Tag Archives: MR9

Lesson #116

Setup – Service Item Master function

Regular charges that you bill to your clients are called service items in MR9. Service items are listed on your invoices to provide itemized details for your clients and third-party payers. In-house they provide information to help you analyze your revenue streams.

You store and organize all the service items you bill to clients in the Service Item Master. Then during Turn In you select services from lists instead of entering items by hand. If you have MR Connect your clients also select services from lists, eliminating longhand requests from clients. Instead service item descriptions are consistent throughout your system.

Service Item Master set-up

There are 9 main categories in the Service Items Master List, called Service Groups, which represent the most commonly used billable items for court reporters. These main categories are preset by the system and cannot be modified by the user.

Within these main groups are subgroups that further organize your services so you do not have to scroll through your entire list of billable items to find a service to add to an invoice.  You can add/edit/remove subgroups that organize your miscellaneous services in the Service Item Subgroups function. After setting up your subgroups enter your company’s billable services with their details into these subgroups in the Service Item Master. You will use these items for setting billing rates.

Customize the defaults

The Service Item Master comes with a set of default service items already organized into subgroups. You can:

• Add/edit/merge/delete/de-activate service items in Misc. Charge subgroups.
• Edit the name of service items in the Attendance Service Group.
• Set default billing and pay information for all individual service items.
• If you have clients who require that invoices be submitted electronically, you can enter LEDES codes in your service items.

Once you have set up your service items with their defaults, you can set up multiple billing rate tables with custom rates for service items to cover different invoicing scenarios. The options that you set in each service item copy to the billing rates tables you create, saving time because you only have to update the defaults that need changing.

At any time, you can update service item rates and options. The default view in the Service Item Master lists all active service items within their service groups and subgroups to make it easy to locate an item. You can restrict the view to a single service group, a single subgroup, or service item name. You can also view all items, not only active items, that fit your search criteria.

You can:

• Add new service items
• Delete service items that are not needed.
• Merge service items into other service items.
• If you do not want to delete or merge an item you can de-activate it. (Deactivated service items do not appear as a choice when billing.)
• If you have multiple billing rate tables that need the same rate or option changed (including LEDES codes), you can update them all at once within Service Item Master with the Mass Update feature.

Information you can include in each service item:

• Service item Subgroup
• Service item name (the only required field). The name is important because it is how the service will appear in Turn-In, on invoices, and in MR Connect.
• Unit type, such as pages, miles, or hours. MR9 prints the unit type on detailed invoices next to the number of units so your clients have a better idea of what they are being billed for. You can set up your own unit types in Lists.
• Account number of the related revenue account. You can customize your accounts in Chart of Accounts.
• Whether the item is active (will appear as an option when billing) or not
• Default billing rate (amount you charge per unit for the service item) and minimum billing amount, if applicable
• If the billing rate increases when an order containing this service item is expedited
• If the service item is a taxable court cost or sales taxable
• If the service item is discountable (if you offer a negotiated discount on a firms’ invoices, what’s discountable is specified at the service item level, and the discount percentage the client will receive is entered in their Firms setup.)
• If you award clients points for ordering services, and the service item should be included in the revenue calculation to accumulate points
• If you have sales representatives and the service item should be included in the calculation of commissions
• If you want to include the service item name and/or amount when an invoice is printed with “no details”
• If you want to make the service item available for clients to request when they are scheduling online using MR Connect
• If you want to include the service item on production sheets
• If you want MR9 to calculate charges for this service item based on the number of pages in the transcript and pages to deduct like Original/Copy service items do
• UTBMS codes (if you want invoices to be LEDES compliant). If an insurance company requires different codes than the standard, you can update their billing rate tables only without modifying the service item master list.

The list of service items in the Service Item Master displays all of this information for each item listed, so you can see it upfront. You do not need to go into individual service items unless you want to edit/delete/merge/mass update rate tables. You can sort the list by one or more columns in ascending or descending order (but when you exit the function, MR will revert back to the default order).

Export the list as an Excel spreadsheet or a CSV (comma-separated values) file to save, print, share, or use in other applications.

TL;DR: Set up service items, including default billing and pay info. Group related service items so you can locate them quickly in their subgroups when billing, instead of scrolling through a long, undifferentiated list of all miscellaneous service items. If you have MR Connect, your clients will be able to select service items the same way.

MR9 concepts in this lesson

Award Points: Used to encourage clients to book with your agency by rewarding them with points for different services.

Firm: Companies you do business with.

MR Connect: Online repository, orders, and access to your office for clients and others.

Lesson #114

Setup – Chart of Accounts function

Although MR is not a general accounting system, it uses account numbers to keep track of sales, cash receipts, accounts receivable, payables, and other transactions in a basic double-entry bookkeeping system. You can set up MR’s accounts to match your general ledger or accounting software.

For example, if you use QuickBooks, you can use QuickBooks Integrator to import your MR data directly into your QuickBooks. But before you can import MR invoices and payments into QuickBooks, you must set up your MR business units’ accounts to match your QuickBooks setup.

If MR’s default set of accounts is not accurate to your in-house setup, you can add, edit, and delete accounts to match MR9 to your general ledger or accounting software.

Set up account types first

The first step in matching MR to your in-house setup would be to customize your account types in the Lists function. Basic accounting rules group all finance-related things into 5 fundamental types of accounts: Assets, Liabilities, Equity, Income, and Expenses. MR includes these and other account types, which you can edit/delete and add your own. Entries here appear in the Account Type drop-down in individual accounts in the Chart of Accounts function.

Set up your Chart of Accounts

Each account in Chart of Accounts is tied to an Account Type, and includes an account name and reference number (account number). MR uses these accounts for different financial activities in your company’s business units.

The default view in Chart of Accounts shows all accounts in the system in numerical order by account number. It also includes the account names, their account types, and whether the account is active or not. You can restrict the view to a single account type or multiple account types.

