Tag Archives: Setup

Lesson #137

Setup – System Preferences function

Tools System Preferences

Choose which types of MR9 emails to log into the system and for how long. Set up your QuickBooks Integrator so you can import MR9 data directly into QuickBooks. Enter your company contact information so other MR9 users can share jobs with you.

Email Log

Emails sent from MR9 are automatically logged in the system by default. Because all attachment files are stored as well when MR9 saves emails in the Email Log, this adds to your repository size and could result in additional repository storage charges.

Reduce the load on your repository by designating which types of MR9 emails you want to keep track of and how long you want to store them.

QuickBooks

Enter the information needed for integrating MR9 data into your QuickBooks program.

If you are using the QuickBooks Desktop edition, enter:

• User ID and password
• IP or URL of workstation/server where your QuickBooks is installed
• Open port in your firewall for forwarding traffic to your QuickBooks computer

Once you have your settings input, you can check that the port is open so you can use QuickBooks with MR9. You have another set-up step that involves downloading a free remote connector application from QuickBooks and setting it up to enable secure remote access to your QuickBooks. 

If you subscribe to QuickBooks online, you set up an Intuit developer account then enter your credentials here.

After entering your QuickBooks information for either edition, you check that MR9 can communicate with your QuickBooks. Complete setup instructions for both editions — including downloading and installing the remote connector, setting up a developer account, and checking your connection — are in the MR9 user guide.

TL;DR: Set parameters for your Email Log and enter required information for importing MR9 data directly into QuickBooks. Check that MR9 and QuickBooks can communicate.

Lesson #136

Setup – System Preferences function

Entities System Preferences

Save time when entering new contacts and firms by specifying some defaults.

Autofill contact names

If you enable Autofill for Contact names, MR9 will autofill the Full Name field when individual name fields (First Name, Mi., Last Name, Salutation) are entered in individual contact listings. You choose which name fields automatically fill in and in which order.

Invoice options for firms

Default settings for new firms cover invoice options.

If you add late charges (one-time fee added to invoice balance after a certain number of days) and/or finance charges (monthly % of outstanding balance) to your invoices, you can set default percentages including up to 3 decimal placements. Similarly if you need to bill for state sales tax, you can include your sales tax rate as a percentage including up to 3 decimal placements.

You can specify how many days old an invoice has to be when you haven’t received payment yet before MR9 counts it as being past due and notifies you to start collection efforts.

You can also have MR9 detail services on invoices as the default for new firm entries.

You can change defaults for individual firms in their Firm listing.

TL;DR: Set default invoice options for new clients.

MR9 concepts in this lesson

Firm: Company you do business with.

Lesson #134

Setup – System Preferences function

Receivables System Preferences

Set the subject line for payment receipts. Choose a statement template based on your company’s payment options, and set other statement options.

Payment Receipt

Enter default text and MR data fields into the subject line for receipts you send clients for payments received. (Set up receipt forms in Form Templates.)

Statement

Before sending statements to clients, choose your default statement template plus other invoice options, and customize the email that accompanies statements. You can also customize which colors are used to color code open-invoice listings on statements by invoice age. These choices are system-wide.

You have 4 statement templates to select from:

• Standard RMRB statement with a remittance section at the bottom of the statement
• Statement without a remittance section
• Statement with a credit card payment section that accepts American Express, MasterCard, and Visa
• Statement that accepts only MasterCard and Visa

You can also have MR automatically include both the client firm’s main phone number & fax number (if they have one) below the address on printed statements.

If you email clients their statements, you can customize the email that accompanies statements. Similarly to invoice emails set up in Billing preferences, you can change the default text in the Subject and Message fields and insert contextual data fields, so that real data from MR related to the billed contact and firm merge into the email automatically. You can also customize the appearance of the body of the emails with text formatting, colors, images, hyperlinks, and tables.

The statement itself will attach to the email as a PDF. And you can override the defaults set here in any statement emails sent from MR.

Color code the age of invoices listed on statements to help older invoices stand out. You select which colors to use for different time periods (over 30–over 180). You can 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: Customize the subject line of payment receipts, and set up templates for your company’s statements and the accompanying emails.

MR concepts in this lesson

Bill To Contact: The contact responsible for paying the invoice for a job.

