Release Notes: May 2017

May 2, 2017 By Bill4Time Staff 4 Comments

The Bill4Time product team releases new and enhanced features, system improvements, and bug fixes several times per week. Organized by month, the Release Notes blog series will highlight all the changes we’ve implemented, so you can easily stay up-to-date on what’s new. If you have a question, feedback, or an idea – please leave a comment below!

Take a look at what we’ve released this May:

Updated 5/31/17

Trust Account Check Numbers – In a follow up to last week’s Receive Payment popup update – we have also included the ‘Check #’ field when the Trust Account payment method is used.

Convert Timer Popup – We have implemented a change to the system that causes a notification to appear whenever the Convert To Time Entry popup window is blocked by the browser.

Conflict Checker Queries – We’ve resolved a bug that caused an error to appear when running a second Conflict Check in the same window after downloading a PDF of the first set of results.

Updated 5/25/17

Create a Project from within an Expense – We have updated the Expense Entry form so that you may now create a new project right from within the entry itself. This functionality is similar to that which appears on the Time Entry form.

Conflict Checker Save To PDF – You are now able to download and save the results of a Conflict Check as a PDF. This is a much-requested feature that we are thrilled to finally bring online. To download the results of your query as a PDF, simply click the ‘PDF’ button after completing your search.

Flat Fee Billable Hours Override – We’ve implemented a change to our Flat Fee billing method that would allow a user to override the default settings and create hourly billable entries that are in addition to the Flat Fee Rate.

Updated 5/23/17

Expense Report Grouping – We have implemented two new grouping options within the Expense Report. First, we have Group By Date, which groups and subtotals entries that share the same Expense Date. Second, we have added a No Grouping option, which formats the data in simple chronological format without any subgroupings.

Footer Placement when Hiding the Trust Summary – We have resolved a bug, affecting a small number of users, that was misprinting the footer text whenever the Trust Account Summary invoice add-on was being hidden from view. The Footers are formatting correctly now at the bottom of the page.

Money Order Check Numbers – In a follow up to last week’s Receive Payment popup update – we have also included the ‘Check #’ field when the Money Order payment method is used.

Transaction Types under the Payments Tab – We have improved the display of transaction types under the Payments tab within an invoice. Previously, Balance Adjustments had their type appearing as blank. The system now displays these transactions with the type ‘Adjustment’ to help clarify the data table.

‘Add New’ Menu Follows Mnemonics – We have updated the text under the ‘Add New’ menu so that it observes the Project Mnemonic as setup within your account.

WIP Summary Report Update – We have updated the WIP Summary report to include a new option that summarizes the line items into simple totals. This new checkbox option is found at the bottom of the blue box for report filters.

Updated 5/22/17

Account Data Export – We’ve updated the data export feature to include greater detail. The Trust Account table now includes check numbers. There is a new Payments Applied table that outlines how payments are matched to invoices. Additionally, there are now User Client Rate and User Project Rate tables included in the data export.

Updated 5/18/17

Batch Time Entry – We have resolved a bug that was preventing the Batch Time Entry form from observing defaults for the Exclude from Invoice setting. This setting, once enabled, will now be observed on each subsequent line.

Payment Check Numbers – We have made a change to the Receive Payment popup so the field for ‘Check #’ will only appear when the payment method for Check is used.

Updated 5/16/17

Labor Mnemonic Character Limit – The character limit for the Project Mnemonic has been increased to 25 characters throughout the system. This allows for longer mnemonics like ‘Professional Services’ or other longer phrases.

Save & Duplicate – We have resolved a bug affecting the Save & Duplicate feature on Time Entries and Payments,which resulted in an error, that was affecting a small number of users. This Save & Duplicate functionality has been restored.

Trust Account Summary Start Date – The Trust Account Summary Add-on now observes the Billing Date Start selection when defining the date range of trust account data to display in the summary.

Trust Account Summary Date Format – We have implemented an update to the Trust Account Summary Add-On that now allows for European Date Format to be observed in this section.

Payments Received Report Update – We’ve updated the Payments Received report to allow for a new grouping option. You are now able to run this report and group by Account Manager.

Minimum Trust Balance – We have resolved a small bug, which affected very few users, that occurred when a currency symbol was used in the minimum trust balance field within a project.