You can sort your results in the grid by one or more columns in ascending or descending order (but when you exit the function, MR will revert back to the default order). You can export your Chart of Accounts as an Excel spreadsheet or a CSV (comma-separated values) file to save, print, share, or use in other applications.

You can keep the default accounts set up by MR or customize the default Chart of Accounts by adding, editing, and deleting accounts. If an account is not used but you don’t want to delete it, you can make it inactive so it will not appear as a choice in account lists elsewhere in MR.

If you are going to process credit card fees in MR, you must set up two accounts in Chart of Accounts so MR will separate out those fees:

1. An Expense-type account for the fees
2. An Other Current Assets-type account for undeposited processing fee funds

Then you can assign those accounts to handle those fees in your business units.

Designate accounts to use

After you have set up your accounts, you designate which ones to use for different financial activities. Where you use accounts in MR

• When setting up business units, you can leave the default accounts set up by MR or select which accounts handle which types of transactions for each of your company’s business units.
• When setting up billable services (called service items in MR), you select an account to associate with each service item.

TL;DR: Use MR’s default accounts as is, or customize the Chart of Accounts to match your in-house system or QuickBooks.

MR concepts in this lesson

Business Unit (BU): One of your company’s revenue centers or any entity in your business that you want to track separately.

Service items: Regular charges that you bill to your clients.

Lesson #109

Entities – Locations function

Locations are places where records are stored or where witnesses you are serving subpoenas on reside or work — such as hospitals, businesses, doctors’ offices, or schools. Enter locations into MR9 instead of re-keying location information each time.

Automatically include driving directions to locations in runner worksheets and store location-relevant files in their own repository. If there is something you want to remember about a location — whether it’s contact info, location directions, warnings, or anything else — store it in their MR9 listing.

Add locations to your database

You can enter locations from scratch in this function, or add them on the fly within an order part.

Before entering a location into MR9, check to see if they are already there to avoid duplicate entries. MR9 does not prevent you from adding multiple instances of the same location. If there are duplicate entries, you can merge them, however, not all data will carry over from the location that is being merged. The only information that will be saved from the merged entry is from the Tags, Repository, and Notes Log panes.

Search for locations

To find locations in your MR9 database, you can use the search criteria, singly or in combination:

• Location Name or a/k/a (also known as)
• Street address
• City
• State (one, several, or all)
• Zip code
• Location Type (one, several, or all)
• Tag
• Active locations only or all

Each listing displayed in the Locations results shows all of this info except any tags; and includes the location’s contact person, phone numbers, and any warnings about the location. You can sort your results in the grid by one or more columns in ascending or descending order (but when you exit the function, MR9 will revert back to the default order).

From the Locations results grid, you can view and update any listed location’s details, add new locations, and export the grid as an Excel spreadsheet or a CSV (comma-separated values) file to save, print, share, or use in other applications.

Basic location information

Whether you are viewing an existing location listing or adding a new location, the detail window is broken up into a series of panes that contain related fields. The first pane, General, contains the location’s contact information, directions to the location, other basic information, and any warnings. When entering a new location, the only required information is the location name.

Other General information tips

If you commonly refer to the location by another name, include that alias in the a/k/a (also known as) field. When looking up the location, you can search by the alias instead of the location name. In search results the alias will appear in parentheses after the location name.

If you are entering the location’s street address or P.O. box number, skip the other address fields and enter the zip code. MR9 will fill in the city, state, and country for you.

If you have entered the location address, you can view maps and directions to the address in MR9. You can also add your own directions to the location’s listing. Any instructions entered here will appear in the Directions field of a job when the job will be at this location.

If you have information about a location that users should know when scheduling jobs, enter those notes in the Warning field. This information appears in red under Location Warning in jobs.

If you are no longer scheduling jobs at a location and you do not need to contact them anymore, you can deactivate their listing instead of deleting it so you retain all of your historical data about the location but they will no longer appear in searches for active locations anymore.

Additional

While you only have to include the location’s name before saving a listing in your MR database, you can enter other information at the same time or anytime later at your convenience. In the Additional pane, enter information about records pickup and subpoena delivery such as the method for delivering subpoenas, a different location for retrieving records from (ROI), and who on your staff handles the location.

Doctor Info

If the location is a doctor’s office, clinic, or something similar, you can include information about the doctor, including their title and specialty. (After you save the location, you can add other hospitals/clinics/practices the doctor is affiliated with/has hospital privileges with.)

After initial setup, add more information

Once you save a location in MR9, additional panes, fields, and functions become available. You can:

• Enter more information.
• Update existing information.
• Merge locations if you find duplicates.

You don’t have to go into the Locations function to update a location listing. Most MR functions that include a location field allow you to directly access that location’s listing, which you can view and edit.

Also, if you have multiple locations that you need to update the location type for, you can use Bulk Update to change them all at once.

Additional panes in saved location listings include:

Notification Email

If a location has more than one email address or has someone else on staff who should receive their emails, you can designate which email address to use for orders.

Tags

If you use tags (keywords or phrases) to monitor and send mass mailings to locations, you add tags to location listings, either by keying in tags or selecting them from the tag list you made in Lists. Each location can have an unlimited number of tags, and you can delete tags from a location when they no longer apply. (You can also use the Tag Manager to add or remove tags quickly from multiple locations at once.)

Repository

Keep files related to the location in your MR database. When viewing an individual location, you can see the description of any uploaded files in the repository panel without having to click into each file’s details. You can upload, download, or delete files here, and update file information, such as file type and description.

Notes Log

The system enters some notes about locations automatically in their individual Notes Logs, and you can also enter notes yourself about a location in their Notes Log for internal purposes. When you add a note to the Notes Log, you can include what type of note it is, how you communicated with the location, details about what occurred, and if needed, designate who should follow up and set a date and time for a reminder to be sent to them via MR’s message system.

Export location data for other uses

In these additional panes, you can export the information as an Excel spreadsheet or a CSV(comma-separated values) file to save, share, print, or use in other applications.

TL;DR: Maintain a database of locations in MR9, including contact information, files related to the location, notes about the location, and more.