Bill To Firm: The firm responsible for paying the invoice for a job.

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

Firm: Company you do business with.

Lesson #133

Setup – System Preferences function

Billing System Preferences

Choose an invoice template based on your company’s payment options, and set other billing options.

Invoice

Before invoicing clients set a start number and an invoice-posting alert, choose your default invoice template plus other invoice options, and customize the email that accompanies invoices. These choices are system-wide.

If starting MR9 or when you want to reset your invoice numbering system from now on, you can designate the next invoice number MR9 will use when it creates a new invoice.

Invoice templates to select from:

• Standard MR9 invoice with a remittance section at the bottom of the invoice
• Invoice without a remittance section
• Invoice with a credit card payment section that accepts American Express, MasterCard, and Visa
• Invoice that accepts only MasterCard and Visa

Other options you can set include:

• Have a red “PAST DUE” stamp printed on unpaid invoices that are older than your payment terms. (Set up payment terms in Lists.)
• Have MR9 automatically include both the client firm’s main phone number & fax number (if they have one) below the address on printed invoices.

Customize invoice email template

If you email clients their invoices, you can customize the email that accompanies invoices. Similarly to job calendar cancellations and notifications, you can change the default text in the Subject and Message fields and insert contextual data fields so that real data from MR9 related to the job, case, and invoice merge into the email automatically.

If you have MR Connect, you can insert a pay invoice data field into the Email Message that converts into a hyperlink in the email, which when clicked, automatically sends the user to MR Connect. After the user logs in, the related invoice screen appears for a convenient payment process.

You can also customize the appearance of the body of the emails with text formatting, colors, images, hyperlinks, and tables. You can edit your email contents in the default WYSIWYG word processor environment or as HTML markup.

The invoice itself will attach to the email as a PDF. And you can override the defaults set here in any invoice emails sent from MR9.

LEDES 1998B

If you have clients that request electronic billing in LEDES 1998B format, MR9 exports invoices as text files. But if your clients require a different file type from TXT, you can change the default file extension to meet their specifications.

You can also set an option to exclude billed $0 amount service items in exported files, so electronic bills only include services that had billable charges.

Reward Points

If you want to offer clients an incentive program that awards points for services they order from your company (and your state allows it), turn on MR9’s Reward Points System. Then set the options for how your system generates and redeems points.

• Choose whether clients accumulate points for original invoices only or all orders.
• Set the default dollar amount billed on invoices that earns a point, e.g., every $100 billed earns 1 point.
• Select whether invoiced amounts will be rounded up, down, or split (amounts ending in 1–4 are rounded down, amounts ending in 5–9 are rounded up).
• Specify the multiplier MR9 will use to convert points to dollars when clients redeem points. You don’t have to use whole numbers, — you can use up to 2 decimal places — and the amount can be less than one.

After setting up your reward point options in System Preferences, you then designate which services earn points and set up individual contacts to earn points for bookings with your company. You can designate different and/or multiple contacts at the same firm to earn points for a contact’s bookings, and boost a contact’s points-earning ability by automatically doubling or otherwise multiplying their points. If you have MR Connect, you can allow contacts to request point redemptions online.

TL;DR: Customize your invoices. Optionally set up electronic billing and a booking reward system like a frequent flyer program.

MR9 concepts in this lesson

Reward Points: Used to encourage clients to book with your agency by rewarding them with points for different services. (Also referred to as award points.)

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

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

Lesson #132

Setup – System Preferences function

Production System preferences

Set up your accounts and printing specifications, then you can print shipping labels and envelopes for correspondence from MR9. You can also record repository activity after setting download preferences.

Envelopes

You can print addresses from your MR database directly onto a variety of envelopes in MR9. Specify defaults for the envelope size and setup you use the most to minimize printing time.

You can specify which standard envelope size — such as #10 — to use. Or enter custom dimensions if the available sizes do not match your most-used envelopes. Designate where addresses print on envelopes measuring in inches from the top and left sides. And choose a typeface and size for how addresses will appear visually.

Your default settings for printing envelopes will appear in the Envelopes and Labels panel when you print envelopes. You can change any of the specifications when printing.

FedEx Accounts for Shipping Labels

If you use FedEx to ship items to clients, set up MR9 so you can print FedEx labels from within MR9. Then you can track FedEx shipments without having to leave the system.

