Dashboards, Saving Customised Views and Full Screen Matter Cards

Modified on Mon, 12 Aug, 2024 at 11:34 AM

Overview

In this guide we provide an overview of the Dashboards available in EvolveGo Cloud and explain what each widget displays and how they may be customisable. We also provide instructions on how you can save your customised views of many of the navigation screens.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Overview
Manager Dashboard
Fee Earner Dashboard
Accountant Dashboard
Support Staff Dashboard
Customising your Dashboard
Saving your preferred page layout (column preferences)
Full Page Matter Cards

Manager Dashboard

Provides functionality for practicing partners and team managers to allow them to easily resume work for clients and matters they are responsible for, but also provides key metrics for the team, so they can take action with any team members or manage client relationships before any issues arise. Widgets include My Clients, My Matters, KPIs, Aged WIP, Aged Debtors, Recent Activities, Watch List and Cost Disclosure.

Explorer

The Explorer widget provides a quick access list to the user’s clients and matters. By default, the list filters to clients where the user is the Person Responsible on a client’s matter. The client card can be opened by clicking within the cell.

This widget allows the user to search and access clients and matters from one central point. Users can mark their favourite matters and access recently viewed clients and matters with ease.

KPIs

The KPIs widget provides fee earners with a quick snapshot view of how they are tracking against key performance metrics for the month to date.

On the top left is an arch graph that indicates billable WIP recorded by the user, tracked against their WIP budget for the month. As WIP is recorded, this arch will fill with aqua to visually indicate progress for the month to target. The previous month’s billable WIP figure is also displayed underneath for reference. The Target and Variance dollar amounts, as well as a percentage figure, are also clearly indicated to the right of the graph.

The figures will default to this month, however can be adjusted by using the Month arrows on the top right of the screen.

On the right of the widget displays a Utilisation graph, representing the breakdown of recorded time into billable, and non-billable. Hovering over either piece of the graph will provide a figure of the number of hours within that category.

The bottom left widget is a simple line graph which represents how the user is tracking against their budget for Billed Fees for the month. Similarly, bottom right of the widget displays how the user is tracking against their budget for Collected Fees for the month. In each instance, dollar amounts for current month actual and target are clearly displayed, with a percentage figure also calculated. The previous months figure is also provided for reference.

The fees billed and collected figures are drillable, providing an itemised breakdown at bill number level. This allows all fee earners to review their own performance data, without the need to run financial reports.

A a target tolerance threshold of 85% is set by default and can be altered by customising the dashboard.

When fee actuals are below tolerance the target indicators on the widget will be coloured red, when within tolerance and 99% they’ll be amber, before displaying in green once at 100%.

Team and Firm KPI's

Team leaders, managers and partners have access to review team and firm level values via the KPI widget. This is a configurable option within the KPI widget settings, however, is restricted by user access.

To access team level figures, a user must either be assigned the ‘Team Lead’ role or be in a role that has ‘Reporting – Unrestricted’ access (this would include system roles Manager, Partner, Accountant).

Access to firm level figures is only available to users in roles with ‘Reporting – Unrestricted’.

Users that only have access to team level figures will not see the option for ‘All Teams’ in the settings area, likewise users who may only see their own data will not see these options at all (it will default to always being ‘Myself’).

System Dashboards

The Fee Earner dashboard will always display the figures for the individual user.
The Manager dashboard will display the figures for the highest access level the user has.

Aged WIP

The Aged WIP widget gives you a visual representation of the spread of unbilled items by Responsible Person, so that you can take actions. This is important as the likelihood of billing the WIP decreases with the age of the work. The breakdown will assist you to take necessary actions to chase the Responsible Person to ensure prompt invoicing is occurring.

In the top left of the widget you will see a Total WIP figure, and below, the distribution of the unbilled WIP between the configured age brackets. Each bracket has a total WIP value, a % of the total WIP and also an aqua bar providing a visual representation of the size of the category. By default the widget will display the Aged WIP broken down into age brackets of <30 days, <60 days, <90 days and 90+ days. The number of age brackets (between 2 and 4), and ranges can be customised. See Customising your Dashboard below.

