Finished Matters - Archiving/Billing

    We are a family law firm, and bill by the matter.  We have lots of accounts and numerous accounts with similar names, so removing matters that are completed (and paid) is a good thing.  Occasionally, we have to retrieve such matters and enter a transaction, e.g., we get a check from a client on which we wrote off a balance.  I'd like to uncheck the "billable" box on matters we archive as done so that no one can erroneously enter a billing item or a transaction.  I just don't know all the ramifications of this, although it looks like it will simply prevent access to billing preferences, prevent new transactions or billing items from being added, yet preserve for viewing all prior items and transactions.  Thoughts?

Not sure of any implications of changing the billable status as I haven't tested it but another possibility is to create a matter monitor. I have one setup such that, if I have changed the status field to closed, I will get a warning any time I open or link to a closed matter. This provides more warnings than just adding a new billing item or payment and may be an alternative method to accomplish what you are trying to achieve.
To setup a monitor go to file - setup - templates - monitors

I just tried it in hopes that it would enable me to finally archive my old transactions, but to no avail.

However, it seems you are correct that it probably won't change anything except for eliminating access to the billing preferences. Also, if you re-check the "billable" box, you regain access to the same billing preferences that were there before.