Cost Options (Administrator)
Cost Options (Administrator)
Only Redbrick Administrators have the relevant access to set up Cost Options
Cost Options are a tool to manage pulling in differing fees and fee scales for different parties into the billing screen.
Your firm will have their own fees, but different introducers may require you to use their separate fee scales or different charges to your standard ones. You can set up Cost Options to record this on a party by party basis so that your billing screen always shows the relevant fees.
Setting up Cost Options is a multi stage process. If you are unsure or wish to talk through your options then it may be best to first contact your Business Consultant to discuss the process and desired outcome.
Step One: Creating the Cost Options
The first stage is to create the options themselves so that costs can be set against them. This is done on a matter type by matter type basis and can be found in the Options menu.
Click on Add and set up your options. These will be for all items where there will be a variance in what is chargeable.
It is important to consider whether to set a Default Value. With cost options you will be setting introducer specific values against the relevant introducers. The Default Value is what will be entered into the billing screen if there is NO party associate with the case to override it with their specific values. In the above example of Legal Fees you'd therefore want to select 'Default Token Name' and set your firm's own fee scale. The below token chain is an example on how to set a banded fee scale, presuming one exists in the Cost Table (which will be discussed in more detail later).
If the cost option relates a fixed value rather than a sliding scale you'd set up it in the Default Fixed Value field instead.
Alternatively you can leave the default value empty. This means that if no party with an overriding value is associated with the case then the value inserted into the billing screen will simply be £0.00.
2) Create Cost Tables (if applicable)
Once you've created all your cost options if any of them relate to banded scales for any introducers then the next step will be to create those in the Cost Tables. For a detailed explanation on how to create costs tables, please click on the link for this guide. Costs Tables (For Administrators)
3) Set against Introducers
Next you need to set the introducer specific values against the relevant introducers. First, ensure you are in a matter that is the same matter type as the cost options you want to set (in the example below we are in a Purchase matter). Click on the Other Parties button until it says 'All Parties' to display every party in your database.
If your introducer is not in your system you will need to click 'new' and create it. Otherwise navigate down to the party and double click to edit the record.
Again, cost options are set per introducer and per matter type. You will see in the highlighted area whichever matter type you were in when you clicked on the Other Parties / All Parties button.
Click on the matter type and you will be taken into the cost options area.
Add the relevant cost options against the party by clicking on the Add button. Once in the cost option menu, select the relevant one from the selection options available. This will list all the options you created at stage 1.
If the option involves a banded fee scale then in the Cost Option Values section under 'Token Name' select the relevant cost table that you created earlier in step 2.
Alternatively, set a fixed value in the 'Default Fixed Value' section.
The greyed out 'Default Values' section will show whatever you set as the overall system default in Step 1.
Once you've set up all your introducer specific values then click OK at the bottom to save. If you set nothing for a value you previously created in Step 1 then it will pull through the default you set at that stage.
4) Setting Cost Options in the Billing screen
Using the Options menu navigate to the billing screen templates
Due to the nature of the format of how cost options are stored in the database, they will pull through into the billing screen as a pure number, i.e. they may not always be preceded by a currency symbol / £. Therefore the best practice is to place your cost option value on the right hand side outside of the area that will pull into billing documents. Right click on the cell you want and select 'Variables'
Select 'token value' at the bottom of the pop up.
Navigate to the applicable cost option using the following example chain of choices. Double click or select 'insert' to enter it into the billing screen
When the cell with the cost option is selected you will in the value line at the top of the billing screen that it has been set.
Lastly, navigate to the cell where you want the value to actually pull into the main part of the billing screen and enter an equals and the cell number with the cost option in. This will copy the value to the desired location and present it with the proper currency symbol (so long as the cell has been set to a currency type using a right click and 'Set Cell Format').
As per usual for billing screen changes, the updated cells will be present on new matters opened going forward. For testing it is worth going into a test file and clicking to 'reset' the billing screen so as to pull in the changes from the new template.
Below example with no party added to the case (so default value is used)
Below is an example with the relevant party now added to the case as Introducer
5) Future proofing
It is important to remember with cost options that if you change any of the values set (whether in default values, or introducer specific values) these changes will be reflected immediately in every existing matter as well as the new ones. This is obviously not advisable at it will change the figures you have quoted for clients.
Therefore if there are changes in your introducer specific fee scales it is important to let your Business Consultant know with as much notice as possible. There is no one single method for accommodating changes in previously set cost options so your Business Consultant can talk through the options with you. It will likely be best for Redbrick to then organising setting this up and agreeing a switch over date to the new values with you.
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