MR9 concepts in this lesson

Firm: Business you provide services to — usually law firms, but can also be other court reporting firms, vendors, insurance companies, corporate clients, and courts.

Lesson #107

Entities – Contacts function

Contacts are people who work for firms you do business with. Examples of contacts are attorneys, paralegals, secretaries, legal assistants, claim adjusters, and court clerks.

Maintain a deep database of your contacts in MR9 in the Contacts function. If there is something you want to remember about a contact — whether it’s their contact info, standing orders, anniversaries, or anything else — store it in their MR9 profile. 

Add contacts to your database

You can:

• Enter contacts from scratch in this function.
• Copy an existing contact at a firm and update only the new contact info.
• Add them on the fly within a firm, case, job, or invoice.
• If you have an existing database of contacts in another application, you can import the data into MR from an Excel spreadsheet in the Bulk Import function.

Before entering a contact into MR9, check to see if they are already there to avoid duplicate entries. MR9 does not prevent you from adding multiple instances of the same contact. If there are duplicate entries, you can merge them, however, not all data will carry over from the contact that is being merged. The only information that will be saved from the merged entry is from the Notification Email, Tags, Preferred Services, Anniversaries, Award Points, Repository, and Notes Log panes.

Search for contacts

To find contacts in your MR database, you can use the search criteria, singly or in combination:

• Full Name, First Name, or Last Name
• Firm (which you can search for by name, number, or the name or number of a contact at the firm)
• Contact Type (single, several, or all)
• Email address
• Client Of (which you can search for by first name, last name, full name, or number)
• Sales Rep (which you can search for by first name, last name, full name, or number)
• Tag
• Phone number
• Active contacts only or all
• Contact number

Each listing displayed in the results shows all of this info except any tags; and includes the main address of the contact’s firm, the type of firm, whether the firm is currently active, and any warnings about the contact and firm.

Customize how you view contact listings

The grid in which you view contact listings is customizable to your individual preference:

• Re-arrange the columns so the most important information is most prominent
• Stick up to 10 columns to the left side of the grid so they do not scroll when you have a results grid wider than your screen.
• Stretch/shrink columns to fit the results.
• Hide columns you don’t need to see.
• Choose which column(s) to sort results by.
• If you select more than one column, choose in what column order to sort the list.
• Choose whether to sort info by ascending or descending order in each selected column.
• Save your custom grid as your default.

You can save your custom grid as your default. Your customizations do not affect other users, and you can restore the original MR9 grid layout anytime.

From the Contacts results grid, you can view and update any listed contact’s details, add new contacts, and export the grid as an Excel spreadsheet or a CSV (comma-separated values) file to save, share, print, or use in other applications.

Contacts are tied to firms

When entering a contact in MR9, the first, most important information is their firm. If you are entering a new contact without starting from their firm, MR9 will automatically open the firm panel so you can select the firm before entering other contact information. If the contact’s firm is not in your MR9 database, you can add it here on the fly.

Once you have designated which firm the contact belongs to, you can proceed to enter the contact’s information. Some fields will auto-fill with the firm’s information, such as phone numbers and billing information, which you can override in the contact listing. Until you save the contact, you can change which firm the contact is tied to. After saving a new contact, you can view maps of the firm’s location, get directions to the location, and view/update firm details from the contact’s detail screen.

Basic contact information

In addition to which firm the contact works for, the only other required information about a contact is their full name. When entering the contact’s name, we recommend that instead of entering the name in the Full Name field, you enter names in the separate first and last name fields, then select which order you want the names (first name first, or last name, then first) to appear in the Full Name field. (You can also select options that include their preferred salutation and middle initial.) This way you can use the First Name/Last Name filters when searching for contacts in the main Contacts window.

You can save time entering contacts’ full names by setting up Autofill in System Preferences. You select which name parts are included (first name, last name, salutation, middle initial) and in what order. MR9 will automatically fill out the Full Name field for you as you enter the individual name fields.

In addition to the contact’s name, the General pane of their listing contains their contact information, other basic information, and any warnings.

Other General information tips

If you enter the contact’s primary email address in the General pane, you can email the contact directly from within their MR9 listing by clicking the button next to the email field.

If you have information about a contact that your staff should know when scheduling or invoicing jobs, enter those notes in the Warning field. This information appears in red under Contact Warning in ordering clients and parties in jobs, cases, and in the Invoice panel in Turn In.

If a contact is no longer scheduling jobs with you and you do not need to contact them anymore, you can deactivate their listing instead of deleting it so you retain all of your historical data about the contact but they will no longer appear in searches for active contacts anymore.

Additional information

Store the client’s preferences for receiving invoices and statements (email, print, don’t send) in the Additional pane. You can also enter their federal ID number if it’s different from their firm’s, and unlimited notes about the contact for your calendaring and production/billing departments. Style the text with different options, such as bold face, italic, text sizes, and colors, to enhance the readability of your notes.

If you have MR Connect, this is where you set up the contact’s login credentials. After saving the new contact, this is also where you:

• Reset their password.
• Unlock their account if they tried to log in too many times with the incorrect credentials, and MR Connect locked them out.

Marketing

Use the Marketing pane to specify what type of contact the entity is for marketing and billing purposes plus enter personal information about the contact, including their home address. Some of the billing information will automatically populate from the contact’s firm listing — such as default billing rates — but you can change it for the contact.

You can also designate which staff member receives commissions on this client’s orders. If an account manager or sales representative went out and got this client for you, set them as the Sales Rep. This information will be used for allocating sales commissions and to generate Sales Commission Reports.

After initial setup, add more information

Once you save a contact in MR9, additional panes, fields, and functions become available. You can:

• Enter more information.
• Update existing information, including resetting the contact’s MR Connect password.
• View the contact’s financial & job trends.
• Copy the contact to create a new contact with the same firm information.
• Merge contacts if you find duplicates.

You don’t have to go into the Contacts function to update a contact. Most MR9 functions that include a Contact field allow you to directly access that contact’s listing to view and edit details.

