Author: Dynamic

Dynamic

Software update 2.0.1.500

Description: Billing Management Report
Status: Effective immediately
Date: 29 February 2024
Dynamic interface: Two, Core, Front Desk
Version: 2.0.1.503

Explanation:

It was necessary to tweak the Billing Management Report slightly to work faster on bigger data sets. In addition a net available column was added.

PS 2.0.1.503 is the only version ever released on a Leap Year 🙂

Description: File Cover
Status: Effective immediately
Date: 15 February 2024
Dynamic interface: Two, Core, Front Desk and RMS
Version: 2.0.1.500

Explanation:

Looking for a file and cannot remember the cover color?

Dynamic now allows you to set the file color. A tiny widget with far reaching application. Easily spot and out of place file. This is a user convenience designed to increase visual stimuli for the user.

Description: Client Profile
Status: Effective immediately
Date: 15 February 2024
Dynamic interface: Two, Core
Version: 2.0.1.500

Explanation:

Client Profiles allow easy management of large volume instructions. Any matters for a client with multiple instruction can now be quickly and easily be found, updated and reported on.

Description: Search for Invoice numbers and match to File Number
Status: Effective immediately
Date: 15 February 2024
Dynamic interface: Two, Core
Version: 2.0.1.500

Explanation:

It’s a common time waster to spend time matching Invoice numbers to file numbers. This can happen directly on the bank statement or when splitting bulk payments. Dynamic now has semi-automated search and allocation capabilities which will save your hours of frustration. Simply identify the transactions where invoice numbers appear, select and click the allocate button. Dynamic will search for the invoice numbers found and allocate the correct ledger account number.

Description: Billing Management and Group Billing
Status: Effective immediately
Date: 15 February 2024
Dynamic interface: Two, Core, Front Desk
Version: 2.0.1.500

Explanation:

Group Billing has had a facelift. In addition to the existing functionality, Group Billing will now generate lists of Milestones and Invoice Remittance, making it easier to account to large corporate clients. Especially in the field of insurance and sectional title management, these reports can save a great deal of time.

Remember, Billing Management is your friend!

Description: Fees to Target
Status: Effective immediately
Date: 15 February 2024
Dynamic interface: Two, Front Desk
Version: 2.0.1.500

Explanation:

Will we make target? Is a common and recurring question every month. This easy little Fee Report combines current actual Ledger and Fee Book items to give an accurate picture of our current position.

Description: Quality of Life User Experience Improvements
Status: Effective immediately
Date: 15 February 2024
Dynamic interface: Two, Core and Front Desk
Version: 2.0.1.500

Explanation:

Several minor improvements have been made, the most important include:

These include Control+S hotkey on the Fee Book to save fees, and an Alt+L hotkey on certain financial reports in the Core module. The Alt+L key will open the Ledger History Report+ for easy ledger inspection.

Milestone capturing has been streamlined, allowing smooth transaction capturing.

Microsoft Outlook for Windows Calendar appointments can now be scheduled directly from the Notify scheduler. These appointments are all staggered at the top of the day and will result in an Outlook pop-up when starting Outlook in the morning.

Simply Dynamic

Dynamic

VAT and Commercial Rent

Value Added Tax (VAT) is often a major headache for Rental Agents and Tenants. VAT is charged on goods and services and paid for by the end user. Certain goods and services are exempt from VAT.

Residential rent is expressly excluded from VAT. This means that ordinary residences, occupied by families for residential purposes, are not expected to pay VAT. An agreed monthly rental amount of R10000.00 means exactly that, pay R10000.00. This makes it easy for Landlords and Tenants to settle rental accounts between them. Also, a separate invoice is not strictly necessary and an ordinary running statement showing all transactions and a balance is sufficient.

Commercial Rent

The situation with Commercial Rent is at once substantially different and complex.

First, the Agent managing the commercial property is responsible for issuing a VAT invoice, but the VAT-able goods does not come from the Agent’s “stock” – the Agent issues an invoice on behalf of the Landlord.

Second, the Landlord must be registered for VAT in order to be able to issue a valid VAT tax invoice. Only registered VAT vendors can issue VAT invoices. This constitutes standard Output VAT in the books for the Landlord. As a registered VAT vendor, the Landlord is compelled to issue regular VAT invoices, regardless of the status of the Tenant.

Third, in order for the Tenant to be able to claim VAT, the Tenant must also be a registered VAT vendor. Only registered VAT vendors can claim VAT. This is processed as standard Input VAT in the books of the Tenant.

The Invoice itself is a standard VAT Tax Invoice. The normal requirements apply. The invoice issued on behalf of the Landlord must contain the Landlord’s registered name, the VAT registration number and full address. In order for the the Tenant to be able to claim the VAT, the Tenant’s registered name, the VAT registration number and full address are also required. Full financial details must be revealed. The Agent issuing the VAT invoice is merely a facilitator. VAT invoices are required by law to be issued once a month, every 21 business days.

