Creating a Bill for a Specific Matter

In this article:

• How-To Video
• Creating a Bill for a Single Matter
• A Note About Estimates vs. WIPs

In Actionstep, you can create a bill for a single matter. Once you create the bill, you can then access it in the Billing area where you can produce it and share it with the client. 

How-To Video

Creating a Bill for a Single Matter

To do this:

1. In Actionstep, click the global Create button and choose Bill from the Billing section.  The Create Bill window appears.
2. Select a Matter. The Create Bill window is updated with billing information. In most cases, the unbilled charges will be tabulated, allowing you to review the charges and approve the bill.
3. Review the information in the blue Charges panel, which shows a quick summary of what you can expect to see on the final bill that is sent to the client. You can override these balances by clicking on them. If you change any existing amounts, you will be asked you how you would like to process the changes, for example: 

   TIP: Depending on whether you are increasing or decreasing an amount in the summary, you will see either a Fee increase behavior or Fee decrease behavior drop-down list. If you are creating an entirely new disbursement or fee, the creation window for the respective item will appear instead.

4. Review and, if needed, update the billing information along the top of the window:
   • Invoice date (also known as the accounts receivable date) shows the current date. This date is also used to track the age of the invoice. If a fee or disbursement from the WIP falls outside of the selected Invoice date, it will be excluded from the bill.

     Invoice up to allows you to specify the cutoff date for including fee entries and disbursements. 

   • Invoice template lets you choose which template you want to use to format the bill. (You can change this on a bill-by-bill basis.)

   • Payment terms lets you change the timeframe in which the client must pay the bill. (You can change this on a bill-by-bill basis.)

5. Click the Fees and Disbursements tabs (which contain the primary billable items) and review the information. You can edit, create, and confirm any of this information:
   • To edit an existing item, click the blue text displaying the type, date, description, or amount of the item.

   • To create a new item, click Create time entry. 

6.  Click the Fee Allocation tab to determine the commission recipient for each billable item. You can adjust each recipient's contribution based on the Amount or the Split %, and the remaining field will be adjusted automatically to reflect your change.
7. Click the Additional settings tab and provide the following information:
   • Invoice reference: Enter the invoice number, which will be used for internal reference.
   • Invoice title: Enter a title, which is used as an internal reference. Note that depending on the template being used, the title may also be displayed above the time entry/disbursement details. 
   • Invoice description: Enter a description for the invoice template. This usually works as as a replacement for time entries/expense details. Note that not all templates will use this information. 
   • Additional notes: Enter any additional information associated with this invoice. This usually appears as a footnote on the bill. 
8. When your bill is ready, click one of the following options:
   • Save as Draft: Choose this option to save your progress but not generate the bill.
   • Save + Approve: Choose this to approve and generate the bill. Once the bill is generated, you can either print or email the bill to the client. See Bill Production for help. 
   • Preview PDF: Choose this option to preview a PDF copy of the bill.

Invoices need to be produced to be saved to the folder. Make sure you have produced your bills/invoices so that they are saved, see more here: Bill Production

A Note About Estimates vs. WIPs

If a fee estimate has been made for the specified matter that does not match the WIP, when you first open the Create a Bill window, you will see a prompt similar to the one shown below. You can choose to bill the quoted amount, the WIP, the sum of both, or you can manually enter a new amount by selecting Other. The default selection on this window will depend on your Billing Settings.