General Ledger: L.A.W.S. Documentation Manual General Ledger

L.A.W.S.
Documentation Manual
General Ledger
GENERAL LEDGER
TABLE OF CONTENTS
GENERAL LEDGER
298
General Ledger Menu

Overview Of The General Ledger Account Number Structure
Profit Center Processing
G/L MAINTENANCE
298
299
300
302
General Ledger Maintenance Screen

Budget Values
Budget Values by Month Screen
302
304
304
JOURNAL ENTRY SOURCE MAINTENANCE
307
Journal Entry Source Maintenance Screen
307
JOURNAL ENTRY PROCESSING
309
Journal Entry Processing Screen
309
Print/View Button
Post Journal Entries
Out Of Balance Journal Entries
Sample: Journal Entry Edit List
310
310
310
311
YEAR END CLOSE
313
Year End Close Screen
314
Sample: Year End Close Journal Entry
315
JOURNAL ENTRY SUMMARY REPORT
317
Journal Entry Summary Report Selection
317
Sample: Journal Entry Summary Report
TRIAL BALANCE
318
320
Trial Balance Selection Screen
320
Sample: Trial Balance
320
DETAIL GENERAL LEDGER
322
Detail General Ledger Selection
322
Sample: Detail General Ledger Report
CHART OF ACCOUNTS
323
325
Chart of Accounts Selection
325
Sample: Chart of Accounts
325
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
327
Financial Statement Processing Screen
327
Sample:
Sample:
Sample:
Sample:
Sample:
Sample:
333
333
333
333
333
333
Financial Statement Format List - Income Statement

Financial Statement Format List - Balance Sheet
Error List
Income Statement
Budget Statement
Balance Sheet
DAILY ACTIVITY
340
Daily Activity Selection
340
Inquiry Option
Daily Cash Inquiry Option
A/R Inquiry Option
WIP Inquiry Option
Daily Activity Report Options
Sample: Daily Cash, Accounts Receivable and WIP Activity
Sample: Monthly Summary of Cash, A/R and WIP
Copyright 1999 L.A.W.S. Corporation
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General Ledger
L.A.W.S. Documentation Manual

General Ledger
GENERAL LEDGER
The L.A.W.S. General Ledger module is fully integrated with all other systems within L.A.W.S. Revenue is
automatically posted from cash receipts processing. Expenses are posted through cash disbursements. Trust
activity may, or may not, be posted to the general ledger based on the firms accounting desires. Manual Journal
Entries may be posted through the General Ledger system to account for all non-system generated entries.
L.A.W.S. utilizes the cash basis accounting method. Accordingly, WIP, A/R and open payable balances are not
maintained within the general ledger. If accrual basis accounting is desired, journal entries may be generated at
month end recording the desired accrual activity.
The General Ledger contains a variety of standard General Ledger reports that summarize or analyze firm
performance. Income Statements, Balance Sheets and supporting schedules are all user defined allowing these
statements to be customized to the firms specific needs.
After selecting GENERAL LEDGER from the MASTER MENU, the following form is displayed.
General Ledger Menu

A detailed description of each General Ledger function follows.
42
General Ledger

General Ledger
Overview Of The General Ledger Account Number Structure
The General Ledger Account Number consists of four components: Firm Number, Major Account, Sub Account,
and Attorney. The combination of these components allow the firms Chart of Accounts to be as simple or as
complex as desired. A simple general ledger structure would utilize the Firm Number and Major Account only.
The Sub Account and Attorney would be blank. More complex structures would include the use of Sub Accounts
and/or Attorneys codes. It is always best to keep the Chart of Accounts as simple as possible. Utilize the more
complex features of the general ledger number only if they provide meaning to the firm. Initially, a simple chart
of accounts should be developed, and modifications involving Sub Accounts and/or Attorneys may be phased in
over time as needed.
Simple Chart of Accounts
An Example of a simple Chart would be as follows:
Firm #
1
1
Major Account
500
501
Description
Auto Expense
Insurance
More Detailed Chart of Accounts using Sub-Accounts

A more detailed general ledger structure may be established through the use of sub accounts as detailed
below:
Firm #
1
1
1
Major Account Sub Account

500
01
500
02
500
03
1
1
501
501
Description
Auto Expense-Gas and Oil
Auto Expense-Leasing
Auto Expense-Parking
01
02
Insurance-Liability
insurance-Malpractice
Complex Chart of Accounts using Sub-Accounts and Attorney Codes

If desired, the chart may be further enhanced by using the attorney code as described below:
Firm #
1
1
1
Major Account Sub Account

500
01
500
01
500
01
Atty
Description
JJK
Auto Expense-JJK
PDK
Auto Expense -PDK
VJC
Auto Expense-VJC
The use of Sub Accounts and Attorneys provide very useful accumulation and reporting tools, but be sure not to
make the chart more complex than it needs to be.
43
General Ledger

General Ledger
Profit Center Processing
L.A.W.S. supports the use of Profit Centers. A profit center is a division within the firm. This division may be
physical such as multiple locations, or logical such as multiple areas of practice. If desired, the firm may elect to
track performance within these divisions, or Profit Centers.
Example: Assume the firm has two locations, Detroit and Chicago. The firm wants to track profitability by
location.
To implement Profit Center Accounting, perform the following steps:
1)
Identify the desired Profit Centers and assign Profit Center Numbers.
In this example, the profit centers would correspond to physical location, Detroit and Chicago. The Profit
Center codes should be numeric usually starting with one. In this example the profit centers are set
defined as follows:
Detroit - 01
Chicago - 02
2)
Create General Ledger Account Numbers utilizing Profit Centers for all relevant accounts.
Since the firm wants to capture productivity by location, the firm must identify general ledger accounts by
profit center. In this instance, the Sub Account identifies the Profit Center. A sampling of the account
structure follows:
3)
Account Number
Firm - Major Account - Profit Center
1
400
1
400
01
1
400
02
Description
Fees
Fees - Detroit
Fees - Chicago
1
1
1
500
500
500
01
02
Client Costs
Client Costs - Detroit
Client Costs - Chicago
1
1
501
501
01
02
Office Rent - Detroit

Office Rent - Chicago
1
1
Etc.
502
502
01
02
Utilities - Detroit
Utilities - Chicago
Identify Matters with the correct Profit Center.

