Keytime Practice Manager User Guide
Below you will find brief information for Practice Manager. Practice Manager is the central database in the Keytime Accountants Suite and stores all common information shared between the Suite modules. You will set up and manage clients, staff, and perform company secretarial duties in it.
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User Guide
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Contents
Timesheets – Weekly and Summary Views .......................................................... 21
Company View (Company Secretarial only) ...................................................... 31
Email Communication to a Single Client or Range of Clients................................ 35
Manage Document Categories and Mail Merge Templates ...................................... 35
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Attaching Documents/Working Papers to a Client Record ....................................... 38
Timesheet and Work in Progress Reports ......................................................... 49
How the Company Secretarial Registration Works ............................................. 53
Company Authentication Code (CAC) ............................................................... 54
Submission Logs, Companies House Checker .................................................... 58
Configuring the Companies House Checker ....................................................... 59
Share Classes and Accounts Production ........................................................... 63
Printing Tax Vouchers and Deeds of Waiver ...................................................... 68
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Downloading Company Records from Companies House ........................................ 74
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Introduction to Practice Manager
This Module is the central database of the Keytime Accountants Suite and stores all common information shared between the Suite modules.
On a practical basis, you will set up and manage clients and staff and perform company secretarial duties in Practice Manager. You will also be able to launch the various modules of the Keytime Accountants Suite from here.
On a technical level, Practice Manager ensures that relevant data is made available across the whole suite, so jobs and relevant client data from Practice Manager is available in Accounts Production, Tax and Corporation Tax etc.
Practice Manager will also be the point where you licence your software and set up members of staff if you opt for a multi-user system.
Register your Software
Keytime modules can be registered within Practice Manager or in the modules themselves. Click File, select Registration, select Internet, enter your registration user name (this can be found on your registration letter), click Register; the system will bring up all the modules you have purchased, tick Activate against all the modules you want to register; this will activate your registration.
Configuring Practice Manager
It is important to review and setup the configuration options before attempting to use the system. In order to configure the system you will need to login with the
Administrator password, initially this is left blank but as the Administrator is the only user that can access all areas of the system including setup options it’s a good idea to apply a password once the system is in use. Please see the maintain users section below for further instructions on applying passwords.
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We will address each of the settings and configuration options below. Some settings apply to individual users, configuration options apply across the product. To access settings and options click File:
History
Displays the last five client records accessed.
Software Information
Displays system information, data paths and the software version number.
Backup / Restore / Repair
Contains backup, repair and restore options for the Practice Manager database.
Practice Details
Your practice details are entered here and are used throughout the system and shared with other Keytime modules as agent details. If you are offering company secretarial services you can copy your practice address to the registered office address of limited company and LLP clients.
My Settings
My settings apply to the user currently logged in. Options are:
Initial view on load
You can decide which screen is to be presented when you log in. Choose either Clients,
Diary, Timesheets, Billing or Reports.
Communications
Choose default settings for client communications.
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Diary
The diary contains reminders about job stages, meetings, tasks and other appointments.
You can keep your diary private or share it with other members of staff. To share your diary tick the staff members you want to share with.
Printer
You can show printer driver options each time you print. Tick the box to show printers.
Timesheets
Each staff member can have their own preferences for timesheet line descriptions. To create timesheet descriptions click Descriptions, click Add and enter your description, click OK to save.
Jobs
The two options control the action of the job start date and job stage dates. When you start a job you have the choice of starting the job immediately (with today’s date and all job stage dates will then be calculated in relation to today’s date), or Practice Manager prompt you to schedule the start date, which gives you the option to select a start date in the future. By default the setting is set to the latter option ‘let me decide on the start date’.
Password
Click Change to add or change your password. Enter the existing password (initially this will be blank), enter your new password. Click Save to save your changes.
Options
Options is visible to the system Administrator only. It is accessed by clicking File /
Options or by clicking the Options icon that is visible to Administrator:
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Client
You can create various statuses for client records, click Statuses and click Add to create a new status. If the status is in use it cannot be deleted, otherwise click Delete to delete an unwanted status. Note that Active is required by the system and cannot be deleted; this is the default status when creating a new client record.
Types
You can create type groups for client records, click Types and click Add to create a new type. Initially there are three types: current, contact and prospect. Note that Current is required by the system and cannot be deleted; this is the default type when creating a new client record.
Auto Client IDs
Practice Manager can automatically generate a client ID, individuals use a separate set of rules to generate the ID from business type records.
To auto generate the client ID, tick use auto IDs in either or both the individuals and businesses sections.
You can prefix the main element of the ID by adding the prefix to the prefix start code box. Leave blank if you don’t want to add a prefix. The prefix doesn’t increment on each new client record.
Choose the field that the main part of the ID is to be based on. If you choose custom you enter your own element for the ID, for all others you choose the number of characters to be used.
You can follow the main element of the client ID with a number. Enter the next number to be used in the number seed box. This number will increment on each new client record.
You can add a suffix if necessary by entering the suffix in the suffix end code box.
Leave blank if you don’t want to add a suffix. The suffix doesn’t increment on each new record.
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Finally, you can decide how to separate each element of the client ID. Choose the separator from the dropdown box, if a separator isn’t required choose None.
Here is an example of an auto generated client ID for an individual:
Prefix
Field
A
Surname
Characters 4
Number seed 3
Suffix B
Separator -
Client Mr John Smith, his ID would be generated as A-SMIT-3-B
Leaving the prefix and suffix fields blank and setting the separator to None the same client would generate an ID of SMIT3. Changing the number seed to 001 would result in
SMIT001. Click Save to save your changes.
Communications
Templates (Mail Merge)
Mail merge templates are stored in categories in the Practice Manager data location. You can maintain categories and mail merge templates either in Communications or in
Options / Communications. To create a new document category click ‘Add’, this will create a sub-folder in the Mail Merge Templates folder. To delete a category (and the contents of the folder), click the category and click Delete. Note that if there are documents in the category folder these will also be deleted.
You can create a new document template or add in and utilize existing Word documents.
To utilize an existing Word document, click the document category you want this document to relate to, click the Add button, you will be prompted for the location of an existing Word document, browse to the document location and click Open; this will copy the document and place it in the category folder.
To edit a document, add database fields etc. click the document in document category and click Edit, this will open the document in Microsoft Word. To add mail merge fields from Practice Manager, place the cursor at the position for the first field and right click; a menu will appear, select Practice Manager, select an option from the sub menu and click to select the required database field. Continue with this process until you have all the required database fields; note that you must place the cursor wherever the database
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Once you have finished editing the document click Save. You must save the document in its original document category location; if you click Save as and save the document elsewhere your changes will not be reflected when you run a mail merge in Practice
Manager.
To delete a mail merge document, select the document category and click the document, click Delete.
Subjects and Subject Types
You can predefine subjects and subject types for communication records, these appear in the communication grid on the client record and are used to identify the nature of the communication. If you don’t want to create subjects and types they can simply be typed into the relevant fields in the communication record.
Communication Status
You can create your own communication statuses, for example open, closed or complete, awaiting further information, call back etc. Click Statuses and click Add to create a status.
Distribution Group
You can group client records together using distribution groups. You can apply multiple groups to a client record, you can then utilise distribution groups in reporting and when selecting groups of clients for mail merge.
To create distribution groups click Groups, click Add and enter a description for the group, click OK to save changes.
Maintain Staff Grades and Charge-out Rates
Introduction
You can set up staff grades, each containing up to 10 charge-out rates; you then apply a grade to a member of staff and a charge-out rate to a job. This gives you the flexibility to maintain different charge-out rates for different types of work whilst simultaneously maintaining rates across staff grades if required.
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This is how Practice Manager obtains charge-out rates when processing timesheet entries:
Practice Manager checks the client record to see if there is a fixed price for the job, if there is this is used and no further checks are made. Fixed prices can come from the job (Options / Jobs and workflow); if there is a fixed price assigned to a job, the price will be applied as the job is added to the client record.
The fixed price can be removed or edited on the client record.
If there is no fixed price for the job, Practice Manager gets the rate code for the job. This is obtained from Options / Jobs and workflow.
Practice Manager then looks at the grade assigned to the staff member processing the timesheet and gets the appropriate job rate for the member of staff. This comes from Options / Staff grades and rates.
Practice Manager calculates the number of chargeable units (set up in the staff record) based on the time entered on the timesheet row and multiplies the rate by the number of units (the number of units is rounded up where the result of time entered produces a fraction).
To maintain the same rate for a particular job it is important, therefore, to maintain a consistent rate across grades and to specify the same chargeable unit across staff records.
Add Staff Grades and Rates
Setting up staff grades and rates requires Administrator permission, please ensure you log into Practice Manager using the Administrator user and password. The system will set up with a default Grade A, to add further grades proceed as follows:
Click File / Options / Grades and rates, click the Grades and rates button.
To add a grade click the Add grade button.
Enter a description for the grade and enter a maximum of 10 rates. A rate is charged per chargeable unit.
Click Save. The rates are displayed in the main screen as you click through each grade:
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To apply a grade to a staff record click Options / Staff, click the staff button and select the staff record from the list, select the grade from the drop down list in the Grade field:
To apply a rate to a job, click Tools, select Jobs and workflow, select the job from the drop down list in the job field, apply the rate from the drop down list in the rate field:
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Rate Changes
It may be necessary from time to time to increment or edit charge-out rates. Practice
Manager maintains a history of rate changes and can apply rate changes at a set point.
When you first setup grades and charge-out rates Practice Manager will apply the rates regardless of the date you enter on a timesheet row. This allows you to take on outstanding WIP if you are transferring from another system without having to specify the earliest date the rate applied.
Once rates are in use they cannot be changed; if you want to specify new rates you
‘overlay’ a grade with a new set of rates and specify the date they are to apply from. It is important to note that Practice Manager will not recalculate timesheet entries already present that fall on or before the date for a new rate. To apply a new rate to any existing timesheet entries you must edit the timesheet row, this will prompt Practice
Manager to recalculate the entry. To specify new rates proceed as follows:
Log into Practice Manager as Administrator. Ensure other users are not attempting to process timesheet entries.
Click File / Options, select Grades and rates, click the Grades and rates button and select (click) the grade you want to apply new rates to and click the Add rates button.
Select a date that the new rates are to apply from. If you want to copy the exiting rates to the new table click Copy rates. The new rate table is then created, enter the new rates.
Delete rates will delete a rate table where it hasn’t been used (not an individual rate).
Click Save.
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Creating and Applying User Security Groups
You can create and assign rights to security groups; you then add users to security groups. For example, you can prevent users from viewing financial information, viewing certain reports, filing returns and accounts on-line and accessing the billing routine. To manage security groups proceed as follows:
Log on as Administrator, click File / Options, select Security groups
To add a new security group click the Maintenance button, click Add and enter the name of the new group, click Save
To edit an existing group, select the group name from the Group dropdown list
Edit each option to allow/disallow access to the feature
Once you have finished click Save and Close
To apply a security group to a member of staff:
Click Options / Staff, click the Staff button, select staff member from the list on the left
Click the drop down box in the Security Group field and select the appropriate group
Click Save, choose the next user from the drop down list and repeat as above.
Maintain Jobs and Workflow
Jobs are the services you offer to your clients. These cover the various services covered by the Keytime modules such as Tax, Corporation Tax, Payroll and Accounts Production and any other services your practice offers such as consultancy services, tax planning, monthly management accounts etc. These services can be applied to your client records as jobs and Practice Manager can help you to manage the filing deadlines and remind you of the various stages required through to completion of the job. Practice Manager features a Job Profile report, which can tell you on a client by client basis where each job is up to.
Practice Manager installs with a number of pre-defined jobs; these work in conjunction with the various Keytime modules and cannot be removed. These job types are denoted by the Keytime logo that appears to the left of the job description.
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How Job Start Dates and Job Stage Due Dates are Calculated
Practice Manager calculates the job stage due dates in relation to the job start date. A job can be started immediately (start day is today), can be scheduled to start on a future date, or it can be deferred until a later date.
When you start a job Practice Manager will calculate the due dates for the job stages and add reminders to the appropriate dates in staff members’ diaries. The first job stage due date will be calculated as n days from the job start date, where n is the number of days in the Days field in the job (see below).
Job start dates and, therefore, job stage due dates can be deferred. If a job is deferred
(not started), Practice Manager will set a job start reminder in the Unscheduled Jobs slide out panel. The job start reminder is set for the member of staff in the Assigned to field in the job start task. Regardless of whether the job has been started or deferred, the job is placed on the client record and the filing deadline is automatically calculated and will appear in the Deadlines view.
Maintaining jobs and workflow (job stages):
Click File / Options, select Jobs, click the Job button
Click the job in the jobs list:
Each job must contain at least one job stage. The screenshot above shows multiple stages for a SA100 job
Click Add stage to add a job stage; this places a new job stage at the bottom of the list. Enter a description and assign a default member of staff to complete this stage (this can be changed at client stage). The type will default to job stage but can be changed to a different type of event
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In the Days field you set the number of days between this job stage and the one directly above. For example, a job stage may be defined as ‘request information from client’, the next stage might be ‘check information has been received’ and you might want this to happen 10 days after the original request was sent, putting 10 in the number of days field by ‘check information has been received’
will trigger a reminder 10 days later (see How Job Start Dates and Job Stage Due
Dates are Calculated above)
Each of the jobs linked to Keytime modules have on-line filing deadlines which are automatically calculated and appear in the Deadlines view. Practice Manager can remind you of a filing deadline in advance of the deadline. Enter the number of days in advance of the deadline you want the reminder to appear in the ‘days warning in advance of the filing deadline’
Click Save to save changes
Creating a New Job:
Click File / Options, select Jobs click the Jobs button
Click the New Job button, enter a description and select the entity type that this job may apply to
If you want workflow to begin from the year end date for this job tick Period Year
End
Jobs can have a fixed price rather than letting Practice Manager calculate the cost based on time recorded at staff rates. If a job has a fixed price regardless of time recorded click the Fixed cost box and enter the price, otherwise select the rate at which this job is to be charged. Note that fixed cost can be edited or switched to chargeable units in the client record
Add job stages as described in the section above
Click Save to save your changes
Timesheet Options
You can create and post disbursements in timesheets, create and post items of nonchargeable time and create standard descriptions for timesheet lines. You can require staff to enter start and end times or just the total time spent on a timesheet posting.
Click File / Options select Timesheets:
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Non-chargeable Time
Timesheets can record non-chargeable time, to create items of non-chargeable time click the Non-chargeable button, click Add, enter a code and description for the item of nonchargeable time, click OK to save changes. Note that non-chargeable time cannot be posted to a client record (see Recording Time section later in this guide for further details).
Disbursements
You can record disbursements in timesheets against client records. To create disbursement items click the Disbursements button and click Add, enter a code and description for the disbursement, click OK to save changes.
Columns (Start and End Times)
To enforce start and end times (rather than overall time spent) per timesheet row tick show start and end times. Click Save to save changes.
Maintain Staff
You can setup staff members (users), apply grades and specify working hours and chargeable time units, you can also add passwords. Staff are also assigned to security groups, which can allow/prevent access to certain options and also prevent the on-line submission of returns and accounts in the modules. See section Creating and
Maintaining User Security Groups for further instructions. Staff maintain their own password by selecting File / My Settings / Password.
To create user profiles proceed as follows:
Log into Practice Manager as Administrator. Click File / Options menu, select
Staff, click the Staff button, click Add staff
Enter the user’s name and a code (usually their initials)
Define a chargeable unit by entering the number or hours or minutes in a unit and then select hours or minutes
Specify the charge-out rate(s) by selecting a grade (see earlier section for details of staff grades and rates)
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You can specify whether other users on the system can see, and therefore access, clients assigned to this user. By default, when you create a new user other users will be able to see clients assigned to them and vice versa. To prevent this staff member from seeing others’ clients untick the staff members whose clients you don’t want them to see. You can make individual client records private, for further instructions on how to do this see section Lock/unlock a private client.
Scroll down to standard working pattern and enter working hours (as hours and minutes) for each day. The system will use this information to calculate how much time needs to be accounted for in timesheets.
Click Save when complete.
Deleting Users
You can delete users as long as all timesheet entries are passed. When you delete a user you will be prompted to replace the user profile with another user. Any clients assigned to the user will be assigned to the replacement.
Manage Software Updates
Software updates are issued from time to time. These updates may include enhancements to existing features, new features and/or fixes to reported defects.
Release notes containing information about the content of the update are posted in the
Releases forum on our support site. You can subscribe to this forum and receive email notification each time release notes are posted:
http://support.keytime.co.uk/forums/177790-release-notes
Updates are placed on our website and each module will inform you of availability when launched each day (you are only informed once per day, regardless of the number of times you open and close the software). You can manage the download and installation of these updates from Practice Manager as follows. Please note - this option is available only to the Administrator login.
Click Options, select Updates. The options are:
Automatically check for updates – This option will inform you of availability and prompt you to download the update, but it won’t be installed. You can then manually run the update in your own time.
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Manually check for updates – This option will inform you of availability; you will then need to download the update (by clicking the Check now button) and install it at a convenient time.
Navigating Practice Manager
When you open Practice Manager you will be prompted to select a user name and enter a password, select your user name and enter your password. If you haven’t yet created users and passwords select Administrator and click Logon.
Practice Manager divides client information and functionality between a number of tabs.
The main tabs are:
File - Contains back office and configuration options:
Clients - Practice Manager displays the Client tab when first opened, this view shows a list of clients that the user is allowed to see (see Options / Staff)
My Diary - Displays task, meeting and job stage reminders in diary or list format
Timesheets – Display timesheet totals and process timesheet entries
Billing – Allocate WIP and post interim bills
Reports – Generate, preview and print various reports
Each of the main tabs contains various additional views and elements of functionality, these are:
File
Backup / restore
Practice details
My Settings (user preferences)
Options - System settings (available to Administrator only)
Register software
Help file, programme and computer details, data path
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Clients
The main client view displays a list of all clients that the user is allowed to see (see
Options / Staff). The list can be sorted, grouped and filtered in numerous ways and columns can be added and removed by clicking the View Columns button in Grid Settings on the ribbon. To sort clients click the column header to sort by, to apply filters click the relevant field in the filter row. Some fields will offer different options depending on the type of data the column contains, for example, the Name field will allow you to type a client name or choose filter criteria
My Diary
My Diary displays all scheduled tasks, job stages, meetings and other events. Items can be viewed either in a schedule (Outlook calendar style) view, or list view.
My Diary opens in a weekly schedule view, but contains options to view by day, and month and for the year; if year is selected the view switches to a list view where tasks and events appear in rows.
Members of staff can allow or deny access to others by going to File / My Settings and ticking other staff members that can view their diary.
Communications
Click the Communications tab to view all communications on client records.
Communication records can be sorted and filtered:
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Timesheets – Weekly and Summary Views
Timesheets are divided into weeks running from Sunday to Saturday. Click the timesheets tab and you will be taken to the weekly timesheet for the member of staff currently logged on. The week number is determined from the system date on the PC in relation to the first week of the year setting in File / Options / Timesheet.
Timesheets also have a summary view of all weeks; switch the view from Weekly to
Summary View in the timesheet header:
Summary view shows all weeks with a summary of chargeable and non-chargeable time posted and the accountable hours for the staff member. Any difference between the total chargeable and non-chargeable time and accountable hours is displayed as time remaining; time appearing as a negative in this field is hours posted in excess of accountable hours (overtime).
Timesheets - Time Manager View
Time Manager displays a summary of all time posted by all staff, click the node to the left of the week number and the row will expand and display a breakdown of the total time by staff member. Double click a member of staff to open that person’s timesheet for that week.
Initially only Administrator can see the timesheets of all members of staff. If you want staff to be able to access others’ timesheets and view Time Manager log in as
Administrator and click File / Options / Security Groups, select the relevant security group and tick the option ‘access time manager’. Users who can access Time Manager can see an additional view in Timesheets.
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Billing
Practice Manager records WIP and disbursements against client records. Billing will allow you to allocate WIP and disbursements against bill numbers; you can then produce a billing report to be used in your bookkeeping/invoicing system. You can raise final bills that write off WIP or interim bills, which are bills on account that do not write off WIP.
You can also combine WIP from multiple clients into a single bill.
Practice Manager also features a number of reports that calculate outstanding WIP in summary or detailed form as well as summary or detailed billing reports.
Reports
Practice Manager features a number of reports, these are grouped by type of report and each report has its own criteria. Reports can be previewed on screen, output to a printer and exported as various file types.
Working with Client Records
Creating and Maintaining Client Records
Clients can be created by clicking Add in the Clients tab and entering the client details:
Click the Client tab, click Add, and select the client type from the list presented, fields available will differ according to client type.
You can obtain a limited company or LLP record from Companies House. To obtain details from Companies House, enter the company registration number, click Data Check on the toolbar (Data Check changes to Cancel Download). Click
Save to accept the data from Companies House.
You can cancel the data check at any time by clicking the Cancel Download button on the toolbar. Cancelling the download will revert all unsaved data back to its original state. Closing the company record will also cancel the data check.
Enter the client name, if the client is a sole trader enter the individual’s name and also the business name.
Enter the address details, address options will vary according to the client type you are creating. The registered office address of a limited company or LLP can
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Client details are split between two further tabs in the main client details screen, these are Business (or Client) and Practice. In the Business (or Client) tab enter the relevant information.
Click the Practice tab and select the staff member responsible for the client. Type and status default to current and active respectively.
The client record can be created in IRIS OpenSpace, or linked to an existing
OpenSpace record if one exists already. See the IRIS OpenSpace Getting Started
Guide for further details.
Click the Distribution Groups tab and tick any groups that apply to this client record
If the client is a limited company or LLP click the SIC Codes tab. Select the relevant SIC code(s)
Click Save; further tabs appear
Officers
Officer links in Practice Manager are also utilised in the company accounts in Accounts
Production. Appointing and resigning officers creates the relevant links and notes in the
Directors’ report in the accounts.
Where the Company Secretarial module is in use, adding officers will prompt for an appointment date. If the officer has already been appointed you have the option of suppressing form AP01 (or similar).
Adding Officers
To add an officer proceed as follows:
Click the Officer tab, click Add on the client toolbar, if the officer already exists in
Practice Manager search and select the record.
If the record does not exist click either add a new corporate officer (if the officer is a corporate) or add new officer (if the officer is a person). Fill in the relevant details. If you do not act for this officer untick the box ‘Make visible in Practice
Manager’
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Click the Officer tab and select either Director or Secretary and enter the date of appointment (if known). If the officer is both director and secretary create the officer record twice; once as director and again as secretary.
An officer link should only be deleted in the case of a mistake. If the officer has resigned, then you should process the resignation. This ensures integrity with the accounts in Accounts Production and completes the officer picture for the annual return on the company record (Company Secretarial).
Resignations
Resigning officers is the reverse of the appointment procedure:
Open the company record, click the Officers tab and double click the officer resigning
In the officer tab enter the date of resignation
Click Save
You can delete officer records but we do not recommend you do this unless the officer was linked by mistake; there may be undesirable effects on the accounts in Accounts
Production.
Adding Jobs to Client Records
Introduction
Adding a job to a client will create the relevant job in the Keytime module. The job in the module can be opened directly from the client record in Practice Manager. All jobs can run in perpetuity without further intervention; as a job is completed the next job can be created automatically. Practice Manager will automatically calculate the filing deadline for all Keytime jobs; these deadlines are then displayed in the Deadlines view in the main Client grid.
When you add a job to a client record you have the choice of either starting the job immediately, scheduling the start date for a future date or deferring the start date (to be scheduled at a future date). If you choose to defer the start date, the job is added to the client record and the filing deadline is calculated and recorded in the Deadlines view
(in the main Client grid), but the job stages do not have due dates assigned to them.
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Unscheduled jobs can be started at any time, either by clicking Start now on the job in the client record, or by scheduling a start date by clicking Start in the Job Start reminder accessed by double clicking the job in the Unscheduled jobs panel:
Adding Jobs
To add a job to a client record:
Open the client record, click the Jobs tab
Click Add on the client toolbar and select the job to be added, enter the relevant information
To start the job immediately or to schedule a future start date click Start
To defer the start date click Defer, the following screen is presented:
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The job start reminder places a reminder in the Unscheduled Jobs panel for the staff member set in the Assigned to field (Administrator in the example above)
Start and end date and time are set to today and now by default, these can be
changed to a date and time you want Practice Member to remind the member of staff there is an unscheduled job
Click Save to add the reminder
Scheduling Deferred Jobs
By default, reminders for jobs with deferred start dates appear in the Unscheduled jobs panel of the staff member assigned to the client, however, it is possible to assign the reminder to someone else. To do this, open the unscheduled jobs panel, locate and double click the deferred job reminder, click the assigned to field and select the member of staff to assign the reminder to, click save.
To start a deferred job immediately, open the reminder in the unscheduled jobs panel and click Start, the following screen is presented:
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The start date will default to today’s date, this can be amended as necessary (see above). Click Save to schedule the start date for the job and all job stages.
Jobs appear on the client record regardless of whether the start date has been deferred or not:
You can open the job in the Keytime module directly from the client record in Practice
Manager; locate the job and click Launch. Double click the job to access the job stages.
See section ‘Working with Jobs’ for further information about how jobs and job stages function day to day.
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Linked Client Records
You can link client records together, display relationships and move between linked records by clicking the various links. To link client records together:
In the client grid, locate one of the client records to be linked
Click the Links tab, click Add on the client toolbar
Click Search and locate the record you want to link to, click Select
Select the nature of the relationship from the dropdown box and click Save:
To remove a link click the linked record in the grid and click Delete on the client toolbar
To edit a link click the related link and click Edit on the client toolbar
You can open a linked record by clicking the Open button by the linked record:
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Lock/unlock a Private Client
You can lock a private client to a particular user; the client will be visible only to
Administrator and the staff member it is assigned to. To make a client private, proceed as follows:
It must be stated at this stage that only the system administrator has the ability to
lock and unlock private clients. The administrator can also see the client detail,
both in Practice Manager and in the modules; therefore, it is VERY IMPORTANT that the system administrator is assigned a password and that it is kept secure.
Login to Practice Manager using the Administrator password.
Locate (or add) the client record, click the Practice tab.
Click the drop down box in the Assign to field and select the user this client is to be locked to.
Click the Lock button (the image will appear unlocked)
To unlock a private client, follow steps 1 – 4, in step 4 as you click the Lock button (the image will appear locked) you will be asked if you want to unlock the record, click Yes.
When working with private clients, the client will only be available in the modules if the user is the assigned to that client; the system picks this up from the login details, either from Practice Manager if you accessed the module from there or as you login to the individual module.
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Deleting and Archiving Client Records
Client records created in error can be deleted, but there are circumstances where they cannot be deleted and instead must be archived. This is where timesheet and billing activity exists on the client record. Delete client and archive client options are available to Administrator user only.
To delete a client record, locate the record in the main client grid and click Delete. You cannot delete a client record whilst there are jobs attached to it, but if you remove the job(s) you are permitted to delete the record. To remove a job, open the client record and click the Jobs tab, locate the job and click Delete.
Client records cannot be archived where there is unbilled time in timesheets; you must deal with any unbilled time (WIP) by either passing and billing it or writing it off through the billing routine.
To archive a client record locate and open the client record to be archived in the main
Client grid, click Archive.
To members of staff other than Administrator, archived clients are excluded from the main client grid. To view archived clients, login as Administrator and click the Archive button on the main toolbar in the main Client grid. Clients can be retrieved from the archive, to do this ensure you are logged in as Administrator, click Archive on the main client grid and locate the archived record. Open the record and click the Archive button; the client will then become visible in the list of live client records.
Working with Practice Manager
Working with Client Views
The main Clients tab in Practice Manager displays clients in the form of a grid, as part of this there are three client views: Clients – displays a list of clients with customisable details contained on the client record. Company (Company Secretarial only) – displays
Companies House deadlines for limited company and LLP clients and Deadlines – displays filing deadlines for all client records that have been assigned Keytime jobs.
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Each of the three views works in the same way; you can sort and filter the records in the grid and add or remove columns in the view; you can export the grid contents to Excel.
Double click a record to open it.
Sort and Filter Client Records
You can sort records by clicking on one of the column headers; records are then sorted alphabetically in ascending or descending order. Use the filters across the grid header to filter records, for example, to see partnership records click the filter field below the
Client Type column header, click the dropdown and select partnership. Clear a filter by clicking the clear filter button to the right of the field. Some fields, such as name don’t have dropdown selections, instead you will find options for locating text strings within the field, such as contains, begins with etc.
Click the show/hide columns button to add or remove columns in the grid, make your selection; the grid will be adjusted to reflect your selection.
Client records can be grouped and sorted within a group, to group records drag the column header to group by to the area above the column headers.
Company View (Company Secretarial only)
The Company view has the same functionality as the main client view but displays
Companies House filing dates and filing reminders for limited company and LLP client types (see Company Secretarial section of this guide for further details).
Deadline View
Practice Manager will calculate a filing deadline for all Keytime jobs in client records, the deadline is then noted in the Deadlines view. The Deadlines view has the same functionality as the main Clients view i.e. you can sort, filter and group records as well as add and remove columns.
Approaching Deadlines
Every Keytime job has a filing deadline that is automatically calculated by Practice
Manager as you add the job to a client record. You can view filing deadlines in the
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Deadlines view, in addition you can specify a number of days in advance you want to be reminded of a filing deadline. Once a filing deadline reaches the number of days in advance it will appear in the Approaching Deadlines panel.
To set the number of days warning in advance of a filing deadline, you must be logged in as Administrator, click File / Options / Jobs and Workflow. Select the job and set the number of days in ‘Days warning in advance of filing deadlines’:
Communications
You can make notes on telephone conversations, details of meetings or fax communications, send emails and assign incoming emails to client records, send letters utilizing mail merge in MS Word and optionally upload mail merge documents to IRIS
OpenSpace. Practice Manager can store the details of all these types of communication against your client records. Additionally, you can view all communications with all clients in the Communications tab in the main Practice Manager screen.
Communications can be filtered and sorted by various criteria:
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Add a Communication to a Single Client Record
General Communications
You can add general communications to a client record and categorise them by communication type. You can also create letters and print them for posting or send them by email using Mail Merge (see later section).
To add a general communication to a client record, locate and open a client in the client grid, click the Communication tab and click Add:
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Select the communication type
The date will default to today and can be changed as required
Select the direction of the communication (inbound or outbound)
Select a status, e.g. call back required, complete etc. and priority
The selected client details will appear in the client field, email address is only appropriate if the communication is an email, if so the dropdown list will be prepopulated with the email addresses from the contacts on the client record
Enter/select a subject (subject is useful as it will appear in the communication grid on the client record and so helps identification). Enter/select a subject type
(can be left blank)
Select a member of staff creating the communication
You can utilise the memo area to make notes on basic communications. Email communications will send the text contained in the memo area
Attachments can be saved with communications; click Attach, click Add and locate the attachment. You can attach as many files as necessary, they will be recorded in the attachments window each time you click Add.
If the communication is an email click Send to send the email, otherwise click
Save to save the communication on the client record:
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Email Communication to a Single Client or Range of Clients
You can send an email on a client by client basis, or you can send an email to a range of clients, here we shall look at how to go about sending an email to a single client.
Open a new communication by selecting the client from the main Client grid, click the Communications tab and click Add, click Email. If the email is to be sent to a
range of clients, click Communication on the toolbar of the main client grid, click
If you are sending the email to a range of clients select the range by clicking the
Search button to the right of the email address field (you must ensure the range of clients have email addresses stored in their business (or home) address contacts
Fill in the other fields as described above and enter the body of the email in the memo box, select a signature
If you need to attach a file click the Attach button and click the Add button to browse to the location of the attachment, click Save to attach the file. You can attach as many files as you need.
Manage Document Categories and Mail Merge Templates
Introduction
Practice Manager features a mail merge function; you can merge data from Practice
Manager into Microsoft Word documents and save the document as a communication record on the client file. Mail merge documents are saved as normal .docx files in a Mail
Merge Templates folder in your Practice Manager database location. If you have a single user stand-alone copy of Keytime Software this will be on your PC hard drive (assuming you haven’t changed the location on installation) in:
C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Keytime Data\CM+
If you have a networked version, the folder will be in the same location on your network as the Practice Manager database.
You can utilize Word documents that are stored in other locations either on your hard drive or on your network; as you add the document using Template Management in
Practice Manager, the document will be copied into the Mail Merge Templates folder, this
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Installing CMWord Add-in
CMWord is an add-in solution for MS Word, it enables you to add database fields (merge fields) from Practice Manager into a Word document. If you plan to edit or create your own templates to use with Practice Manager you will need to install this add-in.
The installation of the Keytime Accountants’ Suite does not automatically install the addin; to install it click the Word button on the main toolbar in the Client tab.
Follow the instruction on screen to install. If you do not see this button, it indicates that
CMWord is already installed.
Create and Manage Mail Merge Documents
You can create a new document template or add in and utilize existing Word documents.
To utilize an existing Word document, click the document category you want this document to relate to, click the Add button (by Templates), you will be prompted for the location of and existing Word document, browse to the document location and click
Open; this will copy the document and place it in the category folder.
To edit the document, add database fields etc. click the document in document category and click Edit, this will open the document in Microsoft Word. To add mail merge fields from Practice Manager, place the cursor at the position for the first field and right click; a menu will appear, select Practice Manager, select an option from the sub menu, click to select the required database field. Continue with this process until you have all the required database fields; note that you must place the cursor wherever the database field is required to appear in your document, for example if you require 4 address fields and they are to appear one under the other select position the cursor for the first field, select the field and press enter then select the second field, and so on.
Once you have finished editing the document click Save. You must save the document in its original document category location; if you click Save as and save the document elsewhere your changes will not be reflected when you run a mail merge in Practice
Manager.
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To start a new document and add it as a mail merge template to Practice Manager, select the document category and click New (by Templates), enter a name for the document, Practice Manager will open a new document with this name. Create your document as required, following the instructions above to add mail merge fields as required, once you have finished click Save. You must save the document in its original document category location; if you click save as and save the document elsewhere your changes will not be reflected when you run a mail merge in Practice Manager.
To edit an existing mail merge document, select the document category and click the document and click Edit. Ensure you save the document back to its original location.
To delete a mail merge document, select the document category and click the document, click Delete. Note that this will delete the document from the document category folder as well as removing it from the list of documents in Practice Manager.
Mail Merge
Mail merge allows you to merge client data into documents, which can be printed and posted, emailed to clients or uploaded to IRIS OpenSpace. Mail merge creates a communication record on each client record included in the merge. To merge a single client, select the client from the main client grid, click Communications and click Add, click Letter (or Email if you want to email the merged document). If you want to merge a range of clients click Communications in the main client grid, click Letter (or Email if you want to email the merged documents). Proceed as follows:
Click the templates button and select the document to be used
Select the client/group of clients to include in the merge by clicking the search button.
Fill in the additional header details. If the communication is an email, select a signature.
If the communication is an email type your message in the memo area. Your signature will be automatically added to the bottom of the text. If the communication is a letter, use the white space to enter a note on what the communication is about.
Click Merge, click Merge only this will generate the mail merged document, which can be printed and posted as necessary or, if the communication is an email, emailed to the selected range of clients
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To upload the document to IRIS OpenSpace click Merge, click Merge &
OpenSpace.
A communication memo is added to the client(s) record
Receiving Client Emails
Client emails received in your Outlook Inbox can be automatically directed to the client record in Practice Manager, usually without intervention.
The Microsoft Outlook Add-in for Practice Manager matches incoming email addresses with those stored in client records in Practice Manager and routes them to the client record as communication memos. The emails will not leave your inbox, but they will also appear as communication memos on your client records.
The routing process is triggered by the receipt of an email in your Outlook inbox; any emails received prior to the add-on module being installed can be manually routed:
Right click the email in your inbox (click the envelop header, without opening the email).
Click Practice Manager / Copy to communications from the context menu.
If the email address doesn’t exist within any of the client records in Practice
Manager, you will receive a message to that effect and the email will not be routed.
There may be instances where an email is routed to more than one client record. This will happen where an email address appears in more than one record, for example a shared email address between a husband and wife where each has their own record in
Practice Manager. In this case, the email will appear on both records where it has been automatically routed by the system. If you manually route an email and the address appears in more than one record, you will receive a message that this is the case and a prompt to select the record.
Attaching Documents/Working Papers to a Client Record
You can attach copies of documents or files to the client record in Practice Manager; any mail merge documents you generate in Practice Manager will be automatically attached to the client record as a communication memo.
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You can add any type of file – Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PDF etc. In addition, any PDF documents that have been generated in any of the Keytime modules will attach themselves to the client record in Practice Manager.
To manually attach a document/file to a client record:
Locate and open the client record in the Clients grid, click the Documents tab
Click the Add button, click the Selected file button and browse to the location of the document, click the file or document and click Save
Enter a brief description of the file contents (to aid identification later) and choose a job type to store the document against
To open an attached document, double click the document in the grid
To remove a document link from a client record, click once on the document and click Delete
To upload a copy of a document to IRIS OpenSpace click Send in the OpenSpace column in the document grid
The Diary
Introduction
Each user has their own diary within Practice Manager, the diary contains reminders about filing deadlines, job stages, events, meetings and tasks. The diary can be organized into a daily, weekly, monthly or yearly views and diarized events are presented in the form of either a schedule or a list. You can allow other users to see your diary and you can move reminders to other members of staff or flag them as complete.
Each time a job is added to a client record, Practice Manager will calculate the filing deadline and place a reminder in the diary of the staff member responsible for the client
(or the job). As job start dates are scheduled, Practice Manager will calculate the due date of the job stages and place reminders in the diary of the staff member responsible for the stage.
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The Diary works in conjunction with Today’s Tasks panel and the Reminders pop up that can be seen as Practice Manager is launched. A typical diary in schedule form for a member of staff will look like this:
In list form it looks like this:
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Working with the Diary
Add a Reminder to the Diary
To add a reminder to the diary proceed as follows:
Click the Diary tab, click Add
Select the type of reminder – event, meeting or task
If the reminder relates to a client select the client record by clicking Search
If the reminder relates to a job for the client select the job
Enter (or select) a subject for the reminder
By default the reminder is assigned to the person creating it; it may be changed
by clicking the dropdown list and selecting an alternative member of staff
Set the start and end dates and time and the number of minutes in advance you want to be reminded (the default is 15 minutes)
If the reminder is to occur on a regular basis select recurring and select the frequency and number of year you want the reminder to occur
Enter a description and assign the task to a member of staff
Click Save and the reminder(s) will be added to the diary
Completing Reminders
You can use the diary to complete job stages and flag other reminders as being complete. Practice Manager can filter out complete reminders. Alternatively, you can work through job stages in the job on the client record.
In schedule view, double click a reminder to open it. Click the complete box; the completion date will default to today’s date, but can be changed as necessary. In list view click (tick) the complete box on the reminder row. As soon as the reminder is marked as complete it will be hidden from the diary, complete reminders can be seen by clicking the Include Complete button on the toolbar; complete reminders are green in the schedule view:
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Completing Job Stages
Job stages can be flagged as complete and there is an option to specify who completed it and the date completed, there is also an option to add a note to a job stage. Proceed as follows:
Open the client record and click the Jobs tab
Tick (click) the completed box by the complete jobstage
The completed by and date will default to the user currently logged in and the system date, these can be changed by double clicking the field
You can add a note to a jobstage (complete or incomplete), double click the Notes field and enter the note in the pop up note pad, click OK
Job Profile Report
You have the option of completing and reporting on jobs and job stages. The Jobs tab in the Print menu (Print in the Data group on the navigation bar) contains a report that can show an individual job or range of jobs, range of clients and the option to select a partner that the client is assigned to. There is also the option to specify a date rage; this is the due date on the individual job stages and to filter out complete or incomplete jobs stages, or show both.
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If completed job stages are included the date completed, staff member completing and any note is also displayed in the report.
Maintaining Timesheets
Introduction
Timesheets are entered on a weekly basis per member of staff. Practice Manager will initially load the current week’s timesheet for the logged in user. Chargeable and nonchargeable time can be recorded although non-chargeable time cannot be recorded on a client record; you use non-chargeable item codes instead. Disbursements are also recorded in timesheets, these are posted to client records and appear in the WIP reports.
