Branches allow you to report income and expenses by office or team (for example, Brisbane Office, Sydney Office, Litigation Team, or Conveyancing Team).

Branches are useful if your firm operates across multiple locations or practice areas and you want clearer financial reporting. A branch is a participant type that can be assigned to matters. Income, disbursements, and allocated expenses can then be reported by branch. 

Setting Up a Branch

There are four parts to setting up a branch:

• Creating the branch participant type
• Adding the branch participant type to relevant matter types
• Creating contacts for each branch contact
• Assigning the branch contact to a matter 

Part 1: To create a branch participant type:

1. In Actionstep, go to Admin > Additional settings. The Additional Settings page appears.
2. Click Edit next to Participant types. The Participant Types page appears.
3. Click Add participant type. The Add Participant Type window appears.
4. Enter Branch in the Participant type name field.  
5. Optionally, enter a Description and leave Company flag value set as the default value.
   
6. Click Save to create and save the participant type.
7. Proceed to Part 2 to add the participant type to the matter types that will use branches. 

Part 2: To add the participant type to relevant matter types:

1. Go to Admin > Matter types. The Matter Types page appears.
2. Click Settings for the matter type you want to update. That matter type page appears.
3. Click Edit next to Matter type settings. The Edit Matter Type page appears.
4. In the Parties section, click Add row. A new row is added to the list of parties.  
5. Click the Please select drop-down list and choose Branch from the list of options.  
6. Select the checkbox in the Required column.
   
7. Click Save to save the changes.  
8. Repeat this process for each matter type that will use branches.
9. Proceed to Part 3, where you will create contact records for each of your branches. 

Part 3: To create contact records for each branch:

1. In Practice Management, click the global Create button and choose Contact from the list of options. The Create Contact window appears.
2. Complete the information you need about the branch (for example, if you're creating a branch for the Edmonton office, create a contact named Edmonton Office.)
3. In the Default contact types section, select Branch.
4. Repeat this process for each of your branches.
5. Click Save when you're finished.  
6. Proceed to Part 4, where you will assign the branch contact to the matters that require it.  

Part 4: To assign the branch contact to a matter:

1. In Practice Management, view the matter you want to assign the branch contact to. The Matter's overview page appears.
2. Click the Parties menu icon. The Parties page appears.
3. Click the Role drop-down list and choose Branch.
4. Click the Party drop-down list and choose the contact you created in Part 3.
5. Click Add. The party is added to the list. 
   

Once these different steps have been completed, you can use the branch as a filter in the Income by Participant Report and the Income by Participant Data Report. (See the next section for details.)

Reporting Using Branch Data

Once you've set up branches (see above), you can use them in the following reports:

• Income by Participant Report
• Income by Participant Data Report 

Income by Participant Report

This report provides a profit and loss view for the selected participant type (e.g., Branch). It shows income and disbursements for matters within a selected date range, and it can be filtered by matter type or run across all matter types.

To access this report, go to Reports > Accounting Reports > Income by Participant.

Income by Participant Data Report

This report provides a comparative profit and loss view across branches. It allows reporting based on selected data (e.g., City) and shows income and disbursements for all branches in one report.

To access this report, go to Reports > Accounting Reports > Income by Participant Data. 

Including Expenses by Branch

You can include operating expenses (such as stationery or rent) in branch reports. To do this, you must allocate them through matters. This can be done in two parts:

• Creating an "expense" matter
• Allocating expenses

Part 1: To create "expense" matters:

1. Create an "expense" matter for each branch.
2. Assign the Branch Parties role to each expense matter.
3. Optionally, create a dedicated matter type (for example, Financial Reporting) to prevent these matters from affecting other reports.
   

Part 2: To allocate expenses:

When entering a firm withdrawal or supplier invoice:

1. Allocate the expense to the appropriate general ledger account.
2. Split the expense across multiple matters if it applies to more than one branch.
3. Ensure the Bill option is turned off so disbursements are not created.

Firm withdrawal:

Supplier Invoice:

Then, when you run the Income by Participant or Income by Participant Data reports, income, disbursements, and allocated expenses will be displayed by branch.

Updated May 07, 2026 14:14