To view the detail behind the Aged WIP brackets, click onto one of the aqua bars or total values shown, and the Aged WIP Report will open. The Aged WIP Report will be set up to group the Work Items by age bracket, then Responsible Person, Client, and Matter. From here you can perform further investigations or actions.

The right side of the widget will display a breakdown of the Responsible Persons with the highest contribution to the Aged WIP of the firm. The circle graph to the left of the Top Responsible Person list allows you to hover over the different colours to view the value of Aged WIP relating to each Top Responsible Person. The circle graph can be filtered to view the values for a selection of Top Responsible Persons, or only one of the Top Responsible Persons, simply by clicking on the name in the list for those you don’t wish to see. As staff are unselected, they will show as grey in the listing, and the circle graph representation will update to remove their data. By default the widget will display the top 5 Responsible Persons, but this number can be customised (between 2 and 5), or the graph removed altogether. See Customising your Dashboard below.

Aged Debtors

The Aged Debtors widget provides a breakdown by age bracket of the outstanding debt owed to the firm, being invoices for services provided. This is important as the likelihood of recovering fees decreases with the age of the debt. The breakdown will assist you to take necessary actions to chase the client, or take appropriate client relationship management steps.

In the top left of the widget you will see a Total Debt figure and below, the distribution of the debt between the relevant age brackets. Each bracket has a total debt value, a % of the total debt and also an aqua bar providing a representation of the size of the category. By default the widget will display the Aged Debtors broken down into age brackets of <30 days, <60 days, <90 days and 90+ days. The number of age brackets (between 2 and 4), and ranges can be customised. See Customising your Dashboard below.

To view the detail behind each Aged Debt bracket, click onto one of the aqua bars or total values shown, and an Aged Debtors list will open. The Aged Debtors screen will be set up to group the invoices by age bracket, then Matter. From here you can perform further investigations or actions.

The right side of the widget will display a breakdown of the Top Clients with the highest contribution to the Aged Debt of the firm. The circle graph to the left of the Top Client list allows you to hover over the different colours to view the value of Aged Debt relating to each Top Client. The circle graph can be filtered to view the values for a selection of Top Clients, or only one of the Top Clients, simply by clicking on the name in the list for those you don’t wish to see. As clients are unselected, they will show as grey in the listing, and the circle graph representation will update to remove their data. By default the widget will display the top 5 clients, but this number can be customised (between 2 and 5). You can also change so the data is broken down by Responsible Person instead of client, or the graph can be removed altogether. See Customising your Dashboard below to learn how to make customisations.

Recent Activities

The Recent Activities widget shows a list of recent actions taken by the user. A hyperlink back to the item created, updated or cancelled is available, providing a quick access shortcut to get back to the item.

Watch List

The Watch List widget provides an overview of the status of invoices, requisitions and matter to matter transfers that have been submitted for approval, and where they currently sit within the approval process. By default, the Watch List widget will filter to the Approvals options, which are:

Awaiting other’s approval
- allows the user to monitor items they have submitted for approval by other users
- users can keep track of items that may need following up
Awaiting my approval
- items submitted by other users that require action to be taken by the user
- review, then approve or reject requests
Approved and ready for action
- items the user has submitted that have been approved by other approvers, and are ready for further action
Rejected by others
- items the user has submitted that have been rejected by an approver and require the current user’s attention to rectify or cancel

Selecting one of the above will then open the Approvals page, filtered to show a list of items in that category.

It is also possible to toggle the Watch List view by selecting the small downward arrow in the top right of the widget. Options available to filter by are:

All – will list all options under each category
Requests – will show pending Purchase Requests, Payment Requests, and Matter to matter transfer requests
Releases – will show Purchases awaiting release and Payments awaiting release
History - serving as a short-term audit trail, this filter view will show items that the user approved or rejected, requested or released, or were approved by others during the past 30 days

In any of the filter views, selecting one of the transaction types will open the relevant listing page, with the appropriate filters applied.

Cost Disclosure

The Cost Disclosure widget provides a snapshot of the number of matters at the various stages of Fees to Estimate status, bringing to the user’s attention matters where appropriate action and relationship management needs to take place. Each matter is placed into its highest risk category. By default the list will filter to show matters where the user is the Person Responsible.