Timesheets have four views: Weekly, this is the main weekly timesheet for the user.
Summary, this view summarises total chargeable and non-chargeable time recorded on a week by week basis. The summary also displays total accountable hours and gives the user an indication of how many hours are left to record or how many hours overtime have been recorded. Custom view takes you to a weekly timesheet view but allows you to select a date range, for example, a month.
Time Manager, displays the total chargeable and non-chargeable time recorded and total accountable hours for all member of staff; the information is presented on a week by week basis. You can drill down into a week and view individuals’ time recorded, you can also drill down into an individual’s timesheet and view the entries. You must have relevant security rights to be able to view Time Manager (see below for further details).
The timesheet toolbar contains options for adding, deleting and passing timesheet entries, changing views, selecting a date range (customer view only), moving between staff members (Time Manager only), printing the timesheet report and exporting the timesheet entries to Excel:
You can expand, contract and rearrange the columns in the timesheet, to revert the columns back to their original setting click Reset
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Timesheet Entries
Recording Chargeable Time
Timesheets are entered on a weekly basis per staff member. Click the Timesheets tab,
Practice Manager will load the current week’s timesheet for the logged in user. To record
chargeable time Proceed as follows:
To start the first timesheet row click the Add button on the main toolbar, press
<Enter>
To first column is Type, this controls the type of entry you are making on the line, options are C (this is the default) – record chargeable time, N – record nonchargeable time or D – record a disbursement. The entry will default to C
(chargeable time)
The next field is Client ID, if you know the client ID you can type it into the field, if you don’t (or there isn’t one) press <Enter> and the client search screen will appear, search for and select the client record. Press <Enter> to continue
The Client Name field will be populated automatically if you have selected the client ID in the previous field, alternatively, you may leave the Client ID field
blank and just enter the client name if you know it, or search for the client record and select it. Press <Enter> to continue
The next field is Job Code, the field will be populated automatically with the first job in the client record, you can choose a job code by pressing <F4> in the job code field, or by clicking in the field and click the drop down. Press <Enter> to continue
Enter a description for the timesheet entry, or you can select a pre-defined description (see Timesheet Settings above) by pressing <F4>, or by clicking in the field and click the drop down. Press <Enter> to continue
The Date field will default to the first day of the week, it can be changed by pressing <F4> and selecting the date from the calendar, or you can just type the
day of the week and the rest of the date will default for you. Press <Enter> to continue
Enter the Total Time as hours and minutes spent (not the number of units).
Press <Enter> to continue
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The number of Units is calculated automatically from the total time entered.
Press <Enter> to continue
The Total Amount will either be calculated as number of units multiplied by rate per unit (this comes from the grade assigned in the user profile and the rate assigned to the job), or a fixed price if this applies to the job on the client record.
Press <Enter to continue
The Fixed Cost box will be ticked if the job has a fixed cost, this comes from the client record and cannot be changed at timesheet stage. Press <Enter> to continue
To pass a timesheet entry for billing tick (click) the box (you can also press the
<spacebar> to tick the box) in the Passed field. Only passed timesheet entries can be billed. Press <Enter> to continue and process the Next Entry
As you process chargeable and non-chargeable time, you will notice that the work summary at the foot of the timesheet starts to fill; use the work summary to help complete the timesheet to the required number of accountable hours. The accountable hours are set per staff member in Options / Staff / Working Patterns.
Recording Non-chargeable Time
Non-chargeable time cannot be recorded against a client record; you record such time against a non-chargeable activity (for details on how to set up non-chargeable activities see section Timesheet Settings above). Non-chargeable time is processed in the same way as chargeable time (see instructions above) with a small difference as detailed below:
The Type field in the timesheet defaults to C (chargeable), to record nonchargeable time switch the entry to N (non-chargeable). Press <Enter> to continue
You cannot record non-chargeable time on a client record, therefore, you are prevented from entering client details in the Client ID and Name fields
The Code field behaves differently when processing non-chargeable time, press
<F4> and select a non-chargeable activity (see Timesheet Settings section for further details about setting up non-chargeable activity codes). Press <Enter> to continue
As you press Enter the description of the non-chargeable activity will appear in the Description field, you can overtype the description as necessary
The Date field will default to the first day of the week, it can be changed by pressing <F4> and selecting the date from the calendar, or you can just type the
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Enter total time spent on this activity in the total time field. Press <Enter> to continue
The number of units will be calculated and displayed in the Units field (this comes from the timesheet unit settings in the user profile). Press <Enter> to continue
The Total Amount will be zero (as the time is non-chargeable). Press <Enter> to continue
The Fixed Cost and Passed fields are disabled as they are not appropriate.
Press <Enter> to continue to the next row
Recording Disbursements
Disbursements (chargeable items other than time) for convenience are recorded in timesheets. They have no effect on time, but do appear in the WIP reports and have an effect on the overall chargeable amount in the client record. You create disbursement codes in Options / Timesheets / Disbursements. Disbursements are processed in a similar manner to chargeable time (see section above), with some differences as detailed below:
The Type field in the timesheet defaults to C (chargeable), to record a disbursement switch the entry to D (disbursement). Press <Enter to continue
The next field is Client ID, if you know the client ID you can type it into the field, if you don’t (or there isn’t one) press <Enter> and the client search screen will appear, search for and select the client record. Press <Enter> to continue
The Client Name field will be populated automatically if you have selected the client ID in the previous field; alternatively, you may leave the Client ID field blank and just enter the client name if you know it, or search for the client record and select it. Press <Enter> to continue
The Job Code field behaves differently when processing a disbursement, choose a disbursement code by pressing <F4>, or by clicking in the field and click the drop down. Press <Enter> to continue
The description of the disbursement will populate the Description field, it can be overtyped as necessary. Press <Enter> to continue
The Date field will default to the first day of the week, it can be changed by pressing <F4> and selecting the date from the calendar, or you can just type the
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P a g e day of the week and the rest of the date will default for you. Press <Enter> to continue
No time is recorded against a disbursement; press <Enter> to continue to the
Amount field – enter the disbursement amount. Press <Enter> to continue
To pass the entry for billing, tick the box in the Passed field. Press <Enter> to continue to the next row
Passing Timesheet Entries
Timesheet entries must be passed before they become available to timesheet billing. To pass timesheet entries open the weekly timesheet and tick (click) the passed field by the entries you want to pass. Alternatively, you can pass/un-pass timesheet entries by clicking the Pass All / Un-pass All buttons on the timesheet toolbar.
Working with Timesheet Views
The timesheet tab by default loads the current week’s timesheet. To switch the view to
Weekly Summary click the View drop down box in the Grid View section of the toolbar, as below:
Select Summary View:
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Time Manager
Time Manager displays all time (chargeable and non-chargeable) recorded by all members of staff, sorted into weeks. You must have appropriate access rights to be able to access Time Manager, these can be found in Options / Security Groups / General, tick ‘Has time Manager Access’ to allow access. It is important to note that if you are allowed access to Time Manager you can view and edit timesheets for all members of staff.
To view Time Manager, click the Timesheet tab and click the View field, click the drop down and select Time Manager, as below:
Time Manager displays all time accountable and recorded for all staff arranged into weeks:
You can drill into a week and view time recorded; click the right pointing arrow by the week number to open the week summary. To open an individual timesheet double click the staff member. To move back to Time Manager click the View field in the Grid View section of the timesheet toolbar.
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Timesheet and Work in Progress Reports
The timesheet report can be accessed from the timesheet itself:
Weekly report is only available when viewing a weekly timesheet (not custom) for an individual.
Click the Reports tab to view further reports for timesheets and work in progress.
Report categories are displayed; double click one of the categories to access individual reports. Click Show Criteria on the reports toolbar and select the relevant criteria.
Timesheet reports – choose chargeable or non-chargeable, select the staff member(s) and client and date range. To run a timesheet for both chargeable and non-chargeable time go to the weekly timesheet view for the member of staff.
Work in progress reports – You have options of a work in progress/billing
decisions report, which displays outstanding work in progress in detail on a client by client basis, it also shows any disbursements and interim bills posted giving a total amount to be billed per client. You can include or exclude work in progress that hasn’t yet been passed.
You can generate summarized work in progress reports by client or by job type, these reports will report a grand total for work in progress and the WIP summary report by client can include or exclude WIP that hasn’t been passed. The summarized WIP by job report analyses WIP into billed and unbilled totals.
Timesheet Billing
Generate a WIP/Billing Decisions Report
Before you commence billing, you may want to generate a WIP report; this report shows a breakdown of outstanding WIP on a client or range of clients. Disbursements and interim bills are also included and affect the overall amounts outstanding.
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To generate a WIP report click the Reports tab, double click the WIP report category, select Client WIP/Billing Decisions to show a breakdown of WIP (WIP Summary shows total WIP per client record). Click Show Criteria on the reports toolbar, choose a staff member or all staff, click the search icon by the Client ID field and select either a single client, range of clients or all clients, click view reports to view the report on screen or click print report to output the report directly to the printer.
The WIP/Billing Decisions report will show all outstanding billable items for each client; passed and un-passed timesheet entries, disbursements and any interim invoices with a total to be billed.
Start a Billing Session
Click the Billing tab.
Timesheet Billing takes timesheet entries that have been passed and generates a billing report; you can then use the report to capture invoices in your bookkeeping system.
In Timesheet Billing you can:
Select a client and produce an interim (on account) or a final (WIP) bill.
Combine WIP from a number of clients into one bill.
Suspend billing sessions (close and resume a billing session without clearing invoices in that session).
Create an Interim (on-account) Bill
Interim bills do not allocate any WIP; they are ‘on-account’ bills used to invoice the client in advance. Interim bills appear in the client WIP report and reduce the overall amount of outstanding WIP. Interim bills are cleared from the client account when you post a final bill and allocate the WIP.
NOTE: Overall profit (or loss) on a job is calculated as final invoice value plus any outstanding interim bills minus WIP allocated on final invoice. Interim bills are recorded with neither a profit nor loss.
Open a billing session and proceed as follows:
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Click Add on the billing toolbar and select the client or click the zoom icon, press
<Enter>.
