Migration Manager User ManualAccountingUsing AccountsExamples & ScenariosBilling for an Initial Consultation - No Money Up Front - Payment after the Consultation

Billing for an Initial Consultation - No Money Up Front - Payment after the Consultation

This article covers how you use Migration Manager to bill and receive payment for an Initial Consultation in a situation where you receive the money for the consultation after you have completed and invoiced the work performed. It will involve the following steps:

  1. Create the Matter
  2. Record that the consultation has taken place (recorded as a Fee)
  3. Generating an Invoice/Statement of Services as evidence that the work has been undertaken
  4. Issuing an Office Receipt for payment of the Invoice

1. Create the Matter

If you have not already done so, you will first need to create the Matter in Migration Manager. To do this:

  1. Click the New button in the main toolbar
  2. On the New Matter window set the Matter type, enter the details of the person/entity who will be the client and set the responsible staff members
  3. Click Create which will create the matter and then open the Matter Detail window.

For full walk through instructions on how you create a Matter please see: How to Create a Matter

 

When you have generated the Matter, you should try to ensure you insert the basic client information including:

  • Their Surname and Given Name*
  • Their email address
  • Their residential address*

*If you are using the Trust Account, these are mandatory.

You will also want to go in to the Accounts Overview tab and set who the default billable person is as this will make generating accounts documents for this matter quicker.

2. Record the Work - Recording a Fee for the Initial Consultation

When you have completed your initial consultation, you need to record this activity in Migration Manager so that it knows that you have completed a billable activity.

To record a Fee:

  1. Go to the Fees & Disbursements tab and then click the New Fee button,
  2. Select the appropriate Fee Code (For instructions on how to create a Fee Code see: How to Create Fee Codes )
  3. Entering any additional information that might be necessary to provide further and better particulars of what work was done
  4. Review and modify the amounts if necessary
  5. Click Save & Close.

For full detailed instructions on how to record a fee, see: Record the Work - Record a Fee

3. Generate the Invoice/Statement of Services

Once you have recorded the Fee in Migration Manager, you can now generate an Invoice/Statement of Services to give to the Client as a record that you have completed the work and you are now entitled to be paid.

To generate an invoice for all previously recorded work that has not yet been Billed/Invoiced:

  1. Click the New Invoice button in the Fees and Disbursements tab
  2. Check/update the information which has been populated if necessary
  3. Click Save & Finalise. This will merge the Invoice for you and save a copy to the Documents tab.

For full instructions on how to create an Invoice go to: Generate an Invoice for Work Completed

Once you have generated the Invoice, you can send it from the Documents tab (if you generated it as a Word document, don't forget to PDF it first). For full instructions on how to email a document, see: How to send a Letter or Document via Email

4. Receipt payment of the Invoice in to the Office Account

Because you have issued an Invoice/Statement of Services for work you have completed, you can receive payment for your services directly in to your Operating/Office Account. When payment is received, you will need to generate an Office Receipt to record the payment having been received in to your Operating/Office Account.

Note: If the payment is made via your Client/Trust Account, you will instead need to generate a Client Fund Receipt and then perform a Client to Office Transfer.  

To generate an Office receipt:

  1. Click the New Office Receipt button in the Office Account tab,
  2. From the Payment Type dropdown specify how payment of the deposit was received.
  3. Record the total amount received in the Total box.
  4. In the Apply column insert the value of the funds to be applied to the invoice (in this image below there is only one invoice so the total amount is applied).
  5. Then click Print and then Save & Close .

For full instructions on how to generate and fill out a receipt, see: Pay an Invoice - Office Receipts

Once you have generated the Receipt, you can send it from the Documents tab (if you generated it as a Word document, don't forget to PDF it first). For full instructions on how to email a document, see: How to send a Letter or Document via Email

5. Finish - You can review what has happened

Your Office Account will now show that an invoice was created and that the Invoice as having now been paid.