The four categories are:

Matters without cost estimate
- Any matters that do not have a either a fee or disbursement estimate recorded
Matters under warning threshold
- Ideally where all matters should be
Matters over the warning threshold
- Where either the fees or disbursements have exceeded the respective warning threshold and are approaching the estimate figure
- Action is recommended to update clients and provide a new estimate if needed
Matters over estimate
- Where either the fees or disbursements have exceeded their respective estimates on the matter
- Attention for fee earners to take action
- Attention for Partners to take action with fee earners in their team, or their clients

Selecting one of the categories will open a matters listing screen filtered to only show matters within that category.

Note: The Disbursement Warning Threshold and Fee Warning Threshold percentages can be configured in Settings. By default these are set to 70%.

Fee Earner Dashboard

Designed for lawyers so they can quickly continue work on matters, manage approvals, and have a constant reminder of their performance targets. Widgets include My Clients, My Matters, Billing, KPIs, Watch List and Cost Disclosure.

Explorer

This widget allows the user to search and access clients and matters from one central point. Users can mark their favourite matters and access recently viewed clients and matters with ease.

Billing

The Billing widget provides two separate points of view of the status of unbilled and billed, fees and disbursements. The bar graphs serve as visual indicators of the quantum of fees or disbursements at each stage of the billing cycle. The billing cycle stages titles, provide a number indicating how many matters are at each stage of the billing cycle. By default, the widget will show figures for matters where the user is the Person Assisting.

The billing cycle stages are:

Matters with unbilled WIP – billable fees and disbursements, currently unbilled
- serves as an action list to prepare for the next billing cycle
Invoices awaiting approval or finalisation – pending fees and disbursements, are on a draft bill
- serves as an action list of items in the drafting process
Invoices issued in the last 30 days – fees and disbursements have been billed and the invoice is not yet due
- provides an overview of recently issued invoices
Overdue invoices – fees and disbursements have been billed and the invoice is overdue
- serves as a reminder for credit control

Hovering over any part of the bar graph will bring up a key that indicates the percentage of WIP / fees that each billing cycle stage contributes. Clicking any of the billing cycle stages will open the Billing Dashboard, where various actions can be taken. You can navigate between the various stages via the headings at the top.

KPIs

The KPIs widget has been designed to provide fee earners with a quick snapshot view of how they are tracking against key performance metrics for the month to date.

Top right of the widget displays a Utilisation graph, representing the breakdown of recorded time into billable, and non-billable. Hovering over either piece of the graph will provide a figure of the number of hours within that category.

Bottom left of the widget is a simple line graph which represents how the user is tracking against their budget for Billed Fees for the month. Similarly, bottom right of the widget displays how the user is tracking against their budget for Collected Fees for the month. In each instance, dollar amounts for current month actual and target are clearly displayed, with a percentage figure also calculated. The previous months figure is also provided for reference.

Users are able to click on the View Work Items link in the bottom right of the widget, which will open a work items list filtered to only show billable work items for the current user and current month.

Watch List

Awaiting other’s approval
- allows the user to monitor items they have submitted for approval by other users
- users can keep track of items that may need following up
Awaiting my approval
- items submitted by other users that require action to be taken by the user
- review, then approve or reject requests
Approved and ready for action
- items the user has submitted that have been approved by other approvers, and are ready for further action
Rejected by others
- items the user has submitted that have been rejected by an approver and require the current user’s attention to rectify or cancel

Selecting one of the above will then open the Approvals page, filtered to show a list of items in that category.

It is also possible to toggle the Watch List view by selecting the small downward arrow in the top right of the widget. Options available to filter by are:

All – will list all options under each category
Requests – will show pending Purchase Requests, Payment Requests, and Matter to matter transfer requests
Releases – will show Purchases awaiting release and Payments awaiting release
History - serving as a short-term audit trail, this filter view will show items that the user approved or rejected, requested or released, or were approved by others during the past 30 days

In any of the filter views, selecting one of the transaction types will open the relevant listing page, with the appropriate filters applied.

