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Software for Law Costs Draftsmen |
| CostsMaster Features | |
| CostsMaster is the most flexible tool for Law Costs Draftsmen: | |
| Export to your choice of word processor utilising any of 32 bill templates, plus schedules, disbursement reports, CLAIM1s, CLAIM1As and Case Plans. | |
| Customise the bill to an unprecedented extent: specify which items are numbered, whether to summarise items and where figures should be claimed in columns, plus much more. | |
| Preview any document instantly. | |
| Enhancement can be claimed in many different ways including for specific attendances and for each rate type. | |
| Display running totals for the bill or current part with the option to show separately individual elements within those costs (such as enhancement, success fees or expert fees etc.) | |
| Record multiple notes for any item which can appear as annotations in the exported bill. A scratch pad for notes and reminders to oneself is saved with the file and will automatically open if notes are present. | |
| View attendances and disbursements from all parts or the entire bill in a single window with the ability to sort the work by any field and make any changes in situ. | |
| Claim attendances as time or as a lump sum figure. | |
| Restrict profit costs for a part to a minimum, a maximum, a percentage or a fixed fee. | |
| Rates can be specified for any item of work irrespective of its location. | |
| VAT can be claimed at different rates for each part. | |
| Work can be recorded against fee earners which is then automatically aggregated to the appropriate rates for the finished bill. The draftsman has the flexibility to break down the work in any manner he wishes and to decide at any time how to present the work in the finished bill. All work can be reassigned to different fee earners at will. | |
| Schedules of inter partes costs at CLS rates are calculated automatically | |
| Enhancement can be defined globally, for one or more defined periods, for all work done by a particular fee earner, for attendances on a particular party or for any other item you wish. Each attendance can be excluded as can all attendances on a particular party or all work by a particular fee earner. Separate enhancement can be defined for preparation items and procedural steps. Items which never attract enhancement are automatically excluded | |
| Success Fees are automatically calculated for the solicitor and counsel and if appropriate are automatically limited pro rata between the solicitor and counsel | |
| Program functions can be accessed by mouse or by keyboard shortcut for speed when costing a file | |
| Safety features include timed auto saves and incremental backups to preserve data in the event of a system crash. | |
| Work can be recorded as a procedural step, as work against a party, as Documents or travelling and waiting. | |
| Parties can be defined at will. Work can be recorded against parties as telephone calls, letters out, letters in, personal attendances, long telephone calls or "extra" attendances. Keyboard shortcuts make recording routine work as simple as two keystrokes. | |
| Disbursements can be recorded for procedural steps, parties, travelling and waiting, costs of assessment or as miscellaneous disbursements. Auto calculate features calculate VAT and mileage for you. | |
| Time can be entered interchangeably as minutes, units or hours and minutes and the program will automatically interpret the time you have recorded | |
| Costs of Assessment can be claimed and provision is made for fixed prescribed rate costs. The costs draftsman's fee can be claimed as a percentage and is calculated automatically. The fee can be claimed as a disbursement, lump sum or pseudo-hourly rate profit cost, part by part or for the entire bill. | |
| Templates allow the saving of frequently entered data to save you time when starting a new file | |
| The finished bill is automatically calculated and assembled in your choice of word proceesor. There are nearly 100 common phrases that are used in the finished bill all of which are user definable to allow you to create a bill that is as personal to you as if you had dictated it. | |
| The finished bill is produced either with lines embedded or on blank paper for draftsmen who have their paper printed. The line colour can be customised and there is an option for high quality lines which closely match that of printed paper. | |
| Document Schedules. You have the option for documents and long attendances to be included entirely in the bill, entirely in a schedule or in a schedule where they exceed a definable number. The settings for documents and long attendances can be different. | |
| Abbreviations can be defined for frequently used words and phrases which are immediately expanded to their full text - a huge time saver. | |
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