You can set up multiple FedEx accounts in MR9. There are 2 ways to use FedEx accounts in MR9:

1. Include all company FedEx accounts in MR9

If you have multiple FedEx accounts, set up MR9 to include all of your company’s FedEx accounts.

2. Accounts = label templates

MR9 FedEx accounts can also used for different label templates. So even if you have only one account with FedEx you can set up different accounts — i.e., label templates — in MR9 that use the same FedEx account credentials, but have different options set for the account preferences. For example set up accounts/label templates for the different priority options (overnight, 2-day, etc.) or accounts to match specific client requirements.

System Preferences lists all of the FedEx accounts already set up including your default account. Set up as many FedEx accounts as you need. You can update or delete any of these accounts, designate a different account as the default, and export this list as an Excel or CSV file to save, print, share, or use in other applications.

Get developer credentials first

Before you can use MR9 to print FedEx labels and track shipping you have to update your external Federal Express account to a developer account so you can obtain the extra information such as your Client ID and Secret that will allow you to print labels from MR9. The Help menu in System Preferences for FedEx labels includes step-by-step instructions for obtaining this information and adding it to your MR9.

Once you have your developer information added to MR9, you can set your other default shipping specs for the account you are creating. All of these options can be overridden when creating a new shipment.

Label template options

Options you can set defaults for include:

• Service type (e.g., Priority Overnight)
• Pickup/drop-off location
• Whether or not you require a recipient signature acknowledging delivery and if so what kind of signature.
• If you want the recipient to be alerted via email so they can track their shipment online.
• If you want to receive email alerts about the shipment.
• Saturday delivery
• Saturday pickup
• Packaging options (e.g., FedEx envelope)
• Package dimensions (length, width, height) measured in inches
• Package weight in pounds
• Declared value for insurance purposes
• If you want to give the recipient the ability to return the package to you with the delivery fee charged to your account, and which delivery method to use for the return.
• If you want to use the standard FedEx pricing or the simpler FedEx One Rate pricing.
• If you want to include the related MR9 invoice number, job number, and/or witness name on the label.
• Any other information that you want to appear on the outside of the package
• If you have a special printer that requires a particular type of file, you can specify the file type.

Repository

Choose whether the default when uploading files to the repository is published or not. You can change the selection when uploading files and if publishing you also have to specify who will have access to the files.

If you want to track file downloads in MR9 by clients or internal staff, turn on repository logging options for one or more of these types of entities. Best practice is to track both activity streams as required by general security rules for business applications.

If you turn on one or more of these options, the Repository Download Log will track the selected activities and report all relevant activity for a specified time period.

When you turn on tracking for download activity by contacts, your contacts can also see their download activity in MR Connect’s Repository. A Reviewed column will be included in the 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.

UPS Accounts for Shipping Labels

If you use UPS to ship items to clients, set up MR9 so you can print UPS labels from within MR9. Then you can track shipments without having to leave the system.

You can set up multiple UPS accounts in MR9. There are 2 ways to use UPS accounts in MR9:

1. Include all company UPS accounts in MR9

If you have multiple UPS accounts, set up MR9 to include all of your company’s UPS accounts.

2. Accounts = label templates

MR9 UPS accounts can also used for different label templates. So even if you have only one account with UPS you can set up different accounts — i.e., label templates — in MR9 that use the same UPS account credentials, but have different options set for the account preferences. For example set up accounts/label templates for the different priority options (overnight, 2-day, etc.) or accounts to match specific client requirements.

System Preferences lists all of the UPS accounts already set up including your default account. Set up as many UPS accounts as you need. You can update or delete any of these accounts, designate a different account as the default, and export this list as an Excel or CSV file to save, print, share, or use in other applications.

Get developer credentials first

Before you can use MR9 to print UPS labels and track shipping you have to update your external UPS account to a developer account so you can obtain the extra information such as your User ID and Password that will allow you to print labels from MR9. The Help menu in System Preferences for UPS labels includes step-by-step instructions for obtaining this information and adding it to your MR9.

Once you have your developer information added to MR9, you can set your other default shipping specs for the account you are creating. All of these options can be overridden when creating a new shipment.

