Working with Contacts in Actionstep Practice Management and Legal Accounting

In this article:

• Working with Contacts
• Allowing Separate ID Number Sequencing  
• Multiple Clients on a Matter or Split Billing Matters
• Additional Notes 

Working with Contacts

The Actionstep Legal Accounting integration allows you to sync your contacts between both Practice Management and Legal Accounting. 

If a user has permissions to create a contact in Practice Management, the contact will be created in Legal Accounting, regardless of whether they also have permissions in Legal Accounting. The inverse is also true—if a user has permissions to create a contact in Legal Accounting but not Practice Management, any contacts they create in Legal Accounting will still also be created in Practice Management.  

Adding a Contact in Practice Management

To create a contact in Practice Management:

1. In Practice Management, click Create and choose Contact from the list of options. The Create Contact window appears.
2. Enter the contact details. (See Creating a Contact to learn more about individual options.)
3. If you have a contact number you want to use, enter it in the Reference field.
   NOTES: 
   • If you leave the Reference field empty, Legal Accounting will auto-number the newly created contact using its configuration. 
   •  The number you enter in the Reference field cannot contain * or spaces.  
   •  If you specify a number to use, it will set the auto-numbering sequence from there. If you don’t want the auto-number to be reset, create another contact and specify the number that it should be and that will reset the sequence.
4. Complete the rest of the information and click Save to save your work.

To later edit the contact, see Editing a Contact. If you make address changes, be mindful you'll need to update the contact in both Practice Management and Legal Accounting. 

Adding a Contact in Legal Accounting

To create a contact in Legal Accounting:

1. In Legal Accounting, select Contacts from the main toolbar and select the New Contact tab.
2. Enter the contact details.
3. Click Save to save your changes. 

To later edit the contact:

1. Go to Contact Manager.
2. Search for the contact.

If you make address changes, be mindful you'll need to update the contact in both Practice Management and Legal Accounting.

Contact IDs

Contacts are linked between the two systems using internal IDs. When you create a new contact in Practice Management, the contact details along with the contact reference number, if provided, are sent to Legal Accounting where the contact is created using the same details. Otherwise, Legal Accounting will create a contact number and populate the contact's Reference field with the auto-generated number. The same process applies to a contact being created in Legal Accounting—the contact details entered in Legal Accounting including the contact number will be used to create the contact's record in Practice Management. Practice Management displays the contact number assigned in Legal Accounting in the Reference # field. (See Contact and Matter Field Mapping Between Practice Management and Legal Accounting for details on how the fields between the two systems are mapped.)  

Additionally, you can edit contacts in either system and the changes to fields that are common between both systems will be automatically reflected in the other. (See Contact and Matter Field Mapping Between Practice Management and Legal Accounting for a list of these fields.)

Status Indicators

In Practice Management, once you create a contact, the contact record will include a status indicator link near the top-right corner of the contact page showing whether the contact is synced between both Practice Management and Legal Accounting:

A similar indicator will be displayed in Legal Accounting:

The following statuses apply to this link: 

• Green (synchronized) 
• Gray (unsynchronized) 
• Light blue (pending/synchronizing) 
• Yellow (unable to display synchronization status)
• Red (synchronization errors) 

Allowing Separate ID Number Sequencing  

You can choose from three distinct numbering schemes to use for numbering clients, vendors, and other contacts. You must set this preference in both Practice Management and Legal Accounting. Then, when you create a new contact in Practice Management, you can use the Numbering sequence field to indicate which numbering scheme you want used based on the type of contact you're creating.

If the Admin setting is not enabled, all contacts created in Practice Management will be assigned a Legal Accounting client number based on the client number sequencing.

To set this option in Practice Management:

1. In Practice Management, go to Admin > General settings. 
2. In the Contacts section, toggle Allow separate Contact numbering sequences to on. 
3. Click Save to save your changes.

To set this option in Legal Accounting:

1. In Legal Accounting, click Administrator Settings. 
2. Go to Firm > Settings > File.
3. In the Automatic File Numbering section, toggle Use separate numbering sequences for clients, vendors, and other contact types.
   
4. Click Save to save your changes.

Now, when you create a contact in Practice Management, you will have the option to choose whether your clients, vendors, and other contacts are numbered using separate sequencing.

Multiple Clients on a Matter or Split Billing Matters

When working with multiple clients on a matter or split billing matters (group contacts), note the following: 

• The Create New Group Contact feature is restricted in Legal Accounting when the integration is enabled.
• You can add multiple clients to any matter in Practice Management and they will be synced to Legal Accounting.
  • Multiple clients can be added to a matter in Practice Management and they will sync to Legal Accounting. The first client displayed on the matter in Practice Management is assumed to be the primary client and is allocated 100% of the invoice. The Billing allocation can be re-assigned in Legal Accounting under File Manager > Split\Advanced Billing.
• Adding or removing clients from a matter is restricted in Legal Accounting when the integration is enabled. Changes to clients on a matter where there are multiple clients can only be performed in Practice Management.

The Change Primary Contact function is restricted in Legal Accounting’s File Manager. Changes to the primary client on a matter must be performed in Practice Management. (The first client that appears on a matter in Practice Management where there are multiple is defined as the primary client.)

Additional Notes 

• Adding or removing members of a group contact is also restricted in Legal Accounting when the integration is enabled. If a matter has multiple clients, changes can only be performed in Practice Management. 
• The Change Primary Contact function available in Legal Accounting is restricted in Legal Accounting’s File Manager. Changes to the primary client on a multi-client matter must be performed in Practice Management.
  
  

Related Articles:

• Working with Contacts in Practice Management and Legal Accounting
• Working with Matters in Practice Management and Legal Accounting
• Recording Time in Practice Management for Billing Using Legal Accounting
• Correcting Time Entry Issues Between Practice Management and Legal Accounting
• Contact and Matter Field Mapping Between Practice Management and Legal Accounting
• Actionstep Legal Accounting FAQ
• Understanding Contact and Matter Syncing in Legal Accounting