A fee template controls the fees that can be charged for a type of work. It sits in configuration, holds no money, and is never billed itself. A template describes the fees a firm charges for a type of work, for example, the rates agreed with a particular client or the standard charges for residential conveyancing.

Firms typically run several templates on a site. Templates vary by area of work, by client, and by charging model. 

How a template becomes a real fee

When a template is added to a work item, a commercial model is created. The commercial model is the fee arrangement for that work item, and it holds the estimate and the actuals.

1. A configurator builds and publishes a fee template in Admin.
2. A published version of that template is added to a statement of work, an instruction or a matter, creating a commercial model.
3. Clio Operate builds a fee structure from the template version. The estimate and the actuals both come from this structure.
4. Fee earners work the estimate through its phases, then record actuals against it.

Terminology

How a template is put together

A fee template has four levels, and knowing which level a setting sits at saves a lot of hunting. Each level does one job.

What a template controls

• Which fees can be on an estimate, and whether each one is mandatory, recommended or optional.
• Which fees can be recorded as actuals, creating unbilled revenue.
• The amounts and rates, either entered into the template or drawn from a rate card.
• Whether the estimate starts in draft for adjustment, or goes straight to active.
• Whether any fees are created automatically as soon as the commercial model becomes active.
• The tax rate applied to the estimate.
• The charge-out rates available when a fee earner records time against the work item.

A template also acts as a boundary. A fee earner cannot invent a fee on a work item. Every fee has to exist as an element in the template the commercial model is based on.

Where fee templates connect to the rest of Clio Operate

Permissions

Templates are maintained in Admin, so a configurator needs access to the Finance area of Admin.

Order of work

A fee template sits in the middle of a chain. Build it too early and its sections have nothing to point at. Build it too late and there is nothing for a statement of work to carry.

Steps 4, 5 and 7 are covered in Make fees available to use.

Also needed, depending on the section types used

Each section type has its own prerequisites. The eight types are described under Section types, so read that first where the template's shape is not yet settled.

Four of the eight section types depend on configuration that sits outside Fees. Put these in place before building a section of that type, because the section cannot be saved without an element and the element cannot be completed without them.

How job roles, rate cards and fees fit together

An Hourly Rates By Job Role section is the only part of Fees that depends on three features at once. Four things have to be right, each configured somewhere different, and the fee earner sees the same symptom whichever one is missing: a message above the fee selector and no fee.

Two things follow from that chain.

• The date matters as much as the role. The rate comes from the job role the person held on the date the time was recorded, and from the rate in force on that same date. Neither is taken from today. So back-dated time can price differently from the same work recorded today, and correctly so.
• This only applies to the job role route. Hourly Rates By Time Code and Hourly Rates By Business Rule do not use rate cards at all. Their rates are held on the template, so none of the above applies to them. A configurator who assumes every hourly section needs a rate card will go looking for configuration that is not required.

Decisions to make first

The Fee template editor is where a template is built. A configurator drags sections and elements in from the toolbox, then configures each one in a panel that follows whatever is selected.

The idea is familiar to anyone who uses the visual workflow designer: drag items in from a toolbox, and configure whatever is selected in a panel. This tab covers the mechanics of the fee template editor: where an item can be dropped, which configuration tab is showing, and which actions belong to a section rather than to an element.. What each setting does is under Configure sections and elements.

Open the editor

1. Navigate to Admin > Finance > Fee Templates.
2. Select New to create a template, or select an existing template to edit it.
3. The Fee template editor blade opens. Maximise it if the layout is cramped.

Blade layout

The editor has three working areas, plus the blade toolbar above them.

Add sections and elements

Everything available sits in the Toolbox. Drag a section type or an element from there onto the Design area.

A section or element cannot be dropped anywhere. As an item is dragged across the Design area, a red line appears wherever it can be dropped, so the valid positions are shown rather than guessed at.

Quick add is dragged onto a section like any other element, but instead of creating one element it opens the Rate Card Search blade to the right of the editor, so several elements can be created in one action.

1. Drag Quick add onto the section.
2. Select Search on the toolbar to return every rate card, or type in the Search field to find particular ones.
3. Where the results run to several pages, use Next and Previous on the toolbar to move through them.
4. Select the items required. The … menu at the top of the list offers select all on page, unselect all on page and clear selection. Select all and unselect all act on the page displayed, not on the whole result set. A selection made on page one survives moving to page two, so a multi-page selection is built up page by page and cleared in one go with clear selection.

5. Select Confirm. An element is created for each item selected, taking its name and value from the rate card item.

The configuration tabs

The Configuration area displays whatever is selected in the Design area. There are three states.

What each setting on those tabs does is covered under Configure sections and elements.

The design area

The Design area has three views: Designer, Estimate and Actuals.

Designer view

Each section displays its section type and what it targets, estimate or actuals or both. Each element inside it displays:

• The element title.
• The requirement, which is the value of Include in estimate: optional, mandatory or recommended.
• The cardinality, which indicates whether the element allows multiple.

Errors and review flags

Where there is a problem on a section or an element, Error displays in red beside it with a count for the number of errors. Errors are generally fields that need to be completed. Review sometimes displays in orange.

Working with sections and elements

Selecting a section or element displays a toolbar to its left.

Each section also carries an arrow to expand or collapse it, and a double arrow at the top of the Designer view expands or collapses every section in the template at once.

Bounds

The template and its elements display with green dotted lines around them. Selecting a section or an element puts a solid green line around it. A cog icon called Show/Hide bounds turns the dotted lines off.

Scrolling and reset

The Design area scrolls, and it is possible to scroll far enough that nothing is displayed at all. A curved back arrow called Reset returns the display to the top of the template.

Estimate and Actual views

View the fee template list

1. Navigate to Admin > Finance > Fee Templates. 
2. Review the list. It displays the template name, an indicator showing whether an unpublished draft exists, the current version number, and the currency.