Label template options

Options you can set defaults for include:

• Packaging type (e.g., UPS letter or express box)
• Package dimensions (length, width, height) measured in inches
• Package weight in pounds
• Declared value for insurance purposes
• Service type (e.g., UPS next day air)
• If you want the recipient to be alerted via email so they can track their shipment online.
• If you want the recipient to confirm to you via UPS that they received the shipment.
• If you do not require the recipient to sign for the shipment.
• Saturday delivery
• If you want to include the related MR9 invoice number, order number, and/or patient name on the label.
• Any other information that you want to appear on the outside of the package
• If you have a special printer that requires a particular type of file, you can specify the file type.

TL;DR: Store credentials and options for FedEx & UPS shipping. Define specs for envelope printing. Set tracking options for repository usage.

MR9 concepts in this lesson

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

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

Repository: MR has 9 repositories where you store files for safekeeping and quick retrieval.

Lesson #130

Setup – System Preferences function

General system preferences

As the name implies, these are preferences for features that span more than one module or are basic to the system, like log in.

Email

Email is integrated into many MR9 functions. If you will be sending emails from MR9, this is the one system preference that you are required to customize by entering your primary company email address settings. Other preferences can be customized at any time.

The Email preferences panel lists any email addresses already entered with the main email address selected as the default sender address for MR9 email. You can:

• Add email addresses.
• Change the default sender address.
• View, edit, delete, or test any listed email address.
• Export this list of email addresses that can be used systemwide as an Excel or CSV file to save, share, print, or use in other applications.

When entering a new email address, you can designate that it use either the default email protocol or Microsoft 365 Office email protocol. If using the default email protocol, you must include the email server address and you can add security measures like SSL encryption of your email and SMTP authentication. If using a Microsoft 365 email account — instead of manually entering SMTP settings — you simply verify the account and grant MR9 permission to send emails on that account’s behalf.

The rest of the email setup is the address, user name, and any Bcc email addresses to include in emails by default; plus you can create a signature using formatted text, images, hyperlinks — even tables — that appends automatically to the end of your emails. You can edit your signature in the default WYSIWYG word processor environment or as HTML markup.

After setting up an email address, you can test it within this same function to see if you have the correct settings for sending emails within MR9 from this address. You can also view the sent email to see if you want to make any changes to the signature.

General vs. personal email addresses

You do not have to enter every user’s email address in System Preferences. If your staff should use their own address when emailing from MR9, they can set up their email address in User Preferences (preferences that affect their MR9 account only, not the entire system). Then in most instances, their address will be the sender address when they send an email through MR9.

If you have a small staff and want to have users share addresses, enter the addresses in System Preferences, not User Preferences. Then they can use the default company email address or choose any of the other addresses as the sender when sending an email.

Email & MR Connect

Another reason to set up email accounts in System Preferences is if you have MR Connect. All MR Connect communications will be sent from the email account listed as the default in the System Preferences.

Or you can designate one of the other General email addresses as the source for automatic response emails sent to clients regarding MR Connect requests. This is so in case a client responds to the auto confirmation email they receive, their response needs to go to a validated email account. Set this up in MR Connect General Preferences.

Forgot Password Email

If one of your users forgets their MR9 password, they can request a new password from the sign-in screen. MR9 will automatically send them an email from the default email address so they can reset their password. You can change the default text of the header and body of this email.

You can automatically insert relevant MR9 data with contextual data fields for who requested the reset, when they requested it, and the link to reset their password. You can also customize the appearance of the body of the email with text formatting, images, color, hyperlinks, and tables.

License Info

In these section, find information about your MR9 licenses and other product information. It contains:

• Your MR9 product code
• Your current number of paid-for user licenses, which you can increase or decrease here at any time. When you change the number, MR9 displays how much your account will be credited or debited for the current month.
• Your MR9 system URL
• Date your MR9 licenses will expire if not renewed
• Web address of your MR9
• Entity your MR9 is licensed to
• Amount in gigabytes of storage you are currently using for your MR9 repository
• Number of files in your MR9 repository
• Any plug-ins you currently subscribe to are checked in the Active column of this pane (you can export this list as an Excel or CSV file to save, print, share, or use in other applications)
• Any MR9 custom programming you have is listed in this pane (you can export this list as an Excel or CSV file to save, print, share, or use in other applications)
• Billing information including history, individual invoices, and your credit card(s) you have authorized to pay your MR9 subscription with. You can also pay overdue invoices and any prorated amount for increased user licenses here.

