How to Customize a Report in LegalSuite

 

Author:                          Laura Stewart

Date:                              July 2008

Audience:                      Bookkeeping

Summary:     How to customize accounting reports in LegalSuite

 

CONTENTS:

 

·         Introduction

·         Accessing the Reports Menu

·         General - Reports

·         Spreadsheet – Reports

·         Section Breaks

·         Conclusion

 

Introduction:

 

There are many accounting reports that already exist in LegalSuite but users can customize their own reports if they wish.

 

Accessing the Reports Menu:

 

·         Click on the reports icon .

 

·         The following screen will appear (Fig 1):

 

Fig 1: Reports Screen

 

On the left there are many report category’s to select from. If you wish to customize your own report select the appropriate category.

 

 

·         Right click on the yellow block in the reports screen.

 

The following screen will appear (Fig 2):

 

Fig 2: General Tab on the Reports Screen

 

Category               -               Select which category your report will fall under

Report Name        -               Give your report a name you will recognize

View Name            -               The data you would like to process depends on the View Name you select

Filter                      -               You may force the report to always filter for the data for a particular value

Filter (local)         -               Use this option to filter fields beginning with “LOC” or “GLO”

Sort By                  -               This is the order in which you would like the information to appear on the report                                                                                            

Comments             -               These comments will display on the report menu screen and describes the                                             report.

 

On the right hand side, tick the Customized Report check box. This will ensure that this report will not be

replaced when new reports are imported.

 

If a user has a report security setting of ‘Low’ sensitivity then they will not be able to view reports with

‘medium’ and ‘high’ sensitivity.

 

Whatever you wish to filter by on this report when printing the report, select the check boxes on the Filter

 Report screen on the right hand side in the above figure (Fig 2) and this will pull through to the main filter

screen when you select to print that report.

 

·         Click on the Spreadsheet Tab.

 

·         The following screen will appear (Fig 3):

 

Fig 3: Spreadsheet Tab on the Report Screen

 

·         Click on the Section Breaks icon

 

·         The following screen will appear (Fig 4):

 

 

 

Fig 4: Section Breaks Screen

 

1.        Headings:

 

Tick this check box if you wish to print the column heading on each page.

 

2.    Section 1 Header:

 

·         Break/Print                 -               Select what you would like your first heading to be. Example you

would like the Client to be the first heading with the clients relevant matters as the second heading. You would then type in PAR:Name in the blank bar and this will pull through the clients name as heading 1.

               

·         Extra Line                     -               If you wish to view more information about the client under the first

heading, type in the field in this block and the data will be printed below your first heading on the next line.

 

 

 

2.        Section 2 Header:

 

·         Break/Print                 -               Select the second heading here. Example, you want to see all the

matters relating to the client in the above example. You will type in MAT:FileRef in the blank bar and this will pull through the matters file references belonging to the relevant clients as heading 2.

 

·         Extra Line                     -               If you wish to view more information about the matter under the

second heading, type in the field in this block and the data will be printed below your second heading on the next line.

 

·         Body                               -               Tick this check box if you do not wish to print the body of the report.

 

 

 

 

3.        Section 2 Footer:

 

·         Tick the first check box if you do not wish to include the totals of the Matters and tick the second check box if you do not wish to print each on a new page.

 

4.        Section 1 Footer:

 

·        Tick the first check box if you do not wish to include the totals of the Clients and tick the second check box if you do not wish to print each on a new page.

 

5.        Grand Totals:

 

·         Tick this check box if you do not want to print grand totals at the bottom of the report.

 

·         Click the OK button

 

·         The following screen will appear: (Fig 5):

 

Fig 5: Spreadsheet Tab on the Report Screen

 

Adding fields to the report:

 

·         To add fields to the report, right click and insert in figure 5.

 

·         The following screen will appear (Fig 6):

 

Fig 6: Select Field Screen

 

The Select Field Screen is where you will choose all the fields you wish to see in the report. Highlight the selected field and click the Select button.

 

·         The following screen will appear (Fig 7):

 

Fig 7: Spreadsheet Tab on the Reports Screen

 

Changing fields on the report:

 

To change a field, right click on the field and select change.

 

·         The following screen will appear (Fig 8):

 

Fig 8: Record will be Changed Screen

 

Heading                 –              The heading that will be shown on the bottom block of the Spreadsheet tab

                                            under the column heading.

Field                       -               This will pull through the information to the report, in the case it is set to

                                            MTT:Description, so the description from matter transactions will be selected.

General                 –              The alignment of the heading, either general, left, centre or right.

Fixed Width          -               The width of the heading.

 

Format                   -               The format of the heading, in this case the heading is the description so we will

be using text but it can either be the date or percentage or currency etc.

 

Totaling -               In this case we are dealing with the description so there will be no totaling but if

you were dealing with figures you could use the ‘total’ of the heading.

 

·         Click OK when you are done.

 

·         The Report Option screen appears (Fig 9):

 

Fig 9: Report Options Screen

 

If you wish to insert other fields that do not appear in the block above, then right click and select Insert Field.

 

·         The following Insert Fields screen will appear (Fig 10):

 

Fig 10: Fields Screen

 

There are many fields to view. Select the appropriate field and that information will pull through to the report.

 

·         Click the Selected button when you have chosen the field.

 

·         The following screen will appear with your fields inserted (Fig 11):

 

Fig 11: Report Options Spreadsheet Screen

 

·         Go back into the reports and test the report as shown below (Fig 12):

 

Fig 12: Reports Screen

 

 

 

The category I have selected is Investments, so I will click on Investments on the left.

 

The report created I named Matter Investment Transactions.

 

·         Highlight the report and click on the print icon .

 

·         The following filter screen will appear (Fig 13):

 

Fig 13: Filter Screen

 

 

Filter for whatever information you require and click the OK button.

 

The report will now show as an excel spreadsheet bringing all information that you have selected in the filter screen on this spreadsheet.

 

Conclusion:

 

Reports can be customized according to user’s requirements. If you have any difficulty in customizing any reports then please contact LegalSuite head office and we will assist you.