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ContactsLaw first-time setup guide

Pre-setup

As part of the deployment process and prior to logging in for the first time, a special tool will be used to prepare your installation of ContactsLaw. This process will create:

The remainder of the first-time setup process is completed by logging in to ContactsLaw using the system administrator account.

1. Initial practice configuration

  1. Import address data and public holidays (if these have not been pre-loaded).
  2. Update the practice contact, adding registered business details, addresses and communications.
  3. Upload a logo (used in reports) and, if desired, an electronic signature for the practice. (Note: You may elect to use individual member signatures instead of a practice signature - if so, skip this step)
  4. Configure System settings according to your preferences and practice policies.

2. Configure general accounting

  1. Set the financial year, trust accounting period and CPD reporting period to the values applicable for your region/jurisdiction.
  2. Specify the general and GST accounting methods (cash or accruals), the GST rate and reporting frequency. Ensure that these settings take effect from the earliest possible date, as the system will not apply them to any transactions occurring prior to that date.
  3. Set the transaction authority levels you wish to use to govern payments and write-offs. You can revisit this step later.

3. Create chart of accounts

  1. Use the account wizard to create all required controlled accounts. Review and amend the settings for any accounts you wish to customise.
  2. Create the remainder of your chart of accounts, selecting appropriate control types for bank accounts and credit cards.

4. Configure trust accounting (optional)

  1. Create the trust bank account. Trust transactions cannot be recorded until the primary trust account has been defined.

5. Configure billing

  1. Create member categories as applicable for your region/jurisdiction.
  2. Create the scales used by the practice for billing and taxation.
  3. Specify the default billing scale, bill format and billing policies. Note that these can be overridden by individual workgroups once they have been created.
  4. Configure the list of accepted credit cards. Specify accounts for any cards which are receipted on a non-cash basis (see also: merchant account journal).
  5. Create fixed charge types and disbursement types according to your needs. You can revisit this step later.

6. Set up payroll (optional)

  1. Configure payroll defaults and settings for the practice, including the office hours, working week and pay cycle. Ensure that these settings take effect from the earliest possible date.

7. Create members and groups

  1. Create groups according to your preferences and organisational structure. You can create separate groups for permissions, task delegation and appointments.
  2. Create members for your practice. If the contacts do not yet exist, they can be created as part of the wizard. Do not add passwords for members who log in to ContactsLaw using their Windows domain account. It is not necessary to add electronic signatures or admission details at this stage. Add payroll settings and set each member's scale rates.
  3. Assign each member's category and employment start date.
  4. Create relationships between members according to your organisational structure.

8. Set up activities

  1. Add all activities required for your practice and define the workflow for each activity. You can revisit this step at any time to make amendments, but be aware that activities cannot be deleted from the system once they have been used by members.
  2. Classify your activities into groups. You can nest groups to improve organisation.

9. Configure permissions

  1. Assign permissions for all groups. All permissions are revoked by default. Members inherit permissions from their group unless otherwise configured.
  2. Be sure to nominate at least one member as the system administrator. A built-in account is provided for this purpose, but you may prefer to assign the role to additional members. (Be aware, however, that the system administrator can make destructive changes to the system and post records which may not comply with practice policies or regulatory requirements)

10. Create departments and workgroups

  1. You must create at least one department and workgroup in order to open new files. You can revisit this step at any time, but be aware that deleting workgroups requires any existing files (active or archived) to be re-homed.
  2. For each workgroup you create at this stage, nominate a manager.
  3. You can optionally configure products and workgroup-level permissions at this stage. Note that a default product must be defined in order to open new client files.

11. Configure documents

  1. Configure document server settings if these have not been pre-configured for your practice.
  2. Create the practice-wide folder structure.
  3. Configure document registration settings, selecting a specific e-mail registration activity if defined.
  4. Create any required document types. Documents cannot be registered until at least one document type has been defined.
  5. Upload any required document templates. New documents cannot be produced until at least one template has been added.

12. Set up scheduled tasks (optional)

  1. Configure any scheduled tasks required to perform ongoing maintenance or support additional functionality (e.g. calendar export, automated file destruction, etc).

Migrate existing data (optional)

Once the initial system configuration is complete, you can proceed to migrating data from a previous system. This may include: