Frequently Asked Questions
Setup
How do I maintain clients and staff?
How do I maintain my list of services?
Can I set up invoices on retainer?
Can one member of my staff enter tasks for other members?
How do I restrict some of my staff members to only data entry?
Invoices
How can I bill a task for a fixed amount?
How can I customize what information appears on my client invoices?
Can I mark up the invoice amount for a client without changing my base rate?
How do I write off charges that have been invoiced?
Can I edit an invoice after creating it?
Integration with Accounting Power
How does Practice Relief integrate with Accounting Power?
When I create an invoice to Accounting Power, what sales account is credited?
Integration with Payroll Relief
How does Practice Relief integrate with Payroll Relief?
Analytical Tools
How can I see how much revenue each of my clients is generating?
How can I analyze the fees and expenses incurred by each of my clients?
How can I measure the productivity of my staff members?
How can I measure the overall performance of my firm?
Appointments
Can I synchronize my appointments with Outlook?
Can I convert an item on the calendar to a task?
Setup
How do I maintain clients and staff?
Both clients and staff are maintained in the Administration module, available through your My Portal page, and are not maintained within Practice Relief.
You can click the Launcher on the right side of the interface and select Setup to open the Administration module.
How do I maintain my list of services?
The Setup menu provides a number of screens that enable you to maintain your list of tasks and expenses. You can easily add new tasks and expenses, modify existing ones, and delete any you don’t need.
Can I set up invoices on retainer?
When you set up Client Billing from the Setup menu, you can use the Retainer option to generate invoices on a monthly basis. Each month, you can use the Invoices from Retainer option to review and print invoices for your retainer clients.
Can one member of my staff enter appointments and tasks for other members?
You can set up a Role in which Manage Appointments is an allowed function. Any staff members assigned to that role can then schedule appointments or create tasks for other staff members.
How do I restrict some of my staff members to only perform data entry tasks?
You can set up a Role in which data entry is the only function allowed and assign that role to any applicable staff members.
Invoices
How can I bill a task for a fixed amount?
On the Set Up Tasks screen, you can specify an Hourly rate type or you can select one of two fixed-rate options that enable you to set up a fixed fee for a task, or set up a fixed fee for the task within a period.
The Fixed Fee by Task option bills a fixed fee each time the task is performed.
The Fixed Fee by Period option bills a single fixed fee however many times the task was performed within the period.
How can I customize the information that appears on my client invoices?
The Setup Invoices screen enables you to customize global settings for all of your client invoices, including identifying the information to include on each invoice such as a description of listed tasks or task-specific notes, setting up invoice number options, adding your firm’s logo, and including a summary of previous account activity on each invoice.
Can I mark up the invoice amount for a client without changing my base rate?
After you create an invoice, you can change the rate billed on it. This change does not affect the base rate you entered when setting up your tasks or expenses.
How do I write off charges that have been invoiced?
When you record a payment, the system marks the invoice as paid, regardless of whether it is a cash payment, credit card, or write-off.
Can I edit an invoice after creating it?
Yes, you can change hours, rates, and amounts, and enter additional lines to an existing invoice.
Integration with Accounting Power
How does Practice Relief integrate with Accounting Power?
If you have set up your own firm as a client in Accounting Power, the tasks and expenses you enter in Practice Relief can be billed in Accounting Power. This enables you to use Practice Relief for time tracking and firm analysis, while using Accounting Power for its powerful and complete set of accounting functions (credit memos, aging reports, trial balance, etc).
Once the invoice has been generated in Accounting Power, you can follow through on all further actions, such as editing the invoice or recording payments, using that application.
When I create an invoice to Accounting Power, what sales account is credited?
When you create an invoice, the system credits it to the first sales account in Accounting Power, which is linked to a product created in Accounting Power from the task you set up in Practice Relief.
If you edit the product to reference a different account, that account is used when you next create an invoice using the same task.
Integration with Payroll Relief
How does Practice Relief integrate with Payroll Relief?
You can set up payroll-related tasks and expenses in Practice Relief using codes beginning with P- to use with Payroll Relief, and then, in Payroll Relief, link the task/expense codes you want to use for each employer.
When you run a payroll or do compliance work, these tasks and expenses are recorded in Practice Relief, from which you can create invoices to bill your payroll services.
Analytical Tools
How can I see how much revenue each of my clients is generating?
The Client Ranking Report ranks your clients based on the fees received for a selected date range.
To generate this report, select Clients from the Reports menu and select the Client Ranking report from the list, then specify the date range and click the appropriate button to generate the report in PDF, Excel, or Word format.
How can I analyze the fees and expenses incurred by each of my clients?
The Client Realization Report lets you view a comparison of total fees and expenses to amounts billed.
To run this report, select Clients from the Reports menu and select the Client Realization report from the list. Enter the appropriate date range, select a client from the Client drop-down list (or select All to review all clients), and click the appropriate button to generate the report in PDF, Excel, or Word format.
How can I measure the productivity of my staff members?
The User Productivity Report provides measures to help you determine how much each staff member costs, how much profit they bring in, and how productive they are, comparing total to billable time.
To generate this report, select Staff from the Reports menu and click User Productivity in the list of Staff Reports. Enter the target date range, select the staff member from the list (or select All Active to review all staff members), and click the appropriate button to generate the report in PDF, Excel, or Word format.
How can I measure the overall performance of my firm?
The Firm Performance Report compares total unpaid invoices to total tasks and invoices to be invoiced, to help you monitor your firm's overall performance.
To access this report, select Firm from the Reports drop-down menu and click Firm Performance in the list of reports. Enter the target date range and click the appropriate button to generate the report in PDF, Excel, or Word format.
Appointments
Can I synchronize my appointments with Outlook?
Yes, you can use the Sync with Outlook option when creating an appointment through the Practice Relief Calendar.
When prompted to Open or Save the file, select Open, and then, from Outlook, select Save & Close to save the appointment.
Note: If a pop-up blocker prompt appears, select Always allow pop-ups from accountantsoffice.com.
Can I convert an item on the calendar to a task?
Yes, if you have created an appointment for a client, you can save the appointment as a task. Open the appointment, select Save as a Task, and enter and record the billable time. The task and time now appear in the Review Tasks/Expenses screen.