You will be presented with options to create either an interim or final bill, select
Interim and click OK
Enter the bill total and press <Enter>
Enter any narrative (this appears in the Narrative field in the invoice listing report).
Press Confirm to finalise the bill.
Create a Final (WIP) Bill
Final bills allocate WIP and also clear any interim bills on the client record. It is important to note that the system calculates any profit or loss on bills as interim bill(s) + final bill – WIP allocated.
Open a billing session, select a client.
You will be presented with a message to create either a final bill or an interim bill
(the default is final), click OK.
You normally allocate WIP to a final invoice, if there is no WIP present for this client you will see a warning message, but you will be allowed to continue.
Enter the bill total and click Next.
In the Details tab you will see passed WIP available for billing, click the WIP items you want to allocate to this bill, any that you don’t want to bill will be carried forward to the next bill for this client.
You can add WIP from other client records, this may be a related record (via
Associated Links) or not. Click WIP.
Enter the client ID or click Search and select the record, a list of passed WIP will be presented, select the WIP items to add to this bill, click Select.
You can remove or add any item of WIP (WIP removed will remain outstanding on
the client WIP report).
Click Confirm; a message is presented giving you the option to proceed or cancel, click Yes to finalise the bill.
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Running Reports
Practice Manager has a number of reports available, to access reports click the Reports tab. You can:
Print client listings, in summary or detail or group clients and report by job
Print communication reports, in summary or detail
Print timesheet reports, showing chargeable and non-chargeable items
Print WIP reports, in summary or detail
Print summary invoice listings in client or bill number order, or a final invoice buildup report, which details final invoices and adds any interim bills to show a profit/loss
All reports can be output to screen (you can print from the screen), printer,
Excel, Word or PDF
Company Secretarial
Company Secretarial functionality is incorporated into Practice Manager but is registered separately. Changes to client records requiring a form submission to Companies House are flagged for attention on the company record in Practice Manager, wherever they have been instigated. Companies House forms can either be printed and posted or filed on-line at Companies House.
Conventions Used in this Guide
Officer is a generic term for director/secretary/member etc. Member refers to an officer of an LLP; we use the term shareholder rather than member to avoid confusion between
LLPs and limited companies.
Registering the Software
Company Secretarial functionality is registered within Practice Manager. Click File, select
Registration, select Internet, enter your registration user name (this can be found on your registration letter), click Register; the system will bring up all the modules you
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How the Company Secretarial Registration Works
The registration works slightly differently to other Keytime Modules. If you have an unlimited registration code you can maintain as many client records as you wish; there are no restrictions on what you can do or the number of forms you can file. If you buy a restricted licence, you can add as many clients as you wish, but you will be prompted to activate the records in which you want to use the main features.
The restricted licence will still allow you to take advantage of some of the modules features, you can:
Maintain the main company record, this includes aligning data with that held at
Companies House
Maintain made up to and filing dates for annual returns and accounts
To activate client records after purchasing a restricted licence click the Activate button on the toolbar in the company record. Please note that records cannot be deactivated inside the 1 year licence period. Once the licence period expires you will have the option of either licencing again the next year or licencing a different client.
Preparing to File at Companies House
Obtaining Presenter Details
To be able to use Companies House software filing service to submit fee-bearing documents on-line using 3 rd party software you need to set up a credit account at
Companies House. Credit account application forms can be downloaded from the
Companies House website:
Companies House credit account application form
Once your credit account has been established, Companies House will send you a presenter ID and a password. To add the presenter credentials open Practice Manager, click File / Options / On-line filing credentials, enter your sender ID and password; email is an address you want Companies House to use as a point of contact.
IMPORTANT NOTE: You must have a credit account with Companies House; if you have an accounts filing only account (non-fee bearing) you will need to apply for a credit account.
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Company Authentication Code (CAC)
Having obtained and set up presenter details, the next thing to consider is company authentication. Every company needs an authentication code (CAC) in order to file online. The authentication code acts as a digital signature and is usually set up by the company directors.
Companies House have no concept of an agent as presenter; it is the presence of the
CAC when making submissions that authenticates the presenter as filing on behalf of the company. The CAC is also required when downloading full company details from
Companies House (you can perform a basic company details download without the CAC).
The company authentication code is stored in the company record and is always made up of 6 digits. The code doesn’t have to be unique; the same code can apply to all companies in a group for example. The company directors should be able to supply the authentication code if on-line filing has taken place at any time in the past or the company has been formed fairly recently (Companies House supply an authentication code to all newly formed companies).
Company View
The Company view (found within the Client tab) is visible when Company Secretarial functionality is registered. This view displays all limited company and LLP clients with
Company secretarial jobs, it displays the last and next annual return and accounts filing dates for Companies House submissions:
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Managing Filing Alerts
Company Secretarial is intelligent about the way in which forms are generated. Officer and company records have a Companies House status tab, this contains submission settings for each form that can be filed on that record. As you make changes to company and officer records, the system detects the type of change and alerts you to the appropriate form. Some changes will arise as a consequence of editing the record
(correcting spelling mistakes, taking on new clients etc.), other changes will require a form to be submitted at Companies House (changing the registered office address, appointment of an officer etc.). Here are some examples of the way in which Company
Secretarial intelligently manages filing alerts:
When appointing an officer, capturing personal details on the officer record will not result in a CH01 where the officer appointment AP01 has not yet been filed.
When setting up a new company record and adding officer links, the system will ask if you want to generate an appointment from for Companies House. If the answer is no, the system will ask if the officer has previously been appointed, if the response is yes an AP01 (or similar) will not be generated and the appointment will be marked as filed in the Companies House status tab. If the response is no the system will retain an unfiled appointment form on the officer
(and company) record. You can either file the form at a later date or remove the flag if the officer was previously appointed. These prompts will occur regardless of whether there is a date of appointment present on the officer record as it may not be known at that point.
When adding an officer to an existing company record, entering a date appointed will trigger a message asking if you want to generate an appointment form, if the response is yes an AP01 (or similar) will be generated. If the answer is no the system will retain an unfiled appointment from on the officer (and company) record. You can either file the form at a later date or remove the flag.
All submissions are done from the company record (including officer submissions), this is because a company authorisation code (CAC) is required to complete an on-line submission. The system alerts you to unfiled changes by placing this pin icon by the company record in the main company grid.
Follow the trail of pins to the form to be filed. In the example below the trail leads to an officer appointment:
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The Companies House filing status flags can be amended if you inadvertently triggered a filing alert. In the example below the record indicates there is an unfiled change on an officer record following a change of residential address. Open the officer record and click the Companies House status tab:
To remove the filing alert untick the unfiled changes box. To generate CH01 click Save.
You can generate a form based on information already held on the record without editing it to trigger a change. Simply open the record, click the Companies House status tab and tick the unfiled changes box by the change type to be filed, click Save.
Filing Forms at Companies House
Before you can consider filing you should read the earlier section in the guide ‘Preparing to File at Companies House’.
Forms are automatically produced as a result of changes on the company or officer record. Forms can be submitted immediately or queued for submission at a later date.
To carry straight through to submission click Yes when prompted to submit, the following screen is presented:
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The submission is summarised in the row. The presenter details can be included in the submission. The inclusion of presenter details is entirely optional, but if they are included they will appear on the public record. If you don’t want to include presenter details removed (click) the tick from the Presenter tick box.
To preview the form click Preview PDF. The form can either be queued for submission at a later date or it can be filed immediately. To queue for a later date click Close.
To file the form on-line click e-File
To file on paper click File PDF, this will flag the form as filed on the company record
To view the form once filed click the View button
If you don’t submit immediately, the system will mark the company record with a filing reminder in the main client grid (as described previously). Company Secretarial leaves a trail of alerts in the company record to indicate what type of form needs to be filed. To follow filing alerts proceed as follows:
If a change has occurred on an officer record (appointment, resignation or change of officer details) a filing alert will appear on the company record
Open the company record and follow the alert symbols to the Officers tab:
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In the officer tab the officer in question will appear with the same symbol, open the officer record and click the Companies House status tab. In the example below the unfiled form alert has resulted from an officer appointment:
To file the form click Save and follow the instructions as described above.
Once the form has been filed the system will place a tick in the Filed box and record the date.
Filing Accounts
The Companies House software filing service allows for the submission of limited company unaudited abbreviated and dormant accounts. At the time of writing, this does not extend to LLPs although Companies House advise that this service is planned for the near future.
Practice Manager does not contain any provision for filing accounts; these are filed through Accounts Production instead.
Submission Logs, Companies House Checker
Practice Manager maintains a log of all Companies House submissions. Each time you file, or attempt to file a form the submission log is updated with the response received from Companies House. The response will be either Accept, Reject or in the case of accounts Pending.
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To maintain submission responses the system uses a small polling module – the Keytime
Companies House Checker, this is the same module used by Accounts Production. The checker sits silently on the PC in the notification area (sys tray) to the right of the
Windows task bar. The checker polls Companies House at set intervals, by default this is set to every 15 minutes. This can be amended if necessary.
Please note that submission responses from Companies House are not instantaneous as they are from HMRC. Switching off or removing the checker may mean reject responses are delayed or not received, this may result in you missing a filing deadline and receiving a fine. Submission responses can be viewed by clicking e-logs on the toolbar in the company record.
Configuring the Companies House Checker
The Companies House Filing module also consists of a small programme that polls
Companies House for submission responses. This programme installs with every instance of the filing module and when running appears in the right of your PC task bar.
Within the Companies House filing Module, after clicking submit, click the red cross on the top right to close the filing module, the Filing module checks to see if the Submission
Checker is running. If the Checker isn’t running the following screen is presented:
It is recommended that you take the option (ticked by default) to launch the Keytime
Companies House Checker on Windows start up. Click the Launch button to start the
Checker, a small icon: will appear on the right of your PC taskbar.
The icon may initially be hidden, to reveal the icon on the taskbar, click the show hidden icons button on the right of the taskbar (appears as a small upwards pointing arrow on
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Checker and amend the notification setting to Show Icon and Notifications.
To configure the Checker, right click the Checker icon on the taskbar and select Settings, the following screen is presented:
You can set the check interval by altering the number of minutes in the Check Every option. Run on System Startup when ticked will launch the Checker automatically each time Windows starts (recommended). Show History shows a submission log and the latest submission status; double click a submission to view the stored response.
