Expenses

The Expenses feature enables users to track costs by Matter and even split Expenses across different Matters. This Matter-focused approach distinguishes Clarra from other Accounting systems that are more exclusively transaction-focused.

The ability to split Expenses across multiple Matters is crucial, streamlining your accounting workflow and ensuring appropriate cost distributions. A couple of use cases include:

• Splitting your company’s phone bill proportionately to each Matter
• Splitting the cost of the software used in all your cases across cases

By default, Expenses for the current month are displayed. You can edit the Date Range and add additional filters, including Expense Status.

The Expense section differs from Expense Forecasts, as it records actual out-of-pocket Expenses instead of predicted Expenses. Let’s go over how to add a New Expense.

Create a New Expense:

Expense Details

• Select the Accounting Section on the left side of the screen
• Click on the Events tab
• Click “+ New Expense” on the right side of of the screen
• Indicate if the Expense is Billable or Non-Billable
• Select the Expense Status
• Select the Approval Status (optional)
• Select the Sent Status (optional)
• Write the Vendor Name
• Input the Expense Date
• Select an Expense Category (optional)
• Choose whether to customize the Expense #
• Write a Description of the Expense
• Enter the Quantity
• Enter the Amount 
  • The Total Amount will be calculated automatically

Additional Details (optional)

• Select an Expense Code
  • Customizable in Accounting Properties
• Select a GL Code
  • Customizable in Accounting Properties
• Select a Cost Center
  • Customizable in Accounting Properties
• Select the Location
  • Customizable in Accounting Properties
• Add relevant Tags to the Expense
• Write Notes about the Expense
• Upload an Attachment related to the Expense

Matter Split

• Choose whether or not to split this Expense between different Matters. To do so, add Line Items to indicate the other Matter(s) to split the Expense with.
  • You need two Line Items with different listed Matters to split an Expense between two Matters
  • If you just keep the one default Line Item, the Expense will be assigned to that one Matter

Finalize

• Press “Save” to save the Expense
• Press “Save and Send” to save the Expense and open a new Communications tab to send to the person of your choosing 
  • User must have Communications enabled
• “Save and Submit for Approval” if you have Approvers assigned
  • Your company can set up an Approver for Expenses in the Settings on the Accounting Overview page

Export Expenses Table

You can Export the Expenses page as a table to give you an overview of your Expenses.

• Select the Accounting Section on the left side of the screen
• Click on the Events tab
• Press the three dots in the top right corner below your Profile Icon
• Hover over “Export”
• Select the file type you wish to Export the Expenses Table as
• The Expenses Table will download as the selected file type

Actions to Take on an Individual Expense

Users can perform a variety of actions with created Expenses:

• Submit for Approval
• Apply Payment
• Send via Communications
• Export
• Delete 

Submit for Approval

If your company has set up an Approver for Expenses in the Settings on the Accounting Overview page, you can submit Expenses for Approval.

• Press the three dots to the left of the chosen Expense
• Click “Submit for Approval”
  • Approval Status will change from “Not Submitted” to “Pending Approval”
  • Approval Status will display “Approved” once approved

Apply Payment

Payments can be manually applied to an Expense by a User, or automatically if you have enabled the Confido Payment Integration. Users can apply either an existing Payment or create a new one for an Expense.

• Press the three dots to the left of the chosen Expense
• Hover over “Apply Payment”
• Select “Apply Existing Payment” or “Create New Payment”
  • Clicking “Create New Payment” will open the New Payment page, and prompt you to fill out the required fields
• Clicking “Apply Existing Payment” will open a pop-up that prompts you to select a Payment already entered in Clarra
• Select one or more Payments
• Click “Next”
• Select the desired amount from each selected Payment to apply to the Expense
• Click “Apply Payment” to apply the Payment to the Expense
• Relevant updates to the Expense Status will appear on the Expense

Send an Expense via Communications

You must have Communications enabled in order to send an Expense directly from Clarra. Expenses can be sent as part of Emails and Text messages.

• Press the three dots to the left of the chosen Expense
• Click “Send Expense”
• Select the Communication Method
  • Email or Text
• Choose who to send the Expense to
  • Contacts and/or Qualified Users
• Click “Next”
• Review the Message
  • Create a Timeslip for the Message by clicking the timer in the top right corner
• Press “Send”
• The Sent Status will update automatically

Delete an Expense

You can choose to Delete an Expense to permanently remove the Expense from Clarra.

• Press the three dots to the left of the chosen Expense
• Click “Delete”
• Click “Delete” in the pop-up asking you to confirm deletion
• The Expense is now deleted