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Budgets

Budgets Overview

Two types of budgets can be created in Tracker: a
monthly budget
 and a
phased litigation budget
. The type of budget is selected when a client creates a matter and cannot be changed after a matter is created.
Feature
Monthly
Phased Litigation
Type of Matter
Can be selected for a Litigation/Dispute or a Transaction/Other matter.
Can be selected for a Litigation/Dispute matter only.
Budget View
Similar to the phased litigation view.
Similar to the monthly budget view.
Editing Budget
  • A total matter budget and the budget associated with the months are required to be entered.
  • The budget is entered one fiscal year at a time. If budget is required, the required alert displays in advance of each year. See for details.
All phases of a budget (the total budget for the entire litigation) are required to be entered.

Budget Modification

When a budget is modified for a matter, Tracker notifies users with alerts and then users can respond to the modification.
Event
Workflow
Law firm creates or modifies a budget
After a law firm user creates or modifies a budget, company users who are Matter Administrators or Matter Editors receive an Action Items alert and, if their user preferences were set to receive email notifications, an email notification.
A company user then approves or rejects the budget. If you do not receive an alert, you can assume that the budget was accepted. If the company user rejected the budget, you will receive an alert that the budget was rejected. If you set your user preferences to receive email notifications, you will also receive an email notification of the rejection.
To view the actual current budget, select the current budget from the view selector under the
BUDGETING
 collapsible section then click the
Change view
.
Company user creates or modifies a budget
After a company user creates or modifies a budget, law firm users who are Matter Administrators or Matter Editors receive an Action Items alert and, if their user preferences were set to receive email notifications, an email notification. To view the modification, you can complete one of the following:
  • Click the Action Items alert to go directly to
    Budget
    .
  • Access the applicable matter then click
    Budget
    .
Budget
 displays the budget as pending and also shows the pending budget marked against the prior budget. To access the modification, a law firm user simply acknowledges the modification. Nothing happens if a law firm user does not acknowledge the budget. For example, the law firm can continue to post invoices and the budget modified by the company user will remain as a pending budget.

Phases in a Phased Litigation Budget

The table below describes each phase in a phased litigation budget. These phases are structured chronologically (each phase is identified through a designated month). The number of phases and the description of the activities in each phase cannot be modified.
Phase
Description
Initial Case Assessment and Handling
May include fact investigation, case evaluation, initial pleadings or motions and settlement.
Discovery and Post Discovery Motions
May include written discovery, document production, depositions, expert discovery, discovery motions, dispositive motions and settlement or ADR.
Trial Preparation
May include preparation of fact witnesses and expert witnesses, trial motions and submissions and settlement or ADR.
Budgets can be provided at any time. However, company users can activate a setting to require a budget for a specific matter. An alert is sent to law firm users to provide a budget. If a budget is required for a matter, any law firm user who is a Matter Editor or higher receives an Action Items alert.
The lead attorney at your firm (or their staff) must submit a budget before your firm can post an invoice with respect to that matter.
If the matter spans multiple years and you have not provided a budget for the next fiscal year, you will receive another required budget alert in advance of the fiscal year. If you receive such an alert, you will need to provide a budget for the next fiscal year before you can submit an invoice with respect to that matter.

When Your Client Prefers Quarterly or Annual Budgets

Quarterly or annual budgets can only be created if the monthly budget type was selected when the matter was created.
  • If your law department or client uses quarterly budgets instead of monthly budgets, complete the first month of each quarter and leave the other months blank.
  • If your law department or client uses yearly budgets (only one total budget for the fiscal year)instead of monthly budgets, complete the first month of your fiscal year and leave the other months blank.

This article applies to:

  • Product: Legal Tracker
  • Subject: Budget
  • Audiences: Firm