Also, if you have multiple contacts that you need to update the same information for, such as assigning a new sales rep or changing the billing rate, you can use Bulk Update to change them all at once.

If a contact moves to another firm, you cannot change the firm in the contact’s listing. Instead, you have to de-active the current listing and set up a new listing for the contact at their new firm. You can use MR9’s Merge To sub-function to save some of the contact’s historical data from the original listing in the new contact listing.

Additional panes in saved contact listings include:

Notification Email

If a contact has more than one email address or has someone else on staff who should receive their emails, you can designate which one(s) to use for:

• Job confirmations and cancellations for jobs they schedule.
• Invoices and statements (if the contact’s firm does not request consolidated statements).
• Repository file upload alerts.

If you entered an email address in the General pane, it will automatically populate each of these notification email slots. You can change, delete, and add email addresses for any of these email types.

Tags

If you use tags (keywords or phrases) to monitor and market to contacts, you add tags to contact listings, either by keying in tags or selecting them from the tag list you made in Lists. Each contact can have an unlimited number of tags, and you can delete tags from a contact when they no longer apply. (You can also use the Tag Manager to add or remove tags quickly from multiple contacts at once.) Label entities with tags (keywords or phrases) to mark them as part of specific groups, which you can use for different purposes, such as monitoring or marketing.

Grant Access To

In MR9, jobs and invoices are tied to the Ordering Contact (attorney). So by default if you have MR Connect, related information is accessible by that contact only. But in real life, the attorney isn’t the one who will be accessing MR Connect and scheduling jobs, paying invoices, or downloading the repository files. Instead, it is paralegals or secretaries that take care of that work on behalf of the Ordering Contact.

In Grant Access To, you select contacts at the same firm who can access this contact’s information on MR Connect. In addition to giving access to paralegals and secretaries who work for this contact and to the attorney’s senior(s) at the firm, you can also grant access to contacts at other firms.

Have Access To

Similar to Grant Access To, use Have Access To to grant this contact access to other contacts’ MR Connect, including contacts at other firms. Use Have Access To when you want to give one contact access to multiple other contacts’ MR Connect accounts instead of going into each of the other contacts’ listings and granting access one by one.

Any contact that you give access to this contact’s MR Connect will automatically list the contact in their Have Access To pane.

Preferred Services

Add your clients’ standing orders to their contact profiles. Then you can use Prefill Services on a case, job, or invoice to easily select all of the service items a client expects.

When listing which service items are included in a contact’s standing orders, you can also include relevant details like how many units of an item they usually order, how many business days the order is due in (MR9 will calculate the due date for a specific job excluding weekends and holidays), the delivery method, their preference on rush deliveries, and any additional instructions for the service item. Any information entered here will appear as the default for jobs ordered by the contact and can be overridden in individual jobs.

Anniversaries

Add important personal dates to contact profiles and set reminders so you never forget those dates. Important anniversaries could be birthdays or the anniversary of when they became your client. When setting reminders, you determine how many days and at what time of day to send an alert and which staff member(s) the alert should be sent to.

You can use Anniversary Inquiry to print labels for cards to send to clients celebrating upcoming anniversaries.

Award Points

Award Points are used to encourage clients to book with your agency by rewarding them with points for different services. If you have MR Connect, you can allow contacts to request point redemptions online. You set up your own rewards, such as cash or gift certificates, plus designate what services earn points.

If your state does not allow reward programs, use points to track your clients’ order history and see who your best customers are by which contact’s calls generate the most revenue instead of by firm only.

If you reward contacts with points, you can monitor a contact’s points in the Award Points pane, plus view their points history, which includes which services earned how many points on which invoices, current status of those points, how they were redeemed, and any notes about the points.

You can also designate which contact(s) within a firm will receive points earned by this contact, and allow the contact to view and redeem their points online via MR Connect.

You can boost a contact’s points-earning ability by automatically multiplying their points. For example, if this is one of your best clients, you might want to award them double-points for every point-eligible service you offer. Or award extra points for special promotions that are limited in time, then revert back to the original point scheme afterwards.

Repository

Keep files related to a contact, such as signed contracts, in their MR9 listing. When viewing the contact’s listing, you can see information about uploaded files, including their description, in the Repository pane without having to click into each file’s details. You can upload, download, or delete files here, and update file information, such as which groups can access the file.

If you have MR Connect, you can give contacts access to specific files in their repository. You can also view the download history of each file in the repository, including when it was downloaded and by which contact at the firm.

Notes Log

The system enters some notes about contacts automatically in their individual Notes Logs, and you can also enter notes yourself about a contact in their Notes Log for internal purposes. Some examples of automatic Notes Log entries are notes recording when a sales rep has been assigned, when statements are sent to the client, and if the client information was updated using the Bulk Update tool.

When you add a note to the Notes Log, you can include what type of note it is, how you communicated with the contact, details about what occurred, and if needed, designate who should follow up and set a date and time for a reminder to be sent to them via MR9’s message system.

Export contact data for other uses

In these additional panes, you can export the information as Excel spreadsheets or CSV(comma-separated values) files to save, share, print, or use in other applications.

View financial/job trends

In a contact’s Account Overview, highlights of their financial and job activity history, future projections, and trends are displayed visually. A table displays the contact’s total receivables since they became your client and upcoming scheduled jobs. One line graph displays revenue generated, a second line graph displays jobs scheduled/canceled, and a third line graph displays jobs that have occurred.

The line graphs are interactive. Hovering over a point in a line on a graph displays that month’s total $ amount or number. The line graphs default to the contact’s trends over the last six months. You can also view the contact’s trends over a year or 2 years.

TL;DR: Maintain a deep database of your contacts in MR9, including contact,  billing, and personal information, files related to the contact, notes about the contact, and more. View interactive graphs of their financial and job activity trends.

MR9 concepts in this lesson

Award Points: Used to encourage clients to book with your agency by rewarding them with points for different services.

Firm: Business you provide services to — usually law firms.