Cost Disclosure

The four categories are:

Matters without cost estimate
- Any matters that do not have a either a fee or disbursement estimate recorded
Matters under warning threshold
- Ideally where all matters should be
Matters over the warning threshold
- Where either the fees or disbursements have exceeded the respective warning threshold and are approaching the estimate figure
- Action is recommended to update clients and provide a new estimate if needed
Matters over estimate
- Where either the fees or disbursements have exceeded their respective estimates on the matter
- Attention for fee earners to take action

Selecting one of the categories will open a matters listing screen filtered to only show matters within that category.

Note: The Disbursement Warning Threshold and Fee Warning Threshold percentages can be configured in Settings. By default these are set to 70%.

Accountant Dashboard

Allows the accounting team to manage the firm’s cashflow, perform debtor management, approvals, banking, and keep an eye on system activities such as automated messages, billing, and statement runs.

Aged Debtors

In the top of the widget you will see a Total Debt figure and below, the distribution of the debt between the relevant age brackets. Each bracket has a total debt value, a % of the total debt and also an aqua bar providing a representation of the size of the category. By default the widget will display the Aged Debtors broken down into age brackets of <30 days, <60 days, <90 days and 90+ days. The number of age brackets (between 2 and 4), and ranges can be customised.

It is also possible to turn on a pie chart which will display a breakdown of the Top Clients (or Top Responsible Person) with the highest contribution to the Aged Debt of the firm (see Manager's Dashboard Aged Debtors). See Customising your Dashboard below to learn how to customise widgets.

Aged Creditors

The Aged Creditors widget provides a breakdown by due date of the creditors the firm owes, being invoices for services provided to your firm, whether matter or non-matter related. The widget will help you to manage cashflow by highlighting upcoming and overdue creditor invoices.

The top of the widget will display a total number of creditor invoices your firm currently owes, a well as the amount owed. Below those totals, creditors are represented in due date brackets of 'Not Due' (green), 'Due next 14 days' (yellow) and 'Overdue' (red). You can click on any of the brackets to open a list of creditor invoices for the selected due date bracket.

In the lower part of the widget, you will see a breakdown of creditors on a billing and collection basis. This is to assist with the collection of disbursements as the firm does not want to be out of pocket. The creditors are broken down into groupings of Unbilled, or Billed and uncollected.

Message Quarantine

The Message Quarantine widget provides you with an overview to easily manage automatically generated (system-generated) emails that are client facing. The Message Quarantine feature allows you to hold these automatically generated emails for a period of time to allow for manual review. When quarantined, messages will not be sent until the quarantine hours have expired, or the messages have been manually approved.

The Message Quarantine Widget is broken up into 4 distinct reporting areas being:

Messages scheduled today
- Items for attention that will go out at the end of the holding period, or can be fast-tracked by selecting the tick to the right of the message line.
Messages scheduled for later
- Upcoming system messages that do not require urgent attention but can be reviewed ahead of time
Messages sent since yesterday
- Allows you to view the history of system messages sent out and also for earlier periods in time
Blocked and undelivered
- Allows you to view those system messages that have either been manually excluded, or the system message delivery has failed and there may be updates required on the entity contact details.

To view the detailed breakdown behind each reporting area, simply click into the relevant section. The Quarantined Message screen will be pre-filtered to reflect only the relevant messages. From the Quarantined Message screen, you can view the message and all details pertaining to the message, including message type and send date and time.

Note: The number of hours that messages remain in quarantine can be configured in Settings. The feature also allows you to nominate an Allow List for emails that you would like to be exempt from the quarantine (will be sent automatically when generated), which could be used for example for internal messages, and a Block List, where emails added will never receive any email notifications from the system.

Office Cash Accounts & Client/Trust Cash Accounts

The Office Cash Accounts & Trust Cash Accounts widgets allow you to display and enter into any Cash Accounts set up under a selected Journal.

For each account, the widget provides key information such as the Name of the Accounts, current balances and last reconciled dates. To access the Cashbook Entries screen, select the relevant Cash Account tile, and if you would like to view the Journal Transactions Screen click on the Aqua ‘Trust/Office Journal’ hyperlink.