Each Matter may be assigned a profit center through Matter File Maintenance. (See Matter File
Maintenance within the Data File Maintenance chapter for additional information.) All matters which
reside in Detroit should have the profit centers defined as profit center 01 while the Chicago files should
be defined as profit center 02. It is not required that all matters be assigned a profit center. Financial
activity associated with non-profit center matters will be posted to non-profit center accounts.
The profit center field within Matter File Maintenance is not a verified field. L.A.W.S. will accept any
character whatsoever. Ensure that the Profit Centers are entered exactly as the Sub Account numbers
were assigned within the chart of accounts.
4)
Posting Revenue to Profit Centers

L.A.W.S. automatically posts revenue from the Cash Receipts Processing module within the Accounts
Receivable system. The general ledger numbers utilized by L.A.W.S. for Cash received, Fees received,
disbursements reimbursed and expenses reimbursed are stored in the Firm File. These numbers should
be stored without sub accounts. In this example, the fee account stored in the Firm File would be 1 400
(without a Sub-Account). General ledger numbers for receipts are based on the matter that generated
the receipt. L.A.W.S. retrieves the standard general ledger number from Firm Maintenance and
automatically inserts the profit center assigned to the matter as the sub-account assigned to the standard
general ledger account number. If the new general ledger number exists, including the profit center as
the sub account, then L.A.W.S. will post the receipt information to the newly created account. Otherwise,
L.A.W.S. will use the original General Ledger number without the profit center as the sub account.
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General Ledger

General Ledger
In this example, all fee activity associated with matters within the Detroit profit center will post to the fee
account 1 400 01. All fee activity for matters within the Chicago profit center will post to the fee account
1 400 02. Fees received for matters not assigned to profit centers will post to the standard fee account 1
400. The same logic is applied for all the other standard general ledger accounts retrieved from the Firm
File including cash, disbursements and expenses.
Client Miscellaneous receipts utilize the same logic for retainers received and cost reimbursements. The
actual General Ledger Account number must be specified for non-client miscellaneous receipts.
Accordingly, the user simply selects the desired general ledger number with or without a profit center.
5)
Posting Client Costs to Profit Centers

All Client Costs are posted to the General Ledger and Work In Process through the Cash Disbursement
module. The standard Client Cost general ledger distribution number is the "Disb Chg" account number
stored in the Firm file. Please review Firm File Maintenance within the Data File Maintenance chapter of
this manual for review of the firm's standard general ledger numbers. The "Disb Chg" general ledger
number should be entered into Firm Maintenance without a sub account.
As client costs are entered, L.A.W.S. automatically appends the matter's profit center as the sub account
to the standard "Disb Chg" general ledger number. If a valid general ledger number is created, L.A.W.S.
will utilize the newly created number, otherwise L.A.W.S. will use the standard account number without
the appended profit center. The same logic applies to cash the cash account.
Specific general ledger numbers must be selected for non-client cost disbursements. For example, the
Detroit utility check will be posted to the 1 502 01 general ledger account number, while the Chicago
utility check will be distributed to the 1 502 02 general ledger account number.
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General Ledger

General Ledger- G/L Maintenance
G/L MAINTENANCE
General Ledger Maintenance allows the creation of, or modification to, account numbers constituting the firms
Chart of Accounts. The account number consists of four sections including the Firm Number, Major Account, Sub
Account and Attorney code. The Firm Number and Major Account are required, but the Sub Account and
Attorney are not required.
After Selecting the G/L MAINTENANCE option, the following form is displayed:
General Ledger Maintenance Screen

FIRM #
Enter the firm number associated with this entry. Firms must be defined through Firm Maintenance prior to being
used.
MAJOR ACCT #
Enter the major account associated with this entry. The Major Account Numbers are typically 3 - 4 digits in
length. The generally accepted grouping of major account numbers are as follows:
Account Number Range
100 - 199 or 1000 - 1999
200 - 299 or 2000 - 2999
300 - 399 or 3000 - 3999
400 - 499 or 4000 - 4999
500 - 999 or 5000 - 9999
Account Type
Asset
Liability
Equity
Revenue
Expense
(See the above explanation of the General Ledger Account Number for detailed review.)
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General Ledger - G/L Maintenance