Ordering Contact: Contact at the firm that is responsible for a job with your company. Can be different from the contact who scheduled the job.

MR Connect: Online repository, orders, and access to your office for clients and others. More >

Lesson #106

Entities – Firms function

Firms are businesses that schedule or pay for services — such as law firms or insurance agencies. If a client has multiple locations/branches, you can designate the company’s headquarters as a parent firm for the other branches so they are connected in your MR9 database.

Maintain a deep database of these client companies in MR9 in the Firms function. If there is something you want to remember about a firm — whether it’s contact info, their employees, financial history (including collections), or anything else — store it in their MR9 profile. 

Add firms to your database

You can enter firms from scratch in this function, import them from other applications, or add them on the fly within an order, part, or new contact (someone who works at the firm). If you have an existing database of firms in another application, you can import the data into MR9 from an Excel spreadsheet in the Bulk Import function.

Before entering a firm into MR9 check to see if they are already there to avoid duplicate entries. MR9 does not prevent you from adding multiple instances of the same firm. If there are duplicate entries, you can merge them — however not all data will carry over from the firm that is being merged. The only information that will be saved from the merged entry is from their jobs and contacts, and the Tags, Collection Notes, Repository, and Notes Log panes.

Search for firms

To find firms in your MR9 database you can use the search criteria singly or in combination:

• Firm Name or a/k/a (Also Known As)
• City
• State (one, several, or all)
• Firm Type (one, several, or all)
• Parent Firm (which you can search for by name, number, or the name or number of a contact at the firm)
• Client Of (which you can search for by first name, last name, full name, or number)
• Sales Rep (which you can search for by first name, last name, full name, or number)
• Tag
• Active firms only or all firms in your database
• Firm number

Each listing displayed in the results shows all of this info except any tags — and includes the firm’s main street address, zip code, and any warnings about the firm. With so much information displayed in the results you might find exactly what you need without having to drill down further.

Customize how you view firm listings

The grid in which you view firm listings is customizable to your individual preference:

• Re-arrange the columns so the most important information is most prominent.
• Stick up to 10 columns to the left side of the grid so they do not scroll when you have a results grid wider than your screen.
• Stretch/shrink columns to fit the results.
• Hide columns you don’t need to see.
• Choose which column(s) to sort results by.
• If you select more than one column, choose in what column order to sort the list.
• Choose whether to sort info by ascending or descending order in each selected column.
• Save your custom grid as your default.

You can save your custom grid as your default. Your customizations do not affect other users — and you can restore the original MR grid layout anytime.

From the Firms results grid you can view and update any listed firm’s details by clicking its hyperlink in the grid, add new firms, and export the grid as an Excel spreadsheet or a CSV(comma-separated values) file to save, print, share, or use in other applications.

Basic firm information

Whether you are viewing an existing firm listing in your MR database or adding a new firm, the firm’s detail window is broken up into a series of panes that contain related fields. The first pane, General, contains the firm’s contact information, other basic information, and any warnings.

With 20 fields and options in the General information pane alone, it might seem overwhelming to enter firms into MR. However when entering a new firm, the only required information is the firm name. (If creating a new firm within a case, you will also be required to enter at least one contact for the firm.)

Other General information tips

If you commonly refer to the firm by another name or an abbreviation, include that alias in the a/k/a (Also Known As) field. When looking up the firm, you can search by the alias instead of the firm name. In search results, the alias will appear in parentheses after the firm name.

If you are entering the firm’s street address or P.O. box number, skip the other fields and enter the zip code. MR9 will fill in the city, state, and country for you.

You can enter a second address for billing purposes if the firm wants invoices and statements sent to a different address.

If you have entered firm addresses, you can view maps and directions to those addresses in MR9. You can also add your own directions to the firm’s listing. Any instructions entered here will appear in the Directions field of a job if the job will be at the firm’s office.

If you have information about a firm that users should know when scheduling or invoicing jobs, enter those notes in the Warning field. This information appears in red under Firm Warning in ordering clients and parties in jobs, cases, and in the Invoice panel in Turn In.

If a firm is no longer scheduling jobs with you and you do not need to contact them anymore, you can deactivate their listing instead of deleting it so you retain all of your historical data about the firm but they will no longer appear in searches for active firms anymore. You can also deactivate all their contacts at the same time, if desired.

Additional information

Store detailed billing information (including payment terms, fees/charges/rates, C.O.D status, and tax info), the client’s preferences for invoices (list services or not) and statements (consolidated or not and sending method) in the Additional pane. You can set defaults for some of this information to save time when entering new firms. Then change the settings for individual firms as needed. (When you change a firm’s Late Charge Rate or Finance Charge Rate, MR9 automatically records the change in the firm’s Notes Log so you have a paper trail.)

You can also enter unlimited notes about the firm here for your calendaring and production/billing departments. Style the text with different options — such as bold face, italic, text sizes, and colors — to enhance the readability of your notes. If this firm is a branch or subsidiary of another firm in your database, you can select that firm here as the parent firm/headquarters.

Marketing

Use the Marketing pane to specify what type of firm the entity is for marketing and billing purposes — including selecting default billing rates. You can also designate which person is the sales representative on this client’s jobs.

Collections

When setting up a new firm, you can assign one of your staff to be responsible for your collections efforts with the client — and designate the firm’s credit status with your company, e.g., In Collection or COD (Cash on Delivery).

After initial setup, add more information

Once you save a firm in MR9 additional panes, fields, and functions become available. You can:

• Enter more information, including employees at the firm you have contact with.
• Update existing information.
• View the firm’s financial & job trends.
• Merge firms if you find duplicates.

You don’t have to go into the Firms function to update a firm. Most MR9 functions that include a Firm field allow you to directly access that firm’s listing which you can view and edit.

Also if you have multiple firms that you need to update the same information for — such as assigning a new sales rep or changing the billing rate — you can use Bulk Update to change them all at once.