Checklist

Need a VAT invoice for your rent? Check these items:

  • Is the Landlord a VAT vendor?
  • Is the Tenant a VAT vendor?
  • Does the Lease Agreement identify the property and agreement as commercial in nature?

In the event that the Landlord is not registered as a VAT vendor, no VAT invoice can be issued.

In the event that the Tenant is not registered as a VAT vendor, no VAT may be recovered.

Only in the event that the Landlord is a registered VAT vendor AND the Tenant is a registered VAT vendor, a valid VAT tax invoice may be issued and the VAT recovered by the Tenant.

A potentially very unsatisfactory situation arises where the Tenant is registered for VAT and the Landlord is not. The Tenant would prefer to recover input VAT on the monthly lease invoice, but as no such invoice can be issued, VAT is not recoverable. This makes it important to verify the status of the Landlord prior to signing a lease agreement.

The VAT registration status of the Agent is irrelevant to the issuing of Commercial Lease VAT invoices.

-Dynamic

Dynamic

Software Update 2.0.1.429

First Update for 2023 now available!

Description: Client Billing Documents processing time reduced
Status: Effective immediately
Date: 16 December 2022
Dynamic interface: Two, Core, Front Desk
Version: 2.0.1.421

Generating PDF Client Billing Documents is a time-consuming tedious process. Changes have been introduced to both Invoices and Statements reduce the time required. Batch of 100 PDFs can now be done in approximately 5 minutes. Local internet speed and computer processing capacity will affect this.

Description: Bank Reconciliation Hints
Status: Effective immediately
Date: 10 December 2022
Dynamic interface: Two, Core
Version: 2.0.1.419

Bank Reconciliation is boring. To make life a little more interesting we have added Hints to assist support your experience. Hint Tick All! 😉

Description: Trust Provision
Status: Effective immediately
Date: 11 November 2022
Dynamic interface: Two, Core, Front Desk
Version: 2.0.1.419

It is now possible to set multiple trust provisions to each matter. This allows the user to streamline and manipulate Trust To Business transfer processing, without affecting Client Billing.

Special Thank You to the clients’ who assisted in field testing. 🙂

-Dynamic

Dynamic

Accounting for rental deposits

It is common practice to require a tenant to pay a deposit on occupation of a rental property. The rent is intended to secure at least one month’s worth of occupation and provide for potential damages caused by the tenant. Rent deposits are regulated in terms of Rental Housing Act 50 of 1999.

A common feature in managing rental properties, the underlying accounting mechanisms are typically not well understood which often leads to deposits not being accounted for at all, leading to invisible transactions and inaccurate records.

In order to properly account for a rental deposit, the following needs to occur

  • Debit tenant account with a Deposit required
  • Credit tenant account when payment is received
  • This will zero the tenant account
  • Payment received from the tenant will create a credit on the ledger, but it is not available for pay out to the landlord; to balance this credit, the deposit amount must be invested
  • Debit the ledger with the investment payment

At this point, the ledger will reflect only the regular monthly rent roll transactions, and the rent deposit investment is accurately and comprehensively accounted for.

Once the rental agreement terminates, these steps are reversed to release the credit on the ledger

  • Credit the ledger with the amount received from the investment. Note that due to the effect of interest accrued this amount will be more than the initial deposit received
  • This receipt will result in a credit balance. This credit can be paid to the tenant as a refund, or paid to the owner as settlement
  • Pay out of this amount will normally zero the account

Dynamic

Dynamic

2022 Interest Rates and Rent

Interest rates have recently increased from a record low of 3.5% in July of 2020 to the 7% at the end of November 2022.

South Africa’s benchmark repo rate increased by another 75 basis points to 7% at its November 2022 meeting. This is the 7th consecutive rate hike since policy normalization started in November 2021.

With such a steep increase in interest rates linked to already harsh economic conditions, the property market comes under increased pressure.

The number of properties for sale will increase, but with higher interest rates, these will not fetch the same high market values seen a year ago. At the same time the demand for rental properties is expected to increase. This will invariably place greater demand on rental agents and their ability to deal with the expectations of rental property owners and rental tenants.

One such requirement is accurate, up to date accounting that reflects the tenants financial position: what is due, what has been paid and what is the current balance. At the same time, owners expect accurate, up to date payment and accounting of all relevant transactions.

Dynamic provides such a fast, simple accounting solutions for rental property practitioners.

Read more about matters concerning Rental Properties:

Featured Dynamic

Management Tracker

Dynamic’s new online Management Tracker is a real time, online, visual report designed to be viewed on a mobile device.

They say a picture paints a thousand words. Well, in this case, the activities of an entire law firm is presented in four graphs.

Data is updated in real time.

Comparative data for various firm wide metrics presented in easy to read format.

Pie charts for comparison of fee participation for the previous and current months. Fees Last Month & This Month allow you to see who contributes most to the firm’s fee total. Only Fee Earner accounts with Targets are included.

