Customised Matter list views allow you go choose what information you want to see about your matters. Any information found on your matter can be pulled into a list view. See your Matter data, billing information, trust, details of the contacts on that matter, anything that is linked to your matter. You can also get insights into what step your Matter is on, who it is assigned to and how long it takes to move between steps.
- To create your Matter List view go to: - Admin - Custom List Views - and click on "Matter List Views" or the "Manage button" to the right of custom list views.
- Then click on the green "Create New List" button
We then need to set-up our list.
We need to enter the following information:-
- List Name - A name for the list we are creating
- Description - A description of what information is held in the list - it is good practice to detail here exactly what your list contains, for example "A list of all active matters, with trust balances and invoices outstanding".
- Sort Oder - Where you would like to list to appear in a Menu group name, for example if you are creating three lists that you want to appear under a group heading called "Matters" you can give them sort orders of 10, 20 and 30 this means that the list with sort order 10 will appear first and the one with 30 will appear. If you do not specify any order they will appear in alphabetical order.
- Menu Group Name - The name of the menu where you would like the report to be inserted this will appear under the Matters heading in the main menu. Examples, of Group Names are shown below. so you can multiple list views in one Menu so you can keep them organised (remember this is case sensitive, and optional). If you do not insert a menu group name the list will appear under Views.
Next we choose what system roles can "see" our custom list view - you tick the box next to the system role you want to be able to see the list view you are creating (please note that if you do not tick any) no one will be able to view your list.
Next we choose whether we want the custom list view you are creating to be a default view. The default view is the list we see when we click on Matters and then Matter list. By default, this list contains all matters that are assigned to ourselves however this can be changed to any list view that we want. If you are creating a list view that you want to be a default for a specific system role then you can use the tick boxes below to enable this.
Next we choose our filters. If we leave the box empty then all the options will be shown in the list view. For example, If we leave the matter status box empty all the matters (regardless of their status) will be shown in the list view. If we choose "Active" then only active matters will be displayed in the list.
We click on save when we have made all our selections.
A new list is automatically populated with some of the most common columns/task elements to save you the effort of setting these up each time. If you don't want any of these columns simply remove them in the column editor by using the checkboxes and selecting the delete column button.
You will notice that the columns are automatically created with default positions spaced 100 positions apart. This allows you to insert columns between these columns by selecting position numbers in the gaps.
Adding Columns
To add a new column select the add column button at the top right of the screen. The column editor will open and you can enter a name and default position for your new column. You will also need to select a "Data Source" for the column as shown below.
Data Sources
"Data Sources" are used to group fields from the same area of the ActionStep database to make them easier to find. New data sources and fields are added from time to time so the screenshot above might be slightly different in your system. The data sources shown below have the following meanings:
sources shown below have the following meanings:
| Data Source | Contains | Examples |
| Action | Information in relation to the matter | Matter ID, Name, Type, Date Created, Duration Opened, Current Step, etc |
| Tasks and Time Entry | Information in relation to the tasks and time entries on a specific matter | Last Completed task, next task, total billable hours, billable amount (excluding billed), etc |
| Action Participant (1 row per action) | Information in relation to any contact on a matter for example, Client. If multiple clients then will display multiple lines against each matter. So if matter has more than one client they will all show within the same line. | Examples, name (remember to search for display name), phone, email, etc |
| Action Participant (n rows per action) | Information in relation to any contact on a matter for example, Client. If multiple clients then will display multiple information on seperate lines for the same matter. For example, if two clients on a matter will show two lines for each client. | Examples, name (remember to search for display name), phone, email, etc |
| Multi-row Custom Action Data (1 row per action) | Where you have set-up multi-row custom fields on a matter this will show the information in the multi-row field. This will show multiple entries all on one line. | Custom data multi-row collection that you have created in your system |
| Multi-row Custom Action Data (n rows per action) | Where you have set-up multi-row custom fields on a matter this will show the information in the multi-row field. This will show one entry per row on seperate lines. | Custom data multi-row collection that you have created in your system |
