Select File; Purge to purge data. The Purge dialog box contains two pages that you access by clicking the tabs at the top. Start on the Select Data to Purge page. Mark the types of data you want to purge; you can purge more than one type of data at a time. When purging slips, purging transactions, or consolidating histories, you set the selection criteria using the fields to the right of each selected data type. You can also print detailed reports of purged data for record keeping.

Use the Select Data to Purge page to select which types of data to remove from the database.

Purging names
Sage Timeslips can purge clients, timekeepers, tasks, and expenses that you have marked Closed (see Hiding Names on page 15-7). For example, to purge timekeeper names, mark Timekeepers with a Closed classification. When you purge names, Sage Timeslips will permanently remove slips and transactions associated with those names from the database.

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Updating and Removing Data

Timeslips Users Guide

Purging slips and transactions

Many firms choose to purge slips and transactions at the end of a billing or accounting period. The Purge function simplifies this process by offering rules to delete data by age. Selecting which records to purge When purging slips and transactions, we suggest you use the billed and closed, older than rule to quickly remove obsolete data older than a number of months. For slips, billed and closed means appearing on an approved bill and closed. For accounts receivable transactions, billed and closed means appearing on an approved bill, posted to your general ledger (if you have TAL or TAL Pro), and printed on a statement. If a payment is applied to an invoice, that invoice must be fully paid, and all payments applied to it must also be billed and posted to your general ledger (if you have TAL or TAL Pro). Additionally, you cannot purge a fully paid invoice until you first purge the transactions that pay it off. For funds transactions, billed and closed means appearing on an approved bill and posted to your general ledger.

The billed and closed, older than rule determines the number of months by date from the computers system date. For example, if today is April 15th, and you select billed and closed, older than 1 month, this rule will include slips and transactions with a date of March 15th or earlier. For slips, this rule applies to the end date. You can also use the use filters option to set up your own filters. Archiving slips when purging Although purging slips removes them from the database, you may still want to keep the purged slips somewhere in case you need them at a later date. On the Options page, you can send purged slips to an archive file (see Archiving Slips on page 15-12).

Consolidating histories
You may want to consolidate the historical totals that appear on the Client History dialog box or the Timekeeper History dialog box. Consolidating histories merges separate months of historical totals into one total. When you consolidate history, Sage Timeslips merges months of historical data into the Prior column of the History dialog box, based on the number of months specified. Before consolidating history, you should consider the number of months for which you still want to be able to view detailed history figures.

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Purging Data and Closing Periods

Completing the purge function

15

Completing the purge function

For more info on purging, look up purging data in the online Help.

When you have established all settings, click OK. Sage Timeslips prompts you to make a database backup. We strongly recommend that you make this backup in case you remove some data accidentally (see Making an effective backup plan on page 16-9). Before completing the purge function, Sage Timeslips prints the purged data report and generates the slip archive (if you selected those options). Finally, a dialog box asks you to confirm that you want to purge records. When completed, Sage Timeslips displays a summary of what was purged.

How to purge slips While you can purge many types of data using the Purge dialog box, the most common use of the Purge process is to purge slips.
1 Select File; Purge to open the Purge dialog box. This dialog box offers options to delete several types of data. For this process, mark the Slip transactions check box. Use the fields to the right of the Slip transactions check box to determine which slips to purge. If you select billed and closed, older than, you will purge slips that are billed, closed, with an end data matching the criteria. If you select use filters, you can set up selection filters interface to select slips. 3 Click the Options tab. Mark the Place purged slip transactions into an archive file in check box. Enter a path and file name for the archive file. Archive files use an extension of .sar (for example, you can name the file C:\MyData\11-2012-Slips.sar). If the file does not already exist, Sage Timeslips will automatically create it. If you want to add records to an existing archive file, mark Add to an existing archive and click Browse to locate the archive file. 4 5 Mark the Print a purged data report to check box and select Printer. When you have modified the settings of the Purge dialog box, click OK. Sage Timeslips will first prompt you to make a backup of your data. Since Sage Timeslips will delete records, we recommend that you make the backup. Click Yes. After Sage Timeslips creates the archive file, a dialog box confirms your intention to purge. Click Yes to purge.

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Updating and Removing Data

Timeslips Users Guide

Archiving Slips
You can copy slips to a slip archive for retrieval later. The archive file also provides a simple way to move slips between two databases that are not on the same network. When archiving slips, you can mark them as exported. This helps you identify slips that have already been archived. You can also use this indicator to purge the slips you have just exported.

Archiving slips while purging

The Archive process does not remove slips from the database. However, Sage Timeslips offers a way to archive slips as part of the Purge process. Typically, most users will archive slips while purging slips. They will use the File; Archive command only when making a file to move slips between databases.

Moving slips between databases

If you maintain separate databases and you can use the File; Archive and File; Combine commands to move slips between them. We recommend that you make a backup of your Sage Timeslips database before archiving slips. See Making an effective backup plan on page 16-9.

How to move slips between databases

1 2 Select File; Archive to open the Archive dialog box. In the Archive file path field, enter the path and file name for the archive file (for example, C:\MyData\MySlips.sar). If the file does not already exist, Sage Timeslips will create it. You can also add slips to an existing archive file using the Add to an existing archive option. 3 4 5 6 Use the Limit slips to fields to determine which slips to archive. For example, you can select use filters to set up selection filters to select slips. Optionally mark Mark slips as exported check box. Sage Timeslips will assign a status of Exported to all archived slips. After you have determined which slips to archive, click Archive to archive the slips. Next, move the archive file to the computer with the other database and use the File; Combine command to import the slips (see Restoring Archives on page 15-13.

15-12

Restoring Archives
Moving slips between databases

15

Restoring Archives
When you want to use the slips that are stored in an archive file, you must restore the slips through the Combine function. This function uses TSImport to import slips from the specified archive file to your Sage Timeslips database. When combining slips from the archive, you can use the features of TSImport, such as record selection and translations to simplify the process. Refer to the TSImport Help file for more information on these features.

How to combine slips from an archive file

1 When you select File; Combine, the TSImport program will open with a template to read archives called Combine.tpl (see Importing data with TSImport on page 16-18).

2 3 4

Verify that Put data into is set to Default and that the path to your database is correct. Specify the file path to your archive file in the Get data from field. By default, TSImport will import all slips from the archive. The Make the records field allows you to open or close slips upon import. However, you may need to access the archived slips temporarily for reporting purposes. If you set Make the records to Temporary, the slips will be available for reports, but you can delete them instantly when you are finished with them. When you are ready to import slips, click Import. If any names stored in the archive are no longer contained in the main database, Sage Timeslips will prompt you to add the names back into the database, match the name to an existing one, or skip the slips that use unknown names.

5 6

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Updating and Removing Data

Timeslips Users Guide

Including temporary slips on reports

When combining slips, if you marked the slips as Temporary, you can use the Slip Classification filter in Sage Timeslips to include temporary slips on reports. Mark the Temporary check box in this dialog box to include only temporary slips on the report. You can remove the Slip Classification filter to include slips of all classifications.

Removing temporary slips from the database

After you are finished with temporary slips, you can remove them from Sage Timeslips. Select Slips; Delete Temporary Slips to remove temporary slips from Sage Timeslips. If you forget this step, the next time you use the File; Combine command to make temporary slips, Sage Timeslips will prompt you to delete the old temporary slips before making new ones. When Sage Timeslips adds a name to the database during the Combine process, it becomes an open record. The Delete Temporary Slips command will not delete any names that you have added to a database.

Note

15-14

Managing Databases
Overview Opening Databases Maintaining Database Security
Setting global security options Maintaining security profiles Setting timekeeper access rights

16
16-2 16-2 16-2
16-3 16-4 16-4

Auditing Sage Timeslips Data

Reviewing data with the Data Entry Assistant Enabling audit trails

16-5
16-5 16-6

Using Station Administrator Protecting Your Database

Making an effective backup plan Backing up and restoring your database

16-8 16-9
16-9 16-10

Verifying Data Integrity Sharing Data with Other Databases

Using the exchange process Maintaining connected databases

16-13 16-16
16-16 16-17

Sharing Data with Other Programs

Importing data with TSImport Exporting data

16-18
16-18 16-19

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Managing Databases
Timeslips Users Guide

Managing Databases
Overview
Whether you are using Sage Timeslips on one workstation or many timekeepers in your firm are using Sage Timeslips, preventive maintenance is important to safeguard your valuable Sage Timeslips data. This chapter contains recommended procedures for the Sage Timeslips administrator to perform. This chapter also discusses topics related to safeguarding the validity and integrity of your investmentyour databases. These topics include maintaining security, using audit trails, reviewing data entry, and protecting your databases through backups.

Opening Databases
When you first create your Sage Timeslips database, you choose where Sage Timeslips will store main.db and all other files associated with this database. When you launch Sage Timeslips, it automatically opens this database. If you maintain multiple databases, you can also open another database with the File; Open Database command.

Maintaining Database Security

Your business depends on the valuable data in your Sage Timeslips database. You should protect it from unauthorized access by setting up security in Sage Timeslips. You can establish password access for each timekeeper and set restrictions to limit a timekeepers access to specified data. Security settings are specific to each database. If you use you use multiple databases, you will have to establish security for each database separately. Only the Sage Timeslips administrator should have access to the Sage Timeslips security system. The administrator will set up a master password called the Supervisor password. Keep this password in a safe place; you will need it to access any security function. You should do this shortly after you create the database. If you misplace your Supervisor password or it was set up incorrectly, contact our Technical Support department.

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Setting global security options

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There are three types of security settings; all found in the Setup; Security submenu: Global options Allows you to establish the Supervisor password, activate the login prompt, set usage options, and enable slip approval. Profiles Allows you to establish templates, called profiles, for security restrictions. Timekeepers can share security profiles. Timekeeper rights Allows you to assign a password and profile to the timekeeper and override profile rights when needed.

After you activate security and set up initial passwords, timekeepers can change them with the Special; Change Password command. They can also use the Special; Logout and Lock command to log out of the database without exiting the program. This command is useful for securing your database when you are away from your desk.

Setting global security options

You can select Setup; Security; Global to set up global security options. The first time you open the Global Security dialog box, you should set your Supervisor password. You can change this password at any time. Mark the Require login and activate security check box to require users to log in.

