A client sent this request in to us this week: “We read your article on keeping up with Accounts Receivableand we do that here at our firm. But it’s all on paper – how can we use Timeslips to monitor who we’ve contacted about our account and what they’ve promised?”

Here is where one of Timeslips’ powerful features can come into play – Custom Client Fields. Beginning with Timeslips Version 2011, the maximum number of custom fields you can add to client records jumped from 30 to 90. And there are more field types as well.

To answer this client’s question, let’s begin by adding a Custom Client Field. To do this, go to the Setup menu, and select Custom Fields…

1. Click on the New button to create a new field. The type of field will be List

 2. Let’s call the field A/R Tracking

3. Within this window, click on the New button to set up choices for this drop-down list. Some sample choices may be:

a. First Call to Customer

b. Second Call to Customer

c. Customer Promised Payment

d. Forwarded Account to Collections

4. Click OK to save your list and close the List Type Custom Field Attributes window

5. Click OK to save your new field and close the Custom Fields window

Now you have the ability to go in to a client’s record and track and update the status of the client’s account. You may also set up a user-defined client report listing your clients, and their statuses.

The consultants at Eastern Legal Systems are here to help clients find solutions for their administrative issues, and to insure they get the most from their software applications. What we suggest here can also be done in the other billing and practice management programs we support – Amicus Attorney, Billing Matters, PCLaw, and Time Matters. Do you have a “challenge”? Call us at 1-877-ELS-0555 for assistance.

Dana Riel

Dana Riel is President and Founder of Business Solutions, Inc., serving the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area since 1985. Her firm is the authorized training center for the region for Time Matters and PCLaw by PCLaw|Time Matters, PLLC; Timeslips and Sage 50 Accounting by Sage Software; and QuickBooks by Intuit Corporation. She also serves as a consultant for Caret Legal (formerly known as Zola Suite), CosmoLex, Soluno & TimeSolv.  As a trainer, Dana has provided training services to organizations such as the DOD Defense Logistics Agency, Judge Advocate General’s Office (JAG)/Department of the Navy, University of the District of Columbia School of Law, U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as with small‐ to mid‐size law firms in the Baltimore‐Washington D.C. area. In 2009, she participated in the series of day‐long seminars sponsored by the District of Columbia Bar Association Practice Management Section, titled “Basic Training: Learn About Running a Law Office”. Ms. Riel also served as an Adjunct Professor in Georgetown University’s Paralegal Studies Program, having taught the course, “Legal Ethics/Legal Technology” in 2009; and “Legal Technology” for the Spring and Summer Semesters of 2010. She presently serves on the Advisory Board for PCLaw|Time Matters, PLLC.