Undertakings Enhancements

Overview:

As part of the enhancement to the evergreen Legal, primarily focused on optimizing monetary undertakings, undertaking distributions (Actions), and enhancing visibility within Matter Inquiry and Client bank accounts.

Key Features:

• Seamless management of Monetary undertakings
  • Law firms can record monetary undertakings involving the holding of funds in the firm’s client account.
  • Automatic invoice payment agreements are supported, ensuring undertaking funds are not mistakenly used for invoice settlement.
• Undertaking Distribution:
  • Undertakings can be distributed with one or multiple actions, representing distributions of funds and recording relevant information such as amount, recipient, and date.
  • For monetary undertakings, users can specify parameters such as Client Requisition or Client Journal to trigger the automatic creation of PFC journals.
• Completion Tracking:
  • Once an undertaking has been fully actioned or distributed, it must be marked as complete. For monetary undertakings, the full amount should be actioned before completion. (Remaining amount and Unposted amount must be 0).
• Matter Inquiry:
  • The undertaking amount field now provides visibility under Matter Inquiry, organized by client bank account.
  • Undertaking amounts are now displayed under client bank account balances, facilitating better tracking and management.

Front-End Configuration

Access the Undertakings feature by enabling the “(evergreen) Matter Undertakings” feature through the Feature management.

Monetary undertaking

Monetary undertakings require the entry of client bank account and amount upon creation. Once saved, these values are locked, ensuring data integrity. Upon saving a monetary undertaking, the system verifies the client bank balance. If the balance is insufficient, the undertaking will not be saved. Fee earner is a mandatory field to create monetary undertakings.

The “Update amount” button allows users to modify monetary details post-creation, facilitating adjustments when necessary. When updating the amount, the system verifies the client balance again. If the balance is less than the updated amount, the modification will not be processed. Users retain the ability to modify the client’s bank account until it reaches an ‘Active’ status.

Actions

Undertakings can be distributed across one or multiple actions, capturing essential information like amount, date, and recipient. New fields, including journal number and “Is posted,” have been added to facilitate tracking of PFC journal IDs and posting statuses for better control. Restrictions have been implemented to prevent creating records exceeding remaining and unposted amounts.

Automatic creation of PFC journals

For monetary undertakings, users can specify parameters such as Client Requisition or Client Journal to trigger automatic creation of PFC journals.

• If the Parameter is set to “Client Requisition”, the PFC journal will be created and submit the workflow automatically.
• If Parameter is set to “Client Journal” PFC journal will be created and saved for future the journal.
  

Navigation path: Go to Matter management and accounting > Setup > Matter management and accounting parameters > Invoice tab

PFC journals created through the undertaking process are protected from deletion or editing. If an action record is deleted, the referenced PFC journal will be automatically removed. Users can configure bank details to streamline electronic transactions associated with undertakings based on the payment method. Undertaking amounts are distributed until the remaining balance and unposted amount reach zero.

Undertaking Completion Tracking

Once an undertaking has been fully actioned or distributed, it must be marked as complete. For monetary undertakings, the full amount should be actioned before completion. (Remaining amount and Unposted amount must be 0).

Undertaking Discharge: (not impact)

Users can discharge undertakings by providing a discharge date and the responsible person. This information is recorded on the undertaking for audit and tracking purposes.

Matter Inquiry

The undertaking amount field now provides visibility under Matter Inquiry, organized by client bank account.

Navigation path: Matter management and accounting > Matters > All Matters > Select the matter > Inquiry under Manage action pane

Client bank account balance

Undertaking amounts are now displayed under client bank account balances, facilitating better tracking and management.

Navigation path: Cash and bank management > Bank accounts > Bank accounts > Select the bank account > Balance on action pane.