Activate security to protect unauthorized database access. You can determine the security profile that new timekeepers use. See Approving Slips to Appear on Bills on page 8-27 for information about slip approval.

Sometimes, someone who is not a timekeeper may need to log in to Sage Timeslips. You should create a timekeeper named Guest for this purpose. Assign this timekeeper to the Guests log in without a password using field and anyone who logs in with this timekeeper name will not require a password. Assign this timekeepers access restrictions carefully. Third-party programs that access the Sage Timeslips database are subject to security settings. Some programs may automatically attempt to log in with the Guest login. Other programs will display the login prompt. 16-3

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Maintaining security profiles

A security profile is a combination of access rights. Select Setup; Security; Profiles to open the Security Profile List dialog box, where you can maintain security profiles. You can create a separate profile for each group of similar users; for example, you can create security profiles by department or position. You can name each profile to reflect the profiles restrictions. Sage Timeslips offers restrictions in various areas. You can use restrictions for most types of data (such as slips, clients, timekeepers, and budgets) to prevent specific types of changes (like adding, editing, deleting, and purging records, or printing reports). Some restrictions are very specialized. For example, timekeepers cannot view others slips without the View slips of other Timekeepers right in the Slip area.

Setting timekeeper access rights

When you are ready to set up security options for each timekeeper, select Setup; Security; Timekeeper Rights to open the Timekeeper Security dialog box. Highlight a timekeeper and click Open to view or edit settings for that timekeeper. Use the Timekeeper Security Setting dialog box to assign the timekeepers password and security profile. Timekeepers can change their passwords at any time using the Special; Change Password command. You can override any of the profiles rights by changing the mark in the left column. Re-establish the use of the profiles rights by marking the right column.

Mark or unmark rights to control access to different areas of Sage Timeslips.

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Auditing Sage Timeslips Data

Reviewing data with the Data Entry Assistant

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Auditing Sage Timeslips Data

Your best protection against users entering invalid slips and transactions is to use security to limit who can access and enter data (see Maintaining Database Security on page 16-2). However, even after timekeepers have entered data, you can audit who entered the new records and who changed existing records. Sage Timeslips offers Data Entry Assistant to allow timekeepers to review the data they created or modified. Sage Timeslips also offers audit trails to allow the Sage Timeslips administrator to review records for all timekeepers.

In order to use Data Entry Assistant or audit trails, you must have security set up on the database, requiring timekeepers to log in with individual passwords. Additionally, the Sage Timeslips administrator should use security settings to restrict timekeeper access to audit trail information.

Reviewing data with the Data Entry Assistant

For more info on Data Entry Assistant, look up using data entry assistant in the online Help.

The Data Entry Assistant allows timekeepers to review slips, account receivable transactions, and client funds transactions that they have created or modified. Timekeepers can view all their work in a given time period, as well as view a summary of their information. This allows timekeepers, for example, to verify their entries at the end of the day. Select Special; Data Entry Assistant to open Data Entry Assistant. Selecting which data to view Use the Timekeeper and Date rule fields at the top of the screen to determine which data to view. You can switch to different pages of Data Entry Assistant to view specific types of data or a summary of all included records. Viewing and printing data Each page of this dialog box will list data associated with the current timekeeper. Double-click any entry to drill down to that specific record. For example, when you double-click on a slip, Sage Timeslips opens the details of that slip. Click Print to print a listing of all records on the current page. For example, clicking Print from the Funds Transactions page will print a Funds Transactions Listing for the displayed transactions. The Summary page allows you to print the Data Entry Assistant Summary report.

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Enabling audit trails

Look up overview of audit trails in the online Help for more info about audit trails.

An audit trail tracks changes to specific types of data in the database. You can enable audit trails on names, slips, and transactions and control how much data the audit trail tracks. You can print the Audit Trails report to review changes tracked by audit trails. Two major uses of audit trails are: Database security Audit trails track the timekeeper responsible for changes to a specific record. If you have a question about a value or setting, you can determine who made the change. Accuracy of accounting Slips and transactions contain values that relate to your accounting information. Changes to any value affect your firms accounting records. You can use audit trails to look for errors due to changes to this data. For example, if you export slip information from one slip to other slips, you can affect a large number of slips. The audit trail tracks those changes.

Audit trails can require a large amount of disk space. While each change to a record requires only about 200 bytes of disk space, a large database can receive many changes. You should make sure you have adequate disk space on the drive containing your Sage Timeslips database to support audit trails. Select Setup; Security; Audit Trails to open the Audit Trails Setup dialog box. In order to activate audit trails, you must define the Audit Trails Supervisor Password and mark the Enable Audit Trails check box.

Enable audit trails to track data changes.

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Auditing Sage Timeslips Data

Enabling audit trails

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Selecting which data to track A table is a collection of records in a database. Sage Timeslips organizes your database into many different tables, each containing a specific type of information. You can enable audit trails for specific tables, such as the Slip table. By default, all tables are enabled for tracking. Within each table, you can determine which fields to track. The Fields list shows the fields that you can track for the selected table. By default, all fields are marked for tracking. When you enable audit trails, Sage Timeslips prompts you to add initial audit trail data. This shows which entries existed before you enabled audit trails. Viewing and printing audit trail data Select Special; Audit Trails view audit trail data. Use the fields at the top of the Audit Trails dialog box to determine the range of audit trail to display. When you highlight a record on the list, Sage Timeslips displays the changes to its fields in the Field Changes group box. You can click Print to print the Audit Trails report for the data displayed. You can also access this report from the Other page of the Report List dialog box.

Each audit trail record indicates changes made to the database.

When you view data in Sage Timeslips that contains table information, you can select Special; Audit Trail on this Record to view all audit data for the selected record. For example, if the client list is open with client ABC highlighted, selecting Special; Audit Trail on this Record will display audit trail data for ABC.

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Purging audit trails Because each change to a record generates audit trail data, the amount of audit trail information recorded for your database can be considerable. Periodically, you should remove older audit trail data. Click Purge from the toolbar to open the Purge Audit Trails dialog box, where you can purge audit trail data from selected tables.

Using Station Administrator

Station Administrator is a multipurpose tool for administrators. Select Special; Station Administrator to start Station Administrator. Station Administrator offers these functions: It lists all stations accessing the current database. This list refreshes as stations enter and exit the database. When a station exits incorrectly (such as a forced exit or reboot) it may not be logged out, which may prevent some functions from running. Use the Clear or Clear All buttons to clear these stations from this list. It can analyze configuration problems and perform troubleshooting functions on each station (select Options; Diagnose This Computer). See Diagnosing problems on page 16-15 for more information. It displays the number of licenses purchased, the names of stations assigned a license, and the names of stations accessing Sage Timeslips through terminal services. Select Options; Licenses in Use to monitor licenses to determine if you need more licenses. You can also use this command to clear a license when a station no longer needs to use it, so another station can use it. It can help solve licenses problems. Select Options; Remove Current Station at a station that has a license problem to clear license information. When you restart Sage Timeslips at this station, license information will be refreshed. You can also select Options; Freshen Login to refresh login information, which may solve license errors. It can solve Another program is accessing your Sage Timeslips database errors. Select Options; Change Install Path to select the configuration file used by the current station. Be sure to use the same file path on all computers on which you install Sage Timeslips (see Installing on a server and multiple workstations on page 2-7). It can share licenses on a station the has multiple operating systems. Select Options; Multiboot Station License on this computer.

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Protecting Your Database

Making an effective backup plan

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It can force a station to select a database the next time it runs Sage Timeslips. Select Options; Clear Database Path on that station. It can automatically log out stations when they are inactive for a specified period of time. For example, if you schedule backups at night, you can log stations out that left Sage Timeslips running. Select Options; Change Timeout Settings to set up this feature.

Select Options; Settings to set up security restrictions for Station Administrator.

Protecting Your Database

Your Sage Timeslips database contains irreplaceable information about your business. Computers are not infallible; you should not risk losing this data to computer failure. You must ensure that regular database backups are made.

Making an effective backup plan

We strongly recommend that you use Sage Timeslips to make regular backups. Restoring a backup may be the only way to repair a damaged database. With several recent backups, you can recover from an otherwise costly and timeconsuming disaster. Use the following guidelines to create an effective backup plan: Back up your Timeslips database on a regular basis. The more frequently you make backups, the less data you will lose if you must restore a backup. Back up your database before making lots of changes to your database like approving bills, purging data, closing a period, or any process that modifies a large amount of data. Use a unique name for each database backup, like todays date. This ensures that you do not accidentally overwrite a previous backup. Use several different drives in your backup schedule. Using a different drive for each backup in a given week provides important benefits: If you detect data corruption, it may have been present for some time
and affects multiple backups. With several backups, you may be able to find an unaffected backup of your database.

It allows you to store the backup in a secure location, preferably offsite in case of fire or other major disaster to your office.

If one hard drive fails, backups on that drive will not be accessible. Sage Timeslips provides preferences for making backups. Select Setup; Preferences and switch to the Startup/Exit page.

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Backing up and restoring your database

Look up backing up databases in the online Help for more info.

Sage Timeslips offers two ways for you to create backups: you can create backups manually or you can set up backups schedules to create backups automatically. Creating backups manually Use the File; Backup command to back up a Sage Timeslips database manually.

How to use the Backup command

1 2 3 Select File; Backup to start the backup process. Mark the Include folders within your database folder check box to include any folder contained within your database folder in this backup. Click Yes to create the backup file. Sage Timeslips will prompt you for the name and location of the backup. You can place the backup on any media that you workstation can access, like a network folder or a floppy disk. Click Save to back up the database. Sage Timeslips compresses all database files into the backup file that you specified. When the backup is complete, click OK to return to Sage Timeslips.

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Scheduling backups Use the File; Schedule Backups command to set up backup schedules. These schedules can create backups automatically at the times you specify.

This list shows details of backups that are scheduled.

Use the toolbar buttons to maintain backup schedules.

Please note that in order for a scheduled backup to be created successfully, Sage Timeslips must be closed and no other applications, such as Mini Sage Timeslips or TSTimer, can be accessing the database.

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Backing up and restoring your database

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Look up scheduling backups in the online Help for more info.