Create or edit a template

1. Select New to create a template, or select an existing template to edit it.
2. The Fee template editor blade opens. There is a Maximise option if the layout is cramped.
3. Select the Template tab in the properties panel. These settings apply to the whole template, and several of them decide what the sections and elements can do.

	Title	Mandatory. The template name, displayed in the fee template list in Admin. This is a configurator's name rather than a fee earner's, so it can be as descriptive as the firm needs.
	System Name	Mandatory. Generates from the title and has to be unique. The designer blocks the save while a duplicate exists, so a template copied from another needs its system name changing before it will save.
	Friendly Name	The default title given to the commercial model when the template is added to a work item, and the name that can appear on a quote document. A fee earner can override it. This is the fee earner's name for the arrangement, so it is worth setting even where the title is clear, because the title is not what they see.
	Description	What the template is for.
	Currency	A template holds a single currency. It locks as soon as the first element exists, so it has to be right before any building starts. Changing it afterwards means a new template. The template picker on a work item only offers templates whose currency matches that work item. Where the currency cannot be resolved for the work item, the picker returns nothing and displays no error.
	Auto-activate and lock estimates	Skips the draft estimate stage. The commercial model goes straight to active when the template is added to a work item, and the estimate cannot be adjusted. Turn it on where every element is mandatory and none allows the amount to be overridden, because there is then nothing for a fee earner to adjust and no reason to make them open and approve an estimate. Leave it off wherever a fee earner is expected to shape the estimate.
	Tax enabled / Tax Code	Whether the template calculates tax. Turning it on makes a tax code selection mandatory, and the template can use the system default tax code or name a specific one. Tax is calculated from the net amounts rather than added as a line of its own, and it appears on the estimate only. Fee amounts throughout the template are always net. It also switches on the element setting Override template's tax code, which is how the exceptions are handled, a zero rated court fee being the usual case. See Elements.
	Auto-created fee phase	The state that automatically created fee actuals start in. Draft by default, with Submitted and Approved the other options. Revising is not offered, because it is only reachable from Submitted. It affects only fees the template creates on its own, which means elements with Automatically create fee switched on. Fees a fee earner records by hand always start in Draft whatever this is set to. The value is held on the template version, so it travels with the published version a commercial model pins to. A fee actual's state drives its chart of accounts posting status, so this is an accounting decision rather than a workflow shortcut. See Posting to the chart of accounts. Draft posts nothing, Submitted makes the fee ready to post, and Approved posts it immediately. Choosing Approved means that the moment the commercial model activates, unbilled revenue is recognised, the fee is already locked for editing because only Draft and Revising are editable, and the fee is immediately eligible for write-off. Picking it to save clicks removes the review step before revenue is recognised.
	Enabled	Whether the template can be used at all. A disabled template is not offered in the picker on a work item, even where a published version exists.

Next Step

Add sections and elements to the template.

Fee templates are versioned so charges can be changed without disturbing matters that are already in flight. A commercial model pins to a template version, not to the template, so publishing a new version has no effect on work items already using an earlier one.

Save

Saves the template as a draft. The draft has no version number. The template's current version number does not change, and nothing repoints to this version, so nothing live changes. A draft is not offered when adding a template to a work item. 

Saving again while a draft exists, overwrites that draft in place. 

Draft displays as an indicator on the fee templates list view and after the template name in the fee editor. A Versions tab now displays and shows details of when the template changes in draft and published.

Preview before publishing

In the Design area of the blade you can preview Estimates and Actuals to see what the template will produce before it is published. If any elements are mandatory or recommended they display automatically. Optional elements can be added.

Discard a draft

Select Delete Draft on the toolbar to throw away unpublished work in progress. The action displays only where a draft exists and the template has been saved at least once.

Published versions are not affected, so anything already in use on a work item carries on unchanged. Where the draft is the template's only version, the template itself is removed. The confirmation, titled Discard Draft, says both of those things before anything is deleted.

Save and publish / publish

If a template has not been saved before the Save and publish button is available. If it has already been saved and published, the Publish button is available. Publishing a template increments the version number, and the template's current version pointer moves to the new version, so it is used on all new commercial models using this template. 

Saving after a version is published creates a new version rather than changing the published one.

The version number displays on the fee templates list view and after the template name in the editor. The Version tab displays details of the versions and drafts prior to that are removed.

Version history

The Versions tab lists the template's versions in two groups:

• Current. One entry: the live version, with its date and the user who published it. Displays as Draft where the live item is an unpublished draft.
• Previous Versions. Every earlier version, each with its version number, date and user. Displays only where earlier versions exist. Each previous version carries a … menu with two options:
  • View - Opens that version in the editor, read-only. A safe way to read a superseded template without risking a change to it.
  • Restore - Loads that version's content back into the editor to work from. Displays only to someone who can edit the template.

Restore a version

Restoring is the first of three steps rather than a revert. It loads the old content into the editor, and nothing is written until the work is saved.

1. Open the Versions tab and find the version to restore, under Previous Versions. The current version has no menu.
2. Select the … menu, then Restore.
3. Read the confirmation and confirm. It tells you the editor will now be editing that version, and that saving creates a draft which still has to be published to become current.
4. The version's content loads into the Design area, and a message above it confirms which version is being edited. Nothing has been saved at this point.
5. Make any changes needed.
6. Select Save to keep the work as a draft, or Save and publish to make it current.

Publishing after a restore takes the next version number. So restoring version 3 when 5 is the highest, then publishing, gives version 6 holding version 3's content. Version 3 itself is untouched, every commercial model pinned to it stays pinned, and only new attachments pick up version 6. That means there is no way to make an earlier version current again, and no way to change what an existing matter uses by working on versions. Moving a matter to a different version is done from the work item.

Repricing and version upgrades

The usual repricing pattern runs like this.

1. Update the template with the new amounts and publish a new version.
2. Select Usages to review which statements of work and matters use the template, and which version each one uses.
3. Update the statement of work to the new version, so new matters pick it up.
4. Leave existing matters on the version they were opened with.

To go back to an earlier set of amounts, restore that version and publish it forward rather than retyping them.

Where the template draws its amounts from rate cards, repricing is done on the rate card instead. Date the new rates on the rate card items, and every template referencing them picks the new rates up automatically.

Other features in the Fee template editor

Clone a template

Cloning is quicker than building a similar template from scratch.

1. Open the template in the editor.
2. Select Clone from the toolbar.
3. Enter a Name and check the System Name. The name pre-fills as Copy of the original and the system name as copy-of- the original, and both can be changed. The system name is checked for uniqueness.
4. Confirm. A copy opens in a new editor, ready to edit.
5. Save or publish the copy.

The copy does not inherit the original's system names. Every section and element system name is regenerated from the new template's system name plus the item's title, so the two templates never collide.

Review usages

Select Usages to see which work items use the template. The list displays the work type, the work item reference as a link, the work item title, and the template version in use. Use it before a repricing exercise, and before attempting a deletion.

Browse the data composer

Fee data usually has to be referenced somewhere outside the template: an estimate total on a quote document, a section total in a report, a field a business rule needs to read. Each of those needs the correct field path, and the context browser is where to find it.

Select Context Browser on the toolbar to open it. 

It sits on the fee template toolbar because the person building a template is usually the same person who then has to surface those figures on a document or a report, so it saves leaving the editor to go and look.

The commercial model data graph lists every field that fee and commercial model data exposes to the rest of Clio Operate. It is a reference tool and changes nothing on the template.

Delete a template

Clio Operate checks usage before deleting. Where any commercial model has been built from any version of the template, the deletion is blocked and a message displays the number of work items involved. Otherwise the deletion cascades through the versions, sections and elements.

Resolve the usages before deleting, or disable the template instead by setting Enabled to off. Disabling keeps existing commercial models working while stopping the template being selected on anything new.

Import and export

Fee templates move between environments through configuration import and export, in the same way as budget structures. A Fee Templates node lists the templates available.

Dependencies

Why a template does not appear on a work item

Most questions about a missing template come down to one of these.

Why two matters on the same template look different

A template is not used exactly as written. Every element is evaluated against the work item, failing elements are dropped, and sections left empty are dropped with them. Surviving elements pick up the rate card item and default price resolved for that work item. A template can therefore produce a different result on two different matters.

Rate card rules matter as much as the rate cards

Elements are evaluated against the work item when a template is attached, and elements that fail their rate card rules are dropped. A template with correct amounts but wrong matching rules resolves to nothing on a matter. Check the rules on the rate card items, not only the rates.

The latest published version of a fee template can be added directly to a work item, or to a statement of work that the work item inherits from. Either way the result is a commercial model on the work item, and that is where fees are estimated and actuals recorded.

The work type settings, and the statement of work where one is in use, then determine how a template can be applied.

Five ways a template reaches a work item

A template is not simply copied onto the work item. It is resolved against that work item first, elements that fail their rate card rules are dropped, and only what survives is built. So the same template can produce a different set of fees on two apparently identical matters, and a template that resolves to nothing is refused outright.

Elements flagged Automatically create fee produce their fee actuals when the commercial model becomes active, not when the template is attached. A commercial model sitting in draft has no fees. Making it active is what authorises them. Where the template has Auto-activate and lock estimates on, the model goes straight to active, so the fees are there immediately. That is the usual explanation for fees appearing that nobody added.

Why the same template produces different fees on different matters

Elements are evaluated against each work item as the template is attached, so the same template can produce a different set of elements on two matters. Rate card rules are the usual cause: an element whose rules do not apply to that work item is dropped, and a section left with no elements goes with it. The template still attaches, with whatever applies. SeeTroubleshooting.

How a work item gets its commercial models

A commercial model on a statement of work is not a note of which templates are allowed. It is a real commercial model, with its own phase, estimate and notes, and it goes through the same approval lifecycle as one on a matter. The statement of work holds the agreed arrangement itself, quoted and approved there.

A matter beneath it gets its commercial models in one of two ways, and they work differently.

The two settings are independent. Inherit decides what arrives on its own. Restrict decides what a person may choose. Neither reads the other. For what the panel offers, see Attach a model to a work item.

What copies down, and when

Only default commercial models copy. Alternatives stay on the statement of work. A model still in Draft or Updating also stays behind, on the assumption that it is work in progress, so only Pre-Approved, Approving, Active and Finalised models are copied.

Three things trigger a copy:

• A work type transformation that includes the copy commercial model converter. Clio Operate supplies this only on the transition to opportunity, although it can be attached to other transformations.
• Setting an instruction's preferred statement of work. This can happen when somebody chooses one, and also on its own, where adding a participant or a key date leaves exactly one matching statement of work.
• Data loading a matter that carries a statement of work reference and no fee template.

A copy replaces what is already there. The copy removes the work item's existing commercial models first. So a matter that already holds commercial models loses them when a copy runs, which matters most on the preferred statement of work route, because that can run without anybody setting out to copy anything.

Inherit from related commercial models is on by default and is read on the receiving work type. Turning it off stops all three routes. Fees also have to be enabled on that work type, or the copy is refused.

What the default and alternative commercial model labels do

Neither label pre-selects anything. They decide four separate things.

So a default is the agreed arrangement, and an alternative is an approved fallback a fee earner may choose instead.

Configuration to put in place first

• A published fee template. Drafts are not offered anywhere. 
• Matching Currency. The template currency has to match the work item currency. This is a hard filter on the picker.
• Rate cards. Where the template references rate cards, the rate card items need rules that resolve against the work items in question. Elements that fail their rules are dropped.
• An approval model. Needed where a commercial model has to be approved before it becomes active.
• The Unbilled Revenue global feature. Fee actuals post to an unbilled revenue account, and this feature names it. See below.

