WIP Report

This article explains the WIP (Work In Progress) report. 

 

 

The WIP report provides breakdown and summary options to view current work in progress. The report displays values for fees and expenses (disbursements) that have yet to be billed. This is useful to see the amounts that can or will be billed in the future. The WIP report offers various filters and layout options to display the information that is most pertinent to your needs. This is the report to see the value of unbilled fees and expenses by a client, matter, matter type, responsible lawyer, and/or bill type. 

NOTE: By default, the WIP report only shows billable entries for Active matters. There is, however, an advanced configuration option to also display non-billable entries as well as inactive/closed matters. 

Accessing the WIP Report

The WIP report is located at Reports > Billing Reports.

Report Configuration Options

There are Basic options to quickly display report information. There are also Advanced options for more granular filters and layout options.

Basic

Filters

Option	Description
Date Range	This will set the range that the time/fee entries were created on. For example, if you wanted to see the fee entries that were created in July but not yet billed you would enter 1 July in the first box and 31 July in the second.

Layout Options

Option	Description
Show matter summary	The report will include all the matters that have WIP entered within the date range that is still unbilled and will detail how much in fees and expenses are owed for each.
Show client summary	The report will include all the clients that have WIP entered within the date range that is still unbilled and will detail how much in fees and expenses are owed for each.
Show firm summary	The report will include a section that will show all fees and expenses entered within the date range that is still unbilled.

 

Advanced

Filters

The filters applied will combine to filter out results. For example, if you filter by the client 'Mrs Wilson' and the matter type 'Estate Planning' only WIP from the matters that are Estate Planning AND where Mrs Wilson is the client will be displayed.

Option	Description
Client	Only WIP for a matter where the nominated contact is the client will show in the report.  You can add more than one contact to include WIP for matters where either of the contacts is the client.
Responsible lawyer	Only WIP for a matter where the nominated contact is the responsible lawyer will show in the report.  You can add more than one contact to include WIP for matters where either of the contacts is the responsible lawyer.
Matter type	Only WIP for matters of the nominated type will show in the report. You can add more than one matter type at once.
Matter	Only WIP for the nominated matters will show in the report.  You can add more than one matter to include WIP from any of the matters.
Billing arrangement	Only WIP entered against matters that are set to the nominated Billing arrangement will be included in the report.  You can select more than one type.
Billing behavior	Only WIP entered with the nominated Billing arrangement will be included in the report.  You can select more than one behavior.
Include inactive/closed matters	When switched on, any matter that is inactive or closed but has unbilled WIP on it will be included in the report.
Include entries confirmed as non-billable	When switched on, any time/fee entries that have been entered as non-billable will still be included in the report.

Layout Options

Option	Description
Show matter type summary	When switched on, the report will include a section that will show the WIP broken down by what type of matter it is associated with.
Show responsible lawyer summary	When switched on, the report will include a section that will show the WIP broken down by the responsible lawyer for the matter it is associated with.
Show bill type summary	When switched on, the report will include a section that will show the WIP broken down by the Billing arrangement type for the matter it is assigned to.

Producing the WIP Report

Option	Description
On screen (HTML)	This option displays the report results on your current screen
PDF	This option launches a print dialog from a PDF version of the report. To download as PDF, select Save as PDF in the Print > Destination dropdown on the print dialog screen.
MS Excel	This option downloads an xlsx, MS Excel, file to your computer. This is a great option to perform further calculations in a spreadsheet format.
Save XLSX file to a matter	After you have selected to run the report in MS Excel you can choose to save the XLSX file directly to a matter using this button.
Save PDF file to a matter	After you have selected to run the report in PDF you can choose to save the PDF directly to a matter using this button.  TIP: Sometimes the PDF viewer will display over this option on your screen, to see the option to save to a matter close the preview screen.

Understanding the Output of the WIP Report

NOTE: Using the three output options will generate the same information in the selected format. For the purposes of this explanation, we will use images from the On Screen (HTML) output.

Output Options (On Screen Only) and Header Information 

Option	Description
Reload	This button will re-generate the report. This can be useful if changes are being made while viewing the report to see the difference between before and after the changes.
Print	This will launch your browser's print dialog. The behavior and display of the dialog are dependent upon your browser and workstation settings.
Excel	Downloads the report in xlsx format.
PDF	Downloads the report in PDF format.
Show settings button	Displays the configuration options for the report. Once displayed, the configuration options can be hidden by selecting the Hide settings button.
Date Range	Displays the date range, selected in the configuration options, for information displayed on the report.
Billing behavior	Displays the Billing behavior(s) selected in Advanced configuration options. This option is set to "Bill" by default.
Layout options	Displays which layout options have been selected in the configuration options
Generated stamp	Displays the name of the user who generated the report, as well as the date the report was generated
Addition header information	Additional header information is displayed when configuration options are selected. These can include: Client Responsible lawyer Matter Type Matter Billing arrangement Options

When generated, the report will have seven columns, one for the item, five that break down how historic the WIP is, and a Total.

The purpose of the columns that break down how historic the WIP is will give insight into how long the WIP has been sitting on the mater and not been billed.  The options are in days.

For each, you will see the total value of either the fees or the expenses in the number of hours that are unbilled and the value or amount of unbilled time.

FAQ's

Can I sort this information by 'timekeeper' or another person in the parties not 'Responsible Lawyer'?

Unfortunately no there is no option for a timekeeper or another party on the matter. You can get this information by creating a time entry list view (make sure to include the billing status = unbilled) for more information click here: 

Broken Link Article

WARNING: Please note that if you use manual fee allocations meaning that you manually allocate fees to timekeepers/others and override the pro-rata amount then this custom list view will not give you the correct WIP by the timekeeper. 

Can I back-date the report to see WIP as of a certain date?

Unfortunately no, the report only shows the current unbilled time as of today's date. You could look at the Matter Balances Report - this will not give you a breakdown of WIP but will show the order of things at a past date. It will list every matter and show billed, unpaid, unallocated credits, WIP and lock-up amount, and trust balances.