How to schedule a backup

1 2 Select File; Schedule Backups to open the Scheduled Backups dialog box. From the list of schedules, click New opens the Schedule Backups wizard. from the toolbar. Sage Timeslips

The Schedule Backups wizards walks you through the process of creating scheduled.

Follow the onscreen prompts to determine the frequency, start time, and location of backups. Click Finish to save the new schedule.

Restoring backups You can restore a Sage Timeslips database to replace the current database with the contents of the backup.

How to use the Restore command

1 2 3 Select File; Restore to restore a database backup. Click Browse to locate the backup that you want to restore. Select the backup file and click OK. If you want to overwrite the current database, mark Current database. a. b. Mark Back up the current database first. This option makes a copy of the current database before overwriting it. Mark Include subfolders of the current database in backup. This option includes folder contained within your database folder.

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If you want to restore the backup to a new location, mark Choose a new location. a. b. Click Browse to locate the folder where you want to restore the backup. Typically this will be a new folder. Click Save.

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Click OK to continue with the restore process. When the restore is complete, click OK to open the restored database.

Using other backup programs When you are using alternate backup software to back up the Sage Timeslips database, there are two requirements: You must capture all files in the database folder in each backup. Some software packages use an incremental backup function that saves only files changed since the last backup. Because there are over 200 interrelated files in a Sage Timeslips database, restoring a Sage Timeslips database from an incremental backup will cause problems. To guarantee that data does not change during the backup, you must confirm that all stations have exited Sage Timeslips. You can use the Station Administrator utility to view if anyone is using the database (see Using Station Administrator on page 16-8). If you run automatic backups overnight, you can use the Options; Change Timeout Settings command in Station Administrator to automatically log out stations that are left open overnight.

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Backing up and restoring your database

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Verifying Data Integrity

Database errors may not show up while using the regular functions of Sage Timeslips. The Sage Timeslips administrator should consider reviewing the integrity of the database on a regular basis. This allows you to detect small errors before they escalate. Since it is a critical function, you can only run it when all other timekeepers are out of the database. Data Verification can analyze the contents of each file and identify problems. It has a repair function as well. However, its repair function can only handle simple situations. When Data Verification cannot correct errors, you should either restore a database backup or contact the Technical Support department for an attempt at data repair. To verify data, select File; Data Verification. The Data Verification dialog box contains three areas:
You can use the Data Verification dialog box to verify data integrity.

If Sage Timeslips detects errors, you can attempt to repair them.

All tables in the database Analyzes all tablesfiles with a specific type of datafor problems. Sage Timeslips displays the results in a report at the end of the process. Accounts receivable balances Recalculates aged accounts receivable balances from existing transactions. Funds balances Recalculates funds balances from existing transactions.

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Verifying all tables in the database There are two settings that apply to general database errors: Look for errors Analyzes all tables, looking for problems in the structure of the data. When you mark Look for errors, you can also attempt to repair errors. We recommend that you first run Data Verification with only Look for errors marked. Attempt to repair Attempts to repair errors that are found. Mark Rebuild data indices to rebuild all table indices. Each table keeps a copy of some of its data in separate files for quick searches. These are index files. If they become corrupt, lists will appear out of order and data entry may be prohibited. This process rebuilds data indices; it does not affect real data. Mark Validation errors to set invalid field values to their defaults and remove unidentifiable records. Mark Integrity errors to attempt to repair integrity errors in the database. This option also checks validation errors automatically. The Data Verification process will prompt you to back up your database. We strongly recommend doing so. This process cannot repair every kind of error. If the database file structure is damaged and Data Verification is unable to repair it, the repair process will create an entry in the error log. Do not use commercial utilities to attempt repair structural errors of database engines. We recommend that you restore a backup or allow Sage Timeslips Technical Support to repair your data. Fixing balances Accounts receivable and funds account balances are the sum of all associated transactions. A bills previous balance is the sum of all billed transactions. With potentially thousands of transactions for each client, it could take considerable time to calculate a balance each time you need it. Sage Timeslips shortens this process by keeping a running balance of A/R and funds transactions. If you think a clients balances are incorrect, use the Data Verification process to recalculate them. Analyzing results When the Data Verification process is finished, Sage Timeslips lists the errors found and repaired. Click Print on the Data Verification Results dialog box to print a report of this information. This report may be valuable if you have to call Sage Timeslips Technical Support.

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Backing up and restoring your database

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Diagnosing problems
For more info, look up preventing errors in the online Help.

Station Administrator provides the Options; Diagnose This Computer command to identify and solve several different types of problems on your computer. As a preventative measure, you should use this command on each station after installing Sage Timeslips. You should also use this command if you encounter data corruption within Sage Timeslips on a particular station. Getting station information The About Sage Timeslips dialog box (select Help; About Sage Timeslips) allows you to review installation settings and Sage Timeslips database characteristics and type. It is a vital element in communicating with our Technical Support department. You can print a report of this information from the About Sage Timeslips dialog box. This dialog box also provides access to the Microsoft System Information program through the System Info button. This program investigates the your system, which may help identify solutions to problems with Sage Timeslips. Getting additional help If you encounter problems with your database, and the previously mentioned options did not solve the issues, there are additional means of getting help for your database errors.
Technical Support

Sage Timeslips Technical Support is a paid service that can help answer questions about problems and concepts with the program. Refer to your technical support contract for your assigned support phone numbers.

For more information, visit our web site at http://www.SageTimeslips.com or by call (800) 285-0999.
Timeslips Web site

The Timeslips web site includes a free knowledge base where you can find answers to many of your questions. Visit our web site at http://www.SageTimeslips.com.

Certified Consultants We also has trained and certified independent software

consultants who can help you install, learn about, and solve problems with Timeslips. You can find consultants in your area by visiting our web site at http://www.SageTimeslips.com or calling (800) 285-0999.

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Sharing Data with Other Databases

If you maintain additional databases that are based on your main Sage Timeslips database, you will most likely use them for data collection, primarily tracking slips and clients. You must send this data to the main database so that the slips can appear on bills and reports. The exchange process can also update each database with new names.

Using the exchange process

The File; Exchange command opens the Exchange Data With Another Database dialog box. You can use this command from either the main database or from a database that is connected to the main database. Select You are in the Destination Database if you are in the main database, receiving slips. Select You are in the Source Database if you are sending slips from the current database to the main database.

You can specify the type of data to exchange with another database.

Next, mark options to indicate which types of data to transfer. If you are transferring slips, mark the Slips check box and choose which records to copy. It is easiest to simply transfer all records not previously transferred. To do this, select not exported, older than, enter a minimum number of days old, and set Once complete to Mark Slips as Exported. When you are finished with your selections, click OK and locate the other database. You can select another Sage Timeslips database by locating main.db. After you select the database, click Open to exchange data.

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Maintaining connected databases

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Maintaining connected databases

When you create a database with the File; New; Database Based On Current command, Sage Timeslips can maintain connections for names in those databases. You can review which databases are connected to the current database and the status of record connections with the File; Connected Databases command. The Connected Databases dialog box lists each connected database, identifying the types of names (in the Connected To column) that are linked.

You can view the name types connected to the current database.

You can click View Records to see how names in your database are connected to the other database and whether they will update when you exchange data next. Here, you can change the status of these connections.

You can view the connected status of each name.

To changes the status of a connection, mark the check box to the left of a name and click the Disconnect, Update, or No Update buttons.

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Sharing Data with Other Programs

Around your office there are many potential sources for billable data. Your telephone and photocopiers can be sources for expense slips. Your contact management software can provide time slips. Your hand-held computer may track time and expenses in the field. Some other software manufacturers have integrated their products with Sage Timeslips. See the documentation included with these products for information on how to connect with Sage Timeslips. For a list of products that connect with Sage Timeslips, visit our web site at http://www.SageTimeslips.com. If the program you use does not connect with Sage Timeslips, there is another option. Sage Timeslips can import and export many types of data such as slips and clients. This section covers the File; Import and File; Export commands.

Importing data with TSImport

For more info on TSImport, see the online Help system within TSImport.

Sage Timeslips includes a separate program called Sage Timeslips Import (TSImport) that can import data into Sage Timeslips. TSImport handles several common text file formats and generates slip, client, timekeeper, task, expense, and reference records from the data found in those files. TSImport is flexible. You configure it to match the data your source files contain. You can use options to filter out undesirable records and memorize how names are matched from the source file into your Sage Timeslips database so that you only have to match names once. Within Sage Timeslips, select File; Import to start TSImport. You describe the structure of the source file within a template file. You can save this file and reuse it on your next import. When you need to use this template, run TSImport and select File; Open to select your template. Confirm that the database and source file are correct in the Put data into and Get data from fields. Use the Make the records field to assign the classification of these new records when you import them into Sage Timeslips. You can use the Record Selection dialog box (select Templates; Record Selection) and the Limit records fields to limit the data you are importing from the source file. After setting all options, click Import to import the data into Sage Timeslips. When the import process is complete, Sage Timeslips displays a summary of slips imported.

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Exporting data

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Exporting data
Many other applications can import records if they are formatted in industrystandard file formats. Sage Timeslips supports two formatstab delimited and comma delimited (CSV)on many of its reports. Sage Timeslips can also export report data to an Excel worksheet. If you often need to export data from Sage Timeslips, you can create export templates to simplify this process. Select File; Export to open the Export Data dialog box. Since export templates are essentially report definitions that you output to file, this dialog box resembles the Report List dialog box (see Accessing Standard Reports on page 11-3). Unlike the Report List dialog box, the Export Data dialog box has almost no reports installed because exporting depends on your specific needs. Click New from the toolbar to add an export template. This process is similar to adding reports (see Adding New Reports on page 11-28). To move data to another program, we recommend that you create a userdefined slip report or a user-defined client report and add database fields to the report to match the requirements of the third-party program.

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Posting Data to Your General Ledger

Overview Using Sage Timeslips Accounting Link
Understanding accounts Linking to the general ledger Collecting data Transferring data Transferring WIP Converting to accrual method How TAL posts to the general ledger

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Posting Data to Your General Ledger

Overview
Sage Timeslips Accounting Link (TAL) enhances Sage Timeslips by connecting it to the general ledger module of an accounting program. TAL can save you time by transferring transactions from Sage Timeslips to your accounting program. If you are using TAL Pro, please refer to the TAL Pro Quick Start Guide or the online Help system for more information.

