Billing Q&A: Comparing Reports

June 2020    Tags: Reports, Tabs3 Billing

I was asked to run the Timekeeper Realization Report for the first quarter of the year. When I provided it to the attorney, she noticed that the Receipt Allocation Report for the same time frame had a different amount for her receipts. Why is this?

When comparing reports in Tabs3 Billing, keep in mind that not all reports use the same method to determine which transactions fall within a given time period. For example, some reports use a transaction’s entry date, while others might use its statement or allocation date. As a result, two reports run with the exact same criteria can display totals that differ significantly.

The Timekeeper Realization Report, designed to show payment amounts for each timekeeper, uses statement dates. This means that if a payment did not apply to a statement date in the report’s specified date range, it will not contribute to the total collected amount on the report.

The Receipt Allocation Report, on the other hand, uses the date on which payments were allocated. A payment can be entered into the system within the date range and still not contribute to the Receipt Allocation Report if there are no billed charges for it to allocate to, such as when a client submits a retainer payment before their first bill is generated.

For more information about reports that can be compared, check out Knowledge Base Article R11161, “Comparing Tabs3 Report Information.” To see a detailed breakdown on how Tabs3 reports are calculated and what criteria is used for each field on a report, refer to the Tabs3 Report Pack.