Login

MR9 follows general security rules for business application user log-ins. You can change some of these security features. In System Preferences, you can:

• Protect user accounts from hacking attempts by selecting a set amount of incorrect login attempts before MR9 locks out the user. Single-system users can select the “Never locked out” option.
• Require complex passwords that contain a number, lowercase letter, capital letter, and symbol.
• Force users to reset their password periodically. You can set the duration to every 30, 60, 90, or 180 days before MR9 users must change their password.
• If you require users to change their password periodically, you can allow them to keep the same password when they update their password.
• Use email addresses as the log-in name for all of your user accounts, instead of custom log-in names. With custom log-in names users can change their log-in names — but everyone must have a unique log-in name. They do not have that option with email addresses.
• Allow users to sign in using their Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, or Microsoft credentials.
• Require users to verify their identity upon MR9 sign-in with a second factor in addition to their user name and password. A verification code will be sent to the user’s preferred method of communication, which they must then enter into MR9 before accessing the site. Authentication is per device, and users can decide to authenticate a device once or every time they sign in on that device.

Notifications and Messages

You can select 30, 60, 90, or 180 days for how long MR9 will keep old messages in the Sent Message and Trash folders in the system’s message center before deleting them.

Session Timeout

Because MR9 is web based you can work anywhere you have a web browser and internet connection. However MR9 stores sensitive data — including information about your business units, accounting, contacts, and records — so it will automatically log you off after staying inactive for a set period of time to deter prying eyes from compromising any sensitive data. It is exactly like how online banking sites sign you off after a predetermined length of inactive time.

The default is that you are automatically logged out of MR9 after 20 minutes of inactivity. You can change the session timeout to a time between 5 and 60 minutes in 5-minute increments.  Your changes will take place the next time you log in. Since this is a system preference all users will be affected — including contacts and others who use MR Connect, the next time they log in.

Since MR9 does not automatically save your information when it logs you out, it’s a good idea to set an interval that balances security with your work processes — and to let other users know what the interval is so they remember to save their work periodically.

System Time

Set your MR9 clock to the time zone that your company is in. Users can select a different default time zone for jobs they schedule in User Preferences.

You can also set the system to automatically adjust the clock for Daylight Saving Time.

TL;DR: Set preferences for aspects of MR9 that impact multiple modules or the entire system in General preferences. Some preferences can be overridden by individual users in User Preferences.

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.

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 MR9’s Case Repository; when you store files in a part, they are in MR9’s Part Repository; etc. If you have MR Connect, you can give clients access to specific repository files.

Users: You and your staff who directly access MR9.

Lesson #129

Setup – System Preferences function

MR9 comes with default options for its different functions. Some cannot be altered but generally you can customize functions to fit your company by editing, adding, and deleting options. System Preferences is where you set global options for different features in your MR9 system.

These global preference settings are used throughout your MR9 system by all users. Because of this, authorization to change System Preference settings should typically be limited to users in the Administrators group.

System preferences can be customized at any time. The only one you need to set before using MR9 is entering your company’s email settings in General > Email.

Options you can customize in System Preferences include:

• Company email address(es)
• Text of “Forgot Password” emails
• Which credit card to use for your MR9 subscription payments. You can also view your billing history and pay overdue invoices. (Credit cards used to pay custodial fees are stored in individual users’ personal preferences.)
• How many Named User Licenses access your MR9
• Login security — such as requiring strong passwords and 2FA verification — and whether users can sign in using their social media accounts
• How long MR9 saves messages sent internally
• How long a period of inactivity allowed before MR9 logs a user off automatically
• Company time zone default & daylight savings time option
• Content — including merge fields  — and layout for federal, state, and local case documents
• Holidays observed
• New order starting number
• Order and part status colors
• Default updated part status for each completed tracking step
• Worksheet email contents, styling, and attachment option
• Envelope printing specs
• FedEx & UPS account information
• Repository publishing default & tracking options
• Invoices, statements, payment receipts, and related emails’ contents, plus other invoice and statement options
• LEDES 1998B options
• Reward points options
• Check printing setup
• Bank statement importing setup
• QuickBooks settings
• Outgoing email logging and purging options
• Default settings for new firms and contacts

System Preferences sections

With so many options to describe each section is broken out into a separate lesson:

• General
• Orders
• Production
• Billing
• Receivables
• Payables
• Entities
• Tools

System Preferences vs. Lists

MR9 separates out list customization from other system preferences. If you want different options in a list you would make those changes in the Lists function. Most other options are grouped by module under System Preferences. Some customization options have their own Setup functions, such as the Service Item Master and Form Types and Groups.