Using Sage Timeslips Accounting Link

Sage Timeslips focuses on tracking accounts receivable (A/R) information. In accounting terms, accounts receivable is the invoicing portion of an accounting system. The general ledger (G/L) consolidates data from A/R and other areas of accounting systemslike accounts payable (A/P) and sales orderto give a complete picture of your finances. For each accounting program, we provide specific online Help for setting up the link and transferring data into your general ledger. If TAL does not offer a link to your accounting program, you can still use it to generate the G/L Transfer Register report. This report details the accounting data for manual entry into your general ledger.

Understanding accounts
A general ledger contains many totals about specific elements of your business, including how much cash is on hand, in the bank, owed by clients, and more. Each element is called an account in the general ledger and is associated with the typical account types of assets, liabilities, revenue, and expenses. Before you begin to use TAL, be sure that you understand accounting concepts and your general ledger program. Please consult with your accountant if you have questions about the accounting methods your company uses. Like the other modules of your accounting system, TAL transfers data into your general ledger by updating accounts. You must be sure that your general ledger contains the accounts needed by Sage Timeslips. While you can use existing accounts, we recommend that you create new accounts specifically for use by TAL.

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Understanding accounts

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The following table shows the accounting categories used by TAL. TAL Account Categories
Account Name
Cash Charges Write-ups Write-downs Tax Payable Accounts Receivable Tax Receivable Suspense Credit Allowances and Discounts Write-offs Refund Payable Interest Cash Escrow Client Escrow Work in Process Work in Process Offset Progress Billing Offset Increase Invoice Details Decrease Invoice Details * Available only in accrual method

Type
Asset Revenue Revenue Expense Liability Asset Liability Revenue Expense Expense Expense Liability Revenue Asset Liability Asset Liability Liability Revenue Expense

Increased by
Debit Credit Credit Debit Credit Debit Credit Credit Debit Debit Debit Credit Credit Debit Credit Debit Credit Credit Credit Debit

Tracks in TAL
Payments Billed charges Positive adjustments Negative adjustments Taxes paid to you *Billed, but unpaid charges *Billed, but unpaid taxes Unapplied payments (decreased by a debit when money is applied to the invoice) *Credits (offsetting entry decreases A/R with a credit) *Discount transactions Write-offs (offsetting entry decreases A/R with a credit) Refund transactions (offsetting entry decreases Suspense with a debit) Interest and finance charges Increase to client funds Decrease to client funds *Unbilled slips *Offset for unbilled slips *Billed charges to date on a non-final progress bill *Increase Invoice Details (offsetting entry increases A/R with a debit) *Decrease Invoice Details (offsetting entry decreases A/R with a credit)

Each category requires an account defined in the general ledger. If you are using the Cash accounting method, accounts marked Accrual only are not required.

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Timeslips Users Guide

TAL permits more than one general ledger account for many of these account categories. This allows you to handle more specific cases like separating fees from costs or using accounts for specific names.

Using specific accounts

Specific accounts enable you to dedicate a single account in your general ledger to a particular timekeeper, client, activity, timekeeper-type custom field, tax rate rule, or bank account from Sage Timeslips. For example, specific accounts are useful if you want to track billing and revenue amounts for fees by each timekeeper and transfer the data to the corresponding income accounts in your general ledger. Additionally, you can transfer costs to individual expense accounts such as photocopies or postage rather than a single cost account in the general accounts. Specific accounts for timekeepers can also track, transfer, and report adjustments entered in Sage Timeslips. This enables you to track the full billable amount for each timekeeper separately from adjustment bill arrangements. You can transfer write-ups and write-downs into separate accounts or to a combined account. Depending on your needs, consider defining additional accounts. TAL Specific Account Categories
Account Name
Cash Charges Write Ups Write Downs Tax Payable Accounts Receivable Tax Receivable Client Escrow Cash Escrow

Additional Accounts
Fees, costs, specific bank accounts Fees, specific names on fees, costs, specific names on costs. Specific names include timekeeper, client, task activities, and expense activities. Fees, costs Fees, costs Fees, specific tax rate rules on fees, specific tax rate rules on costs Fees, costs Fees, specific tax rate rules on fees, costs, specific rate rules on costs Specific bank accounts Specific bank accounts

You do not need to define every additional account. If TAL cannot find an account for a type of data, it will look for a more general account in the same account category until it reaches the main account.

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Linking to the general ledger

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For example, if you track charges for fees by timekeeper, when a bill includes charges for timekeeper Joan Smith, TAL will look for an account associated with Joan Smith. If you have not defined an account for Joan Smith, it will look for the Charges on Fees account. If you have not defined that account, TAL uses the general Charges account.

Linking to the general ledger

You will use commands on the Setup menu to set up TAL. Establishing TAL general settings Select Setup; Accounting Link to open the TAL General Settings dialog box.

Click the Linked accounting program field to start the Accounting Program Setup wizard.

Use this dialog box to do three things: establish a link to the general ledger, supply rules for transferring invoices and payments, and determine which additional accounts you want to use.

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The Linked accounting program field identifies the general ledger to which Sage Timeslips is currently linking. If you have a general ledger, click on this field. The Accounting Program Setup wizard will lead you through the linking process.

Select an accounting program from the list and click Next.

Click How to Set Up for instructions on setting up TAL with your accounting program.

As you follow the steps, you can click the How To Set Up button to review a Help topic containing specific information on linking to your accounting program. You may want to print out this information and use it to create the file that contains the chart of accounts. The Help system provides account number suggestions for major accounts. Upon returning to the TAL General Settings dialog box, click Browse to locate your chart of accounts file. Next, indicate whether the general ledger tracks finances with the Cash or Accrual accounting methods. Use the Transfer invoices as and Transfer payments as fields to indicate whether you want to transfer each line item in detail or summary (as totals for each account). In the Specific accounts fields, you can indicate whether you have accounts for timekeeper, client, task, expense, or timekeeper-type custom fields that will be used with the Charges, Write-up, and Write-down accounts.

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Linking to the general ledger

17

Setting up general ledger accounts After you have linked Sage Timeslips to your general ledger, you can assign the accounts that you created in your general ledger to TAL. Select Setup; G/L Accounts to open the TAL Accounts dialog box. There are two areas in this dialog box: Accounts used by TAL is an expandable outline that shows all of the TAL accounts and the current G/L account name (usually a number) associated with each account. Unassigned account names appear as unassigned. When the account name appears in red, it is required and is either unassigned or has an invalid setting. Chart of accounts lists all accounts in your general ledger or offers the Account number field where you can define accounts manually. If you are not linking to an accounting package, Sage Timeslips displays this group box as Account number.

Select an account category from the Accounts used by TAL list, select the associated account from the Chart of accounts list, and click Save.

You must assign G/L accounts to the outline. Click on an item in the outline and click on the associated chart of accounts entry from the list below. When you click Save, Sage Timeslips assigns the account name. Repeat this process for each account that you want TAL to use. Be sure to assign or validate all accounts that appear in red.

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Timeslips Users Guide

Collecting data
As you enter payments and other accounts receivable transactions, generate invoices, and enter funds transactions, you are collecting data to transfer to the general ledger. Sage Timeslips does not send this data immediately, because once it is posted to the general ledger, you can no longer edit it. Each transaction indicates that it has been posted to the general ledger on its Entry dialog box and with the Posted symbol on the List dialog boxes. Transactions entered in accounts payable Some transactions are generated in two places: in Sage Timeslips and in your accounts payable (A/P) module. Here is how to handle these transactions: Check or A/P invoice: Some accounting programs automatically transfer these entries into Sage Timeslips, generating expense slips or client funds withdrawal transactions. Since the A/P module will update your general ledger, you do not want Sage Timeslips to transfer this transaction. In the case of a withdrawal transaction, you must unmark the Transfer this entry to the general ledger check box in the Client Funds Transaction Entry dialog box. Deposit: When a deposit to client funds is made in both systems, unmark the Transfer this entry to the general ledger check box in the Client Funds Transaction Entry dialog box for the deposit transaction in Sage Timeslips. Refund: When a refund check is made in the A/P module, be sure to enter a matching refund transaction in Sage Timeslips. Sage Timeslips uses the Refunds Payable account for refund transactions. You should define a different account number in your general ledger for tracking refunds from your A/P module.

Transferring data
Periodically, you should transfer transaction information to the general ledger. Select Reports; G/L Transfer Register to print the G/L Transfer Register report. This report can transfer all transactions into their respective G/L accounts. Selecting transactions to print If needed, you can use the Filters page of the Report Entry dialog box to set up any selection criteria, such as a date range to omit recent records that have not been reviewed for accuracy. Print the report to the printer or to a file. Printing to display will show the report but will not transfer the data.

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Transferring WIP

17

Your general ledger may require entries to be made within a specific period. If you have transaction dates falling outside the specified range, you need to assign them to valid dates. Settings on the Report Options dialog box (click Options on the Report Entry dialog box) will allow you to do this. Set Print to to Printer and click Print to print the report. Posting data After you print the report, Sage Timeslips prompts you to post the data. Click Yes to export the records to a file named Glxfer.dat. Once exported, there may be some additional steps to import the data into your general ledger. You will be asked if you want to see those steps. You can print them out and use them each time you transfer data. To see how TAL translates transactions into G/L accounts, see How TAL posts to the general ledger on page 17-11. If you discover an error or want to edit a transaction that you have transferred, you can undo the transfer with the Reports; Undo G/L Transfer command.

Transferring WIP
In Sage Timeslips, work in process (WIP) is the value of unbilled time and expense slips. If you are using the accrual method of accounting, you can optionally transfer WIP to your general ledger. Sage Timeslips tracks and transfers WIP as a total of all slips for each date, not by client. In the TAL General Settings dialog box (select Setup; Accounting Link), use the Transfer Work In Process check boxes to indicate whether to transfer WIP for time slips, expense slips, or both. You can transfer WIP in detail or summary (as totals for each account). When you save these settings, Sage Timeslips creates two new asset accounts in the TAL Accounts dialog box (select Setup; G/L Accounts): Work In Process: Represents money held in Sage Timeslips Work In Process Offset: Represents money moved into the general ledger

An increase in WIP value is represented by a debit to Work In Process and a credit to Work In Process Offset. A decrease in WIP value is represented by a debit to Work In Process Offset and a credit to Work In Process.