Bar chart with Monthly Fee Totals covering twelve months, provide comparative insight into professional activity. Fee Targets are cumulative and an average calculated for the period. Is the firm reaching it’s fee targets every month? What are our average fees for the past 12 months? These and other questions are easily answered using the mobile friendly Management Tracker.

New Files Opened is a powerful indicator of activity and future fee income.  Fee income typically follows 60-90 days after receiving instructions. Tracking new files and fee activity is a powerful control mechanism.

36 Month Fee Growth provides an instant birds eye view of the billing activity of the business. Three Month moving average (3MA) is plotted to provide early identification of trends in billing. 36, 24 and 12 month averages indicate fee activity over the longer and medium term.

How do I get the Management Tracker?

For a limited time only the Management Tracker is available through Dynamic Online Portal. The Management Tracker will be incorporated in the Dynamic Mobile App soon.

Dynamic

Dynamic

RMS: Tenant Billing

A tenant of a rental property is entitled to statement of account clearly indicating recurring obligations and confirming historic transactions. By definition rent should always be paid up to date an age analysis for rent should be considered an anomaly.

Tenant Statements

Statements of account issued to a tenant should include all items debited to such an account:

  • the rent due
  • repairs charged
  • utilities or services used

And the tenant’s account must also reflect any payments made by the tenant.

The net balance of the tenant statement should be a clear indication of the current status of indebtedness by the tenant. Bear in mind that rent is typically charged in advance.

The Landlord

Dynamic’s unique Rent Management System allows for invoices to the landlord for services rendered, as well as statements with running balances.

This means that one powerful accounting solutions provides detail accounts to both the landlord and tenant in an easy to understand format.

-Simply Dynamic

Read more about matters concerning Rental Properties:

Dynamic

Software Update 2.0.1.406

Description: Easy Invoice run
Status: Effective immediately
Date: 30 August 2022
Dynamic interface: Two, Core
Version: 2.0.1.406

A single, fast Invoice run at the end of the month

As part of month end compliance and reconciliation, Dynamic can run through all invoices without disrupting operational activities.

This workflow allows for the issuing of invoices on a one-by-one basis when necessary. It also allows for all current transactions to be invoiced without omission and without interruption.

Simply Dynamic

Dynamic

Financial Year End Roll Over

At the end of the Financial Year, Income and Expense accounts are normally closed off to a consolidated profit and loss Equity account.

Dynamic can automatically process these journal entries. The default profit and loss Equity account is number #94001, but may vary on your system.

The benefits of using automated Financial Year End Roll Over journal processing include

  • ease of use
  • speed
  • accuracy

Financial Year End journal specifically affect business accounts, and does not affect client trust accounts.

Request guidance from your auditor concerning Financial Year End Roll Over.

Some auditors would prefer for you to run the Financial Year End Roll Over before they start working on the reports. This has the benefit of reducing the number of accounts to deal with. The consolidated profit and loss account contains full transaction details concerning the source accounts. In addition, the Statement of Profit and Loss will still display the original balances regardless of the Financial Year End Roll Over entries.

Other auditors may prefer to work with the raw data without any automated Financial Year End Roll Over transactions processed to the system. This makes it easier to detect discrepancies and provides a framework for reallocating items. In this case run the Financial Year End Roll Over after the auditor has completed the audit.

In any event, the auditor is likely to provide a set of journals to be done. This is standard practice as financial and tax reporting may require additional processing which falls beyond the scope of the software.

Note that supplementary journals may

How to run the Financial Year End Roll Over

  • Select the date, typically the last date of the last Financial Year
  • Select the target Equity account from the list
  • Click Go
  • Don’t blink. It’s so fast, if you blink, you will miss the transactions.
  • Inspect the ledgers for the relevant entries.

Supplementary Financial and Year End Journals

Supplementary journals may be required for any number of reasons, including operational, financial and reporting. Transactions which require additional processing include depreciation and amortization. Additional updates based on operational requirements or amended tax guidelines may require supplementary journal entries.

It is not recommended to process these additional journals manually. Since the auditor will provide the required transactions in spreadsheet format, it is strongly recommended that these journals be imported directly into Dynamic.

Simply Dynamic

Dynamic

Planned Downtime

For the first time in four years, Dynamic’s servers are undergoing much needed upgrades.

Expected downtime is at least 24 hours, starting Wednesday 15 June 2022 from 15:00 SAST (GMT+2).

More details to follow.

Dynamic

Dynamic

Software Update 2.0.1.309

Description: Notify ➤ Schedule Email
Status: Effective immediately
Date: 12 June 2021
Dynamic interface: Two, Core, Front Desk, RMS
Version: 2.0.1.309

Notify has been expanded to provide for scheduled, personalized email. This means that you can now schedule and email to be delivered at a future date. Instead of Outlook Tasks or Popup reminders, any recipient email address in the system Address Book can receive a personalized email. Suitable applications include diary scheduling, meeting reminders and birthday or anniversary reminders.

