Related Topics Getting Started Related Topics Getting Started
The Budget tab in the Matters Edit Mode allows you to track a matter's budget information. Budgets can be set at various levels, such as by project or quarterly. They can also be "rolled up" into other budgets, such as tasks into a phase budget, or quarterly into an annual budget.
The Budgeted checkbox on the matter's Base Info tab activates this tab.
Fields
Description – The name of the budget.
Type – The period for the budget (such as Annual, Project, or Quarterly).
Currency Type – The type (such as US Dollars) of currency for the budget.
Amount – The amount of the budget item.
Start Date – All invoices within a specified date range will be included in actual/variance reports. If a budget does not have a begin date, then all invoices on the matter up until the end date will be included in actual/variance calculations on the reports. If a budget does not have an end date, then all invoices from the begin date onward will be included in actual/variance calculations on reports. If two active budgets have overlapping date ranges, invoices within the overlapping date range will be included in actual/variance calculations for both budgets on reports. eCounsel does not provide built-in logic. Therefore, the sum of the child budgets can exceed the parent budget.
Active – An indication of whether the budget will be included in actual/variance reports. This checkbox also is useful for tracking a budget's life cycle. Deselecting the Active checkbox causes the information to become historical data.
Optional Fields
The following fields can be added to the grid by clicking the Options button and selecting the fields (the fields also may be reordered to appear as needed on the page):
Approved By – The name of the person approving the budget.
Approved Date – The date the budget was approved.
Conversion Rate – The rate used to convert the amount of the budget to the currency type of the company. The Conversion Rate field will become active if the currency type is other than the default option.
Converted Amount – The amount of the budget in the base currency.
End Date – The date the budget is no longer in effect.
Entered Date – The date the budget was created in eCounsel.
Hours – The number of hours budgeted.
Includes External Costs – An indication of whether external costs are included in the budget.
Includes Internal Costs – An indication of whether internal costs are included in the budget.
Parent Budget – The name of a budget of which this record is part of the budget.
Vendor – The name of the vendor whose costs are being budgeted.
Buttons
New – Click to add a new budget item.
Delete – Click to remove the selected item in the grid.
Reports – Click to access any tab-specific reports.
Export – Click to export the current grid contents to Microsoft Excel.
Print – Click to create an instant report of the current grid contents.
Options – Click to select the number of records to display in the list of items.