Release 26.08 (August)

Fill in time entry descriptions automatically from the activity

Selecting an activity on a time entry fills in the description automatically, wherever time is written: the time entry page, the per day view, timers, and draft time entries. Administrators can give each activity a standard description, one per invoice language, on the activity list and detail screens (under Settings → Lists). Legalsense picks the variant that matches the language of the matter, so a firm working in more than one language keeps one standard text per language and its invoices read consistently. Fee earners can still type their own text: a description someone has already written is never overwritten, and in a verbal time entry the spoken description takes precedence.

Time entry

The timesheet pages have an updated layout, covering Time entry, Per day, and Search. The styling is consistent with the rest of the application and gives a clearer overview of your time entries.

A draft time entry can be handed over for review, from Timesheet → Drafts. The reviewer of a draft is the person who edits and approves it, and reassigning that role lets a user pass a draft to a colleague to finalize.

Matters

Block time entry stops all billables on a matter. With Block time entry set on a matter or on a matter status, time entries and disbursements are both rejected and scheduled subscriptions are suppressed, so a firm can hold a matter until AML or compliance checks are complete. This applies to billables assigned via the web interface, the API, and via subscriptions, but not yet for disbursements imported from accounting systems: this will follow soon.

Invoices

Default email template can be assigned per invoice type, under Settings → Billing → Email templates. Default, credit, advance, and settlement invoices each select their matching template when the invoice is emailed, the same way invoice texts already do, and legal-aid firms can set one for RvR and client contribution invoices. This brings the invoicing workflow more in-line with invoice texts and removes the need to manually edit the e-mail body for non-default invoices.

The status of invoice sent via Peppol (eConnect) includes the status on the recipient's side: Legalsense displays the end-to-end status of an invoice sent via Peppol, including whether it was received by the recipient, being processed, or whether they acknowledged or rejected it. Note that this may require you to subscribe to "Invoice Responses" in you eConnect environment.

Integrations

Legalsense imports daily exchange rates from the European Central Bank, so firms invoicing in more than one currency do not enter them by hand. Under Settings → Billing → Exchange rates, enable the synchronization to fetch the rate for each currency in use every day; the ECB publishes these rates free of charge, so this carries no additional cost. 

When the synchronization is enabled, exchange rates for the past period (default 90 days) are imported automatically for all configured currencies. Exchange rates stay editable while the synchronization is enabled, but re-enabling the synchronization will overwrite existing entries.

Admins can set a VAT code for non-EU sales, in the VAT section of the accounting integration's Ledger accounts settings. Invoice lines on the Outside of the EU tax scheme are exported with the code entered in VAT code sale outside EU, for Exact Online, Exact Financials, AFAS, and Twinfield. The row is set to a dash until an admin configures it, so exports are unaffected while it is.

Accounting synchronization reports what went wrong and what to do. When a VAT code is imported that not configured for the integration, the error names the remedy: change the VAT code on the expense, or add the missing code under the integration's Ledger accounts settings. These errors are visible on the status page and on the error detail page, for Exact Online, Exact Financials, AFAS, Fortnox, and Twinfield.

The administrator is emailed when a synchronization run fails, with a link to the synchronization status page. Errors that carry a message from the accounting system show that message and ask your firm to resolve it; the email points to Legalsense support only for errors your firm cannot act on itself. The E-mail of the administrator field accepts several addresses, and admin users can add or remove one without re-entering the others.

Other changes

The invoice list has moved to a shorter address. The Invoices tab opens the list at /billing/invoice/, and the former address /billing/invoice/list/ has been retired. Navigation inside Legalsense follows the change automatically, so only saved browser bookmarks need updating.

Several heavily used overview pages load faster. Firms with large volumes of data see shorter load times on the pages they open many times a day, and performance stays an area of ongoing work for the coming releases.

Improvements and reliability

Alongside the changes above, release 26.08 includes 20 fixes and reliability improvements across time entry, invoicing, matters, and integrations. A few you may notice:

• Matter quick search matches on matter name, matter number, and client name.
• Settling advances is more reliable when using the Allow settling unpaid advances setting in certain cases.
• Matters can be added to an existing invoice from the invoice edit screen.
• Long matter and client names wrap on detail pages, keeping the action buttons reachable.

The changes in the API can be viewed here: API changelog release 26.08 (August).

For more information about Legalsense features, visit our knowledge base.