SUB ACCT#
Enter sub account associated with this entry. The sub account is optional. It is often used to identify distinctions
such as profit centers or physical locations associated with the firm.
(See the above explanation of the General Ledger Account Number and Profit Center Processing for detailed
review of the use of this field.)
ATTORNEY ID
Enter the attorney associated with this account. The attorney is optional. If used, the attorney is verified and
must be defined through Attorney File Maintenance.
SCAN G/L #
Use this field to scan the existing chart of accounts. Once the account is selected, the relevant information is
displayed for the selected account. This field may be viewed by either account number or account description.
The left dropdown box references the account number while the right dropdown box references description.
ACCOUNT DESCRIPTION
Enter the description of the referenced account.
ACCOUNT TYPE
Enter the type of account. The available options are:
1
Asset
2
Liability
3
Equity
4
Revenue
5
Expenses
TRI BAL SUB TOT
This is a user-defined field, which determines subtotal classifications on the trial balance. All accounts with the
same trial balance sub total code will be sub-totaled together, within the account type, on the trial balance.
LAST CHECK #
L.A.W.S. maintains the last check number used per cash account. If necessary, this number may be changed to
reflect the starting point of a new batch of checks. This number is displayed when checks are printed.
Modifications made to the check number when the check is printed are naturally carried back to this field.
CASH ACCOUNT
Use this field to classify cash accounts. Each Disbursement entry consists of a credit to cash and a debit to one
or more distribution accounts. Only General Ledger Numbers classified as a Cash Account may be used as the
credit account. The available options include:
Yes
Disbursement checks can be drawn, credited, against this account.
No
Disbursement checks cannot be drawn, credited, against this account.
COST ACCOUNT
Use this field to classify cost accounts. Client cost checks credit cash and debit a client cost account. Accounts
debited on behalf of a client cost disbursement need to be marked as a Yes in this field. The available options
include:
Yes
Client cost amounts can be debited to this account.
No
Client cost amounts cannot be debited to this account.
This option is ignored if the Use Client Cost Account option is set to No in Firm Maintenance.
DAILY BALANCE
A Daily Balance report, listed on the General Ledger Menu summarizes Cash, Accounts Receivable and WIP
Balances. This Daily Balance field identifies the Cash general ledger accounts that should be summarized and
reported as cash in the Daily Balance report. The available options include:
Yes
The account will be summarized and reported as cash on the Daily Balance report.
No
The account will not be summarized and reported as cash on the Daily Balance report.
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NOTES
Enter notes associated with this account. Examples may be bank account numbers, contact people, serial
numbers of assets, etc.
INACTIVE DATE
Specifies if the active status of the account. Accounts with blank Inactive Dates are active accounts and may be
utilized throughout the system. Accounts containing an Inactive Date can not be utilized for day to day postings.
As a general rule G/L account numbers should not be deleted since access to prior years history would be
eliminated. A better solution is to classify unnecessary accounts as inactive eliminating current use of the
account but allowing access to the prior years activity.
Budget Values
BUDGET Button
L.A.W.S. provides the ability of generating Budget Reports that compare actual financial performance against
budgeted values. Budget values are normally entered for revenue and expense accounts only.
BUDGET PERIOD
Specifies starting date for display of the 12 months budget activity. The budget period always defaults to the
fiscal start date noted in the firm file. L.A.W.S. can store budgets for multiple years simultaneously. For
example, if the Budget Period is identified as 1/1/98, the 12 months within 1998 will be displayed. If the Budget
Period of 1/1/99 is entered, the values for the 12 months within 1999 will be displayed.
Budget values are always entered for the general ledger number currently displayed. Ensure that the desired
general ledger number is displayed prior to clicking the Budget Button. After clicking the Budget Button the
following form is displayed.
Budget Values by Month Screen
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Note: Budget reports are run using the user defined financial statement formats. It is possible, likely, that
multiple general ledger accounts are combined within each line which prints on the financial statement. It is not
necessary that budget values be entered for each account number but simply for a single account number within
the line item.
Example: The firm wishes to establish a budget for auto expense of $6,000. The auto expense line item on the
Financial Statement Format may consist of three accounts including:
Account Description
Auto - Lease Charges
Auto - Repair and Maintenance
Auto - Gas and Oil
Total Auto Expense
Actual Charges
$1200
$1000
$ 3600
$ 5800
Budget Amount
$ 6000
0
0
$ 6000
When the Budget Report prints, a single line item will print showing auto expense of $5800 and a corresponding
budget amount of $6000 with a computed variance of -$200.
If desired, budget values could have been entered for each individual account within the line item, but is not
necessary.
ACCOUNT NUMBER
The account number for which budget values are being entered. This field is informational only.
BUDGET PERIOD
The budget period carried over from the prior screen. This field is informational only.
ANNUAL BUDGET
Allows the entry of an annual budget value. This annual budget value will be divided by 12 and inserted into
each months budget value.
The annual budget distribution will be performed only if the existing monthly distribution values total zero. If
monthly budget distribution values have previously been entered, an error message is displayed and the annual
budget distribution is canceled. If unwanted values exist, use the Clear Monthly Totals button to clear the
existing totals, then enter the annual budget amount.
Note: Budget values must be entered consistent with the natural storage of values in the general ledger.
Budget values associated with revenue accounts must be posted as credits (negative values), and
expenses must be entered as debits (positive values).
MONTH / AMOUNT (Monthly Distributions)
Specifies the budget dollar values assigned to each month within the budget period. L.A.W.S. will automatically
distribute the Annual Budget value evenly between months. If desired, the monthly amounts may be entered
differently to reflect seasonal fluctuations.
TOTAL
The total of the monthly budget amounts. This is informational and visual verification purposed only.
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CLEAR MONTHLY TOTALS Button
The Clear Monthly Totals button provides a simple method of clearing monthly accumulations from the displayed
12 budget months. It performs the same function as manually tabbing through the form zeroing out each months
budget value. After pressing the Clear Monthly Totals Button, the following message is displayed.
The available options include:

Yes
Will clear the monthly totals.
No
Will not clear the monthly totals.
POST BUDGET VALUES
Once the budget values have been assigned as desired to the budget months, press the Post Budget Values
button to store the entered values. After posting, the budget form is closed and the general ledger maintenance
form is displayed.
NOTE: If the Post Budget Values is not pressed, budget values will not be posted. Accordingly, if budget
values are cleared and re-entered, then the budget form is closed without pressing the Post Budget Value button,
the original budget values originally displayed on the screen will remain. The clearing and re-entering of the
budget values will be ignored.
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General Ledger- Journal Entry Source Maintenance
JOURNAL ENTRY SOURCE MAINTENANCE

The JOURNAL ENTRY SOURCE defines the source of journal entries within L.A.W.S. All Journal Entry
Sources utilized by L.A.W.S. come pre-loaded with the software so there is not a need to enter new sources. If
desired, the descriptions or last assigned reference number maybe modified to meet the firms needs.
After selecting the J/E SOURCE MAINT selection, the following form is displayed.
Journal Entry Source Maintenance Screen

JOURNAL CODE
The journal code identifies the type of journal entry. Standard journal codes used by L.A.W.S. include:
CD
Cash Disbursements
CR
Cash Receipts
TD
Trust Disbursements
TR
Trust Receipts
JE
Manual Journal Entries
PR
Payroll
YE
Year End Close
The Source of the journal entry is automatically assigned by L.A.W.S. Additional User defined source codes will
not be utilized.
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General Ledger
Journal Entry Source Maintenance

