Timeslips 2016 does have a filter available on the slip listing called "slip has bookmark". That should do it for you.

Ok. I tried it and I can't get the report to show a description of the slip

Ok. I tried it and I can't get the report to show a description of the slip

Would like to take a step back and ask what you are trying to accomplish as it sounds like bookmarked slips may not be the best process. However you can run a slip listing report and filter for slip has bookmark. The slip listing report should show the descriptions.

We create excel spreadsheets that list all of the slips for an attorney for the month and we note if each one is paid or "NP" (not paid). This is a lot of work. I would love if we could mark the slip in Timeslips so that everyone can see that it is not paid and that we need the client to make a payment. This is how we mark the attorneys' performance, as well.

Do you need it at the slip level? You can easily run a report of invoices not paid. You could also look at the timekeeper contributions and collections report.

(I'm going to get up on my soapbox now just because, well that's how I am, this topic gets me worked up.....)

I think you are DEFINITELY working too hard on this. You need to find another way to measure "performance." Your firm is spending more money having you track this than any benefit they might be getting out of it.

Key numbers that make sense to track:

-How much time did the attorney record for the month total? Do they need more work assigned to them? Do you have excess capacity? Are they overworked and you need to hire more people to keep up with the demand? Are they turning in their time? Timely?

-How much of that time was billable vs. unbillable? Are they being efficient with their time, or spinning their wheels? Do they need more mentoring/management with their work?

-Has the firm billed out all of the time? Are you leaving time on the table that then gets stale and cannot be billed?

-Which clients owe the firm $$$? Who is in charge of that client? Do you sort your A/R by the attorney responsible for managing that client? Have they called them to discuss collections?

-If you don't get paid on an invoice, why? It isn't always the attorney's fault the client doesn't pay. Could be a deadbeat client you should have never undertaken representation on in the first place.

The problem is that payment is the LAST thing that happens, and so gets clouded/muddied up by everything that precedes it from marketing, to engagement, to managing the work and expectations of the client, to whether the client has any $$$ to pay, to collection efforts.

It's like trying to coach a team by only providing guidance after the game is over. No prep, no training, no practice, no scouting, no in game comments, just evaluation on how the player performed after it is all over.

(Getting down off my soapbox.)

I get it, you are just trying to do what the boss wants. It's not necessarily your job to change how the firm measures performance. I know, I know. But the fact that this exercise is so tedious should be a clue....

Good luck with it! :-)

I appreciate your input. We get retainers up front, in addition to a trust fund amount (for example: $1500 general retainer plus $2000 going into the trust account. However, at $295 per hour, they use up the money quick and we ask for more money as we go. We do not collect AFTER the work is done necessarily. And some clients get a refund of what's left in their trust account. Every case is different. So we need to know which of a client's slips are paid and which are not. They can have $500 left in their trust account, and we can go to court for three hours ($885). So, now the client owes $385 and the slip for court is NP (not paid). We keep track of all of this for various reasons. We track every tiny detail

-How much time did the attorney record for the month total? Do they need more work assigned to them? Do you have excess capacity? Are they overworked and you need to hire more people to keep up with the demand? Are they turning in their time? Timely?

**All valid points

-How much of that time was billable vs. unbillable? Are they being efficient with their time, or spinning their wheels? Do they need more mentoring/management with their work?

**Doesn't really apply to us.

-Has the firm billed out all of the time? Are you leaving time on the table that then gets stale and cannot be billed?

**We bill as we go, this isn't a problem

-Which clients owe the firm $$$? Who is in charge of that client? Do you sort your A/R by the attorney responsible for managing that client? Have they called them to discuss collections?

** One attorney per client. We have a collections department (me) and the attorney steps in sometimes. However, they think it compromises the attorney-client relationship and want me to do it.

-If you don't get paid on an invoice, why? It isn't always the attorney's fault the client doesn't pay. Could be a deadbeat client you should have never undertaken representation on in the first place.

** I've never used invoices in Timeslips. Do you mean "bills"? Yes- we have deadbeat clients that we have to chase down. Not sure there is a solution to that problem.

The problem is that payment is the LAST thing that happens, and so gets clouded/muddied up by everything that precedes it from marketing, to engagement, to managing the work and expectations of the client, to whether the client has any $$$ to pay, to collection efforts.

**The attorneys are supposed to make sure the client's account is funded before they do work, but that isn't always possible.


So hopefully you can see how marking the slips would be so helpful. For now, I create spreadsheets of their daily and monthly time and mark the slips with a red X. I can't think of another way to do it, the partners are not willing to change the program.

Not sure what you tried and agree with my colleagues that there are better ways to monitor money in the door. To circle back to your original question, if all you want to do is find slips that are bookmarked all you should have to do is run a detail slip listing report AND filter ONLY for "slip has bookmark = yes". Of course you can add additional filters like a timekeeper or a date range as makes sense. Tested this in your version 2016.

I'm not sure what other firms do, but it is important to our system to know if each slip is paid or not paid. It's very specific.

In the detail slip listing, you can choose "yes" to has a bookmark or "no" to has a bookmark. But, you cannot choose both. So I would have to do two separate excel sheets and combine them.. Still might be less work than what I do now.

Unfortunately, though, with this last Timeslips upgrade, I am not able to choose the timekeeper/Client Controller (I think I cried for two weeks). When you click on the selection, there are no attorney names to choose from. So I have to sort them on an excel sheet. I'm becoming quite the Excel expert.

I suppose I got an answer to my question. Thank you.

PattiS: I don't mean to underestimate the tasks you need to do in your job, but aren't you basically saying that you need to know the difference between the client's Trust Account / Retainer balance and the current WIP? If so, then you'd only have to track aggregate numbers, instead of all the way down to the many individual slips. You would still probably need to dump both reports into Excel and work with the data, but it might be much simpler.

Just trying to help. Best of luck, whatever method you use!

PattiS said:

-If you don't get paid on an invoice, why? It isn't always the attorney's fault the client doesn't pay. Could be a deadbeat client you should have never undertaken representation on in the first place.

** I've never used invoices in Timeslips. Do you mean "bills"? Yes- we have deadbeat clients that we have to chase down. Not sure there is a solution to that problem.

and BTW, yes, "invoices" and "bills" are kind of synonymous in Timeslips.