Decisions to make first

Two global features matter here. Fee Structures is the master switch for fees and holds the site-wide fee behaviour. Unbilled Revenue decides which account a recorded fee posts to. Both sit in the Finance category, and both are configured before any work type settings.

Fee structures global feature

Unbilled revenue global feature

There are two routes to these settings, and they reach the same configuration.

• From the global feature: Modeller > Global features > Finance > Fee Structures, which lists the work types. Use this when configuring several work types in one sitting.
• From the work type: Modeller > Work Types > the work type > Manage Features > Fee Structures. Selecting the feature opens its configuration panel inline. Use this when working on one work type alongside its other features.

The settings displayed depend on the Purpose set for that work type, because several of them only make sense for an operational work type.

Set up inheritance between two work types

Inheritance needs settings on both work types, and the one that actually switches the copy-down on sits on the target rather than the source.

1. On the statement of work work type, set Purpose to Commercial Agreement.
2. On the target work type, set Purpose to Operational Work Type.
3. Turn Inherit from related commercial models on for the target work type. 
4. Turn Restrict available templates to those specified on the commercial agreement on to limit the target to the commercial models on the agreement.

A fee template does nothing on its own. Adding one to a work item creates a commercial model, and it is that model, not the template, that carries the estimate, the rates and the controls on what can be recorded.

Attaching a template to a statement of work is the most common way one reaches a matter, because the models on a statement of work are copied down to the work items created under it.

Only a work type whose Purpose is Commercial Agreement, which in most firms means a statement of work, is set up by attaching models to it. What a matter can use is controlled by settings on its own work type instead, because a work type cannot hold models and only a work item can. See Work type settings.

A fee earner can still add a model to a matter manually. It is the exception rather than the way fees are set up.

This tab covers attaching the models, what the copy-down carries onto the matter, and what can be adjusted before the matter exists.

Add a model

1. Open the statement of work Contract Management > SOW
2. Select Finance > Fee Structure in the left navigation. 
   
3. Select + to add the fee template. There is one on Default Models and one on Alternative Models, select the one the model is for.
4. The Add Commercial Model blade opens, listing all the current published fee templates, which can be searched.
5. Select the link icon beside the template required. 
6. The commercial model is created straight away, with a title of the template's display name.
   Where a model of that name already exists on the work item, a naming dialog opens before the model is created. Where the work type has Require unique commercial model titles on, a different name has to be entered. Otherwise it is only a warning and the name can be kept. Either way, select Add to finish.

The commercial model has to be worked on the statement of work

Adding a template creates the commercial model, it does not finish it. The commercial model arrives in Draft unless the template has Auto-activate and lock estimates on, in which case it goes straight to active.

While it is in Draft, somebody works the estimate on the statement of work: adjusting amounts where the template allows it, adding notes, then submitting it for approval. The statement of work is where the arrangement is agreed, so that is where the estimate is settled.

This is why the phase decides what copies. A commercial model in Draft or Updating is still being negotiated, so it stays on the statement of work. Only once it reaches Pre-Approved, Approving, Active or Finalised is it treated as agreed and carried down.

The same phase model applies here as on a matter. See Manage fees on a matter > Phases and approval.

Default and alternative models

A statement of work displays two sections, and which one a model is added to decides what happens to it.

How a statement of work is found

Where a work type is restricted to its commercial agreement, the platform has to locate the statement of work governing a work item before it can narrow the picker. It takes the first of these that exists.

1. The nearest ancestor work item whose Purpose is Commercial Agreement, for example a statement of work above the matter's instruction.
2. The statement of work that one of the work item's existing commercial models was copied from.
3. A statement of work linked to the work item as a preferred statement of work related work item.

Because the lookup is not only a parent check, a matter raised outside the statement of work route can come under one later. Add a preferred statement of work link, and the restriction applies the next time somebody opens the picker.

Settings that affect adding a model

How the copy-down works

The statement of work carries the commercial models, and the matter created from it inherits them. A statement of work can carry more than one, for example one per phase of the work.

1. A configurator attaches one or more commercial models to the statement of work and works them to the active phase.
2. A user creates a matter and selects that statement of work.
3. The commercial models come through to the matter automatically. Nothing is selected by hand.

What the matter inherits

Adjusting the estimate before the matter exists

An estimate can be worked while the work item is still an instruction, before it reaches the matter. Optional elements can be added and overridable amounts adjusted at that stage, subject to the base template. Mandatory elements display without a delete action. The same adjustments are available once the work item becomes a matter.

Five routes put a commercial model on a work item. The statement of work route is much the most common, and it has a tab of its own: Add templates to a statement of work. The other four are below.

A user selects a template on the work item

Where the work type allows it, a user adds a commercial model from the Financial Frameworks widget. Clio Operate displays the templates available for that work item, filtered by currency and by the work type's restriction settings. Selecting one builds the estimate and actual structures immediately.

See Manage fees on a matter for the user journey.

A workflow node

Add Commercial Model is available in the visual workflow designer. Use it to attach a commercial model automatically, for example, on work item creation, on a phase change, or from any triggered plan. This is the route to use where attachment should not depend on someone remembering to do it.

The public API

Commercial models can be created against a work item through the public API. Use this for integrations that price work outside Clio Operate, or for bulk attachment during a data load.

Repointing an existing commercial model

These permissions govern commercial models, their contents, and write-off.

How missing permissions behave

• Without Estimated Fees - Read or Fee Actuals - Read, the corresponding tab displays a message naming the permission required.
• Transitions between phases are individually permissioned, so different users can be given different levels of access to the same work item's fees.

Fees are displayed on a work item through two widgets and three list views, each added to a portal page by a configurator. Nothing is displayed to a user until these are configured.

For what each of them displays, see How to view fees on a work item.

The Financial Frameworks widget

The widget goes on a portal page like any other, and its settings decide which of its four tabs a fee earner sees. Turning tabs off is how a firm locks a view down, for example hiding actuals on a work type where only the estimate matters.