General Ledger- Journal Entry Source Maintenance
Do not delete journal codes. An error may occur during posting to the general ledger if journal codes are deleted.
CODE DESCRIPTION
The description of the general ledger source code. Pre-defined descriptions are associated with the journal
codes utilized by L.A.W.S. If desired, the descriptions may be changed.
LAST ASSIGNED SEQUENCE #
Every journal entry is automatically assigned one of the pre-defined source codes based on the source of the
entry. Each journal entry is also assigned a consecutive sequence number within the source code. L.A.W.S.
maintains the last assigned sequence number by journal entry source. If desired, this source may be reset at the
start of each year.
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General Ledger
Journal Entry Source Maintenance

General Ledger- Journal Entry Processing
JOURNAL ENTRY PROCESSING

All financial activity is posted to the general ledger through Journal Entries. Most Journal Entries are system
created and posted through normal L.A.W.S. functions such as cash receipts and disbursements. Non-cash
transactions or adjusting journal entries can be process through this Journal Entry Processing program.
L.A.W.S. utilizes the double entry bookkeeping method. Each Journal Entry must have offsetting debits and
credits. Manual journal entries are automatically assigned a journal entry source code of JE.
After selecting Journal Entry, the following form is displayed:
Journal Entry Processing Screen

FIRM #
Enter the firm number to which the journal entry applies. All account numbers within the journal entry must have
the same firm #. The default firm number is one (1).
SOURCE #
The Journal Entry Source Number assigned to this manual journal entry. If a new journal entry is being
processed, leave the source # blank and the next available Sequence Number associated with the JE Journal
Entry Source code, will be assigned.
To reference an existing non-posted journal entry, use the drop down box to select the desired journal entry via
the system assigned source number. All line items previously entered with this journal entry will be displayed.
DATE
Enter the date of the journal entry. The date must fall within the current fiscal year.
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General Ledger-Journal Entry Processing

DESCRIPTION
Enter the global description pertaining to this journal entry. When this entry is posted, this description will be
automatically posted with each line item. This is a required field.
The following columns are used to define the line items within the journal entry.
G/L NO
Enter the general ledger account number for which a value should be posted. All general ledger numbers must
have the same firm number as identified within the header of the form. General Ledger Numbers may be
selected by code using the left drop down box, or by the account description using the right drop down box.
AMOUNT
Enter the amount to be posted to the referenced G/L number. Debits are entered as positive numbers while
credits are entered as negative.
SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION
If desired, a specific description may be associated with the referenced line item. Do not duplicate the global
description. The entered specific description will automatically be added to the global description when posted.
TOTAL
Summarizes the total of all debits and credits contained in this journal entry. The entry is balanced if the total is
zero.
Print/View Button
The Print/View button produces an edit listing of the current journal entry for visual verification.
A sample Journal Entry can be found at the end of this section.
Post Journal Entries
The POST button physically applies the journal entry transactions against the general ledger balances. If the
journal entry is out of balance, a warning is displayed, but the posting is not automatically canceled.
After selecting POST, but before the actual posting commences, the following message is displayed.
NoYes-
Will cancel the posting and return to the journal entry processing form.
Will post the journal entry to the general ledger, then delete this journal entry from the system.
Out Of Balance Journal Entries

If the journal entry is out-of-balance, (the total does not equal zero), the following warning message is displayed
when you try to post.
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Out-of-balance entries MAY be posted, but be aware that out-of-balance entries might cause the trial balance not
to balance.
Out-of-balance entries may be useful to correct a system posting error. For example, suppose a deposit is being
processed, and for some reason, the fee account is not defined in the firm file. The system generated journal
entry may be out of balance by the fee amount. An offsetting out of balance manual journal entry may be
produced to correct this system entry.
When posting adjusting entries, it is a good idea to always refer to the original Journal Entry Source and Source
number creating a viable audit trail.
A Sample Journal Entry is displayed on the following page.
Sample: Journal Entry Edit List
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L.A.W.S. CORPORATION - DEMONSTRATION

Journal Entry Edit:
Source
Date
Manual Journal Entry
(Firm#: 1)
G/L Number
Acct Description
Debit
Credit
Description
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
46
04/30/1998
Record Bank Service Charge - April 1998
1 100
Cash In Bank - General
($15.32)
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1 510
Office Expense
$15.32
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Journal Entry Total:
$15.32
($15.32)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4/23/98 1:05:13 PM
1
rptGLJE Journal Edit Listing
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General Ledger-Year End Close
YEAR END CLOSE

The Year End Close Procedure creates, then posts the year end closing journal entry. This entry will zero out the
revenue and expense account balances then posts the difference to the firms Retained Earnings Account. It
may be run multiple times per year. Each time the Year End Close is run, it closes transactions posted to the
general ledger system since the last time the close was initiated. The close should be run initially after all
normal day to day activity is completed for the year being closed. The close should be run a second time after
all year end adjusting entries have been posted. If the prior years transactions are not cleared from the system,
the prior years activity will be included in the current years beginning revenue and expense balances.
After selecting YEAR END CLOSE the following message is displayed
This is simply an informational message stating that the Year End Close option was selected. If it was selected in
error, simple answer No to return to the G/L Menu, otherwise, select Yes to display the Year End Close
Processing Screen displayed below.
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Year End Close Screen

