Dynamic as a productivity tool

Dynamic is designed to provide a compliant, integrated Business and Trust Accounting system for attorneys. But, simply distinguishing trust and business transactions is an easy task. That can even be done manually. The truth is that basic accounting is very simple indeed. But simplicity disappears immediately once custom demands are made of the accounting records. A manual system does not immediately and accurately yield a trial balance, cash book, or ledger report on a given day. Nor can a manual system effortlessly and error free provide multiple trust-to-business transfers during a month, a week or even the same day.

Of course, Dynamic can do all these things.

But there is more.

Dynamic can produce easy to read, custom management accounting reports combining business and trust transactions into a single net balance, combined with file activity.  Making it easy for management to see at a glance the state of any file.

Not only are reports streamlined on a file level, but high level overview reports provide a birds eye view, with a drill down to the individual transaction.

Whether you want to look at the data form a high level, to spot trends, or investigate a specific department, file, ledger, or transaction, this is all possible.

But there is more.

Productivity Tools

Dynamic supports a wide range of tools designed to increase productivity.

Productivity tools are designed to make tedious, repetitive tasks fast, easy, and reliable. By automating number crunching the risk of error is reduced, or even completely eliminated. Productivity here means to get more done in the time available.  If the same task could be performed manually, without rework or error, in the same time, we have achieved nothing.  So our benchmarks are clearly defined: speed in execution, accuracy, with no repetition or rework, and as few errors as possible.

Fee Book: Import Hours Keeper Timesheet

HoursKeeper Hours Keeper is a premier time tracking mobile app. And it’s compatible with Dynamic.

Effective time management, and eventually effective time billing is central to legal practice.

Keeping a timesheet is not enough, Timesheets should be

  • flexible
  • complement operations
  • easily integrate with the overall accounting system

Manual timesheets require paper, are often left on a desk in a private office and still require re-typing timesheet particulars to a billing sheet or system. The Hours keeper app makes it possible to keep accurate, up to the minute time billing sheets on a mobile device.

Dynamic makes it easy to import the Hours Keeper Timesheet directly into the Fee Book.

Hours Keeper is a market leader in mobile time keeping. Hours Keeper allows to record your daily working hours for each client, including your overtime and break time.

It current has a 3.5 out of 5 rating in the Apple App Store and 4.6 out of 5 on Google Play store for Android. Supporting both Apple and Android, makes it possible to capture accurate timesheet information on almost every smartphone. The app generates a CSV export file, which can be imported raw by Dynamic.  This means without any fiddling, the timesheet can be uploaded to the Fee Book.

tick purpleSpeed – beats a manual timesheet any day!

tick purple100% accurate. No errors in interpretation or conversion of data from timesheet to billing!

tick purpleNo repetition. No rework. Once the data is captured in the app, it can be imported as is into the Fee Book. Of course, editing the CSV file is possible… But why would you want to do that?

tick purpleError free.

And, once the data has been imported to the Fee Book, it can immediately be edited, or billed to a client! Reducing the time delay between finalizing the timesheet and billing to seconds!

Timesheets may be uploaded at any time.

Search for “HoursKeeper” in the Apple App Store or in the Google Play store.

Fee Book: Import from CSV

spreadsheet general
spreadsheet general

CSV is a multi-purpose, basic text file format which can be opened by any spreadsheet application. Think of a CSV file as a basic, text based spreadsheet. All the data, with none of the tricky hidden columns or display options. What you see is what you get.

This allows the import of Fees into the Fee Book.

A common application is to circulate spreadsheet with fees for a specific matter through the office to be edited and updated by everyone who worked on the matter.

Once complete, the file may then be imported into the Fee Book. Simply select Save As… in the spreadsheet app and choose CSV as the format. Don’t worry about the technical stuff like delimiters and text separators, we have that covered.

A sample file is located in the HelpFile.

tick purpleWhy do we use the Fee Book? Again speed, accuracy and simplicity are the key words. The Dynamic Fee Book is flexible and easy to use, making it the ideal control point for fees originating from various sources.

Dynamic applies a strict interpretation of the ISO8601 date format. Dates are imported in YYYY-MM-DD format only. Other date formats will be rejected.

HelpFile Please see the Help File for more information.

Core Accounting

Processing: Import from Fee Book

tick purpleFast, accurate and no repetition! That’s exactly what the Import from Fee Book does! Once a fee as has been captured into the Fee Book, it can easily be processed into the ledger. The design is intended to support the processing of multiple items simultaneous. No tedious re-typing or copy & paste involved. Processing directly from the Fee Book. And current VAT rates can be applied, while the original work done date will be remembered.

HelpFile Please see the Help File for more information.

Processing: Import from CSV

tick purpleCSV is a multi-purpose, basic text file format which can be opened by any spreadsheet application. Think of a CSV file as a basic, text based spreadsheet. All the data, with none of the tricky hidden columns or display options. What you see is what you get.

This allows the import ledger journal type transactions directly into the ledger. Suitable for Opening Balances.

A sample file is located in the HelpFile.

This feature uses the same CSV format as the Fee Book, but supports more transaction types, including Trust Journals.

HelpFile Please see the Help File for more information.

UDT: User Defined Transactions

UDTs are lists of transactions defined by the user, to be used in dropdown selectors, such as the Fee Book, to quickly and accurately process transactions. The main application is in the Fee Book.  Think of each UDT Plan as a menu of Fee Items available to select from.

UDTs can be managed from the Core module, using Config: Manage User Defined Transactions. The workflow is as follows:

  • Create a new UDT Plan. Each Plan has a name: John’s Corporate Fees
  • Add items to the Plan, eg Drafting Memorandum of understanding
  • Use the items from the Plan in the Fee Book
  • Import Items for a Plan from CSV. This CSV uses a simple format exactly like that displayed on screen:
    • Type, which must be BFA,
    • Narrative of up to 200 characters,
    • a Debit amount,
    • a Credit which must be 0,
    • Cascade value, set to A and
    • Order value of 1. Cascade and Order have not yet been implemented.

UDTs are defined in the Core module and activated by Refresh in the Front Desk.

HelpFile Please see the Help File for more information.

Tasks: Reconcile Cash Book – Advanced

This amazing feature allows semi-automated processing of CSV transaction history from the bank. Transactions are automatically allocated based on user selection.

Each bank uses their own format. The basic seven column import format is

Date, ACNO, VAT, VOUCHER, Description, Amount, Balance

These files must be edited by the user before import.

The columns ACNO, VAT, VOUCHER, may be left blank, but must be inserted into the source file.

A handy little tool is the CSVConvert application. This can be used to modify the raw file received from the bank into a format more import friendly.  CSVConvert is available from our Download page.

Dynamic applies a strict interpretation of the ISO8601 date format. To accommodate different date formats, either dd-mm-yyyy or YYYY-MM-DD (ISO8601), Dynamic allows a date format specification. Please see the Bank Account settings.

The ability to pre-set VAT selection on ledger accounts is not only a great time saver, but also prevents processing errors.

tick purpleDirect processing from bank transaction history to cash book!

tick purpleAccurate ledger allocation!

tick purplePre-set VAT selection!

tick purpleNo fuss, easy and accurate bank reconciliation. Exactly what you expect.

HelpFile Please see the Help File for more information.

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