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The following chart shows how specific actions in Sage Timeslips affect WIP value:
Sage Timeslips Action
Create new slip Edit unbilled slip Delete or purge unbilled slips Mass update of slips (slip export) Update rate rules Approve bill Undo bill approval Close slip Change client classification to Inactive or Closed

Effect on WIP Value

Increase Increase or decrease Decrease Increase or decrease Increase or decrease Decrease Increase No effect No effect

Transferring WIP on the G/L Transfer Register If you use the Accrual account method, the Report Options dialog box for the G/L Transfer Register includes the Type of data to transfer option. Use this report option to determine what data Sage Timeslips will transfer: Transactions, Work in Process, or All. This allows you to separate the type of entries, including only WIP or only transactions on the G/L Transfer Register. This option is available only when Transfer Work In Process is marked on the TAL General Account Settings dialog box. Typically, you transfer WIP on a more frequent basis than transaction data because, once posted, transaction data does not permit editing some fields. You may want to install a second copy of this report, setting up one to print WIP data and the other for transaction data.

Converting to accrual method

If you use the Cash accounting method, TAL does not send invoice transactions to your general ledger. At times, firms may change from Cash to Accrual methods. If you do so, you may want TAL to transfer the invoices to your general ledger.

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How TAL posts to the general ledger

17

How to convert to Accrual method

1 2 Select Reports; Other to open the Other page of the Report List dialog box. Print and finalize the G/L Transfer Register report, including all unposted A/R transactions. Sage Timeslips transfers all A/R transactions included on this report to your general ledger. Close the Report List dialog box and select Setup; Accounting Link to open the TAL General Settings dialog box. Change Accounting method to Accrual. If you have not followed steps 1 and 2 above, Sage Timeslips prompts you to do so before changing your accounting method. Click OK. Sage Timeslips prompts you to open the Convert to Accrual Method report. Click Yes to open the Report List dialog box to the Convert to Accrual Method report (located on the Other page). Select Setup; G/L Accounts to open the TAL Accounts dialog box. Confirm that you have assigned all required accounts. Accrual accounting requires several additional accounts that you may not have assigned earlier.

3 4

5 6 7

Once you have set up all accounts, print the Convert to Accrual Method report. Like the G/L Transfer Register report, this report will also ask to post to the general ledger and require that you follow the same steps to import the data into the general ledger.

How TAL posts to the general ledger

The following tables detail how TAL updates your general ledger under the cash and accrual accounting methods. While these tables include details of how Withdrawal from account, Payment from account, Deposit from account, and Payment to account transactions transfer, these transactions will have no effect on the general ledger if you do not define Cash Escrow and Client Escrow accounts

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Timeslips Users Guide

How TAL Posts to the general ledger under the cash method The following table details how TAL updates your general ledger under the cash accounting method. Posting Under the Cash Method Sage Timeslips Action
Payment

Journal Entries Debit Credit

Cash Charges Tax Payable Interest Write-downs

Description

When you enter a payment to an invoice, TAL debits the Cash account and credits the Charges account. If the invoice included tax, TAL also credits the Tax Payable account for the amount of tax. If the invoice included interest, TAL also credits the Interest account for the amount of interest. If the invoice amount was decreased by an adjustment, TAL credits the Charges account by the unadjusted amount of the invoice. To offset this, TAL debits the Write-downs account by the write down amount.

Write-ups

If the invoice amount was increased by an adjustment, TAL credits the Charges account by the unadjusted amount of the invoice. To offset this, TAL credits the Write-ups account by the write up amount. When you make a payment to future invoice, TAL cannot yet credit the invoice, so it credits the Suspense account. When you approve the next invoice, TAL applies amounts in Suspense (from a Payment to Future Invoice) as a payment. TAL will apply amounts from Suspense to succeeding invoices, until the Suspense amount is depleted.

Payment to Future Invoice Future Invoice

Cash Suspense

Suspense Charges

Tax Payable Interest Write down

If the invoice included tax, TAL also credits the Tax Payable account for the amount of tax. If the invoice included interest, TAL also credits the Interest account for the amount of interest. If the invoice amount was reduced by an adjustment, TAL credits the Charges account by the unadjusted amount of the invoice. To offset this, TAL debits the Write-downs account.

Write up

If the invoice amount was increased by an adjustment, TAL debits the Cash account by the unadjusted amount to the invoice. To offset this, TAL credits the Write-ups account. To reverse the effects of a payment in the event of a returned check, TAL debits the Charges account and credits the Cash account. If the original payment paid tax, TAL also debits the Tax Payable account for the amount of tax. If the original payment paid interest, TAL also debits the Interest account for the amount of interest.

Reverse Payment

Charges Tax Payable Interest

Cash

Write-downs Write-ups

If the original payment paid a write down amount, TAL also credits the Write-downs account. If the original payment paid a write up amount, TAL also debits the Write-ups account.

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Posting Under the Cash Method Sage Timeslips Action

Credit

Journal Entries Debit Credit

Description

This transaction has no effect on your accounting system. It decreases the client balance and the amount of the unpaid invoice in Sage Timeslips only. This transaction has no effect on your accounting system. It decreases the client balance and the amount of the unpaid invoice in Sage Timeslips only. Suspense Cash TAL debits the Suspense account to remove the refund amount. This transaction has no effect on your accounting system. It decreases the client balance and the amount of the unpaid invoice in Sage Timeslips only. This transaction has no effect on your accounting system. It decreases the client balance and the amount of the paid invoice in Sage Timeslips only. Client Escrow Cash Escrow This is the same as making a withdrawal from account and a payment. See Payment at the top of this chart for the debit and credit details for a payment. TAL decreases Cash Escrow and offsets Client Escrow. TAL increases Cash Escrow and offsets Client Escrow. TAL increases Cash Escrow and offsets Client Escrow. Transfers money to another project for the client. This creates a corresponding payment for the other project. See Payment at the top of this chart for the debit and credit details for a payment. TAL debits Suspense to remove an overpaid amount. TAL credits Client Escrow, representing a payment for the amount to the client funds account.

Write Off

Refund Discount

Special Credit

Payment from Account Withdrawal from Account

Client Escrow

Cash Escrow Client Escrow Client Escrow Cash

Payment to Account Cash Escrow Deposit to Account Transfer Cash Escrow Suspense

Transfer to Funds

Suspense Cash Escrow

Cash Escrow Client Escrow

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How TAL posts to the general ledger under the accrual method The following table details how TAL updates your general ledger under the accrual accounting method. Posting Under the Accrual Method Sage Timeslips Action
Invoice

Journal Entries Debit Credit

Accounts Receivable Charges Tax Receivable Interest Write-downs

Description

When you approve an invoice, TAL debits the Accounts Receivable account and credits the Charges account. If the invoice included tax, TAL also credits the Tax Receivable account for the amount of tax. If the invoice included interest, TAL also credits the Interest account for the amount of interest. If the invoice amount was decreased by an adjustment, TAL credits the Charges account by the unadjusted amount of the invoice. To offset this, TAL debits the Write-downs account by the write down amount.

Write-ups

If the invoice amount was increased by an adjustment, TAL credits the Charges account by the unadjusted amount of the invoice. To offset this, TAL credits the Write-ups account by the write up amount. When you enter a payment to an invoice, TAL debits the Cash account and credits the Accounts Receivable account. If the invoice included interest, the debit and credit amounts also include the interest amount. If the invoice included tax, TAL also credits the Tax Payable account for the amount of tax and offsets the Tax Receivable account. When you make a payment to future invoice, TAL cannot yet credit the invoice, so it credits the Suspense account. When you approve the next invoice, TAL applies amounts in Suspense (from a Payment to Future Invoice) as a payment. TAL will apply amounts from the Suspense account to succeeding invoices, until the Suspense amount is depleted.

Payment

Cash

Accounts Receivable Tax Payable Suspense

Tax Receivable Payment to Future Invoice Future Invoice Cash

Suspense

Accounts Receivable

Tax Receivable Reverse Payment Accounts Receivable

Tax Payable Cash

If the invoice included tax, TAL also credits Tax Payable for the amount of tax. When you reverse a payment, TAL debits the Accounts Receivable account and credits the Cash account for the amount of the reverse payment. If the original payment included interest, the debit and credit amounts also include the interest amount. If the original payment included tax, TAL also debits the Tax Payable account for the amount of tax and offsets the Tax Receivable account. If the reverse payment included a fee, such as fee for a returned check, TAL also credits Interest for the amount of the fee.

Tax Payable

Tax Receivable Interest

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How TAL posts to the general ledger

17

Posting Under the Accrual Method Sage Timeslips Action

Credit

Journal Entries Debit Credit

Credit Accounts Receivable

Description

When you apply a credit to an invoice, TAL credits the Accounts Receivable account for the amount of the credit and debits the Credit account for the amount of the credit. If the invoice included interest, the debit and credit amounts also include the interest amount. If the invoice included tax, TAL also debits the Tax Receivable account for the amount of tax.

Tax Receivable Write Off Write Off Accounts Receivable

When you apply a write off to an invoice, TAL credits the Accounts Receivable account for the amount of the write off and debits the Write Off account for the amount of the write off. If the invoice included interest, the debit and credit amounts also include the interest amount. If the invoice included tax, TAL also debits the Tax Receivable account for the amount of tax.

Tax Receivable Refund Discount Suspense Allowances and Discounts Tax Receivable Special Credit Allowances and Discounts Accounts Receivable Suspense Refund Payable Accounts Receivable

To refund an overpayment, TAL debits the Suspense account for the amount of the refund. When you apply a discount to an invoice, TAL debits the Allowances and Discounts account and credits the Accounts Receivable account. If the invoice included tax, TAL also prorates the amount of tax discounted and debits the Tax Receivable account for that amount. To redirect money from a fully paid invoice to another invoice, TAL debits the Allowances and Discounts account and credits the Accounts Receivable account. If the Special Credit is greater than the amount of the invoice, you can apply the left over amount to future invoices. In this case, TAL credits the Suspense account for this amount. This is the same as making a withdrawal from account and a payment. See Payment at the top of this chart for the debit and credit details for a payment. TAL decreases the Cash Escrow account and offsets the Client Escrow account. TAL increases the Cash Escrow account and offsets the Client Escrow account. TAL increases the Cash Escrow account and offsets the Client Escrow account. To transfer an overpayment to another project for the client, TAL debits the Suspense account for the amount of the transfer. TAL creates a corresponding payment for the other project. See Payment at the top of this chart for the debit and credit details for a payment. To transfer an overpayment into client funds, TAL debits the Suspense account for the amount of the transfer to funds. TAL credits the Client Escrow account, representing a payment for the amount to the client funds account.

