Submitting a Budget by Law Firm on CounselLink

The budget is set up by the client who controls if the budget can be viewed, edited, or approved by the firm. The next task is for the firm to submit the budget. Once submitted, the client approves or edits the budget. The budget must be approved before the law firm can invoice on the matter for required budgets. The law firm may also need to submit a staffing list if required.

Budget currency is the matter currency and cannot be changed once the matter is created.

Required Budgets:

• All matters for that client need a budget.
• During matter setup, system messages indicate a budget is required.
• Until approval by the client, no invoicing can take place.
• The client may submit the budget themselves or choose to have the law firm perform the task.

Optional Budgets:

• The client determines for each matter whether or not a budget is necessary.
• No system messages are generated regarding a budget.
• There is no CounselLink restriction on invoicing.
• The client must specifically request that the law firm submit a budget, or the client may submit the budget themselves and advise the law firm of this fact.
  Note: This task is for those assigned both the Budget Contact and Admin role.

 
Submitting a Budget
Budget Approval History
 

 Submitting a Budget

Take the following steps to submit a budget:

Note: The Submit option appears and is enabled after editing the sections:

1. Select the client from the list of clients in the upper left corner drop-down list on the Home tab.
   Note: When a different Client is selected while under any of the tabs on CounselLink, users will be directed back to the Home tab under the selected Client.
2. Click the Budget Action Required link from the Home tab to produce a list of matters that have a required budget.
3. Search for the matter that needs a budget if the budget is optional budgets.
4. Click a matter link to see the Matter Overview.
5. Scroll to the Budgets section.
6. Click Financials sub tab to go to the Budget section if necessary.
7. Click Budget Period to go to the Budget Overview page.
8. Click the checkbox to the left of the firm's name to activate the Edit Amounts button. 
9. Click Edit Amounts..
10. At the Edit Budget Amounts pop-up window enter fee or expense.
    Note: The Budget screen the firm sees may look different depending on how the Corporate Client has configured the budget; the screen may require totals by period, code, timekeeper, etc. Do not click Save until all amounts for all budget periods have been entered. When you click Save, the pop up box disappears and takes you back to the Law Firm Budget Overview page.
11. Enter information in the Key Matter Assumptions field.
    Note: This is additional information for the law firm to specify and explain assumptions they relied upon to support the budget estimates. Articulated assumptions outline law firms thought process regarding case strategy and provide the rationale behind the cost estimates. This field is required; with a limit of 1024 characters.
    Note: Follow the same process for Life of Matter Budget Amounts section if the Edit button is highlighted.
12. Click the arrow next to the budget period to change the Budget Period.
13. Click the checkbox to the left of the firm's name.
14. Click Save to complete the process and return to the Budget Overview page after all budgets are entered.
    Note: Approval is needed before the law firm can begin invoicing if the budget is required.
15. Click Submit for approval.
16. Click OK at the confirmation window.
    • Near the top of the page, the banner displays the message: The client will be notified that the budget is available for review.
    • Currently the Law Firms are not notified when a budget is approved/declined. 
    • If the budget was declined, Budget Contact needs to resubmit a new budget.

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 Budget Approval History

Take the following steps to access the Budget Approval History details:

1. Click the budget to be viewed from the Budget Search page.
2. Click the Amounts tab from the Budget Overview screen.
3. Click Budget Approval History button.

Note: This feature displays approvals from the 21.1 release forward. Previous approvals are not visible.

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