Add the widget to a page

1. Open the portal page for the work type in the page designer.
2. Add the Financial Frameworks widget to the layout.
3. Set the options below.
4. Save the page.

Widget settings

The widget settings control which tabs display in the commercial model view.

	Widget title	The heading above the widget. Defaults to Financial Frameworks and can be overridden per page, which is worth doing where a firm uses its own word for a fee arrangement.
	Show estimate	Displays the Estimate tab. On by default. The tab is still withheld from a user without Finance - Commercial Model - Estimated Fees - Read, so leaving this on does not guarantee everyone sees it.
	Show actual	Displays the Actuals tab. On by default. Needs Finance - Commercial Model - Fee Actuals - Read, and adding a fixed fee actual from the tab needs Fee Actuals - Maintain. The tab is absent whatever this setting says where the base template has no sections targeted at actuals.
	Show estimate vs actual comparison	Displays the Estimate Vs Actuals tab. On by default. Turning it on reveals When estimate is a range, compare to. Needs both an estimate and actuals on the model, so it is absent where the base template targets only one of them.
	When estimate is a range, compare to	Decides whether a ranged estimate is compared on its minimum, maximum or midpoint value, and the value selected here is what displays in the estimate column. Defaults to the maximum estimated value. Displays only when Show estimate vs actuals comparison is on.
	Show notes	Displays the Notes tab. On by default. Notes are held on the commercial model rather than the estimate, so they stay editable after the model goes active.

The Financial frameworks - card list widget

The card list is the card half of the full widget, without the detail panel beside it. It lists the commercial models as cards, and selecting one opens the Commercial model view blade, which carries the same tabs as the full widget.

Add the card list to a page

1. Open the work item portal page in the page designer.
2. Add Financial Frameworks - Card List from the Finance category.
   
3. Set the title, the icon and whether to show the frame.
4. Save the page.

The fee actual list views

Two list views sit alongside the widget and carry the fee actuals themselves. They are separate from the widget and are added to the page in their own right.

Fixed Fee Actuals

The fixed fee actuals on the work item. Carries the full bulk action menu.

Hourly rate fees actuals

The hourly fee actuals on the work item. Carries only the write-off actions, because hourly fees are driven by their time entries. Supports quick filters for time keeper and date range.

• Billing Status reports where the fee has reached in billing, which is separate from where it has reached in its phase model. A fee can be approved in its phase model and still be unbilled. A fee starts at Unbilled and moves to Billed or Written off.
• Posting Status displays the financial stage of the fee, taken from its chart of accounts entry. A fee has a single entry, because it cannot be reversed once it reaches posted.
• Fee Section displays as Commercial Model Name > Fee Section, so a template attached twice and renamed is still readable. On core-time-entries it is an available column rather than a bound one, so a configurator has to add it to the view. On the two fee actual views it is bound by default. Where a time entry has no fee section, the cell is blank.

The bulk actions menu

On the delivered matter portals the bulk actions menus are installed for you. On a fee actuals list you add yourself, turn on Allow bulk actions and pick the matching custom bulk menu context.

Fixed Fees: Allow bulk actions on, with the custom bulk menu context fixed-fee-actuals-bulk-menu-context.

Hourly Rate Fees: Allow bulk actions on, with the custom bulk menu context hourly-fee-actuals-bulk-menu-context.

Open the portal page in the page designer and select the fee actuals list view widget. Turn on Allow bulk actions. Open the Advanced section of the widget configuration. Enter the custom bulk menu name in Custom bulk menu context. Save the page.

Fees write-off list view

The Fees Write-Off list view shows every fee write-off on the current work item. For each write-off, it shows the amounts, hours and units written off, how much has since been undone, and whether the write-off still stands. For full details see Write off fees.

If the add template action is not available on the statement of work or work item

The template is not in the picker

The commercial model was not inherited

The attachment was refused

A second commercial model cannot be added

Check Allow multiple fee structures on the work type. The setting controls manual addition only, so a work item can still hold several inherited models while refusing a manual one.

A duplicate title warning appears

Clio Operate warns where a commercial model title is already in use on the work item, and offers a rename. Where Commercial model titles must be unique is on for the work type, the duplicate is refused rather than warned about.

A fee earner never sees a fee template. What they see on a work item is a commercial model.

What a commercial model holds

• Estimated fees. The projected fees for the work, also referred to as the quote.
• Time recording rates. The charge-out rates available when a fee earner records time against the work item.
• Controls on allowed actuals. Which fees can be recorded, and how many of each.
• Notes. Held on the commercial model and apply to the whole model, not to individual estimates.

An example journey

One way fees can run on a matter. The steps vary with how the fee template is configured.

See Routes onto a work item for how a commercial model reaches the work item in the first place.

An estimate is optional

A fee template does not have to produce an estimate. A section can be targeted at actuals only, which gives a commercial model that controls what can be recorded without quoting anything. This is common on time and materials work and on legal aid, where the firm records against agreed rates rather than quoting a figure.

The widget therefore supports three views: estimate only, actuals only, and both side by side.

Three separate states govern a commercial model and the fees on it, and they move independently of each other. 

Which configuration decides what a fee earner sees

Almost everything a fee earner can and cannot do here is set somewhere else. This is where to look for each part of it.

Fees display on a work item in three places. Each one is a widget or a list, placed on a portal page by a configurator, so what a fee earner can reach depends on how the work type has been set up. Setting them up is covered under Configure the widget and list views.

1. The commercial models card on the matter dashboard

The matter dashboard carries a card listing the commercial models attached to the work item. 

1. Open the matter.
2. Find the commercial models card on the dashboard. By default it is headed Fee Structure.
3. Select a commercial model. This opens the Commercial model view blade, which carries the same tabs as the full Fee Structure screen described below. 

Two display rules are worth knowing, because they explain cards that look inconsistent.

