Generate an eBill (LEDES 1998B)

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Note

Before you generate a LEDES 1998B eBill, make sure to follow the steps to set up eBilling.

Generate an eBill

To generate an eBill for a matter:

Generate an invoice. You must generate an invoice prior to generating an eBill.
From the Invoice toolbar, click Action > Generate E-Bill.
The system generates your eBill and downloads to your preferred location.

LEDES 1998B Output File

A LEDES 1998B export file is a machine readable file constructed specifically as an input to eBilling processors.

These are the terms and definitions for the fields included in the file.

INVOICE_DATE	The date of the invoice.
INVOICE_NUMBER	The alphanumeric, law firm assigned invoice number or code. Multiple INVOICE_NUMBERs can be billed in the same LEDES file.
CLIENT_ID	The law firm assigned client code.
LAW_FIRM_MATTER_ID	The law firm assigned matter code. Multiple LAW_FIRM_MATTER_IDs can be billed in the same invoice if acceptable to the receiving system. The first 20 characters are used when exporting the eBilling file.
INVOICE_TOTAL	The sum of all LINE_ITEM_TOTAL values in this invoice.
BILLING_START_DATE	This value defaults to Date of oldest time/expense card. You can configure the billing start date to first date of Invoice month.
BILLING_END_DATE	The Include Time/Expense Till date field sets this value when you generate an invoice.
INVOICE_DESCRIPTION	A descriptive summary of work performed which is charged on this invoice during the applicable billing period. Limited to 15KB of text.
LINE_ITEM_NUMBER	The sequence number of this line item. This number must be unique for each line item in an invoice. Usually, the time entry primary key in the law firm’s financial system is used here. LINE_ITEM_NUMBERs must be unique per INVOICE_NUMBER but need not be consecutive.
EXP/FEE/INV.ADJ_TYPE	An identifier indicating whether the line item is an expense (“E”), a fee (“F”), an invoice-level adjustment on fees (“IF”), or an invoice-level adjustment on expenses (“IE”).
LINE_ITEM_NUMBER_OF_UNITS	The number of units billed on this line item. For fee items, this is the number of hours being billed. For expense items, this is the number of items being expensed. For invoice-level adjustments, this field is ignored.
LINE_ITEM_ADJUSTMENT_AMOUNT	The numerical value of any adjustment applied to this line item. A positive value indicates a premium, a negative value indicates a discount. A null (“”) or zero (“0”) value indicates no adjustment.
LINE_ITEM_TOTAL	The numerical value of this line item. This must be (LINE_ITEM_UNIT_COST * LINE_ITEM_NUMBER_OF_UNITS) + LINE_ITEM_ADJUSTMENT_AMOUNT.
LINE_ITEM_DATE	The date the fees/expenses were incurred. Typically, this date is between the BILLING_START_DATE and the BILLING_END_DATE.
LINE_ITEM_TASK_CODE	The task code (e.g., using the UTBMS code set) for this line item. Most expense items probably do not have a LINE_ITEM_TASK_CODE associated with them (in which case this field would be left null).
LINE_ITEM_EXPENSE_CODE	The expense code (e.g., using the UTBMS code set) for this expense line item. Most fee items probably do not have a LINE_ITEM_EXPENSE_CODE associated with them (in which case this field would be left null).
LINE_ITEM_ACTIVITY_CODE	The activity code (e.g., using the UTBMS code set) for this fee line item. Most expense items probably do not have a LINE_ITEM_ACTIVITY_CODE associated with them (in which case this field would be left null).
TIMEKEEPER_ID	A unique identifier for the timekeeper for this line entry. Typically, the identifier used here is the primary key for a timekeeper used in a law firm’s financial system (e.g., an employee number, initials, or anything else so long as it uniquely identifies a particular timekeeper). For fee line items, a null value (“”) would be an error. Most expense items probably do not have a TIMEKEEPER_ID associated with them (in which case this field would be left null).
LINE_ITEM_DESCRIPTION	Free form description of this line item. May be up to 15KB of text. If an expense item uses a LINE_ITEM_EXPENSE_CODE, this field may be left null.
LAW_FIRM_ID	An identifier uniquely identifying the sending law firm. The law firm’s Federal Taxpayer ID must be used if the law firm has one (i.e., at the very least, all law firms operating in the US).
LINE_ITEM_UNIT_COST	The standard (i.e., undiscounted) unit cost of the line item. For fees, this would be the hourly rate. For expenses, this would be the cost per unit. For invoice-level adjustments, this field is ignored.
TIMEKEEPER_NAME	The name of a timekeeper. Names must be entered Last name first, then a comma, followed by First name (e.g., “Smith, John”). This field is mandatory. Most expense items probably do not have a TIMEKEEPER_NAME associated with them (in which case this field would be left null).
TIMEKEEPER_CLASSIFICATION	The staff classification of a timekeeper. A full list of the codes to use can be found in the LEDES Revised Timekeeper Classifications Reference Document available on LEDES.org. Most expense items probably do not have a TIMEKEEPER_CLASSIFICATION associated with them (in which case this field would be left null).
CLIENT_MATTER_ID	The client assigned matter code. Multiple CLIENT_MATTER_IDs can be billed in the same invoice.

To enable or deactivate UTBMS codes, click Improve eBilling Accuracy.

Updated on July 26, 2022

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Generate an eBill

LEDES 1998B Output File

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