Invoice Batch ZIP File Creation – We have implemented a new page that appears when creating a ZIP file of an invoice batch. Upon clicking the ‘Create ZIP’ button, a new tab will open that initiates the file download.

Updated 5/11/17

Client Portal Settings Relocation – We have moved the Client Portal Settings to its own tab within your account settings. From here, you can establish preferences for your client’s portal access and permissions.

Updated 5/4/17

Extended View for Long Project Names – Just a small change here, we’ve increased the character threshold for Project Names, which allows an extraordinarily long name to display when viewing the project.

Removing a Bank Account from Trust – When deleting a Bank Account from your trust accounts, we’ve implemented an additional step that requires the user to confirm that they’d like to delete this bank account. We have setup this feature as to prevent the deletion of any bank account that has activity associated with that bank.

Invoice Batch Create ZIP – We have enhanced the performance of the ‘Create ZIP’ button when downloading invoices. Batches with over 100 invoices should especially notice an improvement in the amount of time needed to download this ZIP file.

Receive Payment Popup Formatting – No functionality change here, but we have updated the Receive Payment popup to streamline data entry and bring more fields into view. We’ve also updated the size so when opened it will autosize correctly.

Time Entry Report Update – We have updated the filter options for this report, you are now able to Group By: Client when running this report.

Expense Report Sorting Bug Fix – We’ve resolved a bug within the Expense Report that relates to how the data was sorted chronologically. The option for “Show & Order by Created Date” will now do exactly that. Previously, this option was displaying the ‘Created Date’ column data, but the report was still ordering by the expense date.

Updated 5/2/17

Setup Wizard Goal Tracker – We are really excited to announce a new onboarding tool – the Bill4Time Goal Tracker! When a user first registers their free trial, the system will walk the user through an initial setup of their account and the workflow for one entire billing cycle: from creating the client – to finalizing the bill.

Payment Due Upon – We have updated the ‘Project Billing Frequency” filter that appears on the New Invoice page to read “Payment Due Upon”. There is no change in functionality, we’ve simply aligned the two field so they reflect the same label.

Adding Client Types – Whenever a new Client Type is added to your custom list, the list will now automatically refresh and populate with this new type. Previously, the list had to be closed and then reopened.

This post will be periodically updated throughout the month to reflect new releases.

Click here to view April’s Release Notes

Customized Analytics

April 26, 2017 By Bill4Time Staff Leave a Comment

Bill4Time’s reports can generate comprehensive analytics for your firm. The flexible and intuitive report filters allow you to drill into your account and access detailed data. Additionally, when coupled with Custom Fields, your ability to track unique data points and draw meaningful conclusions from these reports is practically limitless. Let’s review some of the ways Bill4Time users have customized their accounts to get the most out of their reports!

Tracking Unique Data Points

In this example, we have a firm who needs to track a ‘Vendor Invoice Number’ along with their expenses. To track this invoice number, they’ve added a Custom Field to their Expense Entry form. Once this unique data point is being tracked, our developers created a custom version of the Expense Report that includes a column for this data point. As you can see from the snippet below, the report output now includes a Vendor Invoice Number with each expense.

Tracking a single unique data point, like a Claim No., Docket ID number, or a Service Ticket number, is relatively simple – you just create the custom field and start tracking! But, what if your firm needs a very specific output format that includes only the data you need?

Custom Output Format

In this example, we have a firm that requires a specific report format to clearly analyze their billable hours per project. Their preference was for a very clean output of just hours – no dollar amounts, so they’ve eliminated columns they do not need. They’ve also updated the sorting and grouping of the entries so they can better analyze their billable hours day-by-day. As you can see from the snippet below, the report output displays only the columns needed and the updated totals calculation for the groupings.

Having a Custom Report created for your account is a great way to drill into your data without having to deal with unnecessary clutter – allowing you to analyze just the data you need. This is especially true when you plan to export Bill4Time data and import it into another program – with a Custom Report we can ensure that the data exports using the very format you need for import into a third-party system. But, what if your firm needs a very specific calculation using the data being tracked with a custom field?