Personal preferences

Some system preferences can be overridden by personal preferences set by individual users. Preferences that only affect your individual MR9 setup are available under User Preferences.

TL;DR: Use MR9’s default options or customize these systemwide options to match your company.

MR9 concepts in this lesson

Administrator: MR9 user who has access to and control of all areas of MR9. You can have any number of administrators but each MR9 system must have at least one administrator. Administrator rights include setting up user accounts, assigning users to groups (which authorize what actions users can perform in MR9 and what kinds of notifications and messages they receive), and setting global system preferences.

Users: You and your staff who directly access MR9.

Lesson #123

Setup – Invoice Messages function

In addition to the descriptive header that appears automatically on invoices, you can add more information to your invoices, such as detailed payment information, company info, and holiday greetings, with custom messages. While you can write messages on invoices as you generate them, you can also save time and ensure consistency by setting up messages in advance in the Invoice Messages function, then simply apply them to individual invoices or in batches.

Customize your invoice messages

You can include any written communications you want to share with clients on your invoices. By creating invoice messages for different circumstances, you can easily give your clients more information when they need it, such as invoice payment options, or to let them know you appreciate them, extend an appropriate holiday greeting, share company news, etc.

You create and group messages in a similar way to invoice headers. Designate which message is the default to minimize the need to select messages each time when invoicing. You can override the default and modify the message on individual invoices during Turn In. You can stylize the appearance of invoice messages with bold/italic/underline treatments, different typefaces, font sizes, and colors.

Creating new messages is easy. They only require a message group, and optionally the message (you can have a blank message if you want). Message groups are categories, which you set up in Lists, for organizing messages to make it easier to locate the desired message when billing by looking within a subgroup instead of the whole list.

When creating a message, the message group defaults to the system default (selected in Lists), so you might only need to enter the content. Message size is unlimited, and you can style the text with font weights, typefaces, colors, and other text treatments.

If you are creating multiple messages in one sitting, use the Save & New option to stay in the new message window, eliminating extra clicks to get back into the window. It will also keep the same message group you used in the last invoice message saved rather than resetting to the default, so that could also save you time. For example if you are setting up a batch of holiday messages you won’t have select that message group before entering each holiday message.

Manage existing messages

You can update existing messages or create new messages at any time. You can change which message is your default at anytime, such as for different holidays. You can delete messages you don’t need anymore so they no longer appear as an option when selecting invoice messages during Turn In.

Messages are stored in the Invoice Messages function, and the default lists all of your stored messages by Invoice Message Group. You can also view the list for a single group or multiple selected groups. Export the list to an Excel or CSV file to save, print, share, or use in other applications. Click any message’s hyperlink to edit or delete it.

Apply messages to invoices

When preparing invoices, your default invoice message appears. You can override the default by entering new text or selecting a different invoice message from your custom list. You can apply messages to invoices one at a time or in batches. Use the Save & New feature to apply different invoice messages to single or multiple invoices without leaving the Set Invoice Messages panel in Turn In.

TL;DR: Save time and ensure consistency by setting up invoice messages in advance, then apply them to individual invoices or in batches.

MR concepts in this lesson

Message Group: Parent structure that contains related invoice messages as its children.

Lesson #122

Setup – Invoice Headers function

Invoices in MR include a short descriptive title called the invoice header. Standard invoice headers are automatically generated based on the service items you select for each witness listed on an invoice. If the standard headers aren’t accurate enough to cover your billing requirements, you can create your own invoice headers.

You can enter your own headers on the fly as you generate invoices. Or if you think you will be reusing the same headers, set them up in the Invoice Headers function. Then you can quickly select the correct header for a witness from a drop-down when generating invoices — saving time and reducing errors.

