How do you handle overpayments, checks that don’t clear the bank, or checks entered for the wrong account? Make a payment adjustment! Payment adjustments can be used to refund or reverse payments.
When a client pays more than is due, you may want to refund part of the payment. In order to refund a payment, the payment must have been final billed and updated. Additionally, only the unapplied portion of a payment can be refunded.
In some situations, you may need to reverse the entire payment. Typically, this is because either a check didn’t clear the bank or a payment was entered to the wrong account. Like refunds, a payment can only be reversed if it has already been final billed and updated. However, payments can be reversed regardless of whether a portion is currently unapplied or not.
When refunding or reversing payments, the following integration options are available, when applicable:
- When you are set up to process credit cards, and the payment was originally processed via credit card, you will be prompted whether or not to process the adjustment through the processor.
- You will have the option to write a check for the amount (when integrating with AP), create a payment to another client, deposit the amount into client funds, or just record the adjustment.
- When integrating with GL, you will have the option of specifying a date for automatic journal entries.
To reverse or refund a payment
- In the Quick Launch, search for and select “Payment Adjustment.”
- Select the Client ID.
- In the Reference field, select the payment you are adjusting.
- In the Adjustment Information section, select Reversal or Refund.
- Enter the desired Adjustment Date. This date will be used for reports.
- If you selected Refund, enter the desired Adjustment Amount.
- Click OK.
- Click Yes to continue.
- In the Payment Adjustment Options window, select whether you will be writing a check for the adjustment, just recording the adjustment, creating a payment for another client, or depositing the adjustment into Client Funds.
- Click OK.
- If you are integrating with GL, and did not select the option to write a check, an Adjusting Journal Entries window will be displayed. Select the date to use for adjusting GL journal entries.
- Click OK.
- In the Payment Adjustment Description window:
- If you want a transaction to be saved to the Fee file, enter a Description and click OK.
- If you do not want a transaction saved to the Fee file, click Cancel.
Payment adjustments provide an easy way to refund an amount back to your clients, or to reverse payments when a mistake was made.
As of June 1, 2023, the Tabs3 Support Team will no longer provide support for Version 19 of Tabs3 Software.
If you are using an older version of the software, now is the perfect time to get up to date with the latest version of Tabs3 Software. You will be surprised at the number of features you’ve been missing! Click here to see What’s New in each version.
Updating to the latest version is FREE when your firm is on an active Maintenance Plan. To get started, in the Quick Launch, search for and select “Check for Updates.”
If you have any questions regarding the discontinuation of support for Version 19, please contact your Tabs3 Software consultant, or a member of our Sales Department at sales@Tabs3.com or (402) 419-2200.
Previously published in February, January, November, and September.
How do you install the Tabs3 Software to a new user’s computer? What files are installed? How and when is the software updated on each user’s computer?
These are all common questions firms have at one time or another regarding how the Tabs3 Software is installed and updated locally (at the user’s workstation). Knowledge Base Article R11229, “All About the Local Install (SETUP.EXE) and Auto Update,” provides information on the location of files, how the auto update feature works, how to run the local install, frequently asked questions, and troubleshooting local installations.
Our Knowledge Base can be accessed at support.Tabs3.com. You can also access our Knowledge Base in the Quick Launch by searching for and selecting “Knowledge Base.”
Did you know that Tabs3Pay can help you get paid faster? Accepting credit cards helps makes it easier for clients to pay their bills. Sign up directly from Tabs3 Billing or Tabs3 Trust Accounting; in the Quick Launch, search for and select “Tabs3Pay Web Portal.”
With Tabs3Pay, you can:
- Manage separate trust and operating accounts.
- Securely store payment information for future use.
- Accept credit cards and electronic checks, all from within Tabs3 Software.
- Include a payment link in email statements, allowing your clients to easily enter payment information through the secure Tabs3Pay portal.
- Include trust replenishment request links with email statements or generate email requests directly from the Tabs3 Billing Matter Manager.
- Schedule future or recurring payments for clients.
- Take advantage of the Surcharging feature allowing you to minimize the expense of processing fees.
To learn more about Tabs3Pay, visit Knowledge Base Article R11871, “Tabs3Pay Frequently Asked Questions,” or R11869, “Configuring Tabs3Pay.”
Typos happen, and sometimes they happen on a larger scale. When you need to change text in multiple records at once, what can you do? Use PracticeMaster’s Find and Replace! Find and Replace can be used to find text in one or more fields and/or records and optionally replace it – all at once.