Scheduled emails are centrally stored and Sent to the email recipient on the given date.

Optional, but handy personalization include

  • Report deadline
  • Account number
  • Client Name
  • An unlimited free form text reminder to clearly indicate the reason why the message was sent and what response is expected.

Send your future self an email to get Dynamic now!

How to set gmail Spam Filter:

The aggressive spam filters on gmail are designed to protect you. However, sometimes gmail is too aggressive and may leave your email unusable. To allow notifications into your gmail Inbox, create a mail filter.

  1. Log in to your gmail account.
  2. Click the GEAR icon at the top right and then click SETTINGS.
  3. Go to FILTERS AND BLOCKED ADDRESSES and click CREATE A NEW FILTER.
  4. In the FROM section, type the email address notify@dynamilta.com to keep it out of your Spam Folder.
  5. Click CREATE FILTER.
  6. Check NEVER SEND IT TO SPAM and ALSO APPLY FILTER TO MATCHING MESSAGES boxes.
  7. Click CREATE FILTER again.

-Dynamic

Dynamic

You’ve Got Mail

There is a gap. The gap is big and it is growing. This gap affects us daily and it needs to be addressed. We need to close this gap.

The gap exists between the attorney’s Fee Book and every day activities.

As recently as five years ago, correspondence was mainly by snail mail. Letters were dictated and typed, signed and sent off in an envelope, to reach the client in a few days time. The simple act of creating correspondence was an involved task and physical evidence of the act remained on the paper file. Communication was slow, formal and tangible. Whenever a bill was drawn up, each letter on the split pin in the file made it onto the invoice.

Today communication is very different. Communication is electronic, with email dominating the attorney-client communications environment. Use of instant messaging apps such as WhatsApp (remember that one?) and Telegram are on the rise. The result is simply that communication is online and more live than ever before, but this near instant communication has increased the gap. Communication occurs more frequently, but billing is less efficient.

This gap has a name. It is a Billing Gap.

There is a clear gap where communication is concerned. On the one side stands the empty Fee Book. On the other side email and instant messaging platforms. Like a ghost story, the skeletons of old email messages live on in your Inbox while unbilled email messages haunt your empty Fee Book.

Regardless of the underlying fee agreement, care should be taken to keep track of individual billable items. There is no one-size-fits-all solution. In certain instance every single email sent and received will and should find its way to the clients’ account. In other cases, a simple internal log of email sent and received will be sufficient. But, without an adequate inbox monitoring tool, keeping accurate record becomes tedious and inaccurate.

In a law practice, your Inbox can easily become a FeeBox.

Attorneys indicate they send as many as 60 emails per day. Assuming that each email also has a response, that is a 120 emails per day, over several files. Most attorneys fall into one of three categories (a) those who do not count email and rarely bill for the email sent and received; (b) those who add generic Various emails sent entries to their bills, with no clear reference as to the actual number of messages and their dates and subjects. (c) those who meticulously keep accurate record of each message sent or received, its time and subject, creating a clear and accurate billing report of email correspondence in any given matter.

If the attorney sends 60 emails per day, at a nominal fee of R28.50 (no VAT) per item, that amounts to R1 710.00 worth of fees per day. Five working days results in R8 550.00. Four weeks results in R34 200.00 worth of fees. For email sent only. Double this amount for email received. Of course, not all messages can and should be billed for. But the vast majority of communication takes place by email, and this communication is billable.

Emails per day 60 @ R28.50

Billing per day R1 710.00

Billing per week R8 550.00

Billing per month R34 200.00

Are you billing R34 200.00 per month for email sent?

Tariff published in GOVERNMENT GAZETTE 43592, dated 7 AUGUST 2020, Magistrates Court Scale A, under item 18 (page 38) allows for Correspondence fees R28.50.


Screenshot of client bill with automated fees for email sent and received.

There are several unproductive ways of keeping track of email. One is to keep a manual log book and write down each item, or type it into a spreadsheet. This needs to be interpreted and converted to a fee item at a later stage. Or, using an app, copy and paste directly from the email client to the billing app. This is faster, but requires discipline.

But there is a better way.

It is no coincidence that Microsoft Outlook for Windows remains the most popular email client for business use. Outlook can be used with the MS Office suite including Word, Excel etc in smaller firms, or with an Exchange server for bigger business. Exchange Servers offer many benefits to bigger business, including powerful internal email management, but at cost typically beyond the budget of the average small business. Fortunately smaller firms can implement Outlook without the need for an Exchange Server. The Microsoft ecosystem is based on continued commitment to local app infrastructure as confirmed by the Office 365 local-app and cloud-data model, offering the best of both worlds in terms of user experience and secure shared data storage.