Additional panes in saved firm listings include:

Notification Email

If a firm has more than one email address you can designate which one(s) to use for:

• Email notices from MR related to jobs they schedule
• Invoices and other accounting information

Tags

If you use tags (keywords or phrases) to monitor and market to firms you add tags to firm listings — either by keying in tags or selecting them from the tag list you made in Lists. Each firm can have an unlimited number of tags and you can delete tags from a firm when they no longer apply. (You can also use the Tag Manager to add or remove tags quickly from multiple firms at once.)

Preferred Services

Add your clients’ standing orders to their firm profiles. Then you can use Prefill Services on a case, job, or invoice to easily select all of the service items a client expects.

When listing which service items are included in a firm’s standing orders, you can also include relevant details like how many units of an item they usually order, how many business days the order is due in (MR9 will calculate the due date for a specific job excluding weekends and holidays), the delivery method, their preference on rush deliveries, and any additional instructions for the service item.

Collections

(After saving a new firm its Collections pane expands to allow you to enter more information.)

If a client is in arrears you can record your collection efforts here — including when you made an effort, what type of effort (such as Call Made — you can create your own set of collection actions in Lists), and results or other notes about the effort. If you want to be reminded on a certain date to follow up on the progress of your efforts, you can set a date and time — plus the staff member to be reminded. (This information is used in Collection Follow-up.)

If a client pays you an upfront deposit — i.e., a retainer — you can enter and track it in the Collections pane. You can view when retainers were entered in the system along with other details about the retainers — such as any notes made about a retainer and when retainers were applied to which invoices.

Repository

Keep files related to a firm in their MR9 listing. When viewing the firm’s listing you can see information about uploaded files including their description in the Repository pane without having to click into each file’s details. You can upload, download, or delete files here, and update file information — such as which groups can access the file (office staff only or office and contacts).

If you have MR Connect, you can give contacts who work at the firm access to specific files in their repository. You can also view the download history of each file in the repository — including when it was downloaded and by which contact at the firm.

Notes Log

The system enters some notes about firms automatically in their individual Notes Logs and you can also enter notes yourself about a firm in their Notes Log for internal purposes. Some examples of automatic Notes Log entries are notes recording when a sales rep has been assigned, when statements are sent to the client, and if the client information was updated using the Bulk Update tool.

When you add a note to the Notes Log you can include what type of note it is, how you communicated with the firm, details about what occurred, and if needed designate who should follow up and set a date and time for a reminder to be sent to them via MR9’s message system.

Export firm data for other uses

In these additional panes and the Collections pane, you can export the information as an Excel spreadsheet or a CSV(comma-separated values) file to save, print, share, or use in other applications.

View financial/job trends

In a firm’s Account Overview, highlights of their financial and job activity history, future projections, and trends are displayed visually. A table displays the firm’s total receivables since they became your client and upcoming scheduled jobs. One line graph displays revenue generated, a second line graph displays jobs scheduled/canceled, and a third line graph displays jobs that have occurred.

The line graphs are interactive. Hovering over a point in a line on a graph displays that month’s total $ amount or number. The line graphs default to the firm’s trends over the last six months. You can also view the firm’s trends over a year or 2 years.

Manage firm’s contacts

From the firm’s profile you can view the contacts who work for the firm (including inactive contacts if desired), update any contact’s details, add new contacts, and add or delete notification email addresses for individual contacts at the firm.

TL;DR: Maintain a deep database of client companies in MR9 including contact, billing, and marketing information, collections history, files related to the firm, notes about the firm, and more. View interactive graphs of their financial and job activity trends.

MR9 concepts in this lesson

Business Unit (BU): One of your company’s revenue centers or any entity in your business that you want to track separately — such as branch offices, other companies you own, affiliates, and profit-sharing operations.

Contact: Person who works for a firm you do business with — such as attorneys, paralegals, secretaries, legal assistants, claim adjusters, and court clerks.

Notes Logs: Un-editable internal-use only notes entered either by a user or automatically by MR9 appear in chronological logs in the database record where they occurred — such as a case, job, invoice, or entity. More >

Parent Firm: Headquarters of a multi-branch corporation.

MR Connect: Online repository, order, and access to your office for clients and others. More >

Service items: Regular charges that you bill to your clients.

Lesson #105

Everything you want to know about clients, places, & your company

Maintain a deep database of entities in MR9:

• Clients (firms, contacts, and parent firms, i.e., company headquarters)
• Record locations
• Business units (your company’s revenue centers or parts you want to track separately)

In addition to storing all information about entities, in this module you can:

• View maps and driving directions to entities’ addresses.
• View month-to-month financial and job activity for a firm or contact in interactive graphs.
• Label entities with tags (keywords or phrases) to mark them as part of specific groups, which you can use for different purposes, such as monitoring or marketing.
• Set up MR Connect log-in credentials for contacts.
• Include detailed billing, job, and production information for firms and contacts.
• Designate different email addresses to receive specific types of email for a single contact or firm.
• Maintain lists of clients’ standing requests.
• Designate and monitor senior contacts, such as lead attorneys, who can have access to other contact’s activities in MR Connect.
• Enter client retainers and view history of their application. Record collection efforts.
• Set preferences for your business units. Upload company logos for invoices and transcripts.

Entities functions by name

• Firms
• Contacts
• Locations
• Business Units

TL;DR: Maintain a deep database of your clients, job locations, and business units.

MR9 concepts in this lesson

Business Unit (BU): One of your company’s revenue centers or any entity in your business that you want to track separately — such as branch offices, other companies you own, affiliates, and profit-sharing operations.

Contact: Person who works for a firm you do business with — such as attorneys, paralegals, secretaries, legal assistants, claim adjusters, and court clerks.

Firm: Business you provide services to — usually law firms — but can also be other court reporting firms, vendors, insurance companies, corporate clients, and courts.

Location: Place where records are stored, such as hospitals, schools, doctors’ offices, or businesses.

Parent Firm: Headquarters of a multi-branch corporation.

MR Connect: Online repository, calendar, and access to your office for clients.