Custom Data Calculations

In this example, this firm has designed a custom Attorney Originations Report using their own unique formula to calculate a user’s compensation. They used Custom Fields to define the originator and the split amount. This report allows the firm to track a user’s origination amount in real-time as new entries are saved to the system.

When calculating firm compensation it is critical to be accurate. With a Custom Report through Bill4Time, you can be sure that your calculations are pulling directly from your account’s database and using the most up-to-date data available. With all your data and analytics in one place, transparently and accurately calculating compensation has never been easier!

Tracking the right metrics is the cornerstone of good analytics. Custom Fields and Reports are the perfect solution for more flexible content and allows you to take control over your data. With the Bill4Time Enterprise plan, customizing your account to track the data you need – and analyzing it effectively – is as simple as contacting Support to get started! You can upgrade to the Enterprise plan under your Settings – Subscription tab to take advantage of this feature!

Invoice Email Tracking

April 12, 2017 By Bill4Time Staff 5 Comments

Bill4Time users love the Client Portal because it saves precious time printing invoices and stuffing envelopes. Combine that with our easy online payment options, and you’ve got yourself a powerful Invoice A/R system! Its convenient to have Bill4Time automate invoice delivery and payment tracking, but as everyone who uses email knows – sometimes things just go awry. Email is a core component of the Bill4Time Client Portal, and misspelling your client’s email address or having your invoice routed into their spam folder can be a real cause of distress. With this in mind, we’ve developed key email tracking features that eliminate the theatrics of tracking these emails and ultimately getting invoices paid.

With Bill4Time’s new email tracking feature, when an email is opened, clicked upon, or failed to deliver – you’ll know! Now you can tell exactly when your client has opened their invoices, leaving you better prepared should you need to follow up on an outstanding bill.

To access this feature, you’ll want to run the Invoice Email report, which is found under Reports on the blue navigation bar. Once generated, the report now includes a column on the right-hand side that indicates the Sent Status of the email. There are a 5 possible statuses, and these are:

Sent – This status indicates that an email was sent out of the program successfully.
Rejected – This status indicates the recipient’s address is no longer valid, may be having temporary issues, or does not wish to receive these emails.
Delayed – This status indicates that the mail system attempted to deliver the email, but was unsuccessful and will try again soon.
Marked Spam – This status indicates the recipient address registers a spam complaint for the email sent. The recipient may not have seen this email, as some inboxes automatically filter spam.
Opened – This status indicates the email was successfully delivered and was viewed by the recipient.

Another way to access this feature is to hover over the invoice email icon to view the Email History popup for an invoice.

An Important Note About Open Tracking: Tracking e-mail opens is done using an image technique that is not 100% reliable. We can tell when an e-mail is opened because of a tiny invisible image that is included in the e-mail; when the image is loaded, Bill4Time is notified. However, if your customer’s e-mail client does not load images automatically (which some don’t), Bill4Time will not be able to tell if the Invoice has been opened or not. In other words, an “Opened” label guarantees that the e-mail was in fact opened, but the absence of an “Opened” label does not necessarily mean the e-mail was not opened.

Release Notes: April 2017

April 4, 2017 By Bill4Time Staff 4 Comments

Take a look at what we’ve released this April:

Updated 4/25/17

Project Billing Method – We have released a brand new report! The Project Billing Method report will detail a list of projects, grouped by client, with their corresponding ID number and Billing Method. You can access this report by visiting the Entry & User tab within your account settings.

Activate Client Button – New! We have added a new button that appears on a disabled client’s page. This button, labeled ‘Activate’, allows you to reactivate a previously disabled client with just a single click.

Activate User Button – We’ve updated the User Information page for disabled users. A new button, labeled ‘Activate’, allows you to quickly reactivate a previously disabled user in just a single click on the mouse.

Updated 4/20/17

Box Integration Popups – We have improved the look of the file upload popup for accounts integrated with our partner Box.

Font Color within the Timer – We’ve updated the look of the multi-timer to change what was blue text to dark gray / black text. This change was made in an effort to improve readability.

Client History Report Update – This report has been overhauled and migrated over to our new Reporting engine. Users can expect to see improved speeds, as well as a more user-friendly layout and design.

European Date Format within Custom Fields – We have resolved a bug affecting the date format in Custom Fields for accounts with the European Date Format preference enabled.

