Application Settings - Accounting

14/07/2025
Knowledge

How To

Learn how to add, change and delete general and miscellaneous accounting related settings such as Payment Types and Transaction Numbering.

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Desktop: Click the LEAP Menu > Settings > Application Settings.

The LEAP Application Settings will open in a new window.

Web: Click > Settings > Application Settings.

The LEAP Application Settings will open in a new window.

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You must be a LEAP Admin to make changes to the Accounting settings.

General

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The choices you make on this page have important implications for your management reporting and Tax reporting in your accounting software. We strongly recommend that you discuss these options with your financial advisor before you make your choices.

Click Accounting > General.
Enter or select your Lock Period Date.

This will be the earliest date where office transactions can be entered. Setting this date will prevent you from entering any office transactions outside of the lock period, so they don't transfer to your general ledger. This will be used at the end of the financial period.
Enter or select the current Financial Year Start Date.

This is the date your accounting system and your general ledger roll over to the new financial year.
If using Xero, you can tick the checkbox to Group General Journal Items.
Tick the General Ledger Auto Export checkbox if you wish to enable automatic export of your general ledger journals to your accounting application.

If you enable the automatic export of your general ledger journals, regularly check your General Ledger Link to ensure that all journals are in your accounting application.
Tick the checkbox to Use Asterisks on Trust Cheque Printouts.
Enter a value into either the Within amount or Within percent fields.

For information on Fee Estimate Warnings, please see our article here.
A time entry is made against a matter for time that was spent on work for a client. Time entries are based on an hourly rate and billable units. The default and most commonly used unit is 6 minutes. You can change the default time recording unit to be a value between 1 and 60.

Select the default Minutes per Billing Unit for the firm from the drop-down list.
When running Apply Activity Code on a time or fee entry, tick the checkboxes to also have the following fields update:
- Apply New Tax Status
- Apply New Fee Code/Staff Rate
- Apply New Description
Click Save.

Reports

Your selected ageing periods will apply across LEAP - on the financial summary for a matter, on statements and reports.

Click Accounting > Reports.
Enter your custom ageing periods in ascending order.
Enter or select a new date for the Trust Account Last EOM.
Click Save.

Payment Types

By default, LEAP provides you with the most common payment methods - cash, cheques, credit card and EFT. Your firm can add a different payment method if necessary.

For information on Creating a BPAY Payment Type, please see our article here.

Click Accounting > Payment Types.
Click New Payment Type and select a type.
Enter the Full Name.
Tick the checkboxes, if the payment type is an Auto EFT No. (an automatic numbering system) and/or Needs Banking (included in a bank deposit slip).

If the selected payment type is a cheque, enter the number of clearance days i.e. A personal cheque may require five working days and a bank check may require three working days to clear.
Select the Payment Type.
Click Save.

Once you've added the payment type, it will become available as a payment type when creating either a payment or receipt.

Edit Payment Type

Select any of the Payment Types you wish to edit.
The Edit Payment Type window will open.
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- Full Name: enter the description of the payment type that will display in your 'Payment Type' selection list.
- Needs Banking: when the box is unchecked, the payment clears, and no bank deposit is processed. The funds will appear in the undeposited funds account in Accounting.
- Auto EFT No: when the box is checked, the Payment No. will automatically be completed for payments. If you leave it unchecked you will need to manually complete the Payment No.
- Sub Payment Type: Select EFT or BPAY.
- Auto Cheque No: when the box is checked, the Cheque No. will automatically be completed for cheque payments. If you leave it unchecked you will need to manually complete the Cheque No.
- Clearance Days: enter the number of days required for the cheque to clear.
Choose the fields you would like to edit and make your changes.
Click Save.

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Alternatively, if you wish to Delete a Payment Type, click Delete at the bottom left of the window.

Auto Completion Text

You're able to add auto-text into LEAP to save you time when entering transactions. Auto-text can be added to:

Controlled Money/Trust Investments Trans - Reason
Office Anticipated Payment - Billing Description
Office Cost Recovery - Billing Description
Office Credit Journal - Reason
Office Credit Refund - Reason
Office Disbursement Journal - Reason
Office Disbursement Write-off - Reason
Office Payment - Billing Description
Office Payment Request - Billing Description
Power Money - Reason
Protected Trust Fund - Reason
Time & Fee - Billing Description
Transit Money Trans - Reason
Trust Journal Transfer - Reason
Trust Payment - Reason
Trust Payment Request - Reason
Trust Receipt - Reason
Trust to Office Transfer - Reason

Click Accounting > Auto Completion Text.
Click New Auto Completion.
Select the Type from the drop down list.
Enter the Description.

This is the exact content that will be used for the auto complete text.
Click Save.

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After configuring the Auto Completion Text, you will need to open the transaction and manually delete the current text in the reason/description section, and then type the first letter to get prompt for auto completion. You cannot edit the reason without first removing the existing text.

Transaction Numbering

You're able to use the last number of various accounts and transactions to set up automatic sequential numbering. You'll be able to set up your check book automatic numbering as well. Each accounting entry has an individual reference.

Click Accounting > Transaction Numbering.
Enter the last number for each accounting entry required.

For example, if the Last Invoice No. used is 16, then the Next Invoice Number when generated will be 17.
Click Save.

For other numbers such as Last Cheque No. please see our article here.

Billing Categories

Click Accounting > Billing Categories.
Click New Billing Category.
Enter the Billing Category Name.
Click Save.

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For more information on Billing Categories including assigning a billing category to a matter, please see our article here.

Reporting Groups

You can set up Reporting Groups within LEAP, allowing matters to be classified by user-defined criteria (e.g. matter type; office location; department) which then can be reported on directly within LEAP using the following reports.

Matters Opened Report
Matters by Last Activity Report
Completed Matters Report
Aged Debtors Report
Aged Disbursements Report
Aged WIP Report
Aged WIP & Disbursements Report
Fee Contributions & Recovery Report
Fee Contributions & Recovery by Matter Type Report

To create a Reporting Group:

Click Accounting > Reporting Group.
Click New Reporting Group.
Enter the Group Name.
Click Save.

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Once you have created a Reporting Group, you can assign a matter to a specific Reporting Group.

To assign a matter to a Reporting Group:

1. Open the matter.

2. Make sure you're on the Details & Correspondence tab.

3. Open Matter Details.

4. Select a Reporting Group from the drop-down.

5. Click OK.

Create a Reporting Group

To create a Reporting Group:

Click Accounting > Reporting Group.
Click New Reporting Group.
Enter the Group Name.
Click Save.

Assign a Reporting Group to a Matter

Once you have created a Reporting Group, you can assign a matter to a specific Reporting Group.

To assign a matter to a Reporting Group:

Open the matter.
Make sure you're on the Details & Correspondence tab.
Open Matter Details.
Select a Reporting Group from the drop-down.
Click OK.

Last Modified Date

14/07/2025 2:51 pm

Title

Application Settings - Accounting

URL Name

Application-Settings-Accounting-AU

Resolution