Tips for Editing Prebills in Juris

We all can use a refresher on most anything in our daily lives, whether it’s business or personal. While some Juris users have worked with the software since the days of Juris Classic, there are others who just recently implemented Juris. There are those who inherited the software from their predecessors, and there are some who worked with the software earlier in their career and are now tasked with remembering how the software functions in their new role.

You know the old saying, “it’s like riding a bicycle…if learned, it cannot be forgotten.”

Here are several quick tips to remind you of various Juris Prebill Editing functions in Juris to help get you back on the bike. Do you remember the following?

  • Changes made to the Billing Address during prebill edit also updates that same Billing Address at the Client level. Thus, any matter sharing that same Billing Address would be affected by the change.
  • Changes made to the Matter Description, Matter Billing Fields, and Client Billing Fields while editing the prebill will also update the corresponding field on the Matter or Client.
  • Use the Replace tool to Find a word or phrase and Replace with a different word or phrase. Edit/Replace or CTRL+H.
  • Use alternate bill designs when in prebill edit to allow quick access to specific fields, sorting, tab stops, and grouping. Simply choose the desired design in the dropdown box on the Toolbar.
  • Color code the fields in your prebill design to bring attention to the fields that should (or should not) be edited. Click on any of the fields on the prebill edit screen or right click the entry and choose Edit. Remember…the fields in the gray area (seen on Juris default designs) signify the “As Worked” or “As Entered” values which should ONLY be changed when the original entry is in error.
  • Resort the prebill fee/expense details by clicking on the Sort button on the Toolbar. This will resort the entries based on the sorting defined in the prebill design.
  • Use the Prepaid/Trust Allocation tool to allocate Trust from multiple Trust Bank accounts and/or Prepaid funds to specific timekeepers and expense codes. Tools/Prepaid Trust Allocation or CTRL+O.
  • Use the Prepaid Transfer tool to transfer Prepaid money from one matter to a different matter within a Consolidation prebill. Tools/Prepaid Transfer or CTRL+T.
  • Take advantage of the Recap Editor Tool to re-allocate the Hours/Fees Billed amounts amongst timekeepers on the prebill and the Units/Expenses Billed amounts amongst expense codes on the prebill. Tools/Recap Editor or CTRL+R.
  • Take advantage of the functionality of the WIP Transfer tool when transferring fee/expense entries from one matter to another matter and opt to include those entries on the existing prebill for the Transfer To matter. Right click the entry and choose WIP Transfer and follow the prompts.
  • Highlight multiple fee/expense entries to quickly suppress, hold, mark off, edit, move, and/or WIP Transfer.
  • Hover to the left margin of the entry until the “Drag/Drop Detail Item” button appears, click the button, and use the CTRL or SHIFT keys to select/deselect the desired entries, and then right click and choose the Action from the drop down list.
  • Change the Bill Date by simply clicking in that field on the prebill and typing the desired date.
  • Quickly change the “Ready To” and/or “Action” status on the Edit Prebill List screen without opening the prebill. Change one entry by clicking directly in either of the fields on the row and choosing the desired code from the drop down. To change the “Action” for multiple prebills, highlight multiple rows on the Edit Prebill List, choose Tools/Action Codes and select the desired action from the drop down list. The “Ready To” status must be Edit or the Action cannot be updated.

Written by: Kathy Baker
Juris Professional Services Consultant