Updated 4/18/17

Activity Type Report Update – We have consolidated the default Activity Types of ‘Unassigned’ and ‘Null” into a single categorization within the Activity Type report. Previously, the ‘null’ entries, which are created via a mobile app, were grouped separately from other work entries that were also not assigned a specific activity type.

LEDES Export Popup Update – We have fixed a minor display issue affecting a small number of users. The LEDES export popup should now open and display the correct formatting of the page. Previously, some users were experiencing a full-page popup.

Work History Results – We’ve resolved a bug where the Work History for a project appeared to fail to load. Now when filtering the Work History, the user will jump-to the last page with results, rather than continue viewing their current page that no longer has results to display.

Updated 4/13/17

Trust Account Bank – Whenever you add a new bank account under the Trust Account tab for a client, that newly added bank will become the default bank for the client you’re working with.

Classic (Activity) Template Design – We have implemented important changes to this template design. The column headings and widths will now format more effectively when using different combinations of settings. Overall, the appearance of this template is now more organized and easier to read.

Updated 4/11/14

Payments Applied Report Update – We have made a small update to this report to help it run more smoothly and load more quickly. We’ve also updated the filters to make the report more accurate and easier to read.

Professional Design Template – We have implemented a change to this report that allows long firms names to appear formatted correctly.

Opening Notes & Files – We’ve have made a small update to the Notes & Files tab within your clients. Now, for most file types, when you click on the file it will open in a new tab.

Updated 4/6/17

ACH Payment Threshold – We’ve worked with our partner Stripe to raise the transaction amount threshold to $10,000 for Bill4Time connected customers. You are able to increase this threshold further by contacting Stripe.

Payment History Date Format – We have updated our standard invoice templates so that the Payment History section now displays payment dates using International Date Format for Firms with this setting enabled.

Adding a Trust Bank Account – We’ve resolved a small bug that redirected the user to the Details tab after adding a new Bank Account under the Trust Account tab. Users will now remain on the same page after adding a bank account.

Invoice Email Report – The Bill4Time team is thrilled to announce a major advancement in the Invoice Email’s report functionality. The report now track the status of your invoice emails, indicating whether the email was sent, opened, or possibly bounced. Full Post Here

Updated 4/4/17

Global Search Results – When using the global search feature, if the keyword or phrase used does not return any matching results, the system will now display ‘No Results Found’. This alerts the user that the search is complete and there were no matching results.

Location Tracking – We’ve resolved a bug where the Location field within a Time Entry wasn’t populating correctly when created from within a client profile.

This post will be periodically updated throughout the month to reflect new releases.

Click here to view March’s Release Notes

ACH available now with the Client Portal!

March 7, 2017 By Kristin O'Neill 4 Comments

Bill4Time is thrilled to announce that ACH payments are now available through the Client Portal! This strategic partnership with Stripe will result in a more seamless payment experience for your clients. This new feature broadens the existing relationship between Bill4Time and Stripe – in an effort to accelerate the adoption of secure, reliable, and convenient online payment options for firms and their clients. Not only is this a lower-cost option compared to traditional credit card transactions, but ACH payments are a more rapid and direct method of payment – creating value on both sides of the transaction. For more information about Stripe’s processing fees Click Here.

How to Setup ACH:
To setup ACH, first sign into your Client Portal. Top right, click your name and select Settings. From Settings, click on the Client Portal tab and scroll down to “Allow ACH Payments”. Switch this option from “No” to “Yes” if you already have your Stripe account setup, or click Connect with Stripe to setup your account. *Please note that for security purposes your clients must be invited to the portal in order to pay using ACH.

Once your client logs onto the Portal, they can access their information – including the setup of their bank account. Once the bank account is verified and saved, they are able to select ‘Bank Account’ as their payment option.

Be rid of paper invoices, paper checks, and trips to the bank with this new ACH integration. For company & user setup guides, Click Here.