Imagine a billing tool that allows billing for email directly in your Fee Book, and bills the email accurately and immediately to the client. Imagine an accurate bill for every email message sent or received. There are only some many hours in a day. Spending additional time to manually update an account based on email is not worth it.

Bill for every email sent. Bill for every email received. Never miss a fee for an email, ever, again. The choice is yours.

If you are not billing for email, perhaps it is time to ask yourself the question Why are we not billing for email? Is it time to consider a billing tool that supports your daily activities? A tool which allows fast, accurate email activity billing? A tool which keeps your Fee Book up to date?

The good news is that such a tool exists. Dynamic Lawyers Trust Account software is much more than simply a bookkeeping system for attorneys. Dynamic is also a billing tool, allowing fast, easy, reliable billing between Microsoft Outlook and the Fee Book. This makes Dynamic very affordable for the attorney in a small legal practice. Increased billing is the first step towards increased revenue, and eventually profit. Convert your Inbox into a FeeBox and drive revenue with Dynamic’s email billing.

If you are interested in what Dynamic’s Outlook interface can do for your bottom line, scan the QR tag below.

For implementing additional Outlook features, please contact us Outlook@DynamicLTA.com.

Dynamic

Recommended Update

What is a Recommended Update and why is it important?

[This page was updated on 4 August 2023]

The current Recommended Update is 

  • 2.0.1.470 released 4 August 2023

Previous recommended updates were

  • 2.0.1.300 released 27 April 2021
  • 2.0.1.243 released 19 November 2020
  • 2.0.1.225 released 18 September 2020
  • 2.0.1.169 released 14 April 2020
  • 2.0.1.122 released 29 August 2019
  • 2.0.1.115 released 21 August 2019
  • 2.0.1.81 released 29 May 2019
  • 2.0.1.46 released 6 March 2019
  • 2.0.1.20 released 13 December 2018
  • 2.0.1.19 released 12 December 2018
  • 2.0.0.200 released 6 November 2018
  • 2.0.0.192 released 16 October 2018
  • 2.0.0164 released 28 September 2018
  • 2.0.0.120 released 10 August 2018
  • 2.0.0.116 released 30 July 2018
  • 2.0.0.105 released 19 June 2018
  • 2.0.0.71 released 13 April 2018

What is a Recommended Update?

We pursue customer driven design.  This means that we are constantly listening to user feedback to improve our product. Over time, these improvements culminate in a new version which embodies the best of what we have to offer.  This becomes a recommended update.

A Recommended Update refers to the minimum version that should currently be in use.

Are all updates not Recommended Updates?

No. Think of a Recommended Update as a milestone, a major achievement along the way.  In between those milestones can be many smaller, minor updates which are not relevant to all users.

Smaller updates may apply to specific users or issues resolved, but will not necessarily impact on all users.

How do I get this Recommended Update?

All Dynamic updates are available through the online distribution channel and can be obtained by running the Quick Update.  Please see elsewhere for the Quick Update and remember to Refresh after the update is complete.

-Dynamic

Dynamic

Software Update 2.0.1.300

Description: Outlook integration for Windows
Status: Effective immediately
Date: 27 April 2021
Dynamic interface: Two, Core, Front Desk
Version: 2.0.1.300

Starting with version 2.0.1.300 on 27 April 2021, Dynamic can now be set up to monitor Outlook. These activities can be billed directly to the Fee Book.

Dynamic

Software Update 2.0.1.259

Description: Client Billing Documents toggle and Billing Management Report
Status: Effective immediately
Date: 26 February 2021
Dynamic interface: Two, Core, Front Desk
Version: 2.0.1.254

Individual matters may now be set to allow Client Billing. This directly affects Statements and Invoices. The toggle is available in various places for ease of use.

Billing Management Report replaces the General File Detail Report. The client balance as calculate on the Billing Management Report corresponds and can be verified on the Ledger History Statement View and the Statement.

Workflow: it is recommended that for each Fee Earner two reports are printed. A report on files marked for NONE, to clearly identify matters where routine billing documents should not be generated, such as conveyancing and estates. A report marked for DEFAULT to show matters where client billing will take place.

Description: Reconcile Cash Book Import – Advanced
Status: Effective immediately
Date: 21 February 2021
Dynamic interface: Two, Core
Version: 2.0.1.253

A new feature has been added to the import screen. It is now possible to automatically allocate receipts on import.

Description: Fee Book Combo
Status: Effective immediately
Date: 13 February 2021
Dynamic interface: Two, Front Desk
Version: 2.0.1.249

Explanation:

The Fee Book is the most important work area in Dynamic. User feedback over the last few weeks indicated several areas which could be improved.

Fee Book Combo is intended as a single point of entry where important day to day work can be done. The new Fee Book Combo incorporates the existing Fee Book Entries page, File Notes, Agents Journals and Ledger View into a single consolidated workspace reducing the number click and navigating required to get work done. It’s definitely faster.