FIRM #
Enter the firm number for which a closing entry should be produced. Firm number 1 is assumed. Once the firm
is selected, the end date and retained earnings G/L # are automatically displayed based on the information in the
Firm file.
FISCAL YEAR END
Enter the fiscal year end date corresponding to the year being closed. The system automatically adds one year
to the fiscal start date in the Firm file as a default end date. This date may be modified as needed. The resulting
journal entry will clear all revenue and expense activity through the specified Fiscal Year End Date.
RETAINED EARNINGS G/L #
The difference between total revenue and total expense will be posted to the retained earnings account noted in
the Firm file. If the displayed account number is incorrect, the correction must be made through Firm
Maintenance.
PRINT/VIEW BUTTON
The Print or View button will display the system generated closing entry.
A sample of this report can be found following this section.
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POST BUTTON
The Post Button physically posts the system generated closing entry to the general ledger.
After pressing the Post Button, the following message is displayed:
Answering Yes will post the generated year end closing entry. No will return to the prior form.
A sample Year End Close Journal Entry is displayed on the following page.
Sample: Year End Close Journal Entry
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Year End Close Entry:
(Firm#: 1)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Source
YE
Date
12/31/1998
G/L Number
400
400
400
400
400
400
401
402
500
500
500
502
506
507
508
508
508
509
509
510
598
1300
01
AAA
CCC
FIRM
PDK
AAA
01
02
AAA
PDK
01
02
01
Acct Description
Debit
Fees Received - general

Fees Received - AAA
Fees Received - CCC
Fees Received - Firm
Fees received = PDK
Fees Received - AAA - Profit Center 01
Client Expense Reimbursement Account
Retainer's Received
Client Costs
Client costs for alan Appleberry
Client Costs for PDK
Rent Expense
Payroll Tax Expense
Payroll- Officers
Telephone Expense
Telephone Expense Reimbursement
Fax Reimbursement
Photocopy Expense
Photocopy Client Reimbursement
Office Expense
Postage
Retained Earnings
Credit
$8,620.50
$3,710.00
$3.00
$149.32
$49,119.54
$475.00
$1,420.99
$3,340.00
$362.36
($5.00)
$2,162.50
$175.00
($359.81)
($5,453.35)
($125.00)
$2,500.00
$161.50
($5.00)
$327.50
($140.32)
$50.00
($66,488.73)
_________________________________
$72,577.21
($72,577.21)
Journal Entry Total:
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
12/31/1998 0:00:00
4/23/98 2:56:19 PM
1
rptGLYE - Year End Close Journal Entry
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General Ledger- Journal Entry Summary Report
JOURNAL ENTRY SUMMARY REPORT

The purpose of the Journal Entry Summary Report is to reprint journal entries which have been previously posted
to the general ledger. The JOURNAL ENTRY SUMMARY REPORT is a useful tool in analysis of an out of
balance general ledger. All selection criteria works in conjunction with each other allowing for as broad or as
narrow reporting as desired.
After selecting the J/E SUMMARY option, the following form is displayed.
Journal Entry Summary Report Selection

FIRM NO
Enter the firm number with which the journal entries are associated. The default Firm # is 1.
START AND END DATES
Enter the date range for inclusion of data on the report. All transactions falling within this date range, and
meeting the other criteria, will be included on the report. The default dates for the report are the first and last day
of the month referenced within the WIP Entry Cutoff Date in the Firm file.
SOURCE TYPE
Enter the desired Source Type of the journal entries to be selected. Leave the Source Type blank for all
types. The available Journal Entry Source Types are listed below:
CD
TD
JE
YE
Cash Disbursements
Trust Disbursements
Manual Journal Entries
Year End Close
CR
TR
PR
Cash Receipts
Trust Receipts
Payroll
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General Ledger-J/E Summary Report

General Ledger- Journal Entry Summary Report
SOURCE NO
To select a single, specific journal entry, enter the system assigned G/L source number identifying the journal
entry. Otherwise, leave this option blank to choose all entries meeting the other criteria.
After entering the desired criteria, select PRINT or VIEW to generate the report.
A sample of the Journal Entry Summary Report may be found on the following page.
Sample: Journal Entry Summary Report
62
General Ledger-J/E Summary Report

Journal Entry Summary Report:
J/E Source: CR
Source No: * ALL *
(Firm#: 1)
Start Date: Feb 01/1998

End Date: Feb 28/1998
G/L Number
Detail
Source
Date
Maj Sub Atty
Check#
Acct Description
Debit
Credit
Ref#
Description
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Cash Receipts
CR 115
02/03/1998
100
500
02
0 Cash In Bank - General

500.00
CR Ref# 1 - 1
0 Client Costs for PDK
-500.00
CR Ref# 1 - 1
Total: CR 115 2/3/98
$500.00
($500.00)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CR 116
02/05/1998
100
500.00
CR Ref# 1 - 3
400
0 Fees Received - general
-200.00
400
-150.00
400
-100.00
3 (2) Filing Fee
400
-50.00
4 (3) Cost Reimb posted as misc receipt instead of
disb.
Total: CR 116 2/5/98
$500.00
($500.00)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CR 117
02/06/1998
100
845.00
CR Ref# 4 - 6
400
PDK
0 Fees received = PDK
-110.00
400
01
AAA
0 Fees Received - AAA - Profit Center 01
-132.19
400
01
AAA
-102.81
Total: CR 117 2/6/98
$845.00
($345.00)
** Out Of Balance $500.00
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CR 119
02/06/1998
100
845.00
CR Ref# 4 - 6
400
PDK
0 Fees received = PDK
-110.00
400
01
AAA
-132.19
400
01
AAA
-102.81
500
02
PDK
0 Client Costs for PDK
-500.00
10 (6) Filing Fee Checking disb GL#
Total: CR 119 2/6/98
$845.00
($845.00)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PDK
Firm Total: 1
$2,690.00
($2,190.00)
** Out Of Balance $500.00
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4/23/98 3:24:36 PM
rptGLJESum - Journal Entry Summary Report
1
63

General Ledger-Trial Balance
TRIAL BALANCE
The purpose of the trial balance is to list selected general ledger accounts, along with the beginning of the period
balance, current period debit, current period credit and the ending balance. The report balances if the beginning
and ending of period balances are zero. The Trial Balance is sorted by the general ledger user defined sub-total
code within the account type. After selecting TRIAL BALANCE, the following form is displayed:
Trial Balance Selection Screen