Payment from Account Withdrawal from Account Payment to Account Deposit to Account Transfer

Client Escrow

Cash Escrow

Client Escrow Cash Escrow Cash Escrow Suspense

Cash Escrow Client Escrow Client Escrow Cash

Transfer to Funds

Suspense Cash Escrow

Cash Escrow Client Escrow

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Index
Users Guide

Index
A
abbreviations 4-10 absolute flat fee 7-16 access rights. See "security" accounting method 17-6 accounts bank 9-14 chart of 17-7 client funds 9-15 general ledger 17-2, 17-7 specific 17-4 accounts payable 17-8 accounts receivable balances 7-13, 16-14 See also "transactions" accrual method of accounting 17-6 converting to 17-10 posting data 17-14 activities 7-20 expense activities 7-21 grouping activities using categories 7-24 time activities 7-20 adding fields and objects to bills 12-32 fields and objects to reports 11-14 See also "creating" additional workstations, installing 2-10 add-on products 1-8, 2-10 addresses, email 7-8, 7-12 adjusting values on bills 7-16 administrator installing with administrator rights 2-6 station administrator 16-8 Timeslips administrator 6-2 administrator rights 2-8 aging periods for overdue balances 6-12 alerts for data events 10-13 aligning fields when designing bills 12-36 when designing reports 11-19 allocating fees to timekeepers 7-11 another program is accessing Timeslips 16-8 appearance of bills designing 12-16 previewing 12-38 appearance of reports designing 11-6 previewing 11-23 appearance of statements designing 13-6 previewing 13-9 applying credits 9-6 discounts 9-10 payments 9-6 refunds 9-9 reverse payments 9-10 special credits 9-12 write offs 9-9 appointments in Outlook 14-8 approving bills 12-45, 12-47 undoing bill approval 12-48 approving slips for billing 8-27 archiving slips 15-10, 15-12 restoring archives 15-13 arrangements, bill 7-15, 12-5 assigning bill layouts to clients 12-38 billing rates to clients 7-5 statement layouts to clients 12-38 assistants billing assistant 12-12 firm assistant 12-15 auditing bills with electronic billing selecting database style 6-4 using audit stage 12-46 auditing data using audit trails 16-5 authorizing slips for billing 8-27 automated guides 3-8 automated procedures 4-7

Please note: Many topics are covered exclusively in the online Help system. Select Help; Contents and Index to search the list of topics for the subject. See Searching the Help system on page 3-6 for more information.

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automatic backups 16-10 configuration of Timeslips 6-15 logout 16-9 payments for new charges 9-6 update of Timeslips installation 2-12

B
backups backing up the database 16-10 planning effective backups 16-9 restoring 16-11 scheduling backups 16-10 balances accounts receivable 7-13 client funds 7-13 fixing 16-14 overdue 6-12 bank accounts 9-14 bank deposit slips 9-12 bar chart reports, formatting 11-18 bill email templates 12-7 bill layouts assigning to clients 12-38 cover page 12-30 creating 12-19 designing 12-16 fonts 12-23, 12-29, 12-35 footers 12-21, 12-30 headers 12-21, 12-30 hiding sections 12-24 margins 12-23 opening 12-18 phrases 12-22, 12-28 previewing 12-38 reordering sections 12-24 samples 12-32 bill pre-printed forms 12-17 billed information printing history bills 12-50 reprinting bills 12-49 billed values on slips 8-11

billing assistant 12-12 cycle 12-2 data, viewing 10-3 history of 7-12, 7-17 interim billing 7-17 progress billing 7-17 rates 7-5, 7-13, 8-6 bills approving 12-45, 12-47 arrangements 7-15, 12-5 audit house 6-4 consolidating projects 12-21 definitions 12-3 designing 12-16 electronic 6-4 email 12-7 filtering data 12-40 generating 12-40 history bill 12-50 interactive 12-41 messages 12-39 opening bill layouts 12-18 preparing to print 12-4 printing 12-14, 12-44 reprinting past bills 12-49 reviewing 12-45 reviewing bill data 12-12, 12-13 selecting data 12-40 sorting data 12-40 splitting charges between clients 12-6 undoing approval 12-48 bookmarking slips 8-13 boxes drawing on bills 12-34 drawing on reports 11-16 budgets printing budget reports 7-26 setting up budgets 7-24 business, information about your firm 6-11 buttons action buttons on dialog boxes 4-15 option buttons on dialog boxes 4-15 toolbar buttons 4-3

Please note: Many topics are covered exclusively in the online Help system. Select Help; Contents and Index to search the list of topics for the subject. See Searching the Help system on page 3-6 for more information.

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Users Guide

C
calculating budgets 7-26 cash method of accounting 17-6 posting data 17-12 categories of activities 7-24 cc email addresses for clients 7-12 cells on bill layout tables 12-31 on report layout tables 11-21 on time sheets 8-23 certified consultants 16-15 changes to data, tracking 16-5 changing amounts on bills 7-16 bill data while previewing bills 12-41 bill design 12-16 classifications 15-8 program fonts 4-10 rates 15-2 report data while previewing reports 11-23 report design 11-11 statement data while previewing 13-12 statement design 13-9 See also "editing" character size within descriptions 4-10 chart of accounts 17-7 charts on reports, formatting 11-18 check boxes 4-15 checking conflicts of interest 7-26 choosing data for bills 12-40 choosing data for reports 11-8 classifications name 7-5, 15-7, 15-8 slips 8-12, 15-5 clearing bills from audit stage 12-46 bills from proof stage 12-45 client funds accounts 9-15 balances 7-13, 16-14 client funds transactions 9-14 See also "transactions" client references 7-19

clients creating client names 7-12 finding clients by invoice number 9-5, 9-7, 9-17 history of billing 7-17 information 7-12 internal for overhead billing 7-14 master 7-14 my clients 4-14, 7-9 projects 7-14 ready to bill 12-12 status fields 7-14 synchronizing with Outlook contacts 14-3 closed slips 8-12 closing alerts 10-16 billing periods 15-9 names 15-7 slips 15-5 columns on the time sheet 8-21 sorting lists by 4-13 combining slips from external files 15-13 comma-separated file 11-27 commissions, allocating 7-11 company email addresses for clients 7-12 company information for your firm 6-11 configuring Timeslips features automatically 6-15 conflicts of interest, checking 7-26 connected databases 16-16 consolidating billing history 15-10 bills for multiple projects 12-21 consultants, certified consultants 16-15 contact email addresses 7-8, 7-12 contacts, synchronizing with clients 14-3 context-sensitive help 3-5 contingency flat fee 7-16 controlling access to Timeslips 16-2 converting accrual method of accounting 17-10 data from another system 2-12 timers into slips 8-18 copies of past bills 12-49

Please note: Many topics are covered exclusively in the online Help system. Select Help; Contents and Index to search the list of topics for the subject. See Searching the Help system on page 3-6 for more information.

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Index
Users Guide

copying bill layouts 12-19 reports 11-28 slips 8-10 cover page for bills 12-30 create a report wizard 11-29 creating accounts receivable transactions 9-4 alert rules 10-13 appointments 14-8 backups 16-10 bank deposit slips 9-12 bill layouts 12-19 budgets 7-24 client funds transactions 9-17 client names 7-12 client references 7-19 custom fields 7-6 databases 6-2 email messages within Timeslips 14-8 entries in time sheet cells 8-23 expense names 7-20 expense slips 8-8 invoice transactions 9-9 meetings 14-8 Outlook records within Timeslips 14-8 payments 9-7 procedures 4-7 reports 11-28 slips 8-5 slips, Outlook 14-13 slips, time sheet 8-23 task names 7-20 tasks in Outlook 14-8 time slips 8-5 timekeeper names 7-8 timers in TSTimer 8-16 Timeslips Today templates 10-6 credits 9-3, 9-4 applying 9-6 critical functions 6-20 csv file 11-27 custom fields 7-6 custom reports 11-30

customizing bills name lists 4-14, 7-9 preferences 6-17 reports 11-6 terminology 6-11 Timeslips Today 10-6 cycle, billing 12-2

D
data entering 4-8 exchanging 16-16 exporting 16-19 importing 2-13, 16-18 Outlook 14-2 selecting data for bills 12-40 selecting data for reports 11-8 sharing data 16-16 sorting data on bills 12-40 sorting data on reports 11-9 updating 15-2 viewing Timeslips data 10-2 data alerts 10-13 data conversion services 2-13 data entry shortcuts 8-10 databases 6-2 auditing 16-5 backing up 16-10 connected 16-16 converting from another system 2-12 creating 6-2 location 6-5 managing 16-2 multiple users 6-20 network 6-20 opening 16-2 repairing errors 16-13 restoring 16-11 security. See "security" tracking changes 16-5 verifying data integrity 16-13 See also "data" date entry 4-11

Please note: Many topics are covered exclusively in the online Help system. Select Help; Contents and Index to search the list of topics for the subject. See Searching the Help system on page 3-6 for more information.

