Time Recording

The Open Practice interactive legal time recording system was designed and tested in consultation with practicing professionals. It is intuitive and easy to use. Similar in layout to a conventional time sheet, it is instantly familiar, but with the advantage of having all information about the client and matter available.

Details are recorded directly into the system, eliminating duplicated data handling and reducing margins of error. Multiple views of time sheet data (controlled by security levels) enable departmental and team leaders to track performance of all members. As an additional option, time recording notes may be dictated using voice recognition software, generating further time savings. All information recorded in the time sheet is immediately available for billing.

Trust Accounting

Open Practice Trust Accounting includes general trust accounts for client records (multiple bank accounts per matter), Client Regulated Funds, Power of Attorney and Estates, Controlled Money, Transit Money and Trust Investments management. The software allows you to maintain client trust ledgers which can be viewed or printed at any time. It is fully integrated with the office practice management system. You do not need to invest in a separate module.

Diary & To Do Lists

Open Practice offers a simple to use calendar and To Do manager schedule. You can register all important To Do, Personal Tasks, Events and Appointments as well as setup Court (or specialised) calendars. OP integrates with Microsoft Outlook allowing you to use an industry standard application.

Billing & Collections

Open Practice offers a fully integrated billing system. You may retrieve all time entries, disbursements, creditors and sundry recoveries into an invoice. You can write up/write down, apply discounts at the time of creating your bill. It is designed to allow flexibility to suit individual billing formats and preferences e.g. different format if you are acting for Insurance Company as opposed to a Government organisation. Features include draft invoices for approval before final processing. Bills are printed through industry standard Microsoft Office.

Bulk Receipting

Apex provides bulk receipting based on customized matter types. By using Apex bulk receipting, the user can allocate one receipt across a broad range of matters and/or invoices thus enabling efficiency to your processing.

Full Automated Draft Billing

Apex advanced billing provides the operator with the ability to produce a ‘Batch’ of Invoices on a cyclical basis. Batch billing provides flexibility to the billing process allowing automated batch processing or single retrieval.

Debtor Draft Bills are output to the firm’s standard electronic stationery formats.

CRM & Marketing

The client relationship management module is fully integrated with Open Practice and provides the database structures and tools necessary to assist with the coordination and management of marketing and other events.

Reporting

Open Practice contains a wide variety of reports which are supplied as standard with the product. These reports include standard financial reports, fee-earner productivity reports as well as Client and Matter based reports. Reports can be generated through industry standard Microsoft Excel. In addition, users are able to create their own reports using Microsoft Excel or other ODBC compliant report writers such as Crystal or SQL linking directly to the Open Practice database. Once these reports have been created they may be added to the Open Practice Reports list.

Search Integration

Open Practice Searching provides access to a wide range of information products used in the law practice, from property information including nationwide access to land registry information, corporate information including ASIC and credit reporting, through to personal information and vehicle data. This is supported by our range of AML and KYC due diligence reports providing an easy solution to your AML legislation commitments. Open Practice Searching is integrated into the practice management software so that you can perform your searches within the Open Practice window, and all disbursements are written back to Open Practice Billing.

Workflow

OP Workflow is a dynamic tool for matter management and case management, allowing you to set automatic to-do list reminders and provides you with the ability to escalate critical tasks. With Open Practice Workflow you can setup and design your own streamlined tasks to interface directly with your precedents, keeping track of your ‘To Do’ list and sending and receiving inter-office emails.

Database Extensions

Database Extensions allow the firm to create specific fields to record information about clients, matters or safe custody documents within the Open Practice database. These fields can simply record text as a user enters it or be linked to other information in the database and are an excellent way to record the contact details of parties and barristers for a matter, the names of children and their schools, pets and type of car a client drives, or specific information relating to powers of attorney, deeds, leases or bank account documents held on behalf of clients.

The information may be reported using a third party report writer and/or merged with word processing precedents utilizing standard WP merge facility.

Database Extensions

General Ledger

Open Practice General Ledger provides for either a standard General Ledger Profit & Loss / Balance sheet or firm defined Chart of Accounts allowing for sub-ledger mappings and budget setting. OP GL is a real time system that automatically posts each transaction directly to the General Ledger.

OP GL provides for greater reporting flexibility by allowing users to consolidate financial data across all entities. You can print a profit & loss for a department, branch, ledger or the entire practice.

End of Month

There is no mandatory end of day or month process in Open Practice. The General Ledger is not locked thus enabling back processing, as required.

Firms save considerable time because there is no end of month posting and a real time General Ledger means that management reports can be printed at any time during the period or at the end of a previous period. No end of period processing saves time and eliminates the need to lock users out of the system at the end of the day or month.

General Ledger Allocations

Open Practice advanced general ledger gives you the ability to provide an unlimited number of distributions to general ledger accounts, either manually or fully automated.

General Ledger Allocations

Safe Custody

Open Practice Safe Custody is fully integrated with your practice management system. Safe Custody packets are created to store client’s wills, valuable items or documents. A safe custody packet could be an actual packet or locked box. When documents or any other contents are released to the client, a receipt is produced for client signature, and the movement is recorded in the register. The register includes many features such as:

• Multiple packets for a client
• Unlimited number of documents stored for each packet
• Receipts issues for documents released
• Automatic sequential numbering of packets
• Ability to track and monitor documents as they move in and out of storage
• Open Practice safe custody feature allows the user to document when and by whom a packet is being removed from custody. There is an audit trail of packets being removed and/or deleted.

End of Month

Credit Collection

Open Practice gives you the flexibility to setup a collection plan for individual clients or for various areas of law via a series of letters or chase up tasks. This flexibility gives the firm the ability to tailor their debt collection to meet the needs of their clients. Automated debt recovery ensures debts are followed up in a timely manner which improves the collection rate, reduces the average debtor days and thereby improves the firm’s cash flow.

Matter Management

The key of your business is the ability to manage your clients and their matters in the most efficient way possible. Open Practice single interface gives you quick access to critical information about your client and their matters.

All information regarding the Matter is accessed via one simple screen with drill down functions to view WIP, Disbursements, Anticipated Disbursements, Fees Billed, Debtors and Trust.

Archiving

Open Practice archiving offers the flexibility to archive by individual matters or by batch matter archiving. Open Practice differentiates between Closed Matters and Archived Matters giving the firm greater control and flexibility over the management of their matters.

Closed matters with zero balances in all ledgers can be archived. OP archiving has in-built checking to ensure a matter is not archived if there are any unpaid creditors, unpresented cheques or unfulfilled balances. Archived information is not condensed or destroyed, allowing matter archival to be reversed reinstating all financial information.

Fully Automated Draft and Final Billing

Bulk Receipting