FIRM NO
Enter the firm number with which the Trial Balance is to be printed. The default Firm # is 1.
START AND END DATES
meeting the other criteria, will be summarized within the current debit and current credit columns on the report.
The default dates for the report are the first and last day of the month referenced within the WIP Entry Cutoff
Date in the Firm file.
START GL# / END GL#
Enter the range of general ledger numbers to be contained on the trial balance. L.A.W.S. automatically inserts
the lowest GL number for the firm as the starting GL# and the highest GL number for the firm as the ending GL#.
These numbers may be changed as desired. For a single account, enter the desired account number in both the
start and end GL#s.
A sample of the Trial Balance Report can be found on the following page. Please note, this trial balance is out of
balance. To force the report to fit an a single page the expenses were omitted.
Sample: Trial Balance
64
General Ledger-Trial Balance

Trial Balance:
(Firm#1)
G/L Account Number

CO Major Sub Aty
Beginning Balance
1/31/98
Description
02/01/1998
Current
Debit
Thru
02/28/1998
Current
Credit
Ending Balance
2/28/98
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Assets
1
1
1
1
1
100
100
101
102
103
$3,788.57
$2,690.00
$6,478.57
($65.00)
($65.00)
$511.75
$511.75
$1,125.00
$1,125.00
$9,675.00
$9,675.00
Total Assets:
$15,035.32
$2,690.00
$0.00
$17,725.32
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
01

Cash in Bank - Profit Center 01
Cash - Trust Chemical Bank
Cash- Trust Comerica
Cash Trust NBD
Liabilities
1
1
1
1
1
200
201
202
203
270
Federal Income Tax withholding

State Income Tax Withholding
Local Income Tax Withholding
Trust Account NBD
United Fund Withholding
($592.18)
($592.18)
($311.75)
($311.75)
$0.00
$0.00
($4,500.00)
($4,500.00)
($100.00)
($100.00)
Total Liabilities:
($5,503.93)
$0.00
$0.00
($5,503.93)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Equity
1 300
Retained Earnings
$51,362.90
$51,362.90
Total Equity:
$51,362.90
$0.00
$0.00
$51,362.90
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Revenue
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
400
400
400
400
400
400
400
400
401
402
($7,466.50)
($500.00)
($7,966.50)
($3,710.00)
($3,710.00)
($3.00)
($3.00)
($149.32)
($149.32)
$0.00
$0.00
($47,476.60)
($220.00)
($47,696.60)
($5.00)
($470.00)
($475.00)
$0.00
$0.00
($1,380.99)
($1,380.99)
($2,340.00)
($2,340.00)
Total Revenue:
($62,531.41)
$0.00
($1,190.00)
($63,721.41)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Firm Total:
($1,637.12)
$2,690.00
($1,190.00)
($137.12)
AAA
CCC
FIRM
JJK
PDK
01 AAA
01 PDK

Fees Received - AAA
Fees Received - CCC
Fees Received - JJK
Fees received = PDK
Fees Received -PDK , Profit Center 01
Retainer's Received
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4/23/98 4:24:47 PM
rptGLTB
65

General Ledger-Detail General Ledger
DETAIL GENERAL LEDGER

The DETAIL GENERAL LEDGER report lists all transactions associated with general ledger accounts within a
user supplied date range. The report can list each detail transaction affecting the selected account, or it can
summarize transactions based on the journal entry source.
After selecting the DETAIL G/L, the following form is displayed
Detail General Ledger Selection

FIRM NO
Enter the firm number with which the detail general ledger is to be printed. The default Firm# is 1.
START AND END DATES
meeting the other criteria, will be included on the report. The default dates for the report are the first and last day
of the month referenced within the WIP Entry Cutoff Date in the Firm file.
START AND END G/L #
The data to be included on the report may be selected based on a range of general ledger numbers. The default
range is the first through last general ledger number. If desired, the range may be narrowed to as little as a
single account.
66

REPORT FORMAT
Enter the form in which the data should be presented. The available options include:
Detail
Prints each individual transaction
Summary
Summarizes transactions into a single line item by date within the G/L source code for
each account.
SORT OPTION
Specifies the method by which the report should be sorted. The available options include:
Source Type Subtotals activity on the report by Source Type Code.
Date
Subtotals activity on the report by Source Type Code within the transaction month.
For example: The date range for the report may be 01/01/98 through 02/28/98. If the sort option is
"Date", then Januarys activity will be totaled, and Februarys activity will also be totaled. Within each
month, activity will be sorted and subtotaled by source type.
A sample of the Detail General Ledger report is displayed on the following page.
Sample: Detail General Ledger Report
67
Start G/L #: 1100

End G/L#:
1100
Detail General Ledger- Detail Transactions Summary by Source: Firm# 1

Description
Vendor
Date
Src Je#
Debit
Start Date:
End Date:
Credit
Check#
Client
01/01/1998
04/30/1998
Matter
Atty
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
100
Balance Forward:
$116,550.21
(52) Delivery Service
United Parcel Service (UPS)
04/21/1998 CD 104
($100.00)
48802
(51) Contract Labor - Yard Work
Geroge Hanson (MISC)
04/21/1998 CD 104
($100.00)
48803
Total (CD):
($200.00)
($200.00)
CR Ref# 1 - 1
02/03/1998 CR 115
$500.00
0
CR Ref# 1 - 3
02/05/1998 CR 116
$500.00
0
CR Ref# 4 - 6
02/06/1998 CR 117
$845.00
0
CR Ref# 4 - 6
02/06/1998 CR 119
$845.00
0
CR Ref# 1 - 3
03/01/1998 CR 123
$1,292.94
0
CR Ref# 1 - 3
03/07/1998 CR 123
$2,500.00
0
CR Ref# 1 - 3
03/25/1998 CR 123
$364.00
0
CR Ref# 9 - 11
04/03/1998 CR 121
$1,340.00
0
CR Ref# 2 - 4
04/03/1998 CR 122
$1,340.00
0
Total (CR ):
$9,526.94
$9,526.94
balance cash
01/01/1998 JE 45
($112,761.64)
0
Record Bank Service Charge - April 1998
04/30/1998 JE 46
($15.32)
0
Total (JE):
($112,776.96)
($112,776.96)
03/31/1998 PR 5
($323.25)
0
04/15/1998 PR 6
($1,318.27)
0
Total (PR):
($1,641.52)
($1,641.52)
Account Total:
$9,526.94
($114,618.48)
$11,458.67
Firm Total: Bal Fwd:
$116,550.21
$9,526.94
($114,618.48)
$11,458.67
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4/23/98 4:49:41 PM
Detail G/L activity For Each Account Between the Start and Ending G/L No. Subtotaled by G/L Source Type. rptGlDet_Det
68

