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Creating, Viewing, and Approving Draft Bills

A draft bill is a preliminary version of an invoice that can be updated and changed before it is sent to a client. It's a working document that helps ensure all the details are correct before it becomes an official request for payment.

Note: While a bill remains in draft, you can add work-in-progress fees and expenses / disbursements to it. To learn more, see Adding WIP to a Draft Bill/Invoice.

 

 

Viewing Draft Bills

You can easily view a list of your draft bills.

 

To do this:

  • In Actionstep Practice Management, go to Billing > Draft Bills. The Draft Bills page appears and includes the following columns:
    • Checkbox: Use this to select or clear specific bills.
    • Inv / Bill No.: Shows the number of the invoice created. You can click the number to view and edit the bill.
    • PDF: Click the PDF icon to download the bill using the selected bill template.
    • DOC: Click the DOC icon to download the bill using the selected bill template in Word.
    • LEDES: Shows the LEDES (e-billing) file (if enabled).
    • E-Billing Format: Shows the LEDES file format.
    • Bill Template: Shows the name of the template that will be used for the bill output.
    • Invoice / AR Date: Shows the accounts receivable date used when posting bills to the general ledger. It is also the date used for aging an invoice.
    • Client: Shows the name of the client on the matter that is being billed.
    • Invoice Type: Shows whether invoices are single or consolidated. 
    • Responsible Party: Lists the designated responsible party on the matter.
    • E-Bill: Lists the E-bill format to be included in the billing email (if the matter is set to e-billing).
    • Matter ID: Shows the ID of the matter to be billed. You can click the link to view the matter.
    • Matter Name: Shows the name of matter to be billed. You can click the link to view the matter.
    • Fees: Total fees that are included on the bill.
    • Disbursements / Expenses: Lists the total amount of disbursements or expenses that are included on the bill.
    • Fee Adjustment: Lists the total fee adjustments amount on the bill.
    • Tax: Shows the total tax amount included on the bill.
    • New Charges: Shows the amount charges based on Fees + Disbursements + Tax - Discount.
    • Retainer Applied: Shows the funds applied to the bill from the general retainer. (If the general retainer is to be applied to the bill automatically, that amount will be shown here as already applied).
    • Trust Applied: Lists the funds applied to the bill from the trust account (if the trust account is to be applied to the bill automatically the amount that amount will show here as already applied).
    • Prior Balance: Lists the previously billed, but unpaid, balance for the matter.
    • Amount Due: Lists the Total new charges - Transfers + Prior balance.
    • Retainer Balance: Shows the balance of funds held in a general retainer for the matter, if applicable.
    • Trust Balance: Shows the balance of funds held in trust for the matter.

 

Creating and Approving a Draft Bill

There are two ways you can create and approve draft bills in Actionstep Practice Management—you can create a single bill or you can create multiple bills at once.

 

To create and approve a single bill for a specific matter:

  1. Follow the instructions in Creating a Bill for a Specific Matter.
  2. When your bill is ready, click Save + Approve.

Once the bill is generated, it is saved to the Billing > Draft bills page. You can go to this page to review the bill and ultimately approve it for production (where you can then print or email the bill to the client). See Producing Bills for Clients for help.

 

To create and approve multiple bills at once:

  1. In Practice Management, go to Billing > Mass Billing. The Mass Billing page appears.
  2. Select the checkbox for each bill you want to approve or select the 'select all' checkbox above the list to select all bills.
  3. Click Bill selected or Bill all.
  4. When prompted to confirm the action, click OK. The bills are processed and created as drafts. The page is also updated to show the Drafts bills list.
  5. On the Draft Bills page, find and select the bills you want to approve.
  6. Click Approve. The Approve Bills / Invoices window appears.
  7. Review the information and click Confirm. The approval is completed.

Once the bills are generated and moved to the Bill Production page, you can either print or email them to the client. See Producing Bills for Clients for help.

 

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