Save saves any changes you have made. Cancel closes the settings screen but leaves the Checker running on the taskbar. Exit App closes the Checker completely.
Appointing Officers
To appoint an officer, first locate the company record in the main client grid and double click to open it and proceed as follows:
Click the Officers tab and click Add. You will be presented with a list of existing
Practice Manager records.
If the officer already exists, search for it using the sorting and searching options available in the grid (as described in the previous chapter). Double click the officer record to select it. If the officer record doesn’t exist already, either click the ‘create a new officer’ button (if the officer is a person) or the ‘create new corporate officer’ button (if the officer is a corporate).
Fill in the personal details and select 3 questions from the ‘consent to act’ group
Click the Officer tab, select either Director or Secretary and enter the date of appointment
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The questions from the ‘consent to act’ group and occupation in the ‘person’ tab will be used by default. If you want a different set of details for this appointment untick the ‘use information from person tab’ and enter the details
Click Save to generate the appointment, the following screen is presented:
To raise an appointment click Yes, this will produce form AP01. To add an officer without raising an AP01 click No, this will add the officer record and suppress the form
To file the appointment follow the instructions in section ‘Filing Forms at
Companies House’
Note that if a director is also the company secretary you will need to add the officer twice; once as a director and again as a secretary.
Officers automatically appear in Accounts Production, however, it is possible to maintain a list of officers in accounts independent of any officer links in Client Manager. If this is the case and you wish to re-establish the links with Client Manager/Company Secretarial you can do so by opening the accounts in Accounts Production, click the Help menu /
Tidy up Contract Details.
Resigning Officers
Resigning officers is the reverse of the appointment procedure:
Open the company record, click the Officers tab and double click the officer resigning
In the officer tab enter the date of resignation
Click save. You will be prompted to generate the officer resignation form
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To file to form follow the instructions in section ‘Filing Forms at Companies House’
Resigning officers who are also shareholders will remain as shareholders unless their shares are transferred to another shareholder. Shareholders that cease to hold shares during the year are included in the list of movement or full list of shareholders in the annual return, thereafter, the system will regard the record as ceased.
You can delete officer and shareholder records but we do not recommend you do this unless the officer was linked by mistake; there may be undesirable effects on the accounts if Accounts Production is using linked officer records.
Share Capital
Share classes can be added to the company record, allocated to shareholders and form
SH01 produced and filed at Companies House. To add shares to a company record, proceed as follows:
Open the company record and click the Shares tab
Enter the share class description, e.g. Ordinary class A
Select the class type from the dropdown (ordinary or preference), enter the nominal value per share
Authorised share capital can be entered where this is specified in the company’s
Articles of Association.
Select the share currency from the dropdown; the default is pound sterling
Enter the prescribed particulars of voting rights in the tab below the share details
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Prescribed Particulars of Voting Rights
Prescribed particulars of rights attached to shares can usually be found in the company’s
Articles of Association, or a company resolution. Companies House have produced an
FAQ on the subject; it can be found at this address on their website:
http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/infoAndGuide/faq/prescribedParticulars.
shtml
Note that some wording may cause a rejection by Companies House, examples are:
please see the Articles of Association for the rights;
rights as set out in the Articles;
share rights are the same as those already in issue;
not applicable;
pari passu
Share Classes and Accounts Production
Share classes and allotments added to the company record in Practice Manager can appear automatically in the record in Accounts Production. If the company exists already in Accounts Production you will have the option of overwriting the share details with those stored in Practice Manager. If this option is taken the two systems will become linked, meaning any changes to share capital in Practice Manager will be automatically reflected in Accounts Production.
Note that the link works one way only: when linked, share capital details will come from
Practice Manager only. It is important, therefore, to ensure the share types are in place in Practice Manager before establishing the link in Accounts Production.
To establish the link with Accounts Production, open the accounts, click Maintain, click the Share Capital button and click Link to Practice Manager.
Shareholders
You can maintain a list of shareholders against every company record (where the company is limited by shares). When appointing officers, the system will assume that they are also to become shareholders and make them available as such without further instruction.
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Shareholders that aren’t officers of the company are added as follows:
Open the company record, click the shareholders tab
Click Add, a list of existing records will appear. If the shareholder already exists as a record in Practice Manager search for the record and add it (click Save)
If the shareholder record doesn’t exist already, click Add new shareholder (or add new corporate shareholder if appropriate)
Fill in the details. If the holding is to be in joint names enter the joint names in the appropriate box
Click Save
Share Transactions
Share transactions are done on the shareholder record, from within the main company record. Proceed as follows:
In the company record, click the Shareholders tab. Double click the shareholder record
Personal details are entered in the Person tab, click the Shares tab
Allocating Shares
To allocate shares:
Select Allocate from the transaction type drop down box
Select the share type from the Type list
Select the date of allocation - note this is used by the system when detecting shareholder movement in the year when generating the annual return. It is, in effect the date person became a shareholder.
Select the date paid if applicable
Enter the number of shares allocated and amount of consideration per share
The system will calculate the total amount payable
Enter the total amount paid, if applicable
Click Save
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Transfers
To process a transfer of shares proceed as follows:
Select the shareholder you are transferring shares FROM
Select Transfer from the Type drop down list
Select the shareholder you are transferring TO
Select the share type
Enter the date of transfer allocation - note this is used by the system when detecting shareholder movement in the year when generating the annual return.
Enter the date paid if applicable
Enter the number of shares to transfer and the consideration per share
The system calculates to total amount payable
Enter the total paid if applicable
Click Save
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Opening Balances
Share transactions includes an opening balance type (B/Fwd). This transaction type is identical to the allocation type, except the system disregards the date when ascertaining movement on shareholder records for the annual return. The balance of shares B/Fwd is considered and reported as an existing holding.
Joint Shareholders
You can create joint shareholder records, which are then reported as such on the annual return. It is important to note that ALL shareholdings on a joint shareholder
record are deemed to be jointly held. If the main shareholder is a shareholder in his/her own right then you must add the shareholder a second time; the shareholder will then appear twice in the list of shareholders – once as an individual in their own right and again as a joint shareholder. A ‘link’ icon will appear by a shareholder record that jointly holds shares:
To create a joint shareholding, open what will be the main shareholder record, click the
Shares tab and click the Joint Holdings button:
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The following screen is presented:
Click Add and search for the joint shareholder record, click Select and the joint shareholder will appear as in the screenshot above. There is no limit on the number of joint shareholders that can be added.
Dividends
You can distribute a dividend amongst shareholders, with the option to waiver if required. Dividends are based on the total dividend payable (grossed up) and distributed amongst members in accordance with the number of shares held. For example:
Member A 30 shares held
Member B 30 shares held
Member C 20 shares held
Member D 20 shares held dividend £18,000 dividend £18,000 dividend £12,000 dividend £12,000
Total dividend payable is £60,000, the system will divide the dividend by the total number of shares (100) and then multiply by the number of shares held by each shareholder.
The above example assumes the total dividend payable is the grossed up value.
Practice Manager can distribute dividends and produce tax vouchers and deeds of waiver as required. To distribute dividends proceed as follows:
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Open the company record
Click the Dividends tab and click Add
Enter a description for the dividend, e.g. final dividend for year ended 31
December 201x; this appears on the dividend tax voucher
Select the share type, enter the total grossed up value
Enter the tax rate (currently 10%) and select the payment date
Select the dividend ex date; any shareholders acquiring shares after this date are excluded from the distribution
Select a signatory from the drop down box
Click Save; a Members tab will appear, click the Members tab
The members tab contains a list of shareholders entitled to the dividend and their total gross dividend
Click the Waiver tick box by any member wishing to waive their dividend, click
Save to recalculate the distribution amongst the remaining shareholders
Printing Tax Vouchers and Deeds of Waiver
Once dividends have been distributed you can print tax vouchers and deeds of waiver, you can select a range of shareholders to print vouchers for or individuals, which is useful in the case of a reprint.
To print vouchers and deeds of waiver proceed as follows:
In the Members tab of the dividends screen;
Click the select tick box to the left of each shareholder and click Print; tax vouchers and deeds of waiver, if applicable, will be generated for each shareholder selected
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Vouchers and deeds of waiver can be reprinted at any time – dividends distributed are retained by the system and can be opened as required, in the
Members tab tick the required shareholders and, if required, the waiver box, click print
Generate a Minute
You can optionally generate a minute at the same time you generate tax vouchers, although it is possible to generate the minute later using the Minutes option (see Minutes section for further information about generating minutes and maintaining minute templates).
As you produce tax vouchers you will be prompted to generate the minute, click yes to generate. The minute will be generated as a Word document and noted in the main
Minutes grid on the company record.
Minutes
Introduction
You can generate minutes based on events on the company record. Minutes are generated as mail merged .docx files, .docx files are open source files and can be opened in Microsoft Word and a range of other applications. We have included a template document to get you started with minutes, which can be edited in Microsoft
Word.
The template is divided into sections and each section deals with an event that has taken place on the company record, these being: officer appointments and resignations, allotment of shares, transfer of shares and dividends. Each section contains commands that will skip the section if the event hasn’t occurred. This means you can maintain a single template for all events; of course, you are free to create your own templates and edit resulting merged documents as necessary.
Creating a Minutes Template
Minutes templates must be stored in a predefined location, by default the location is set to the Client Manager data location. You can change this location in Practice Manager by clicking File / Options / System, click Paths, click the zoom button by the minutes templates location and select the path.
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There is a second location for the resulting merged documents – minutes documents location; the system will place all resulting merged documents in this location. It can be changed, but it is advisable to have your merged results in a different location to your templates.
If you are working in a networked environment you must ensure that both the templates location and the documents location are accessible to other network users.
Creating or Editing a Template
Minute templates must be created and edited in MS Word and saved as .docx files. Your template will consist of typed general text and Practice Manager database fields (merge fields) that will merge your variable client and minute details into the finished document.
To add merge fields to your Word document place the cursor wherever you want the merged data to appear and right click; the context menu will appear, click Keytime /
Company Secretarial (or Practice Manager – you can use a mixture of both) and select the required merge field.