General Ledger-Chart of Accounts
CHART OF ACCOUNTS
The CHART OF ACCOUNTS lists all non-financial general ledger account information in account number order.
After selecting CHART OF ACCTS, the following form is displayed.
Chart of Accounts Selection

FIRM #
Enter the firm number with which the chart of accounts should be printed. The default firm # is 1.
All general ledger account numbers associated with the specified Firm Number will be selected.
No other options are available.
A sample of the Chart of Accounts report can be found on the following page.
Sample: Chart of Accounts
69
General Ledger-Chart of Accounts

Chart of Accounts:
(Firm#1)
G/L Account Number

Type of
Sub Total
Cash
CO Major Sub Aty
Description
Account
Description
Account
Notes
Inactive Date
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1
100
1
Yes
NBD Account # 2001234567
Signers: John Kelly, Carol Fiztman
1
100
01
Cash in Bank - Profit Center 01
1
Yes
1
101
Cash - Trust Chemical Bank
1
Yes
1
102
Cash- Trust Comerica
1
Yes
1
103
Cash Trust NBD
1
Yes
1
200
Federal Income Tax withholding
2
No
1
201
State Income Tax Withholding
2
No
1
202
Local Income Tax Withholding
2
No
1
203
Trust Account NBD
2
No
1
270
United Fund Withholding
2
No
1
300
Retained Earnings
3
No
1
400
4
No
1
400
AAA
Fees Received - AAA
4
No
1
400
CCC
Fees Received - CCC
4
No
1
400
FIRM
4
No
1
400
JJK
Fees Received - JJK
4
No
1
400
PDK
Fees received = PDK
4
No
1
400
01
AAA
4
No
1
400
01
PDK
Fees Received -PDK , Profit Center 01
4
No
1
401
4
No
Overhead expenses reimbursed from clients. Overhead expensed may
be allocated to a different account based on the bill code used.
1
402
Retainer's Received
4
No
1
500
Client Costs
5
No
1
500
01
AAA
Client costs for alan Appleberry
5
No
1
500
02
PDK
Client Costs for PDK
5
No
1
502
Rent Expense
5
No
1
506
Payroll Tax Expense
5
No
1
507
Payroll- Officers
5
No
1
507
02
Payroll - Attorneys
5
No
1
508
Telephone Expense
5
No
1
508
01
Telephone Expense Reimbursement
5
No
1
508
02
Fax Reimbursement
5
No
1
509
Photocopy Expense
5
No
1
509
01
Photocopy Client Reimbursement
5
No
1
510
Office Expense
5
No
1
598
Postage
5
No
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Type of Account: 1=Asset 2=Liability 3=Equity 4=Revenue
4/23/98 5:14:18 PM
rptGLChart - Chart of Accounts
70

General Ledger-Financial Statements
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
L.A.W.S. allows for the creation of User Defined Financial Statements. User defined statements allow the firm
to design customized income statements, balance sheets, budgets, and supporting statements. These
statements may be as detailed, or as summarized, as the firm desires. Many people find the setup and design of
Financial Statements unnecessarily confusing. Take time to review the associated examples, especially relating
to the total lines. Within a little time and experimentation your financial statements will not only look
professional, but also balance.
After specifying FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, the following form is displayed.
Financial Statement Processing Screen

This screen has four major functions including:
1) Entry and modification of Financial Statement formats.
2) Listing of existing Financial Statement formats.
3) Generation of a Financial Statement Format Error List identifying duplicate,
missing or extra account numbers within a specified format.
4) Generation of the actual Financial Statement in Actual or Budget form.
The concepts associated with building Financial Statements are straight forward, but sometimes difficult to grasp.
Throughout this section in the documentation manual, we will be building an actual Income Statement. All the
examples will relate specifically to the Income Statement being created. Listed at the end of this section is the
end result of our efforts portrayed as a Financial Statement along with the corresponding Financial Statement
Format Listing. Please pay close attention to the examples to gain an understanding of how the Financial
Statement program functions.
71
General Ledger - Financial Statements

The Financial Statements may be printed in one of three layouts including the Income Statement Format, Budget
Format or the Balance Sheet Format. Actual performance is defined as the actual performance of the firm as
accumulated within the general ledger. Actual balances are reported through standard financial reports such as
the trial balance and detail general ledger. Budget performance is defined as the budget values developed within
the firm and posted to specific general ledger numbers using the Budget button within General Ledger
Maintenance.
The Income Statement compares the actual current month and year to date performance to the prior
years actual month and year to date performance.
The Budget compares the actual current month and year to date performance to the budgeted month
and year to date performance.
The Balance Sheet notes the Current and Prior year-to-date totals only.
All financial statements are user defined meaning the firm determines what will be included on the statement and
how the data will be summarized and titled. The firm may develop many different statements such as income
statements, balance sheets, and supporting schedules. Each individual statement must be defined through the
Statement Code. Examples of Statement codes are "INC" for the Income Statement, "BAL" for the Balance
Sheet, "Sch1" for supporting Schedule 1, etc. Although statements can be defined with any code, the convention
within L.A.W.S. is that Balance sheet type statements start with the letter "B" while Income Statement and
Budget reports start with letters other then "B".
As a default, all statement codes starting with B will utilize the Balance Sheet format, while statement codes
starting with letters other then "B" will use the Income Statement or Budget format.
Financial statements consist of a series of user defined line items. Each line item specifies to L.A.W.S. the
information to print on the statement such as headings, detail, or total lines. The order of printing the lines is
determined by the line items Print Sequence Number.
The Financial Statement Format refers to the collection of line items constituting each financial statement.
Financial statements consist of three distinct types of line items as defined below:
Header:
Lines that print titles and are not associated with General ledger numbers. Heading lines
do not print dollar amounts.
Detail:
Lines that compute and print the dollar balances for all general ledger account numbers
identified with the line item.
Total:
Lines that print the total of the proceeding detail lines. Total lines can be defined to print
a single subtotal which summarizes a few detail lines within a financial statement, or to
summarize several of all of the previously computed subtotals.
POSTING THE SCREEN
It is important that the each financial statement format line item is posted prior to adding or modifying another
line item. BE SURE TO CLICK THE PENCIL, LOCATED IN THE RECORD SELECTOR, TO POST THE
CURRENT RECORD PRIOR TO MOVING TO A NEW LINE ITEM.
A detailed description of the information associated with each financial statement line item follows:
STATEMENT CODE
Specify the user defined statement code associated with the desired financial statement. If an pre-defined
statement code is referenced, the heading line of the specified format will be displayed. When a new statement
code is entered, the statement heading must be entered on the line description of print sequence number zero.
72