• Zero values are hidden along with their label. A label only displays where the amount is not zero, and the remaining labels shuffle up so there is no empty row. A model with nothing on its estimate therefore displays no figures at all.
• Sections excluded from estimated totals are not counted. Where the base template excludes a section from the estimate total, that section's values do not display in these figures.

The figures on a card are always net. Tax displays only in the detailed estimate view.

2. Finance menu > Fee Structure / Finance icon > Financial Framework

This screen holds everything about the fees on the work item. Access it from  either:

• Finance > Fee Structure in the left navigation of the work item.
  
• Finance icon on toolbar > Financial Framework
  

Commercial model list

On a work type with a purpose of Commercial Agreement the left half splits into Default Models and Alternative Models, each with its own +. On an operational work type there is one list, with + in the title bar.

Commercial model view

Three things decide whether a tab displays: the widget setting, the read permission, and what the commercial model actually holds. All three have to allow it.

Estimate	The estimate section by section, with a total under each section and a grand total beneath. A different display per section type. Not available to a user without the estimated fees read permission.
Actuals	The fee actuals recorded against the model, grouped per element type. Fixed fee actuals can also be added from here, which needs the fee actuals maintain permission. Not available to a user without the fee actuals read permission, and not present at all until actuals exist, so a model carrying only an estimate displays the Estimate tab alone.
Estimate Vs Actuals	Estimate against actual, with a remaining column. Where the estimate is a range, the estimate column displays whichever of the minimum, maximum or midpoint value the widget is set to compare on. Like the Actuals tab, it does not display until actuals exist.
Notes	Notes recorded against the commercial model.
History	The commercial model's phase transition history, newest first, one card per phase change. Each card gives the phases moved between, who made the transition and when, the estimate version at that point, and the change reason and notes where they were captured. Select the version number to open that version of the estimate in a blade. It is read-only, headed with the version number and the phase the model was in, and displays the sections and elements with the amounts as they stood. Earlier versions stay available this way, so the pricing history of a matter can be looked back on. This History tab is always present, and there is no widget setting to turn it off.

The commercial model title and its notes stay editable after the model goes active. Notes apply to the whole commercial model rather than to an individual estimate, so they are not tied to a particular estimate version. Notes moved from the estimate to the commercial model for exactly this reason. Held on the estimate, they locked as soon as the template activated.

Finalising a commercial model closes it and blocks title editing, so the design intent of editable in every phase does not hold at the end of the lifecycle.

3. The fee lists

Beneath the commercial model detail on the Fee Structure screen sit three work lists. They cut across every commercial model on the work item, so they answer questions the model-by-model view cannot, such as what has been billed this month or what has been written off.

Most commercial models are inherited from a statement of work, copied down when the matter is created. Adding one is the exception rather than the routine, and it happens where the work type allows it and the matter needs an arrangement the statement of work did not carry.

Add a commercial model

1. Open Finance > Fee Structure on the work item.
2. Select + in the widget's title bar. 
   The + displays only where the user holds the permission Finance - Commercial Model - Add, Fee Structures is enabled on the work type, and either the work type allows multiple fee structures or the matter has no model yet. A matter carrying its inherited model on a work type that allows only one has no add action.
3. The Add Commercial Model panel opens, listing the available Fee Templates, which can be searched (see more details below).
4. Select the link icon next to the template required.
5. The commercial model is created straight away, titled with the template's display name. Clio Operate builds the estimate and actual structures at this point. Where a model of that name already exists on the work item, a naming dialog opens first. Where the work type requires unique titles a different name has to be entered, and otherwise it is only a warning and the name can be kept.

What the Add commercial model panel offers 

The panel displays up to two sections. Related Commercial Models holds the commercial models from the statement of work. Fee Templates holds the published catalogue. Which of them displays depends on Restrict available templates to those specified on the commercial agreement, read on the work type of the work item the commercial model is being added to, not on the statement of work.

So Restrict decides where the choice comes from. With it off, a user picks from the published catalogue and the statement of work has no say. With it on, a user picks only from what the statement of work carries.

Restrict is also ignored, and the catalogue offered in full, where the work item's own purpose is Commercial Agreement, or where no statement of work can be found for it.

What is offered, and what is not

• Both sections are limited to the work item's currency. A commercial model whose template is in another currency is left out, so a statement of work can appear to have none at all.
• Fee Templates lists enabled templates on their current version only.
• Search in Fee Templates matches the version's display name and the template description. It does not match the template title, so a template whose version carries its own name cannot be found by typing the template's name.
• Related Commercial Models is not searched or paged, and is not filtered by phase.
• Where both sections come back empty, the panel displays No available commercial models or templates found for this work item.

For how the configuration behind this is set up, see Fee templates on work types overview.

What happens at the moment of attachment

Adding a template does not simply copy it onto the work item. Only the fees that apply to that work item are built.

1. Clio Operate checks each element against the work item. Elements whose rate card rules do not apply are dropped, along with sections left with no elements.
2. The estimate is built from what is left, along with the list of fees that can be recorded as actuals.
3. Where nothing survives, the attachment is refused with a message and no commercial model is created.
4. Otherwise the commercial model is created. Nothing is part created: if any of it fails, no model is left behind.
5. The title defaults to the template version's friendly name where none is supplied.
6. A template with auto-create elements produces fees on the work item as soon as the commercial model becomes active. Any elements flagged Automatically create fee have their fee actuals created, an audit record is written, a creation event fires, and the work item is re-indexed.

Because resolution happens per work item, the same template can build successfully on one matter and produce nothing on another. Rate card rules are usually the cause: elements whose rules do not apply are dropped, empty sections go with them, and a template left with nothing is refused. SeeTroubleshooting.

Alternative arrangements

A commercial model can be flagged as an alternative option, which lets an alternative fee arrangement sit alongside the real one on the same work item. Both display in the list, and the estimate values of an alternative are visible for comparison.

Removing a commercial model

A deleted commercial model is deactivated rather than removed, so the fee history of the work item survives. A user needs the permission Finance - Commercial Model - Delete to do this.