Multiple Sections and Skipping Sections
The sample minutes template that installs with Practice Manager contains multiple sections covering the following events: officer appointments, resignations, allotment of shares, transfers of shares and dividends paid. As you generate minutes, Practice
Manager can search for instances of these events between two dates. If any of these events are detected the relevant section in the minutes will appear, otherwise the section is skipped. To use this functionality the commands required are Start Section and End Section; these commands are located at the top and bottom of the various event groups in the Company Secretarial grouping on the context menu:
Insert Start Section and End Section commands above and below a section you want to skip if you don’t want the text contained within it to appear, like this:
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In the above example, note the blank line ABOVE the <<appointmentEnd>> command.
Adding a line above the command ensures a line space at the end of the section before the next section begins. If the blank line appeared below the tag and additional blank line would appear in the document before the start of the next section.
Multiple Instances of an Event
As stated above, when generating minutes you can search for events between two dates. If there are multiple occurrences of an event, for example, more than one officer appointment you can include all appointments in your minute. To do this you need to insert xRepeatOn and xRepeatOff, x refers to the section, so in this example you would see appointmentRepeatOn and appointmentRepeatOff.
The RepeatOn and RepeatOff commands will contain the text between them to a single occurrence of the event. You insert the RepeatOn command followed by text and merge fields appropriate for that section and end it with a RepeatOff command. Like this:
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As you can see in the image above, there is some general introductory text prior to the
<<appointmentRepeatOn>> command. This introductory text will always appear where the section appears in the minute. The text and merged data inside the RepeatOn and
RepeatOff commands will repeat itself according to the number of instances found within the two dates selected when the minute is generated.
Saving your Template
Templates must be saved as .docx type documents, this ensures the minutes can be read by applications other than MS Word.
Ensure you save templates in the minutes template location (as discussed above).
Generating Minutes
To generate minutes Open the company record and click the Minutes tab. You can access templates from here by clicking the Templates button. Existing minutes can be opened by clicking the minute in the grid. Delete minutes generated in error by clicking the minute in the grid and click Delete (the merged document will also be deleted if it is currently closed). Click New to generate a new minute:
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Enter a subject (this will be displayed in the minutes grid on the company record, so should be meaningful).
Venue will be displayed as the company’s registered office. You can change it by overtyping in the whitespace.
Click the dropdown button in the Officers Present field and select the officers that were present. This list will contain all officers regardless of whether they are current or resigned.
Select a date for the meeting and select the officer signing the minutes from the
Chairman/Officer signing dropdown box.
Click the Templates button and select a template for the minute.
Click Next:
The system will automatically select a year (ending today) as the date range to search for events; events found within the date range will be ticked in the event list below.
Change the start and end dates as required and click Refresh to change the search
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P a g e range. There is no need to tick any of the events; the system will tick them automatically as it finds an instance in the date range. Untick an event if you want to exclude it from your minute. Click Create minutes.
As the minute is created MS Word will open. You can view and edit the minute as required (you are viewing and editing a separate instance of the original document, so the template will be unaffected). Save any documents you edit in the minutes document location (as discussed earlier), this will ensure you see your edited document when the minute is opened from the Minutes grid in the company record.
Downloading Company Records from Companies House
You can check existing company records and optionally align your record with that held at Companies House. When creating a new company record, you can obtain the record from Companies House from the company registration number.
If you know the company authentication code (CAC) you can obtain the full company record including officers, shareholders and their interest in shares. If the CAC is not available basic company details are returned:
Company name
Registered office address
Company type
Date of incorporation
Date of last accounts and annual return and when the next annual return and accounts are due
The full data download (CAC required) adds officers, shareholders and their interest in shares to the above list.
Checking Data
To check company data at Companies House, enter the company registration number and CAC if it is known, click Data Check on the toolbar (Data check now changes to
Cancel Download).
Each data field is now in one of three states:
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Data fields are blue – indicates there is a difference between what you hold and what
Companies House hold. Blue indicates you are looking at your original data. To see the difference, point the mouse to the data field; a tooltip will pop up showing the data that
Companies House hold. To switch your data for that held by Companies House double click the data field; the tooltip now contains your original data. You can double click again to switch back if you consider the Companies House data to be incorrect.
Data fields are yellow – indicates there is a difference between what you hold and what
Companies House hold. Yellow indicates that you are looking at the data Companies
House hold. Initially, differences are shown in blue, if you double click the data field the field will turn yellow.
Data fields are white – indicates the data you hold matches that held at Companies
House. Of course, there are some items of data that aren’t held at Companies House, such as the client ID and contact details; these items aren’t checked and will, therefore, always appear white.
It is important to note that Companies House data can be spread over more than one tab in the company record, and in the case of a full data download this extends to officers and shareholders. It is important, therefore, to ensure you move through the tabs in the company record noting changes as they appear. Ensure you check the
Dates tab to discover any differences between made up to dates on the annual return or accounts.
Accepting data Downloaded from Companies House
If you discover your data is out of date (Companies House have been informed of a change), ensure all relevant data fields have been updated (they should be yellow) and click Save. Your company data will now reflect that held at Companies House.
Informing Companies House of Changes
If, after downloading data from Companies House and comparing it with that held in on your records, you discover that your data is correct and Companies House haven’t been informed of a change you currently hold on the company record you can trigger the relevant forms to be filed. To trigger changes, some data fields will remain blue
(indicating a difference, but rejecting the Companies House version of the data), click
Save; the relevant form(s) will be generated and can be field as normal.
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Cancel the Data Check
You can cancel the data check at any time by clicking the Cancel Download button on the toolbar. Cancelling the download will revert all unsaved data back to its original state.
Closing the company record will also cancel the data check.
Officers
A full data check will return officer records, as far as possible, the system will try to match the officer records held in the system with those on the record at Companies
House, these are displayed in the Officers tab.
If a match is found, but there are differences, the officer record in the grid will appear
blue, double click the officer record to open it and proceed with changes in the same way as described earlier; data that differs will appear in blue.
The data check may return officers that don’t match with your officer records for that company, these officer records will appear in the bottom section of the officer grid. The officer may exist but the system was unable to match the record. If this is the case, select the officer from the bottom section of the grid and click the officer you want to match to – this will produce differences on the record and the officer will turn blue in the grid. Amend the record as described above.
If the officer doesn’t appear at all, they can be added in by clicking the officer in the bottom of the Officer grid and clicking Add.
Generating the Annual Return
The annual return is largely automated. The system relied on the following details to correctly produce the annual return:
The date of the last annual return
The date of the next annual return
The date of the last full members list
The above dates are held on the main company record in the Dates tab. A full list of shareholders is produced every three years, this of course, is reliant on the date of last full members being present and accurate.
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In the intervening years the system will detect shareholder transactions since the date of the last annual return, this information is used to produce details of movement on shareholder records. This of course, relies on the correct transaction dates being applied to share transactions. Note that the share transaction type B/Fwd is ignored when ascertaining movement on shareholder records; the system assumes transactions of this type where in existence prior to the date of the last annual return.
To generate the annual return:
Open the company record, click Annual Return on the company toolbar:
For reference purposes the date of incorporation and date of last full members list is displayed
If the date of this annual return falls on the third anniversary since the last full members list a full list of shareholders is produced
If a full members list isn’t due, but there are allocations and/or transfers since the last annual return a list of changes is produced
If a full members list isn’t due and there haven’t been any change to shareholder records since the last return ‘no shareholder changes in the year’ box is ticked
Click produce Annual Return to generate the AR01
To file the AR01 follow the instructions in section ‘Filing forms at Companies
House’
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Maintaining the SAIL
The single alternative inspection location or SAIL is an address other than the company’s registered office where registers and other documents are kept. A number of Companies
House forms are associated with the SAIL – AD02, AD03 and AD04 (or LLP equivalents).
To apply a SAIL and move registers between the SAIL and the registered office proceed as follows:
Open the company record and click SAIL on the company toolbar
Enter the SAIL address (you can also use the copy from buttons to apply another address stored in the Client Manager database)
Click the Records at SAIL tab and tick the list of records that are to move to the
SAIL
Click Save, an AD02 and AD03 will be generated for filing at Companies House
To move records from the SAIL back to the registered office:
Open the company record and click SAIL on the company toolbar
Click the Records at SAIL tab and untick the records that are to move back to the registered office
Click Save, an AD04 will be generated for filing at Companies House
Taking On a SAIL
When you start to maintain a company record with a SAIL in Practice Manager you will need to establish which records are stored at the SAIL and set the filing position as per the Companies House record.
The Records at Companies House tab in the SAIL screen contains an option to edit the filed status, click the button to enable the Filed boxes. Tick the boxes by those records held at the SAIL and the AD03 tick boxes where an AD03 has been filed. Where an
AD04 has been filed untick the box by the register and tick the AD04 filed box instead.
This establishes the Companies House position. Future changes to documents held at the SAIL can then be correctly generated.
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Backing up and Restoring Data
Important note: The backup and restore data options within Practice Manager will backup or restore Practice Manager data only; data held within the Keytime modules must be backed up or restored in the module. See the user manuals or help files for the individual modules for instructions on how to do this.
To backup Practice Manager data, first ensure that all other users are logged out of the system, click the File, select Backup/Restore/Repair, choose a backup option: the client database or the letter templates folder (you may wish to consider backing up the letters folder from time to time), navigate to a suitable location to store your backup and click
Save.
To restore data, first ensure that all other users are logged out of the system, click the
File, select Backup/Restore/Repair, choose a restore option (client database or letter templates folder), navigate to the location of the backup to be restored and click
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Key features
Central database for Keytime Accountants Suite
Manages clients and staff
Performs company secretarial duties
Shares data with other Keytime modules
Provides software licensing and user setup
Manages software updates
Frequently asked questions
Practice Manager is the central database of the Keytime Accountants Suite and stores all common information shared between the Suite modules. It is used to set up and manage clients and staff, perform company secretarial duties, and launch various modules of the Keytime Accountants Suite.
Keytime modules can be registered within Practice Manager or in the modules themselves. Click File, select Registration, select Internet, enter your registration user name, click Register. The system will bring up all the modules you have purchased, tick Activate against all the modules you want to register.
Practice Manager provides features for client and staff management, company secretarial duties, data sharing with other Keytime modules, software licensing and user setup, and software updates.