*Please note* There is a transaction threshold permitted by your Stripe account for up to $10,000.00. You are able to increase this threshold by contacting Stripe and submitting the appropriate documentation Click here to sign into your Stripe account to send a request: Contact Stripe

Release Notes: March 2017

March 3, 2017 By Bill4Time Staff 4 Comments

Take a look at what we’ve released this March:

Updated 3/31/17

Invoice Email Report Update – The Bill4Time team is absolutely thrilled to announce an enhancement to the Invoice Email report. Bill4Time is now tracking the status of emails sent via the Client Portal have been: Sent, Received, Opened, Bounced, or Rejected. This feature would allow you to determine if an email was sent and then bounced, or was sent successfully and may be in the recipient’s spam folder.

Client Budget – There are now two new buttons on this page. We’ve added a ‘Clear’ button that would wipe out the data entered into the selected year’s budget. We’ve also added a ‘Back’ button, which returns you to the Client Details page.

Annual Billing Renewal Date – We’ve implemented a small change to the Subscription tab for users subscribed to an annual billing plan. Once annual billing is enabled, the Subscription tab will indicate your next bill date (even if you’ve switched from annual to monthly).

Updated 3/23/17

Schedule Report Update – We have resolved a few bugs with the formatting of the Schedule Report. The report displays event entries sorted in their correct chronological order within each grouping.

Custom Fields Tab Styling – The Custom Fields tab has received a small display formatting update. This change makes the use of this feature more clear, especially for users with monitors below 16″ in size.

Conflict Checker Client Note – We’ve updated the styling on the Client Note popup. This popup should now open fully and without the need to scroll horizontally.

Updated 3/15/17

Payment Method Default – Thanks to feedback from our users, we’ve restored the default Payment Method to be ‘Check’. Additionally, users are no longer required to enter a check number when selecting Check as the payment method.

Stripe ACH Payment Method Option – There is now an option for ‘Stripe ACH’ as a payment method option throughout the system. This new option was created to allow for greater differentiation between the types of transactions processed by Stripe.

Custom Lists Page Formatting in IE – We’ve updated the layout and formatting of the Custom Lists tab for Internet Explorer (IE) users, in an effort to improve clarity and ease of use.

Editing Auto Text Types – Our development team has resolved an error that was preventing certain users from saving changes to their Auto Text Types list.

Client/Project Search – The search function, which appears in the upper-right corner of every page, has been updated and expanded to display clients and projects with extraordinarily long names.

Updated 3/9/17

Online Payments via ACH (*Beta) – Bill4Time is thrilled to announce that ACH payments are now available through the Client Portal! This is an exciting new development, so we’ve dedicated an entire blog article to this new feature: Full post here

Contractor Billing Rates – We’ve updated the Contractor Rates section under the Billing Rates tab to make it easier to add and remove rate overrides for contractors.

Opening Projects from Search – We have resolved a bug that caused a small number of users to be unable to click on or open a project they looked up using the Search field found in the upper right corner of the page.

Updated 3/7/17

New Project Type Column – We’ve added a new column to the Project Management table, which allows you to sort results by Project Type.

Linked Access to Schedule Report – The newly rebuilt Schedule Report is now available from within Scheduling. To access this report, click on ‘Tools’ then the ‘Schedule Report’ option, to open the report.

Column Formatting within Client Details– We have resolved an issue where extraordinarily long Project ID’s were not formatting properly in the table of Current Open Projects found within the client’s Details tab. This column now enforces a maximum width in the ID column, and would force an long ID string to break onto a additional line.

Updated 3/3/17

Custom Field Date-Picker Formatting – We have re-sized this input box so that it now formats correctly on all browsers. Previously, some users experienced a slight overlapping of the icon and the selected date.

Project Management ID Column Formatting – We have resolved an issue where extraordinarily long Project ID’s were not formatting properly in the table of Projects. This column now enforces a maximum width in the ID column, and would force an long ID string to break onto a additional line.

Export Data Button Relocated – The ‘Export Data’ button is now available from any tab within Settings. Previously, this button was only available under the System tab.

Statement Display Margins Reformatted – No change to the formatting of the actual Statement document. We have only made a change to how Statements are displayed when viewing a print preview, the margins have been reduced and the Statement should now appear larger and easier to read. Again, these changes will not affect how the Statement appears when printed out.

Saving Cover Letters – Now, whenever you save changes made to your Invoice Template, any changes made to your Cover Letter are saved too. Previously, the template and letter had to be saved independently.

This post will be periodically updated throughout the month to reflect new releases.

Click here to view February’s Release Notes