Lesson #104

Tools – QuickBooks Integrator function

If you use the popular accounting package QuickBooks you can import your MR9 data directly into QuickBooks using QuickBooks Integrator eliminating the need to re-key financial data.

With MR9’s QuickBooks Integrator, you can:

• Import contacts and locations into QuickBooks as customers and vendors.
• Import invoices that were generated in MR9 into QuickBooks so that you can run consolidated financial statements.
• Import payments and other transactions, including overpayments, into QuickBooks so that your bank deposits record and account balances will be accurate.
• Import custodian paychecks into QuickBooks so that you can reconcile your bank account easily.

QuickBooks Integrator works with either QuickBooks online or desktop edition.

Set-up is 1-2-3

QuickBooks Integrator requires some set-up before it can import MR9 data into QuickBooks for you. Before you can use QuickBooks Integrator, set up:

1. Your MR9 business units’ accounts to match your QuickBooks setup.
2. System-wide defaults for QuickBooks Integrator.
3. Secure remote access to your QuickBooks (desktop version only) or test your connection (cloud version only).

Instructions for all 3 tasks are included in the MR9 user guide, and MR Support can assist you if you need any help.

After you have finished these 3 requirements, all you have to do is open QuickBooks then MR9’s QuickBooks Integrator in that order and keep QuickBooks open while you are working in QuickBooks Integrator.

Importing entities

Instead of entering contacts/customers and locations/vendors into both MR9 and QuickBooks, enter them in MR9 then use QuickBooks Integrator to copy them into QuickBooks.

After entering contacts or locations in MR9, all you have to do to add them to your QuickBooks is open QuickBooks Integrator, select Customers to import MR9 contacts or Vendors to import MR9 locations, and leave the default date of today or enter a different date range. From the resulting list select all or some of the entities and import them into QuickBooks with a single click.

If you need help finding entities in the list to import, you can sort the list by one or more columns in ascending or descending order (but if you change search criteria or exit the function MR9 will revert back to the default order). Export the list as an Excel spreadsheet or a CSV (comma-separated values) file to save, print, share, or use in other applications.

Importing invoices

There are several reasons to import your MR9 invoices into QuickBooks:

• If you operate multiple businesses and use QuickBooks to generate invoices for a business other than court reporting (e.g., a staffing business), you can import MR9 invoices into QuickBooks to run consolidated income statements.
• If you keep track of deposits with QuickBooks, you can eliminate duplicate entries of invoices and payments by importing that information directly from MR9.
• You can reprint MR9 invoices in QuickBooks format if needed.

QuickBooks Integrator defaults to all invoices posted today. You can find invoices for a different post date and/or invoices posted by one or more of your business units. As with importing entities, you can sort the list if needed and/or export the list before selecting all or some of the invoices and importing them into QuickBooks.

And as it imports invoices MR9 automatically generates any missing data in QuickBooks (such as customers, chart of accounts, or items) so you don’t have to worry about importing all of the supporting data for invoices one at a time. If any errors occur during import, that information will appear in the Error column in QuickBooks Integrator.

Importing payments

Instead of recording deposits manually in QuickBooks, you can import payment transactions directly from MR9 including payment processing fees. You just have to import invoices before importing payments since payments are applied to invoices in QuickBooks.

QuickBooks Integrator defaults to all payments posted today. Or you can find payments posted on a different post date. As with the other import categories, you can sort the list if needed and/or export the list before selecting all or some of the payments and importing them into QuickBooks. If any errors occur during import, that information will appear in the Error column in QuickBooks Integrator.

Importing credits & journal entries

In addition to payments you can import other types of receivables transactions such as credits, duplicate payments, refunds, voids, and write-offs (but not debit memos or miscellaneous payments) directly from MR9. Like payments, you must import invoices before you can import these types of transactions since they are applied to invoices in QuickBooks.

As with payments QuickBooks Integrator defaults to all other allowable receivables transactions posted today. Or you can find allowable receivables transactions posted on a different post date. As with the other import categories, you can sort the list if needed and/or export the list before selecting all or some of the posted allowable receivables transactions and importing them to QuickBooks. If any errors occur during import, that information will appear in the Error column in QuickBooks Integrator.

Importing custodian checks

While you can print custodian checks directly from MR9, instead have QuickBooks print them using your MR9 data. This way, in addition to printing the checks, QuickBooks also deducts the amounts from your checking account since reconciling your bank account can only be done in QuickBooks, not MR9.

When preparing to import checks QuickBooks Integrator defaults to today as the pay date. You can select a different pay date. The list of custodians eligible to be paid in the specified payroll also includes their check amounts. As with the other import categories, you can sort the list if needed and/or export the list before selecting all or some of the locations and importing their paychecks to QuickBooks. You can also enter the common text that will appear in the Memo field on each check before sending the list to QuickBooks.

As with invoices, MR9 automatically generates any missing data in QuickBooks (such as vendors) as checks are imported. You do not have to worry about importing all of the supporting data for checks one at a time. If any errors occur during import, that information will appear in the Error column in QuickBooks Integrator.

(While this method is faster, you can still export payroll checks via a QuickBooks IIF file from Print Checks to import into QuickBooks.)

TL;DR: Import MR9 entities, invoices, paychecks, and payment transactions into QuickBooks.

MR concepts in this lesson

Business Unit (BU): One of your company’s revenue centers or any entity in your business that you want to track separately.

Contact: Person who works for a firm you do business with.

Lesson #103

Tools – Query Maker function

MR9 includes a lot of reports, but maybe you need one that isn’t included. Or maybe you are looking for some information in MR9 but none of the functions have the search criteria you need to find what you are looking for. Depending on what you want, you might be able to create your own custom search/report using MR9’s Query Maker.

Query Maker is a tool for searching the MR9 database and creating your own reports using data fields from a single table (e.g. Cases, Firms, or Payroll) in your MR database. It also offers a few multi-table report options, such as Firm+Contact and Invoices+Jobs+Cases, which allow you to select fields from more than one table to generate a report.