Dynamic

Software Update 2.0.1.243


Description: Fee Book workflow
Status: Effective immediately
Date: 19 November 2020
Dynamic interface: Two, Front Desk
Version: 2.0.1.243

Explanation:

The Fee Book is the most important work area in Dynamic. User feedback over the last few weeks indicated several areas which could be improved.

Changes were implemented and new feedback started coming in almost immediately. Not everyone liked it, and some functionality changed, in some place only a little bit, and in others a lot. Continuous improvement requires making changes and responding to user feedback. It is our intention to make the Fee Book better than ever. If you have suggestions please let us know.

Time Billing is now simplified and smooth, with only the number of minutes required: the hourly rate should be correct and the final, VAT inclusive amount calculated directly.

Search to Fee Book allows a one touch display of results directly from the Search screen, making for a faster, smoother ride.

Description: Import from Fee Book
Status: Effective immediately
Date: 11 November 2020
Dynamic interface: Two, Core
Version: 2.0.1.240

Explanation:

Import from Fee Book was slow. The new fast import works as before, but in a fraction of a second. Just watch the screen, the import will be done before you can even say “This is really fast“.

🙂

These changes have been affected based on end-user feedback. We would love to hear from you.

Dynamic

Dynamic

Tariff 11 September 2020

A new Court tariff comes into force today.

The Tariff covers the High Court, Magistrates’ Regional and Magistrates’ District Courts. This is also the first comprehensive tariff update since November 2019.

The Tariff is available in the Fee Book and appears as 2020 Sept P&P Scale Gazette 43592.

A Refresh will make the tariff available.

The tariff was published on 7 August 2020 in Gazette No. 43592, Regulation Gazette No. 11156.

Dynamic

Dynamic

How to Enable my Dynamic Profile Pic?


 Ever wondered how to customize your Dynamic Profile Pic?

Each of those little pictures represent somebody already logged in to Dynamic. Those are other people working.

It’s quite simple really. Dynamic is an hybrid cloud based solution, which means it shares a certain number of characteristics with other online products. One of these is the Gravatar.

You can read more about Gravatar on their website.

If you do not have a Gravatar account, don’t worry, Dynamic will automatically create a pixel image from Gravatar, linked to your unique login. Just make sure you use the same login for Gravatar and Dynamic. Please use a different password. 🙂

Unhappy with your current Profile Pic? If you don’t feel like the bee or frog your pixel image represents, or tired of your current Profile Pic, its easy to change. You can easily select an image to upload to Gravatar, and it will automatically refresh in Dynamic. Gravatar uses a WordPress.com account, so you need to complete your registration through WordPress.com.

How to do it

  • Get a new picture ready, on the same device you log in to Gravatar
  • Log in to the Gravatar site
  • Update the profile pic

Yes, it really is that simple!

Once your login is linked to both Gravatar and Dynamic, your profile pic will change.

If you feel the need to force a Gravatar refresh, to show your new image immediately, simply use the Utility > Refresh Gravatar menu option.

Bear in mind that after changing the pic on Gravatar, it may take a few minutes before it becomes available in Dynamic.

Of course the Profile Pics are also enabled for the Dynamic Online Reports.

Make Dynamic your own. Upload your Profile Pic now!

And what about the robots? 🙂

Yes, sometimes you will see a robot image. Those are the robots working tirelessly in the background to make sure everything keeps running smooth.  Just ignore them, they are shy 🙂

Dynamic

Dynamic

Analyzed Transfer

Trust to Business Analyzed Transfer

Show me the money!

Dynamic’s unique new Trust to Business Analyzed Transfer analyzes the funds transferred from Trust to Business and gives an instant breakdown of the nature of these funds.

Disbursements refer to refunds – essentially the business account is being refunded for costs incurred on behalf of the client. These funds cover costs and are not available to be spent.

Fees refer to profit – Yes, we can discuss this extensively, but the Fees we transfer refer to our net earnings, which can be applied to business expenses that do not affect clients: rent, salaries, stationery etc. Fees indicate the financial health of the business.

Why is this important?

Trust to Business Transfers can be extensive and cover many files with transactions broken down over a the entire life time of the account in our books. Understanding the composition of the transfer amount gives immediate insight into (a) which portion is begin refunded and (b) which portion is available to pay expenses. Only the fee portion of a transfer is available to cover expenses. The Disbursement portion is being refunded to the business account, those funds cannot be allocated a second time.

We cannot use refunded Disbursement money to pay expenses. We can only use money from Fees to pay expenses.

Why do you need this now?

The immediate breakdown of cash flow into fees (free cash) and disbursements (refunds) provides insight into the cash stream entering the business and an indicator of financial health.

Introducing Dynamic’s Trust to Business Analyzed Transfer

It works like before, only better.

Balancing the trust by quickly, accurately and responsibly transferring funds between the client’s trust and business ledgers.