Pending Transfers

The Pending transfers widget assists you by providing a single place to quickly make transfers, such as approved Trust to Office transfers. Under the heading of ‘Invoices ready to be paid from trust’ you will be able to see all Trust Cash Accounts with available transfers, so that you can click into the appropriate Account and perform a transfer. This widget provides efficiencies by removing any manual steps involved in performing a trust to office transfer by collating prospective transfers for you so that you can simply action.

For each Trust Cash Account, you can also see the balance of the Trust Cash Account in green and then over to the right a total value of transfers available to make for that account and a number of Invoices the total value is made up of.

By clicking on the Trust Cash Account, you will be taken to the Bulk Trust Office Transfer screen for the relevant Trust Cash Account. From here you will be able to action the trust to office transfers of your choosing, where the matters have an outstanding invoice payable over 7 days (default) and a Trust Balance available.

In the bottom panel of the widget, you also have the ability to view and action Payment Requests and Purchase Requests and also to see a history of the Trust to Office transfers executed.

Billing Run

The Billing Run Widget provides you with an overview of the current Firm Billing Run. The data reflected in the widget comes from the firm’s default billing cycle, where periodic billing schedules are being utilised. When the billing run initiates, the system will generate a draft invoice (depending on approval settings) for each matter that has billable WIP and has opted in to the Firm Default Billing basis (found in the Matter card).

The widget will show you progress on how many draft invoices have been created based on the expected amount, as well as the value on these invoices. Any that have failed to generate will show as skipped.

In the top left of the Billing Run widget you will find a count of the number of matters draft invoices have been processed for, compared to the total number due to be processed.

In the top right of the widget you will also be able to see when the Billing Run was started and when the next scheduled Billing Run is due to commence.

If you would like to see the schedule settings behind the Billing Run, select the aqua Manage link to be taken to the scheduled tasks screen.

Note: Firm Billing Schedules for periodic billing can be set up in Settings under Matter Billing Defaults. Schedules can also be set at a client level from client cards, and at a matter level from matter cards.

Statement Run

The Statement Run widget provides you with an overview of the status of the different types of Statements that have been set up to run on an automated schedule throughout the system. The statement runs available to be automated include the Statement of Account, Trust Statement, CMA Statement and Investment Account Statement.

This widget will provide you with a snapshot of the details of the last run date and next schedule. Law firms are expected to generate different types of statements as either part of their debt recovery process, or meeting regulatory requirements, so this widget assists you in managing these routine tasks.

Note: Schedules for the above statements are set up under Reports within Settings and can be amended at any time. Schedules can also be set at a client and matter level, dependent on the statement type.

Watch List

Awaiting other’s approval
- allows the user to monitor items they have submitted for approval by other users
- users can keep track of items that may need following up
Awaiting my approval
- items submitted by other users that require action to be taken by the user
- review, then approve or reject requests
Approved and ready for action
- items the user has submitted that have been approved by other approvers, and are ready for further action
Rejected by others
- items the user has submitted that have been rejected by an approver and require the current user’s attention to rectify or cancel

Selecting one of the above will then open the Approvals page, filtered to show a list of items in that category.

It is also possible to toggle the Watch List view by selecting the small downward arrow in the top right of the widget. Options available to filter by are:

All – will list all options under each category
Requests – will show pending Purchase Requests, Payment Requests, and Matter to matter transfer requests
Releases – will show Purchases awaiting release and Payments awaiting release
History - serving as a short-term audit trail, this filter view will show items that the user approved or rejected, requested or released, or were approved by others during the past 30 days

In any of the filter views, selecting one of the transaction types will open the relevant listing page, with the appropriate filters applied.

Support Staff Dashboard

Designed to allow support staff to easily move between the multiple matters and clients they are supporting.

Explorer

This widget allows the user to search and access clients and matters from one central point. Users can mark their favourite matters and access recently viewed clients and matters with ease.