You can access the Find and Replace window from any List tab via Edit | Find and Replace, by pressing Ctrl+F, or by selecting Find and Replace from the Take Action group in the Quick Clicks pane. If you want to see which records contain the text you want to find, from the Find and Replace window simply enter the desired text in the Search For field and click Find. The Search Results will list all records in which the text is found as well as the field where the text is located.
To replace text, enter the desired replacement text in the Replace With field. You can then replace each instance individually by clicking the Replace button, or you can replace all instances in the Search Results section by clicking the Replace All button.
Note: Because Find and Replace may not be easily undone, we recommend backing up your data prior to using the Replace All option due to the number of records that may be changed.
The following options in the Find and Replace window can be used to be more precise when searching:
Search Records
In the Search Records section, you can select to search the Current List or Highlighted Records. When selecting Current List, all records on the List tab of the file will be searched. This option takes into account any filters that have been applied to the file. Selecting Highlighted Records will only search those records that are currently highlighted on the List tab.
Search Fields
In the Search Fields section, you can select to search All Fields or Specific Fields. Selecting Specific Fields can help when you only want to find and/or replace text if it is included in certain fields, such as Description or Notes.
Search Options
In the Search Options section, you can select Match Case and/or Find whole word only. Selecting the Match Case check box will only return results that match the case of the text entered in the Search For field. For example, if the Search For field contains “Harry Henderson,” then any instances of “harry henderson,” “Harry henderson,” or “harry Henderson” will not be included in the Search Results section.
Selecting the Find whole word only check box will only return results that match the text in the Search For field exactly. If the check box is cleared, then it will return all words that contain the text in the Search For field. For example, let’s say that “Phil” is entered in the Search For field. If the Find whole word only check box is selected, the Search Results will not contain records with “Phillip,” “Phillips,” “philosophy,” etc. If the check box is cleared, then these words would be included in the Search Results.
Replace Options
In the Replace Options section, you can select Only replace matching text or Replace entire field contents. When selecting the Only replace matching text option, only the text that matches the Search For field will be replaced within the field. Conversely, when selecting the Replace entire field contents option, the entire field’s contents will be replaced by the Replace with text.
Find and Replace is a powerful feature that can find text and/or make changes in hundreds of records at once. Try it out the next time you need to make the same change in multiple records and see how much time you can save.
Do you often find yourself clicking No when prompted to make a backup in Tabs3 Software? If so, is it because you don’t have time to wait for a backup to complete, or because other people are currently working and they don’t have the time to log out and wait?
The HotBackup feature in Tabs3 Platinum Software alleviates the issue of making everyone log out because your data is backed up while others continue working in the software. Additionally, thanks to Platinum’s Transaction Processing feature and server processing capabilities, you are prompted to back up less often, and backups are completed in significantly less time.
HotBackup provides the ability to schedule backups throughout the day. Backups can be set up to run at a specific time on weekdays, every day, or on specific days. This means there will always be a recent restore point if the need arises, and less data (if any) to reenter. You can configure automatic notifications so that once a scheduled HotBackup has been run, an email will be sent to a designated recipient upon completion or failure of the HotBackup. This gives you added security of always knowing that the existing HotBackups are solid. You can select multiple email addresses for messages to be sent to, select whether a message is sent if the HotBackup succeeds or fails, and even customize the message as desired.
The standard built-in Back Up Data Files program is limited to storing a maximum of three backups with a maximum of 2GB in size for each backup. However, with HotBackup, you can store up to 198 backups, and the only size limitation is the amount of free space on your hard drive. You can select how many backups you want to keep at any given time, and you can even choose where you want your HotBackups stored!
It is important to note that the built-in backup in the Tabs3 Software only back up data files. They do not back up program files, nor do they back up every file in the Tabs3 Current Working Directory. You will need to use a third-party backup to back up the Current Working Directory for the purpose of recovering from a catastrophic failure, such as fire, flood, theft, server hard drive failure, etc.
Having viable data backups is important in any business. Stop daring fate by clicking No when prompted for a backup.
For more information on backing up the data, check out Knowledge Base Articles R11193, HotBackup Overview,” and R11213, “Backup Strategy.” For more information about Platinum features, see Knowledge Base Article R11379, “Platinum Overview.” If you have any questions regarding Platinum features, contact your Tabs3 Software consultant, or contact Technical Support at (402) 419-2210.
Sharing files is a cornerstone of running a successful practice. With LexShare, sending files to your clients and requesting client uploads can easily be done with just a few clicks!
The Sending and Requesting Files with LexShare video shows you just how easy it is to manage your files, even when sending large documents that are normally too big to be attached in an email. This video shows you how the file sharing process works, and you’ll be able to see what your clients will see when receiving your shared files or upload requests.