Before…

A manual or one-to-one transfer would typical require a single payment from the trust account to the business account. Each transactions required a trust payment and a business receipt. For few accounts, and large sums, this allowed a very high level of control, but creates unnecessary risks concerning accuracy and duplication. Further it leads to higher than necessary bank charges.

Other Systems

Custom attorneys accounting solutions provide for various degrees of semi-automated trust to business transfer mechanisms. Ideally such a system should transfer funds from trust to cover any business transactions, while preventing trust debits from occurring and neutralizing business credits. Not all systems correct for business credits. A single “Transfer from trust” entry was not very informative, and only automated an otherwise tedious accounting process.

Dynamic’s Analyzed Transfer

Dynamic’s transfer system prioritized the trust.  This means any trust debit balances are corrected first.  It also scans for and corrects business credit balances. The magic, however, happens when the system detects fee transactions on the ledger. Dynamic analyzes the transfer amount and identifies the fees and disbursements. This distinction is noted on the individual ledger accounts, is available for scrutiny on detailed reports and forms the building block of a basic cash flow forecast report.

TRANSFER DISBURSEMENTS from trust

TRANSFER FEES from trust

The accuracy of the analyzed transfer makes business cash flow management easy.

The transfer auto-corrects, once the Transfer button is pressed, it will write up the ledger and check for corrections.  Transfer all the items on screen immediately until the report shows 0.00 to transfer.

VERIFY TRUST INTEGRITY

Trust integrity is confirmed by comparing the post-reconciliation cash book balance to the trust ledgers. This is easily done on the Management Snapshot, this is an extract based on formal reports.

‣ Client Balance List

‣ Trial Balance

‣ Cash Book Display

Fast. Accurate. Reliable.

Have fun.

-Dynamic

Dynamic

A Fee Book Story

Mary, the attorney, was at home, surrounded by her files.  It was late at night, her household was sleeping. It was that time of night when it was quiet enough to work, and not so late as to get cold and tired.

Mary picked up another file.

She read the cover, to remind herself of what they were doing. Paged to the back and systematically started scanning each of the pages in the file.

Every now and then she would inspect the client ledger on the file, in order to verify that the professional work done had been accurately converted to an accounting transaction and recorded on the client’s statement.

Every now and then a missing item would crop up. A “Fee receipt and perusal of something or another…” had been omitted, slipped through the cracks of outdated systems. Every item omitted impacted her cash flow, and the rework and checking was a waste of time. Capturing fees for work done on the go,  in real time would prevent omissions. Mary worked hard, but it seemed as if there just was never enough time to get everything done. As the sole owner of her firm, Mary did almost everything by herself. She had a receptionist who also did some typing, and the clerk who seemed to be more interest in taking selfies than actual legal work. Mary’s firm was small, but it was hers.

Time to make a new fee note.

Mary reached for her Fee Book.

The Fee Book was an old school black, hard cover counter book. Battered, it almost looked ancient. It was not old, merely well used, the pages covered in dates, fee notes and amounts. Some lines had been struck through where the entries had been carried over to the ledger.

The stories those pages could tell!

But Mary’s thoughts were not sentimental.

Mary was annoyed. She had to turn pages in the file to locate client statements and ledger reports, she had to write new fee notes by hand. And where billing was on tariff, she had to pick up the tariff sheets to get the correct tariff items. For commercial work she had to make special notes. Every activity should be noted to keep track of the value of the work done, but not billed as individual items.

This is not working for me, thought Mary.

Too many pages. Too many duplicate reports. Multiple reports, supplied by different people, always out of date by the time she got to read it.  Like so many other small law firms, cash flow management always required attention. The first step was converting professional activities into billable hours, and then making sure clients were invoiced regularly, with enough easy to read reports to follow up on outstanding accounts.

What if, Mary thought, there was a better way?

What would it be like, thought Mary, if there was a system, designed for lawyers, which allowed capturing all business and trust transactions on a single accounting ledger?

A system which supported the lawyer’s professional activities. All the transactions clear and integrated so that it was easy to see exactly what was going on. A system with a single central, cloud based Fee Book, so that all fees were immediately, directly written to a single sheet. A Fee Book where events could be captured as they happened, and not months later. A Fee Book that allowed for Memo Fees for the commercial files, and To Be Reviewed Fees for the work the attorney had to check.

A cloud based Fee Book that could be easily managed and imported into the accounting Ledgers without retyping.

With pro forma invoices for clients who insisted on changing the fee descriptions, and itemized invoices detailing all the work done. With recurring monthly statements and Accounts Receivable trackers for those clients who always paid late.

A system that does all the things expected of an accounting system, and a smart Trust to Business transfer feature to balance the Ledgers.

A system that supported law firm operations on a daily basis, reducing the time required to manage the business, allowing more professional time to write fees. A system accessible from anywhere, not just the office, with accurate, real-time reports.

And if the Fee Book is online, thought Mary, maybe her clerk would actual write fees on his cell phone too!