Simplified database queries – no programming required

Query Maker lists of all the tables in MR9 and automates the construction of queries so you can easily create and run your own searches and generate reports using any table (or one of the multi-table options).

For example, if you want to see all contacts entered into your MR9 database today, select the Contacts table, select “Entered’ in the drop-down list of data fields, select “Is equal to”  as the operator, and leave the default of today’s date in Condition. MR9 constructs the proper SQL statements to return the results from the Contacts table. You can export the report to save it, and you can save the query itself to use again later by changing the date.

Create targeted queries for your business only or to share

If you need more targeted results than a single-condition query provides, you can set up multiple conditions in one query to find the exact results you want. Start with one data field from a table and set its condition. Then select another data field from the same table with its own condition, and set whether you want your results to include records that match both conditions or either condition. You can continue selecting fields and setting their conditions and how they are included, and use parentheses with multiple queries to prioritize queries when AND and OR operators are used. For example, to find law firms in TX or LA, you can query: (State is equal to TX OR State is equal to LA) AND FirmType is equal to Law Firm.

The combo table options, Firm+Contact and Invoices+Jobs+Cases, give you access to data fields in each included table so you can run queries across multiple tables at once. For example, with Firm+Contact you could create a report listing all the contacts with the firm address instead of their home addresses. A report using Invoices+Jobs+Cases could list invoices with detailed job and case information included.

When you execute your custom query, Query Maker lists all results that match your query. The default results grid includes columns for all the data fields in the current table. You can choose which fields to exclude from your results to generate a report that displays only the information you are interested in. You can change the width of each column but you cannot change the order of the columns. You can sort your results in the grid by one or more columns in ascending or descending order (but when you change queries or exit the function, MR will revert back to the default order).

Export your reports as Excel or generic CSV (comma separated values) files to save, print, share, or use in other applications. In addition to exporting reports and saving your queries to re-use later, you can also share queries you create with other MR9 users, and use pre-existing queries so you don’t have to start from scratch.

Save time by modifying existing queries

Instead of starting from scratch each time to create queries, save your query to re-use later. You can update a saved query if needed before generating a report. If you want to use the updated query again you can save it replacing the existing query or save it as a new query.

You can update query names, turn sharing on (so others in your company can use your query) or off (to make your query private), or delete queries. Queries that other MR9 users in your company saved with sharing on are also available to you to use as is or update and save as a new query.

Use popular queries to make custom reports

Another option instead of writing your own queries from scratch in Query Maker, is to use queries from the Query Gallery. Query Gallery contains queries written by other users, and also queries written by MR9 staff to generate reports that are the most commonly requested but are not in MR9 yet. You can download these pre-existing queries to edit or use as is. When you download a query, it is saved to your in-house list of queries.

You can publish your own queries by uploading them to the Query Gallery library in Query Maker which all MR9 users have access to. When other users download your query to use, the number in the Download column of the Query Gallery updates.

Need something more than what you can do here?

If you want to create more complex reports or use your MR data in another application, add the Data Reader plug-in to MR9. It allows you to use your MR9 data in more complex ways, including custom reports and in other applications.

If you would rather not develop reports yourself, contact OMTI about developing a custom report for your business.

TL;DR: Perform custom searches of your MR9 data­base, and create your own reports from the results. Save your queries to re-use and share.

MR concepts in this lesson

Contact: Person who works for a firm you do business with, such as attorneys.

Firm: Business you provide services to, usually law firms.

Query Gallery: Library of the database queries published by MR9 developers and users for anyone to download and use in Query Maker for generating reports from MR9 data instead of writing queries from scratch.

Lesson #101

Tools – Download Backup File function

Download backup files of your MR9 database from up to 7 days in the past.

There is no need for your own backups for recovery purposes because MR9 is on Microsoft Azure’s cloud platform which includes a better-than-backup process that requires no effort on your part to maintain. However, if you need or want backups to comply with your company security policies, you can use this function to download a copy of your MR9 database backup to store on your premises.

TL;DR: Back up your MR9 database to your desktop.

Lesson #100

Tools – Repository Download Log function

In addition to complying with general security rules for business applications, tracking repository access is useful to see which clients are using your MR Connect, and which files they are downloading. You can also give contacts the ability to track their own download activity in MR Connect.

You can set up MR9 to record repository activity by your staff and/or contacts. (For example, if you do not have MR Connect, you can set it to track staff use only.) After setting up MR9 to record repository activity, it will track all file download activities performed by individuals in your selected categories.

Then in the Repository Download Log, you can search for download activity by all persons within one of those categories, or by a single person; for a single date or date range; for a specific file or files with similar names; and/or for one, several, or all file types.

MR9 lists all download activity that matches your criteria by who accessed a file; when they accessed it; which repository the file is in; the file name, type, and description; and when the file was uploaded to the system. If someone downloads a file multiple times, each download is listed. You can sort the log by one or more columns in ascending or descending order (but when you exit the function, MR9 will revert back to the default order). Export the log as an Excel spreadsheet or a CSV (comma-separated values) file to save, print, share, or use in other applications.

From the log, you can view/update details about any person or file by clicking the person or file’s hyperlink.

Clients can check their download activity too

If you set Repository Logging to include contact downloading activity, your contacts can also see their download activity in MR Connect’s Repository. Similar to MR9’s Repository Download Log, a Reviewed column will be included in their Repository results grid, and any file they download will record the date and time in that column, so your clients can see at a glance if they have downloaded a file or not.

TL;DR: If MR9 is set up to track download activity, this report lists all activity by contacts or staff for a specific time period.

MR9 concepts in this lesson

Contact: Person who works for a firm you do business with, such as attorneys, paralegals, and secretaries.

MR Connect: Online repository, orders, and access to your office for clients and others. More >

Repository: MR9 has 9 repositories where you store files for safekeeping and quick retrieval. When you store files in a case, they are in MR’s Case Repository; when you store files in a part, they are in MR’s Part Repository; etc. If you have MR Connect, you can give clients access to specific repository files.