A commercial model that carries recorded actuals cannot be deleted. Where a model has to be taken out of use after fees have been recorded, finalise it rather than deleting it.

A model in a read-only phase cannot be deleted either, with Pre-Approved the exception.

While a commercial model is in draft, the estimate can be adjusted. What can be changed comes entirely from the base fee template.

Where the default values come from

What a fee earner can change

Three element settings on the base template decide this. The three work independently. A mandatory element whose amount cannot be overridden can still be added a second time where allow multiple is on.

Adjust the estimate

Where every element is mandatory and none allows override, there is nothing for a fee earner to do. In that case the template should have Auto-activate and lock estimates on, so nobody has to open and approve an estimate they cannot change.

1. Select the commercial model in the list, then open the Estimate tab.
2. Select the + against a section to add an optional element, or a further instance of an element that allows multiple.
3. Select the delete action against a recommended element that does not apply.
4. Change any amounts that allow override.
5. Save.

How the estimate displays

• Sections display in the order set on the template, each with its own display for that section type.
• Fixed fees and disbursements have a quantity column, so several instances of the same fee can be grouped.
• Where a section is configured to specify the estimate as a range, its elements capture a from and a to amount, and the estimate displays a range rather than a single figure. Firms use this on time and materials work where an exact figure is not meaningful, quoting a bracket instead of breaking the work down by job role. A ranged element cannot be set to auto-create its fee actual, because the amount to create is not known. Recording one manually prompts the fee earner to enter an amount within the estimated range.
• A total displays under each section. Sections excluded from estimated totals display no section total.
• A grand total displays beneath all sections, split into fees and disbursements. A row is omitted where its value is zero.
• On a tax-enabled template the totals display net, tax and total columns. Tax is calculated on fees and disbursements separately, per tax code, so two disbursements on different rates produce two rows.
• On a template without tax enabled, only the total displays.

Every commercial model carries a phase. The phase controls whether the estimate is locked, whether fee actuals can be created, and whether time can be recorded.

The phases

How a model moves through them

1. A new model on an ordinary template starts in Draft and is editable. A new model on an auto-activate template starts in Pre-Approved and is read-only.
2. Submitting a draft applies the approval model. With the default approval model in place, the model moves straight to Active.
3. An active model can be moved to Updating to change the estimate. This requires the Finance - Commercial Model - Revert Phase permission.
4. Coming back from Updating, the approval model applies again. A rejected approval returns the model to Draft. 
5. Finalising an active model closes it. A Re-open transition brings it back to Active.

For an actuals-only template, approval authorises the use of the commercial model on the work item. There is no estimate to approve.

The phase model is fixed

A commercial model is not a work item, so its phase model is not something a site can alter in the Modeller. The six phases above are the phases.

What a site can change is the approval that runs on them, and whether a transition demands a check-in with notes and a change reason. Both are configuration on the Fee Structures feature rather than on the commercial model, and each transition is individually permissioned, so one group can be allowed to submit estimates and a different group to approve them. See Work type settings.

Phases and time recording

Each phase carries a flag for whether time can be recorded against the model. A draft model does not display in the fee selector on a time entry, because nothing has been approved yet. This is why a fee earner cannot book time to a matter whose commercial model is still in draft.

Fee actuals are the real fees on the work item. Where the chart of accounts is in use for them, they also create unbilled revenue. There are two routes, and they behave quite differently.

Record a fixed fee actual

1. Finance icon > Financial Framework
2. Select the commercial model, then open the Actuals tab.
3. Select the + to the right of a section label.
4. Select the fee to record. Only allowed fees are offered: those not already created, plus any element configured to allow multiple.
   
5. Enter the amount, or the hours or base amount where the section type derives the amount.
6. Save.

What can be changed, and when

Whether the amount can be edited depends on the state of the fee and on two settings on the element.

This only applies while the fee is Draft or Revising. A Submitted or Approved fee is read-only whatever the settings say.

Where a range applies, a message displays above the amount, both when the fee is created and while it is being edited.

The messages are hidden once the fee is locked.

How hourly fee actuals are created

Recording time creates the fee actual. The fee selector on a time entry is the link between the two.

1. The fee earner records a time entry, completing the standard time activity and classification fields. Where the time has a charge rate, the Charge rate and Charge value display in the time details section, next to the units they are calculated from. 
2. The fee selector lists the sections that are enabled for actuals, which means those targeted at Actuals or at Both. A section targeted at estimates only is not offered, because no fee can be recorded against it. The sections offered come from the fee templates attached to the work item. Whether an estimate exists makes no difference, so a section is offered on its template configuration alone.
   
3. The fee earner selects a section. Where the work item carries several commercial models, sections from each are listed, which is why distinct model titles matter.
4. Clio Operate resolves the rate and creates the fee actual.

How the rate is resolved

Where no automatic match is found, the fee earner can select an element manually if the section has Allow user to pick element if not matched on. 

What a fee earner sees depends on Allow user to pick element if not matched.

• With it off, the message is Time Booker has no role. No fee is raised and the time entry is kept.
• With it on, the message is Time Booker role not applicable for selected Fee Section. Please select required element. The charge rate and charge value stay at zero until an element is chosen, and the entry cannot be submitted. Once an element is chosen, the fee is raised at that element’s rate.
• Where the booker has no job role covering the entry date at all, the entry saves as a draft with no role recorded against it, and submission is blocked with Fee selection required for Submission.

How actuals display

• The layout mirrors the estimate, labelled actual rather than estimate.
• Actuals are grouped per element type rather than itemised, because a matter can carry many instances of the same fee. Debt recovery is the standard case, with a commission fee each time the debtor makes a payment over a multi-year instalment plan.
• Because descriptions vary between instances, the description is not displayed in the grouped view.
• A quantity column confirms the number of transactions posted. It counts transactions rather than value, because values can differ where allow override is on.
• Select the pencil icon to drill into a group and see the individual transactions as an itemised list.
• Where a section has no actuals, the widget displays No elements have been added to this section.
• Tax is not displayed on actuals, because the final tax amount is not confirmed until billing. A fixed fee actual displays as a single quantity and amount, with no range and no tax.