Billing

The billing cycle stages are:

Matters with unbilled WIP – billable fees and disbursements, currently unbilled
- serves as an action list to prepare for the next billing cycle
Invoices awaiting approval or finalisation – pending fees and disbursements, are on a draft bill
- serves as an action list of items in the drafting process
Invoices issued in the last 30 days – fees and disbursements have been billed and the invoice is not yet due
- provides an overview of recently issued invoices
Overdue invoices – fees and disbursements have been billed and the invoice is overdue
- serves as a reminder for credit control

Watch List

Awaiting other’s approval
- allows the user to monitor items they have submitted for approval by other users
- users can keep track of items that may need following up
Awaiting my approval
- items submitted by other users that require action to be taken by the user
- review, then approve or reject requests
Approved and ready for action
- items the user has submitted that have been approved by other approvers, and are ready for further action
Rejected by others
- items the user has submitted that have been rejected by an approver and require the current user’s attention to rectify or cancel

Selecting one of the above will then open the Approvals page, filtered to show a list of items in that category.

It is also possible to toggle the Watch List view by selecting the small downward arrow in the top right of the widget. Options available to filter by are:

All – will list all options under each category
Requests – will show pending Purchase Requests, Payment Requests, and Matter to matter transfer requests
Releases – will show Purchases awaiting release and Payments awaiting release
History - serving as a short-term audit trail, this filter view will show items that the user approved or rejected, requested or released, or were approved by others during the past 30 days

In any of the filter views, selecting one of the transaction types will open the relevant listing page, with the appropriate filters applied.

Cost Disclosure

The four categories are:

Matters without cost estimate
- Any matters that do not have a either a fee or disbursement estimate recorded
Matters under warning threshold
- Ideally where all matters should be
Matters over the warning threshold
- Where either the fees or disbursements have exceeded the respective warning threshold and are approaching the estimate figure
- Action is recommended to update clients and provide a new estimate if needed
Matters over estimate
- Where either the fees or disbursements have exceeded their respective estimates on the matter
- Attention for fee earners to take action

Selecting one of the categories will open a matters listing screen filtered to only show matters within that category.

Note: The Disbursement Warning Threshold and Fee Warning Threshold percentages can be configured in Settings. By default these are set to 70%.

Recent Activities

Customising your Dashboard

Each widget that is available on the Dashboards has a set of default options around the data the widget will display, but they all have customisations you can make. Likewise, each Dashboard has a default layout and set of widgets, but you are also able to create a customised Dashboard with the widgets you would like to see.

To enter "Edit" mode, from the Dashboards screen select the aqua 'Edit Dashboard' button in the top right. You will see all widgets then have a settings cog in the top right corner. To view the options available for each widget (noted in the widget descriptions above), click the settings cog and select how you would like data within that widget displayed. You can also resize widgets, rearrange the position of the widgets, and even remove or add a widget, so you can make your Dashboard look and feel exactly as you would like it.

Once you have completed all the customisations and your Dashboard is looking as you want it, click the aqua Save button in the top right. You will be prompted to give your new Dashboard a name, and a description to help you remember why you set the Dashboard up the way you have. From this screen you can also set your customised Dashboard to be your default every time you navigate to the Dashboards screen.

Saving your preferred page layout (column preferences)

It is possible to customise each of the Directory, Matters, Purchases, Journals and Invoices screens to show the columns of information you are interested in, and you can also resize and reorder the columns to make the navigation screens work for you.

If you hover over any column heading, you will see a menu icon to the right of the column name. Click this icon and the column menu will display. If you click on the icon to the right of the menu icon, you will be presented with the list of columns that are available to be brought in to the current navigation screen. Simply tick on or off the columns you wish to see in your view.

Once you have selected, resized and repositioned your columns, you can save the current layout. In the top right, underneath any aqua action buttons, you will see a heading of My Views with the title of the current view you are on. Select the drop down arrow to the right and select 'Create New View'. You will be prompted to give your customised view a name, and a description to help you remember why you set up the view the way you have. You can also set this customised view to be your preferred view each time you navigate to the screen.

Full Page Matter Cards

When initially opened, matter cards open in compact view, providing you a list of actions to take, and an overview of the matter, client and financial position. You can also open matters in full page mode either on the current browser tab (1), or on a new browser tab (2), by selecting the relevant button at the top of the matter card.

Whereas in compact mode selecting one of the matter actions will open the relevant screen in a new side panel, in full page mode, as you navigate through the various matter action pages, the "workspace" of the matter card will be populated with the relevant information.