Create & organize headers

Create as many invoice headers as you need to cover all of your business’s different billing circumstances. If you have multiple custom headers, organize them into Header Groups. Header Groups are categories of invoice headers, and are set up in Lists. By organizing your custom headers into header groups, you will save time locating one when billing.

Creating new headers is easy. They only require the header content and header group. The header group defaults to the system default (selected in Lists), so you might only need to enter the content.

If you are creating multiple headers in one sitting, use the Save & New option to stay in the new header window, eliminating extra clicks to get back into the window. It will also keep the same header group you used in the last invoice header saved rather than resetting to the default, so that could also save you time.

You can add, edit, or delete invoice headers at any time. Headers are stored in the Invoice Header function, and the default lists all of your stored headers by Invoice Header Group. You can also view the list for a single group or multiple selected groups. Export the list as an Excel spreadsheet or CSV file to save, print, share, or use in other applications.

You can update the header content and/or header group for any custom invoice header. Or delete it if you don’t need it anymore.

Using custom invoice headers

After entering billing information to invoices in Turn In is when you would add custom invoice headers. You can apply the same custom header to multiple invoices at once. And use the Save and New feature to apply different invoice headers to different invoices without leaving the Set Invoice Headers panel in Turn In for greater efficiency. Custom headers are listed in the drop-down by their invoice group, so you can quickly find the correct header by looking within its group only.

TL;DR: If MR’s default invoice headers are not enough, create and save your own custom headers to apply during Turn In.

MR concepts in this lesson

Header Group: Parent structure that contains related invoice headers as its children.

Lesson #120

Setup – Billing Sets function

Group service items into sets to speed up billable services selection because you only have to choose the set, not each of the items individually.

A Billing Set is a predetermined group of service items that are typically billed together. By configuring these sets, you can add service items en masse to an invoice to streamline the billing process. This eliminates the need to add service items one-by-one, as well as reduces the possibility of overlooking any service items when billing.

There is no limit to the number of service items you can add to a set, and it’s not a requirement to bill for each service item in a set. The purpose of a Billing Set is to select multiple service items to add at once to an invoice from a concise selection pool, rather than having to scroll through your entire service item list to pick each one individually.

Create as many sets as you need

Set up multiple Billing Sets to further streamline your billing process because you can group service items based on what the job is asking for, and you won’t have to deal with service items you may not need. For example, you can make a Billing Set for standard court reporting jobs, one for video depositions, and another one for video conferences. This way, you can pull up the set that’s specifically tailored to your job type and not have to deal with any unnecessary service items.

Other common Billing Sets you might want would be a list of services commonly included when clients order an O&1 package, and another set for copy clients. You can have as many Billing Sets as you like and choose one to be the default option when generating invoices. You can include descriptions and other notes in your Billing Sets to help you keep them organized.

Add all related services to a set

You can add any of your service items to a Billing Set and set a default number of units for each service item. Put all of the possible service items that could apply to a particular set in the set because it is easier to uncheck the ones you don’t need for a specific order so they are not added to the invoice at that time, than it is to not have enough service items in the Billing Set and have to add service items to an order one at a time. Even adding just one or two service items to an invoice individually will slow you down.

For example, include all of your delivery options in your O&1 Billing Set. Then simply uncheck the ones you won’t be using for a particular order when generating its invoice.

Using Billing Sets at Turn In

When adding services to invoices in Turn In, use the Prefill Service option to access your Billing Sets. It will also show any of the contact’s/firm’s Preferred Services, so you can select all the ordered services and update the number of units ordered for each service in one screen. Once you have added billable services to an invoice, you can edit each service item as needed and arrange their order of appearance on the invoice.

Manage sets

You can update any information in a Billing Set at any time or delete it if you don’t need it. The default view of Billing Sets lists all of your sets and shows which is the default. If your list is too long to easily find a particular set, 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) or search for the Billing Set by name.

You can export your Billing Set list as an Excel spreadsheet or a CSV (comma-separated values) file to save, print, share, or use in other applications  You can also sort and export an individual Billing Set’s list of service items.

TL;DR: Instead of adding service items one at a time to invoices, set up groups of related services so you can add multiple items at once.

MR9 concepts in this lesson

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

Firm: Company you do business with. They schedule depositions with you, e.g., a law firm, or they are a third party that pays you, e.g., an insurance company.

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