Estimate against actual

The Estimate Vs Actuals tab compares the two, with a remaining column showing the difference.

• Quantity and cost columns are not displayed, because the comparison is on total value. This avoids confusion where rates or quantities differ from the original estimate.
• Where the actual exceeds the estimate, the remaining value displays as negative.
• Where actuals exist with no corresponding estimate, they are included with an estimate of zero.
• Where the estimate is a range, the widget configuration decides whether the comparison uses the minimum, maximum or midpoint estimated value.
• Where the model has an actuals structure but nothing has been recorded yet, the tab displays an empty state.

The fee actual lifecycle

Fee actuals have their own lifecycle, separate from the commercial model's phases.

Approved is terminal. Hourly fee actuals have their state mirrored from the time entry's own state rather than driven by hand, so progressing the time entry progresses the fee.

Progressing the state drives the corresponding chart of accounts posting status: draft, ready to post, then posted. Fees can be progressed one at a time from the widget, or in bulk from the list views.

Billing status

Billing status is held separately from the fee actual lifecycle, introduced ready for the billing wizard. A fee starts unbilled.

Bulk actions

Both list views expose a bulk action menu once rows are selected. The fixed fee list view carries the full menu. The hourly list view carries only the write-off actions, because hourly fees are driven by their time entries. 

The write-off actions need the Fees Write-Off feature and the write-off permission as well as the bulk menu. Where any of those is missing, the action is not offered at all. Writing a fee off creates a work item of the write-off work type, which carries its own phases, fields and approval rules, and a written-off fee is locked to a processing status until the write-off is approved.

All of it, including eligibility, the accounting and how to undo a write-off, is covered in Write off fees.

Two things decide whether a fee actual can be edited. Both have to allow it.

Where an edit is refused

A refused edit reports the rule that stopped it. The two checks above, the rules belonging to the section type, and the rule that blocks a zero amount all report this way, so the message is the place to start.

A bulk delete from a list view behaves differently. A fee that cannot be deleted is reported on its own and the rest of the selection still goes through, so one refusal does not discard a whole multi-select.

What the chronology records

Fixed fee changes are audited. Updating a fixed fee actual writes an entry to the work item chronology.

Hourly fees are not. Amount changes from the time pipeline, time revaluation, and the deletions that happen when a time entry stops being chargeable all leave no chronology entry.

Recording a fee actual posts unbilled revenue to the chart of accounts. This tab explains what posts, when it posts, and what stops it posting. The accounts themselves, and which fee types use which, are configured in the Unbilled Revenue global feature. 

When revenue is recognised

It depends on the fee type, and the two behave differently enough to be worth stating separately.

The posting status

A fee actual's own state drives its chart of accounts posting status.

Fees can be progressed one at a time from the commercial model, or in bulk from the fee actual list views. The Posting Status column on those list views is where to read it across a whole work item. See Record fee actuals for the fee actual lifecycle the status follows.

The transaction date differs by fee type

An hourly fee's transaction takes the date the work was done. A fixed fee's takes the date the fee was created. So work done in the same month can land in different accounting periods depending on the fee type. 

Revenue is not recognised by percentage of completion

A fixed fee recognises in full or not at all. A £1,000 fixed fee with half its expected hours booked does not recognise £500.

Where a firm needs partial recognition, for example on a matter with large milestone payments, it is done with accounting adjustments on the matter ledger rather than by the fee itself.

How unbilled revenue is calculated

Unbilled revenue is:

total fee revenue + total disbursements - total receivables

It can be negative. A fixed fee billed in advance puts it below zero until the work is recognised. Money held on account does not, because the request does not affect receivables.

When a fee does not post

What a write-off posts

Writing a fee off reverses its unbilled revenue and posts to the write-off accounts. What posts depends on the fee type and on whether revenue was recognised in the first place. See Accounting and undo.

A fee cannot be edited

Check the lifecycle state and the billing status. Both have to allow it: the state has to be Draft or Revising, and the billing status has to be unbilled or migrated. See Editing rules.

No fee was created from a time entry

The fee selector is empty on a time entry

The selector lists sections on active commercial models that are either hourly rates sections or have Enable time booking on. An empty selector means the work item has no active model meeting that description. Check the phase first, then the section configuration on the base template.

There is no way to set a default fee section for time recording. That is on the backlog rather than in this release, so a fee earner picks from the selector every time.

The estimate is locked

An active commercial model locks its estimate. Move it to Updating to change it, which requires the Finance - Commercial Model - Revert Phase permission. Coming back to active applies the approval model again.

A model created from an auto-activate template starts in Pre-Approved and is read-only from the outset, so there is no draft stage in which to adjust it.

Fees appeared that nobody added

Elements flagged Auto-create fee have their fee actuals created when the commercial model becomes active. Review the auto-create flags on the base template against what the firm actually wants created. On a site that came from an earlier version of Fees, the flag is broadly on, which the Fees release note explains.

The actuals tab is not available

A commercial model refuses to delete but shows no actuals

The actuals check counts zero-amount fee actuals, and the fee actual list views hide them. So a model that looks empty can still be carrying rows. Check also that the model is not in a read-only phase, since those cannot be deleted either, with Pre-Approved the exception.

A bulk menu is missing from a list view

The list view configuration has to name the bulk menu to use. Adding the list view to a portal page does not bring the menu with it. See Work type setup > Configure the widget and list views.

A commercial model card displays no figures

Zero values are hidden along with their labels, so a model whose estimate holds nothing displays no figures. Check whether the base template has any mandatory or recommended elements, and whether its sections are excluded from estimated totals.

Who changed an hourly fee

The work item chronology does not record hourly fee changes, so it will not answer this. See Editing rules for what is and is not audited.