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Index
Users Guide

defaults 6-2 billing rate 7-13 new name 7-3 slip-making defaults 7-21, 7-22 defining. See "creating" deleting names 15-9 slips 15-10 transactions 15-10 deletions, tracking 16-6 delimited file 11-27 deposit slips. See "bank deposit slips" deposits to client funds 9-16 descriptions a/r transactions 9-5 client funds transactions 9-18 field size 4-10 onscreen font 4-10 slips 8-6 designing bills 12-16, 12-30 reports 11-2, 11-11 statements 13-6, 13-9 details. See "information" dialing the phone 8-13 dialog boxes 4-9 disabling features 6-14 discounts 9-4 applying 9-10 dismissing alerts 10-16 displaying to screen bills 12-41 reports 11-23 statements 13-9 See also "opening" distributing fees to timekeepers 7-11 payments against invoices 9-6 dragging timers onto other timers to merge them 8-17 onto slips 8-18, 8-19

drilling down to billing assistant data 12-13 to data on bills 12-41 to enhanced navigator data 10-9 to firm assistant data 12-15 to report data 11-23 to statement data 13-12 to Timeslips Today data 10-6 drive letters, mapping 2-5 duplicating bill layouts 12-19 reports 11-28 slips 8-10 statement layouts 13-8

E
editing bill data 12-41 bill designs 12-16 billing history 7-18 cells, time sheet 8-23 report data 11-23 report designs 11-11 statement data 13-12 statement designs 13-9 timers 8-16 Timeslips Today templates 10-6 edits to data, tracking 16-5 electronic billing selecting database style 6-4 using audit stage 12-46 email addresses 7-8, 7-12 creating messages from Timeslips 14-8 sending bills to clients by email 12-7 sending past bills to clients by email 12-49 sending slips to Timeslips by email 8-24 sending statements by email 13-2 enabling features 6-14 entering data using the Timeslips interface 4-8 See also "creating"

Please note: Many topics are covered exclusively in the online Help system. Select Help; Contents and Index to search the list of topics for the subject. See Searching the Help system on page 3-6 for more information.

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envelopes, printing after billing 12-44, 13-12 errors, repairing data errors 16-13 establishing preferences 6-17 estimating budgets 7-24 example database, opening 5-3 examples of bills 12-20 examples of reports 11-2, 11-3 Excel, exporting reports to 11-25 exception of minimum hours 7-9 exchanging data 16-16 expense slips. See "slips" expenses 7-21 creating expense names 7-20 my expenses 4-14, 7-9 exporting data to a file 16-19 electronic bills 12-46 report data to Excel 11-25 slip fields to other slips 15-4 See also "exchanging data"

F
features, enabling and disabling 6-14 fees allocating to timekeepers 7-11 flat fees 7-15 See also "time" fields adding fields to bills 12-32 adding fields to reports 11-14 custom data fields 7-6 export slip fields to other slips 15-4 hints 3-9 tab order of fields on slips 8-10 file paths 2-5 files *.csv 11-27 *.pdf 11-26 *.rtf 11-26 *.txt 11-26 location of program files 2-9

filters to limit data on bills 12-40 to limit data on reports 11-8 to limit slips displayed 8-14 to limit transactions displayed 9-19 finalizing bills 12-45 statements 13-10 finding clients by invoice number 9-5, 9-7, 9-17 conflicts 7-26 names on lists 4-13 slips 8-14 firm assistant 12-15 firm information 6-11 fiscal year 6-7, 7-18 fixing balances 16-14 flagging slips for retrieval 8-13 flat fees 7-15, 7-16 focus, changing 4-8 fonts in descriptions 4-10 on bills 12-23, 12-29, 12-35 on reports 11-17 footers bill 12-21, 12-30 reports 11-11 formatting bills 12-16 nicknames 7-3 reports 11-6, 11-10 statements 13-6 forms for bills 12-17 freshen login 16-8 functions, critical 6-20 funds. See "client funds"

G
g/l transfer register report 17-8 general ledger accounts 17-2, 17-7 linking to 17-5

Please note: Many topics are covered exclusively in the online Help system. Select Help; Contents and Index to search the list of topics for the subject. See Searching the Help system on page 3-6 for more information.

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Index
Users Guide

general settings 6-11 generating bills 12-40 reports 11-23 statements 13-10 getting started wizard 6-13 global options for bills 12-21 references 7-20 security 16-3 grammar errors 4-3, 4-5 graph reports creating 11-31 formatting 11-18 graphics adding to bills 12-33 adding to reports 11-15 grids using when designing bills 12-31, 12-36 using when designing reports 11-19 groups grouping reports on the report list 11-22 selecting data from group lists 4-14 using categories to group activities 7-24 guides, automated 3-8

history bill, printing 12-50 history of billing client 7-17 consolidating 15-10 editing 7-18 timekeeper 7-12 hours minimum hours flat fee 7-16 minimum hours for timekeepers 7-9 on slips 8-6 how to, help topics 3-5

I
images adding to bills 12-33 adding to reports 11-15 importing data 2-13 importing data from other sources 16-18 information client 7-12 client references 7-19 expense 7-21 firm 6-11 task 7-20 timekeeper 7-8 installing additional workstations 2-10 add-on products 2-10 locally 2-11 on a single workstation 2-4 on multiple workstations 2-4 on network workstations 2-4 Timeslips 2-2 with administrator rights 2-6, 2-8 interactive data review billing assistant 12-12 firm assistant 12-15 previewing bills 12-41 previewing reports 11-23 previewing statements 13-12 interim billing 7-17

H
headers bill 12-21, 12-30 reports 11-11 help 3-3 automated guides 3-8 context-sensitive 3-5 printing 3-6 searching 3-6 training videos 3-7 hiding bill sections 12-24 features in Timeslips 6-14 names 15-7 slips 15-5 hints on guides 3-9 tip of the day 3-10

Please note: Many topics are covered exclusively in the online Help system. Select Help; Contents and Index to search the list of topics for the subject. See Searching the Help system on page 3-6 for more information.

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Index
Users Guide

intuitive designer for bills 12-16 for reports 11-11 for statements 13-9 invoice numbers custom settings for clients 7-13 entering transactions by 9-5, 9-7, 9-17 in new database 6-7 invoices 9-3 definitions 12-3 transactions 9-9 See also "bills"

lines drawing on bills 12-34 drawing on reports 11-16 linking databases 16-16 general ledger 17-5 Outlook and Timeslips 14-1 third-party applications 16-18 lists my lists 4-14, 7-9 of reports 11-3 selecting data from lists 4-13, 4-14 sorting 4-13 local installation 2-11 location database files 6-5 program files 2-9, 2-11 login freshen 16-8 opening databases 16-2 require 16-3 logout automatically 16-9

J
justifying text on bills 12-37 on reports 11-20

K
keys customizing keys for entering slips 8-10 shortcut 4-5

M
macros 3-8 mailing labels creating label reports 11-32 printing after billing 12-44 mailing labels, printing after billing 13-12 managing alerts 10-17 database security 16-2 databases 16-2 settings. See "settings" mapping drive letters 2-5 margins bill 12-23 report 11-12 marking slips for retrieval 8-13 mass update, slips 15-4 master clients 7-14 matters for clients 7-19

L
labels creating label reports 11-32 name terminology 6-11 printing after billing 12-44 labels, printing after billing 13-12 large fonts in descriptions 4-10 layering fields on bills 12-37 on reports 11-20 layouts of bills. See "bill layouts" of reports. See "report designs" of statements. See "statement layouts" learning Timeslips 3-2 licenses 2-6, 16-8 additional 2-10

Please note: Many topics are covered exclusively in the online Help system. Select Help; Contents and Index to search the list of topics for the subject. See Searching the Help system on page 3-6 for more information.

I-8

Index
Users Guide

maximum flat fee 7-16 meetings in Outlook 14-8 menus shortcut 4-5 Timeslips 4-2 merging timers 8-17 messages on bills 12-39 See also "email" methods of accounting 17-6 methods of time entry 8-2 Microsoft Excel, export reports to 11-25 mini slip view 8-15 minimum flat fee 7-16 minimum hours flat fee 7-16 minimum hours for timekeepers 7-9 minimum system requirements 2-2 missing time for timekeepers 7-9 money, transferring 9-7 multiple entries in a time sheet cell 8-23 multiple-user databases 6-20 multiple-user installation 2-4 timers 8-7 my lists 4-14, 7-9

nicknames 7-2 no charge 7-14, 8-6, 8-9 notes on slips 8-13, 8-30 notifications of data events 10-13

O
online help. See "help" open status for slips 8-12 opening bill layouts 12-18 closed slips 15-6 databases 16-2 names 15-8 navigators 4-7 report designs 11-11 sample database 5-3 startup preferences 6-17 statement layouts 13-7 options setting bill options 12-40 setting report options 11-10 TSTimer 8-20 order of data on bills 12-40 of data on reports 11-9 of timekeepers on summary table 6-19 tab order of slip fields 8-10 out of the office, entering slips 8-24 Outlook 14-1 creating Outlook records within Timeslips 14-8 creating slips within Outlook 14-13 synchronizing names 14-3 overdue balances 6-12 overhead client for internal billing 7-14

N
names 7-2 classifications 7-5, 15-7, 15-8 deleting 15-9 hiding 15-7 my lists 4-14, 7-9 purging 15-9 synchronizing names with Outlook 14-3 terminology 6-11 navigators 4-6, 10-8 network databases 6-20 installation 2-4 new database 6-2 new name defaults 7-3 See also "creating"

P
paper forms for bills 12-17 passwords 16-3 past bills, reprinting 12-49 paths for mapped drives 2-5

Please note: Many topics are covered exclusively in the online Help system. Select Help; Contents and Index to search the list of topics for the subject. See Searching the Help system on page 3-6 for more information.

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Index
Users Guide

payments 9-3 applying 9-6 automatic 9-6 creating 9-7 distributing against invoices 9-6 entering by invoice number 9-5, 9-7 from funds accounts 9-16 reverse payments 9-10 to funds accounts 9-16 pdf files printing reports to 11-26 Timeslips documentation 1-9 peer-to-peer networks 2-4 pending slips 8-27 percent complete flat fee 7-17 periods aging periods for overdue balances 6-12 closing 15-9 consolidating periods of billing history 15-10 permissions. See "security" phone client phone numbers 7-12 dialing client numbers 8-13 firm phone numbers 6-11 phrases for funds transactions 9-14 on bills 12-22, 12-28 pie chart reports, formatting 11-18 playing automated procedures 4-7 training videos 3-7 portable devices, sending slips by email 8-24 portable document files. See "pdf files" post-billing reports 12-50 posting accounting data accrual method 17-14 cash method 17-12 pre-bill worksheets, printing 12-11, 12-14 preferences Timeslips 6-17 TSTimer 8-20 preparing for billing 12-4 pre-printed bill forms 12-17

previewing bill data 12-41 bill layouts 12-38 report data 11-23 report designs 11-22 sample reports 11-3 statement data 13-9, 13-12 printing audit trails 16-7 bank deposit slips 9-12 billed information 12-50 bills 12-44 budget reports 7-26 copies of past bills 12-49 help topics 3-6 post-billing reports 12-50 reports 11-5, 11-23 reports to Excel 11-25 statements 13-10 time sheets 8-20 procedures, automated 4-7 products, add-ons 1-8 professional forms for bills 12-17 profession-specific database 6-4 profiles, security 16-4 programs of Timeslips 1-6 progress billing 7-17 project separator 7-15 projects client projects 7-14 consolidating 12-21 proof stage clearing bills from 12-45 placing bills on proof stage 12-45 slip status 8-5 transaction status 9-5, 9-18 protecting databases 16-9 purging audit trails 16-8 names 15-9 slips 15-10 transactions 15-10

Please note: Many topics are covered exclusively in the online Help system. Select Help; Contents and Index to search the list of topics for the subject. See Searching the Help system on page 3-6 for more information.

