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This week’s tip comes from our Engagement Manager, Steve McCauley.

From time to time, it’s helpful to know what a Client owes you versus how much the Client has in Trust. To check this in Clio, you simply run the Matter Balance Summary Report, and check the box for “Show Client Trust Balance?”:

Doing so shows all open Matters with outstanding balances as well as the amount the Client has in Trust.

Got a tip to share? Let us know. We’d love to hear them!

This week’s #cliotraining Tip comes from Customer Support representative Caroline Montano.

If you update a Matter to have a custom Matter numbering system, and upload a document from Clio to Dropbox, Dropbox will ask if you want to create a new folder. And then, when you create the new folder, all of your documents are switched from the older folder to the new one.

So, for example, let’s say you have a Matter, “00001-Smith,” that has four documents in Dropbox, and you want to change the Matter number to something more descriptive, like “Smith – Assault.”

When you do that, Dropbox asks: “Would you like to change the new Matter number?”

Yes! OK.

And by doing so, Dropbox creates a new folder called “Smith – Assault,” moves the four documents from “000001-Smith” to “Smith – Assault” and also adds the new document you uploaded to the Matter.

Got a tip to share? Let us know. We’d love to hear them!

Ah April. Spring is in the air, and a sense of renewal. Cleaning, even. And while sorting through blog posts it occurred to us that a post on Tips-to-Date, or a Roundup, is in order.

So, here are the #cliotraining Tips we’ve posted in the first three months of 2012:

• #cliotraining Tip: Add Clio Login Page to iPad Home Screen for Faster Access
• #cliotraining Tip: Time Tab in the Matter Card as Billing Chronology
• #cliotraining Tip: Chrometa Redux
• #cliotraining Tip: Take a Step Towards #paperless and Have Clients Pay Bills via Clio Connect
• #cliotraining Tip: Create a Document Template for Automation
• #cliotraining Tip: Disconnecting Others from Clio Connect
• #cliotraining Tip: Client Instructions for Accessing a Bill Shared via Clio Connect so You Both Stay #Paperless
• #cliotraining Tip: How to Set a Specific Hour for a Task Reminder
• #cliotraining Tip: Setting up your Practice Performance
• #cliotraining Tip: Creating a Time Entry or Calendar Event Outside Matter-Specific Tab? Use your Numbering Scheme to Quickly Find the Matter
• #cliotraining Tip: How to Quickly Sort and Find Tasks
• #cliotraining Tip: Combine Multiple Matters for One Client into a Single Bill
• #cliotraining Tip: Sync Clio with ZenCash to Automate Receivables to Help You Get Paid

And remember to check out #cliotraining roundups from August 2011 and December 2011.

Got a tip to share? Let us know. We’d love to hear them!

This week’s #cliotraining tip comes from Caroline in Customer Support.

Sometimes you need to adjust the client or firm address on your Bill Theme, and move it up a little bit. You can do that from Bill Themes. Here’s how:

1. Go to Bill Themes.
2. Click “Firm Information.”
3. Click “Logo.”
4. Use negative numbers for Bottom Padding.

It might take some playing around to find the right number that creates the right amount of space for you.

Learn more about Bill Themes on our Support site.

Got a tip to share? Let us know. We’d love to hear them!

We’ve reviewed ways to use Clio Connect to go paperless (here and here), and it occurred to us that, sometimes, you may have worked on more than one Matter for a Client but would prefer to only send one Bill instead of, say, three or four.

In Clio, you can combine Matters for the same Client into one Bill, and by default, have them display as one line item. Or you can customize so that each Matter displays as a separate line item. This is controlled through Bill Themes, so here’s how to change the default in your Bill Themes:

1. Click into the Bill Theme you wish to change.
2. In the Menus, select Matter, then in the next Menu that pops up, select Line Items
3. Check the box beside Show Individual Matter Payment

Now, when you go to generate a Bill, check the box that says “Combine multiple matters for a given client into a single bill” and the Bills for that particular Client will merge into one::

And now you can share just one Bill with your Client instead of three or four. And opting to display Individual Matter Payments eliminates confusion of what has been billed and what has not.

See the Combined Bills section of our Support website to learn about what combining Bills can do for you.

Got a tip to share? Let us know. We’d love to hear them!

Tasks are a helpful way to keep track of what needs to be done and when. In Clio, you can create stand-alone Tasks, or link them to specific Matters. And like many other types of lists, or to-dos, they can get a bit long and unruly. That can make it hard to find a certain Task.

Clio’s search function offers a few different methods to quickly sort and find Tasks, so let’s review:

The “More” button displays search options:

• Assigned By
• Status
• Matter
• Search

The “Search” field lets you type in words, which is helpful if you want to see all Tasks related to “File Motion,” for example.  The Task list narrows itself to those Tasks with “File Motion,” making it easier for you to scan and find the right one.

You can also sort Tasks by clicking the different menu headings:

• Description
• Due
• Assigned By
• Reference

So if “File Motion” returns a long list, you can sort them to help narrow and scan the list a little quicker.

Or perhaps you want to see all the Tasks that are Overdue. While there’s the visual cue of Overdue Tasks in a pink hue, a quick way to see all of the Overdue Tasks is to simply click the “Overdue” Display link:

Doing so filters out any upcoming Tasks, so you’ll just see anything that is Overdue. You can also sort them, or select a different Display to see what is due today, tomorrow or next week.

Check out the Tasks section on our Support site to learn more about what Tasks can do for you.

Got a tip to share? Let us know. We’d love to hear them!

This week’s tip comes from Steve McCauley, our Engagement Manager.

When creating a Time entry or a Calendar event, and you are doing so not from the Matter-specific tabs, you still need to link it to a Matter.

Sometimes, the easiest way to find the appropriate Matter is by your numbering scheme. So, if you want the popup list to show a sequential list of your Matters, just type the first couple of digits of your numbering scheme. As an example, Clio’s default sequence starts with 00. So instead of typing in letters to pull up a long list of Matters, type 0 or 00:

The Matters show in sequential order, making it easy to skim and find the appropriate Matter.

So, to avoid typing letters and getting a lengthy list of Matters, use your numbering scheme. It will help quickly narrow down the list to the specific Matter you need to create a Time entry or Calendar event.

Got a tip to share? Let us know. We’d love to hear them!

Whether starting a small law firm, growing or maintaing a law firm, it’s good to know your default rate or how you will bill, your target billings each year and when your fiscal year ends. You can set this up in Clio under Settings –> Practice Performance:

Fill in your default rate, what your target for the year is and the date on which your fiscal year ends.

One thing to note: when entering dollar amounts into the Practice Performance Setting: enter the whole number without commas. For example, enter “2500″ and not “2,500.”

And now you’ll be able to track your Practice Performance throughout your fiscal year, and see how your firm is doing. Be sure to check out the Practice section of our Support site for more information.

Got a tip to share? Let us know. We’d love to hear them!

This week’s tip comes from our Engagement Manager, Steve McCauley.

Sometimes, you need to be reminded of a Task at a specific hour instead of merely a day or so ahead of time. There is the option to set a Task Reminder for a specific hour the day before a Task is due. To do so, it is important to remember that scheduling Task Reminders, when setting by the hour, start from 12:00am on the scheduled day.

So, if you had a Task with a scheduled date of Feb 24, and you wanted a Reminder at 4:00pm on Feb 23, you would select 8 hours.

Check out the Tasks section of our Support site to learn more.

Got a tip to share? Let us know. We’d love to hear them!