Watch this four-minute video here:
Training Videos can be accessed at Tabs3.com/videos. You can also access the videos in the Quick Launch by searching for and selecting “Training Videos.”
Did you know that the language used on statements can be customized? The Terminology tab of Statement Customization provides 77 terms that can be changed.
To change the terminology used on statements
- In the Quick Launch, search for and select “Statement Customization.”
- From the Terminology tab, select the line you want to change.
- Press F2 or click to place focus in the Line field, and make any desired changes.
In addition to changing the terminology, in many fields you can also specify to bold, italicize, or underline text. Furthermore, you can add special codes in some fields to add additional text to the statement. For example, you can enter the “+” character in the first position of Line 2, to display the Attn line before the client’s name.
To see a complete list of terminology line items, and the special codes that can be used, press F1 while in the software and enter “terminology” on the Index tab. Click a line item to see what special options are available.
We’ve been reviewing our billing categories and noticed that a few of them are redundant. Is there a way to combine these categories and their associated matters?
Tabs3 Billing includes a Renumber Category utility that allows you to renumber your billing categories. You can use this process to combine up to five existing billing categories into a new billing category.
To merge billing categories
- In the Quick Launch, search for and select “Renumber Category.”
- In the first row of the Old Number column, select the first billing category you want to merge into a new billing category.
- In the first row of the New Number column, enter the number of the new billing category you want to create.
- Repeat steps 2 and 3 in each row for each billing category you want to merge into the new category.
- Once you have configured the rows, click OK to begin the renumber process.
Note: When combining categories, the new category cannot exist prior to combining.
We want to add some holidays that our firm observes to the predefined holiday calendar in PracticeMaster. How can we accomplish this?
PracticeMaster provides one predefined holiday venue: Standard Holidays. This venue allows additional days to be added to it on a yearly basis.
To add days to the Standard Holidays Venue
- In the Quick Launch, search for and select “Holidays by Venue.”
- Select the day you want to mark as a holiday.
- Press the Spacebar to mark the holiday.
- Enter the desired Holiday Description.
- Repeat step 2 for each holiday you want to add.
- Click Close.
Note: Only the six predefined holidays in the Standard Holidays venue are perpetual holidays. Any additional holidays must be defined for each year.
I need to transfer money from one trust account to another trust account. How do I record the process in Tabs3 Software?
We recommend using positive and negative EFT transactions to transfer the amount from one account to another. A positive EFT will reduce a trust balance, whereas a negative EFT will increase a trust balance.
To transfer funds from one trust account to another
- In the Quick Launch, search for and select “Trust Transaction Entry.”
- Enter an EFT to remove the funds from one trust.
- Select the Trust ID from which you want to remove funds.
- Select a Type of EFT.
- In the Amount field, enter a positive amount.
- Enter any other information as needed.
- Press Ctrl+S.
- Enter an EFT to deposit the funds to another trust.
- Select the Trust ID to which you want to move funds.
- Select a Type of EFT.
- In the Amount field, enter a negative amount.
- Enter any other information as needed.
- Press Ctrl+S.
We need to write a check to a company, but we do not plan on writing more checks to them in the future. Do we need to create a full vendor with an associated contact for this company?
AP includes a Miscellaneous Vendor option to create a general one-time payment to people or companies that will not require a 1099. When creating invoices for a miscellaneous vendor, you will be prompted to specify a name and address or specify an existing contact for each invoice.
- In the Quick Launch, search for and select “Vendor Information.”
- Press Ctrl+N to create a new vendor.
- Specify the Vendor number you want to use for your miscellaneous vendor and click OK.
- Select the Miscellaneous Vendor check box.
- Specify a name for the vendor (e.g., “Miscellaneous Vendor”) in the Name field.
- Press Ctrl+S.
Keep in mind that checks generated for a miscellaneous vendor cannot be moved to a standard vendor without voiding and re-entering them. If there is a chance you will need to generate a 1099 for the recipient, we recommend creating a standard vendor for them rather than using a miscellaneous vendor.
I want to see all journal entries that were entered on a certain date, regardless of their transaction date. Is there a report that will show this?
The Journal Report is a flexible and option-rich report that can be run by transaction date or by entry date.
To run the Journal Report by Entry Date
- In the Quick Launch, search for and select “Journal Report.”
- On the Accounts tab, select the All Accounts option.
- On the Dates tab:
- In the Date Range section, select the desired Date criteria.
- In the Date Selection section, select the Date Entered option.
- Enter any other criteria as desired.
- Click OK.