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Index
Users Guide

Q
quick start tutorial 5-2

R
rates, billing on slips 8-6 setting 7-5, 7-13 updating 15-2 ready to bill 12-12 receiving slips by email 8-24 references for clients 7-19 refreshing enhanced navigator data 10-9 refreshing Timeslips Today data 10-6 refunds 9-9 register, g/l transfer 17-8, 17-10 registering Timeslips 2-10 rejected slips 8-27 remote timekeepers, entering slips 8-24 reopening closed slips 15-6 reordering bills sections 12-24 repairing data errors 16-13 report designs fonts 11-17 opening 11-11 previewing 11-22 report list 11-3 reports adding 11-28 designing 11-2, 11-11 exporting to Excel 11-25 filtering data 11-8 groups 11-22 interactive 11-23 margins 11-12 post-billing 12-50 printing 11-23 samples 11-2 selecting data 11-8 sorting data 11-9 reprinting past bills 12-49 requirements, system 2-2 requiring users to log in 16-3 resending past bills 12-49

resizing description fields 4-10 description fonts 4-10 restoring database backup 16-11 restrict slip entry 7-14 retainers 9-14 reverse payments 9-10 reviewing bill data 12-12, 12-13, 12-41 printed bills before approving 12-45 report data 11-23 statement data 13-12 usage of features 6-15 revision stage 12-45 right-click menus 4-5 rights. See "security" rows, time sheet 8-20 rtf files 11-26 ruler, designing reports 11-12 rules for alerts 10-13

S
sample bills 12-32 sample database, opening 5-3 sample reports 11-2, 11-3 saving changes to reports 11-22 scaling out Timeslips features 6-14 scheduling backups 16-10 searching for clients by invoice number 9-5, 9-7, 9-17 for conflicts 7-26 for slips 8-14 online help topics 3-6 sections bill 12-24, 12-30 report 11-11 Timeslips Today 10-7 security 16-2 global 16-3 installing with administrator rights 2-6 profiles 16-4 security rights for installation 2-8 selecting clients for billing 12-12 selecting data for bills 12-40

Please note: Many topics are covered exclusively in the online Help system. Select Help; Contents and Index to search the list of topics for the subject. See Searching the Help system on page 3-6 for more information.

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Index
Users Guide

selecting data for reports 11-8 sending bills to clients by email 12-7 copies of past bills 12-49 slips to Timeslips by email 8-24 statements to clients by email 13-2 separator, project 7-15 server 2-4 service releases (SRs) 2-12 setting up bills 12-40 reports 11-6 settings general 6-11 preferences 6-17 TAL general settings 17-5 sharing data 16-16 sheet, time sheet 8-20 shortcuts data entry 8-10 menus and keys 4-5 showing bill sections 12-24 single-user installation 2-4 size of text 4-10 slip approval 8-27 notes 8-30 slip descriptions 4-10, 8-6 slip entry method 8-2 restricting 7-14 slip notes 8-13, 8-30 slip-making defaults 7-21, 7-22 slips approving 8-27 archiving 15-12 bookmark 8-13 classifications 8-12, 15-5 closing 15-5 combining from external files 15-13 converting timers into slips 8-18 creating 8-2, 8-5, 8-23, 14-13 deleting 15-10 deposit. See "bank deposit slips" expense 8-8 export data to other slips 15-4

finding 8-14 from email 8-24 marking for retrieval 8-13 mini slip view 8-15 opening closed slips 15-6 Outlook 14-13 purging 15-10 receiving by email 8-24 reopening closed slips 15-6 temporary 8-12 time 8-5 time sheet 8-20 updating 15-4 values 8-11 small fonts in descriptions 4-10 smart configure 6-15 sorting bill data 12-40 lists by columns 4-13 report data 11-9 special credits 9-12 specific accounts 17-4 spelling errors 4-3, 4-5 splitting bill charges between clients 12-6 spreadsheets, exporting reports 11-25 stages, bill stages 12-45 starting getting started 6-13 timers 8-7, 8-17 statement layouts 13-6 assigning to clients 12-38 opening 13-7 previewing 13-9 statements definitions 12-3 designing 13-6, 13-9 email 13-2 email templates 13-2 finalizing 13-10 interactive 13-12 printing 13-10 station administrator 16-8 station licenses 2-6

Please note: Many topics are covered exclusively in the online Help system. Select Help; Contents and Index to search the list of topics for the subject. See Searching the Help system on page 3-6 for more information.

I-12

Index
Users Guide

status billing 8-6, 8-9 clients 7-14 slips 8-5 transactions 9-5, 9-18 stopping timers 8-7, 8-17 subtotals on bills 12-40 on reports 11-9 summary slip entry 8-14 style on bill 12-27 supervisor 16-2 support, technical support 1-9 synchronizing names with Outlook 14-3 system requirements 2-2

T
tab order 8-10 tables auditing data in 16-7 verifying data 16-13 tab-separated file 11-27 TAL 17-2 posted transactions 9-5, 9-18 settings 17-5 specific accounts 17-4 tasks 7-20 creating task names 7-20 in Outlook 14-8 my tasks 4-14, 7-9 taxes 7-22 technical support 1-9 on-site consultants 16-15 templates bill email templates 12-7 enhanced navigator 10-9 statement email templates 13-2 time sheet 8-21 Timeslips Today 10-5, 10-6 temporary slips 8-12 terminal services licenses 2-6 viewing access 16-8

terminology 6-11 text abbreviations 4-10 adding text to bills 12-32 adding text to reports 11-14 fields, data entry 4-9 text size in description fields 4-10 third-party applications 16-18 time activities. See "tasks" cells 8-23 missing time for timekeepers 7-9 on slips 8-6 slips. See "slips" values 4-12, 8-11 time and billing 1-3 time entry entering time values 4-12 methods 8-2 time sheet 8-20 cells 8-23 printing 8-20 slip entry templates 8-21 time entry methods 8-2 timekeepers billing history 7-12 creating timekeeper names 7-8 rights. See "security" timeout 16-9 timers 8-15 converting into slips 8-18 creating 8-16 editing 8-16 merging 8-17 multiple 8-7 starting 8-17 stopping 8-7, 8-17 viewing 8-16 Timeslips add-ons 2-10 installing 2-2 learning 3-2 linking to Outlook 14-1 programs 1-6 registering 2-10

Please note: Many topics are covered exclusively in the online Help system. Select Help; Contents and Index to search the list of topics for the subject. See Searching the Help system on page 3-6 for more information.

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Index
Users Guide

Timeslips Accounting Link. See "TAL" Timeslips Import 2-13 Timeslips server 2-4 Timeslips Station Administrator 16-8 Timeslips Today updating data 10-6, 10-9 viewing alerts 10-16 viewing data 10-4 Timeslips Today templates creating 10-6 editing 10-6 opening automatically 10-5 tip of the day 3-10 toolbars 4-3 bill design 12-20 report design 11-12 Timeslips 4-4 topics, printing help topics 3-6 tracking changes to data 16-6 time and expenses 8-2 trails, audit 16-6 training videos 3-7 transactions accounts receivable 9-3 applying 9-6 client funds 9-14 creating 9-4, 9-17 descriptions 4-10 entering by invoice number 9-5, 9-7, 9-17 filters 9-19 proof stage 9-5, 9-18 purging 15-10 status 9-5, 9-18 transfer register report 17-8 transfer transactions 9-4 transferring entries to the general ledger 17-8 money from overpayments 9-7 wip 17-9 triggering alerts 10-15 TSImport 2-13, 15-13, 16-18 TSTimer 8-15 preferences 8-20

tutorial, quick start 5-2 txt file 11-26

U
unc paths 2-6 undoing bill approval 12-48 universal naming convention paths 2-6 unpaid bills, reprinting 12-49 updating bill arrangements 12-5 billing rates 15-2 data in Outlook 14-2 data on enhanced navigators 10-9 data on Timeslips Today 10-6 local installations 2-12 slips 15-4 Timeslips data 15-2 user-defined reports 11-30 users. See "timekeepers"

V
value on slips 8-11 verifying data changes 16-5 data integrity 16-13 videos, training videos 3-7 viewing alerts 10-15 bill data 12-12 billing data 10-3 general Timeslips data 10-4 navigators 10-8 slips 8-14 time entries on the time sheet 8-23 timers 8-16 Timeslips Today 10-4 training videos 3-7 See also "previewing"

Please note: Many topics are covered exclusively in the online Help system. Select Help; Contents and Index to search the list of topics for the subject. See Searching the Help system on page 3-6 for more information.

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Index
Users Guide

W
wip, transferring 17-9 withdrawals 9-16 wizards alerts rule 10-14 create a new database 6-3 create a report 11-28 getting started 6-13 work in process, transferring 17-9 workbooks, Excel 11-25 worksheets, printing 12-11, 12-14 workstations, installing additional 2-10 write offs 9-9

Y
year end purging data and closing periods 15-9 updating rates 15-2 year, fiscal 6-7, 7-18

Please note: Many topics are covered exclusively in the online Help system. Select Help; Contents and Index to search the list of topics for the subject. See Searching the Help system on page 3-6 for more information.

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Index
Users Guide

Please note: Many topics are covered exclusively in the online Help system. Select Help; Contents and Index to search the list of topics for the subject. See Searching the Help system on page 3-6 for more information.

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