| Multi-row Custom Action Data (Last entered row, 1 row per action) | Where you have set-up multi-row custom fields on a matter this will show the information in the multi-row field. This will only show the last row entered (not all) | Custom data multi-row collection that you have created in your system |
| Multi-row Custom Action Data (SUM into 1 row per action) | Where you have set-up multi-row custom fields on a matter this will show the information in the multi-row field. This will add together the all the rows of the multi-row data collection and show the total in one row. | Custom data multi-row collection that you have created in your system |
| Single-row Custom Action Data | Where you have set up any custom data collections - you search for the name of the data field that you created and would like to add to your list view. | Custom data that you have created for any matter type. |
| Next occurring date in a set of data fields (1 row per action) | This allows you to see when the next occurring date will be out of a set of custom data fields that you choose. This can be useful when you have custom data set to collect important dates and you want to know when the next important date would be. Once you select this as the Data Source you can then search for any number of custom data fields that are dates and add them as the Date Fields. | This column will show the next date. |
| Label of next occurring date in a set of data fields (1 row per action) | This allows you to see when the next occurring date will be out of a set of custom data fields that you choose. This can be useful when you have custom data set to collect important dates and you want to know when the next important date would be. Once you select this as the Data Source you can then search for any number of custom data fields that are dates and add them as the Date Fields. Once saved the column will show the next date. | Shows you the name of the data collection that has the most recent date. |
| Step Change Information (1 row per action) | You can select a start and stop step within a matter type and the report will show the number of days between those two steps, for example, within conveyancing to see how long matters have taken to get from start to closed. | Number of days between any two steps in a matter type. |
| Sale/Purchase Data | You can choose from a range of sale/purchase data | total exclusive (of tax), total inclusive (of tax), balance due, total paid, etc and then what this refers to which would normally be SALES INVOICE (tick box) |
| Trust Balances | You can choose form a range of trust information f | total trust funds, last transaction date, total trust funds funds available |
| Sales Pipeline Data | If you collect information in relation to your sales pipeline you can choose this data source to display information in relation to sales pipeline data. | expected sale date, probability, expected sale amount |
| Sales Pipeline Scheduled Payments (n rows per action) | Information in relation to schedule payments on a matter | Expected payment amount, days after sale |
| Bill settings | Information in relation to billing | Bill type and amount quoted |
| LawToolBox Data | IGNORE | IGNORE |
Previewing and Setting Column Widths, Sort Order, and Filters
Once you have completed your list you can click on preview to view your list with live data. You can then extend column widths, sort the order by a particular column by clicking on it, move columns around and add a filter. By clicking on the filter with a drop down arrow you can choose what you want to see (for example, below we only want to see matters that have over $200 to be billed).
Business Use Cases
Why/How is this useful to my business?
Examples of how businesses use these reports in a practical sense are:-
* WIP/Billing Summary - Shows a list of all matters with (billable time (excluding those already billed), billable disbursements, how much has already been billed, what/if any amount is outstanding and trust trust account balance. You can then apply filters to this one custom list view that will show matters with trust funds, matters with overdue bills, matters where WIP to be billed is more than a certain amount. This is very useful when you are looking for any matters that need to be billed or may have been missed.
* Upcoming Dates - Have a list of any upcoming dates on a matters for example, settlement dates, will renewals, court dates, copyright renewals, etc.
* Custom Data Reports - Using custom data on matters to create views for example, different type of visa applications in relation to immigration or settlement prices in relation to conveyancing.
* Measure time on certain steps and time matters remain active - this identifies problems or slow moving cases and highlights when matters have not been closed and could uncover where matters have not been billed.
Head Up Rules
An amazing feature of Actionstep is the heads up rule this means that any report you create can be emailed directly to you or another user of your system (the Director, the Practice Manager) on any frequency required (for e.g. once a week, once a month). That way you have the information automatically when it is required. For more information about heads up rule, please go to the following link: Heads Up - User Guide Article
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