Working with WorkFlows: Convert to Fee with Partial Description

December 2017    Tags: Convert to Fee, Fees, PracticeMaster, WorkFlows

When the attorneys enter notes into journal records and then convert them to fees, their entire journal description goes into the fee and they have to edit it. Is there a way to only pull in a partial description when converting a journal record into a Fee?

A WorkFlow can be configured to edit a field provided there is a consistent character (or set of characters) indicating where the fee’s description begins. For our example, we will use “***” as an indicator. With a WorkFlow set up to automatically edit the description field of a new fee, the journal record will retain the original text, but only the text after “***” will be included in the fee. Additionally, if an attorney wants an entire journal record’s description included, they simply have to omit the character (or set of characters) from the description.

For example, let’s say a journal record that you will convert to a fee includes the text “could not find precedence.” You don’t want your client to see this on their bill. With this WorkFlow, you could change the description to “could not find precedence *** Research,” and when the WorkFlow runs, “Research” is all that will be included in the Fee Description.

To set up a WorkFlow that automatically trims the Description field

1. From the Maintenance menu, select WorkFlows.
2. Expand the Common Client Related section, select Fee, and then click New.
3. Enter a Name for the WorkFlow (e.g., “Edit Description”).
4. In the Event section, select the Record Added check box.
5. In the Actions section, click New.
   1. Select Change Record, and then click Next.
   2. Select Source Record, and then click Define Template.
   3. Click on the set button next to the Description field.
      1. In the Template Expression Editor window, click the Function button, select FROM$, and then click Insert.
      2. From within the parentheses, click the Field button, select Description from the Field ID column, and then click Insert.
      3. Enter a comma after the field, and then enter “***”.
      4. The following will now be displayed: “FROM$(@SrcRec:Description,”***”)”. Click OK on the Template Expression Editor window.
      5. Press Ctrl+S.
   4. Click Finish.
6. Click Save, and then close the WorkFlows window.

Note: This WorkFlow will run for any new fee entry provided that, in this example, there is *** present.

Note: In order for this WorkFlow to run properly, Description Field must be specified as the Default Description for Convert to Fee Settings (Maintenance | Preferences | Convert to Fee Settings).

Note: Before saving the Fee, the additional text will still be shown. The additional text is only removed after the save has been completed.

Alternative Methods: As an alternative, you can use the statement comments attribute in the Journal record for text you don’t want printed on a statement. Using statement comments suppresses the text from printing on a final statement, but displays in red in the Journal and Fee records. Additionally, in draft statements and reports, statement comments will be shown with a strikethrough character (e.g., could not find precedence). To use statement comments, select the desired text, right-click in the Description or Comment field of the journal record, and then select Statement Comment.

Another option to prevent text in the Journal record from being included in the fee description is to specify a different Default Description such as Tcode/Activity Code Description in the Convert to Fee Settings (Maintenance | Preferences | Convert to Fee Settings). This option uses the selected Tcode’s default description for the fee instead of the text from the Journal record.

For more information on WorkFlows, refer to our new PracticeMaster WorkFlows Guide at Tabs3.com/support/docs.html or Knowledge Base Article R11307, “All About WorkFlows.”