The good news is that such a system is available. A system which is

  • Simple to use
  • Professional
  • Elegant
  • Cloud based
  • Intuitive
  • Affordable accounting solution, designed for
  • Lawyers

Dynamic
Lawyers Trust Account
Software

Dynamic

Import Transactions from CSV

Import from CSV

This option is listed in the Processing menu.

Import from CSV
Import from CSV

 

Typical applications of this function include the following

 

Financial Year End entries are easily generated from Income and Expense reports and can conveniently update all affected accounts through a single import. Use Journal type “BJA”

 

Bad Debt reversals can easily be managed with type “BDX”. Debit the Bad Debt account and credit the relevant client account.

 

Off line users can maintain spreadsheets with information, such as Fees which can then be conveniently imported into the system. For Fees use type “BFA”

 

Recoverable Disbursements may be captured manually or loaded from monitoring software, such as telephone or copier solutions. Use Journal type “BJA” or Petty Cash “BPC”

 

The various transaction types are all ledger based and it is not possible to update a Cash Book using this import.

 

The Processing: Import from CSV menu item allows the direct processing of transactions from a pre-formatted, prepared CSV file.

The file must follow a layout similar to this:
BookType, Matter1, Business2, Description1, Description2, Date, Amount, VAT, Voucher

CSV template in Excel
CSV template in Excel


BookType Users familiar with import of batch transactions in any suite of legal software should be comfortable with this type of file and layout.

Contains a valid transaction type. Only Ledger type transactions are support. Bank transactions such as receipts and cheques cannot be processed here.
Valid options are
BJA – Business Journals
BFA – Business Fees
BFX – Business Fee Reversals
BDX – Business Credit Notes
BPC – Business Petty Cash
BBF – Business Balance Brought Forward
TJA – Trust journals

Matter1
An existing ledger account number. The account to be debited.

Business2
An existing ledger account number. The account to be credited.

Description1
Transaction narrative for the account to be debited.

Description2
Transaction narrative for the account to be credited.

Date
A valid date in yyyy-mm-dd format.

Amount
A valid transaction amount. 0.00 transactions are not processed.

VAT
Contains a valid VAT type.
Valid options are
N*0 – No VAT
I*10.00 – Input VAT at 10%
O*17.5 – Output VAT at 17.5%

Voucher
Optional. If blank will be replaced with the word “Import”

 

Business Balance Brought Forward BBF types are suitable for bringing forward balances from third party accounting records.

 

Dynamic

Dynamic

How to Process Card Purchases

Law firms, like other businesses, often use card purchases for a variety of business expenses.  These cards are often linked to the primary business banking account.  Transactions are debited to the card as they occur, and settled once a month with a bank fund transfer to the card.

Assume a Credit Card used for Business purposes.

The steps below show how this should be processed on DynamicLTA.

Required

We will require the following:

  • Open an Current Liability account named “Card Purchases” for the card.  Do not use a cash book for the card.  This Current Liability account is a clearing account and should not carry an opening balance. Eg account number #98001
  • The Expense, or Asset account to which the purchase will be allocated. Expense accounts typically start with #91xxx, #92xxx or #93xxx numbers. Assets start with #95xxx or #96xxx accounts numbers.
  • In this example we will use account number #98001 as our Card Purchases account.

Note that card related purchases  only affect the business.

Card Purchases
Card Purchases

When a card purchase is made, the purchase will be supported by a cashier’s slip, and will subsequently reflect on the card statement. In our example  we need to purchase a new kettle for the office. In this example the kettle is treated as an expense.

Process

Process the following transaction:

  • Business Journal, debit the “Office Equipment” account, with the amount on the slip, and credit the “Card Purchases” account. In our example the Office Equipment account is #95000.
  • This reflects the expense incurred for purchasing office equipment, and a credit for the card purchase – we need to settle the short term credit provided by the card at month end.

Office Equipment and Card Purchases
Office Equipment and Card Purchases

Post Business Journal
Post Business Journal

At the end of the month, when the settlement transaction takes place, funds will move out of the Business Bank Account, to settle the balance of the card  account. The card account is not a cash book in our system, we only use the Current Liability account named “Card Purchases”.

Process the following transaction:

  • Business Cheque against the “Card Purchases” account.  This debit the ledger and update the Business Cash Book.
  • After this payment, the “Card Purchases” account should be nil and the Business Cash Book reflect the outstanding settlement on the bank reconciliation.

Card Purchase Bank Settlement
Card Purchase Bank Settlement

This is a simplified example.  Typically the bank settlement will be for a larger amount, and include bank charges.  Process this to the normal expense accounts.

It is not necessary to process these transactions manually. Please note that the bank account statement can be imported using Import from CSV. This is not a cash book import. Please see the Import from CSV section in the Help File.

Proceed with the bank reconciliation as usual.

The “Card Purchases” account is a clearing account.  It only serves as a place holder until such time as the card is settled.

-Dynamic