FIRM NUMBER
Specifies the Firm for which the financial statement is being developed. This field is required only if the multiple
firm numbers have been established within Firm Maintenance, and the law firm maintains separate and distinct
general ledgers on all established firms. In the great majority of instances, the law firm will be utilizing a single
firm only which is defined as firm "1".
Financial statements are specific to a firm number. Assume a law firm maintains two general ledgers for firm
numbers 1 and 2, and desires income statements for the established firms. Two separate financial statements
need to be established, the first for firm 1 using firm 1's general ledger account numbers, and the second for firm
2 using firms 2's general ledger numbers.
SELECTED SEQ#
The Selected Seq# specifies the line number of the financial statement format which is currently being created or
modified. All line items entered into a financial statement format print consecutively by the print sequence
number. L.A.W.S. automatically assigns sequence numbers to new lines in increments of ten (10). If desired,
the sequence number of new or existing line items may be modified so that the line prints in the desired location
on the format.
The first line within a financial statement format is always numbered zero (0) and contains the Statement
Heading.
PRINT SEQ#:
The Print Sequence Number is usually equal to the Selected Sequence Number. The purpose of this field is to
allow modification of the previously assigned line item sequence number.
Example: Assume a line item was entered into the format with a sequence number of 50. Upon review of the
format it is decided to change the position of the line item from 50 to 77. The Selected Seq# has to reference
the original line item, in this example 50. Once line 50 is displayed, the Print Seq# will be changed from 50 to
77. After exiting the field, the line item sequence number will be changed and both fields will read the current
value.
LINE DESCRIPTION
Enter the description of the line that should appear on the financial statement line for this line item. When
entering description lines, be consistent with the spacing of like types of lines. For example, heading lines may
be flush left, detail lines may be indented several spaces, and total lines may be indented an additional few
spaces. The indentation options are totally dependant on the users preference. Please review the Sample below
and note the line item types.
Revenue
(Heading Line)
Fee Income
(Detail Line)
Client Expense Recovered
(Detail Line)
Other Income
Total Income
(Total Line)
The Statement Heading is always entered with print sequence number zero. The statement heading will be
automatically centered under the firm name, and should be entered flush left.
ADD/SUB
This field specifies whether the current balances associated with the line items General Ledger account numbers,
should be added to or subtracted from the running totals or sub-totals. This option is applicable to Detail line
items only and is ignored when used with Heading or Total line items. The addition or subtraction occurs after
reversing the sign. The available options are:
A
The generated line item total is added to the reports totals,
S
The generated line total is subtracted from the reports totals.
73

REVERSE SIGN
This field specifies if the sign of the computed dollar amount should be reversed prior to being accumulated and
printed. The available options are:
Y
The computed dollar amount associated with this line item will be reversed.
N
The computed dollar amount associated with this line item will not be reversed.
Fees, Liabilities, and Equity accounts are naturally recorded throughout the general ledger as credit, negative,
balances. When printed on financial statements, it is normally clearer to reverse the sign of the credit accounts
and display them as positive numbers.
Asset and Expense accounts normally have debit, positive, balances. When displaying these accounts, the sign
is not normally reversed.
Add and subtract options refer to the impact on the final figure. In the income statement the final figure is "Net
Income". Accordingly, revenue amounts are added to net income, while the expense lines are subtracted from
net income. Subtotaled amounts within the statement may need to be reversed based on the line item options.
Pay special attention to the examples for a fuller understanding or this concept.
As the general rule, the add/subtract options and reverse sign options work as follows on the specified
statements.
Statement Type
GL Type
Usual Line Item Treatment
Income/Budget Statements:
Assets
Liabilities
Equity
Revenue
Expenses
Generally not included on this statement.

Added
Reversed
Subtracted
Not Reversed
Assets
Liabilities
Equity
Revenue &
Expenses
Added
Added
Added
Balance Sheet:
Not Reversed
Reversed
Reversed
Usually totaled together into a single amount titled

something like "Year To Date Income". This total is
usually listed within the equity section of the Balance
Sheet. The treatment is the same as the equity.
Added
Reversed
Please review the add/subtract and reverse sign options associated with the sample line items below:
Revenue
Fee Income
Client Expense Recovered
Other Income
Total Income
(Heading Line-codes ignored)

(Detail Line - Reverse & Add)
(Total Line-Do not Reverse, Add/Sub ignored)
Expenses
Client Costs
Administrative Expenses
Total Expense
(Heading Line-codes ignored)

(Detail Line-Do not reverse & Sub)
(Detail Line-Do not reverse & Sub)
(Total Line-Reverse, Add/Sub ignored)
Net Income
(Total Line-Do not Reverse, Add/Sub ignored)
If Subtract is used to subtract expense amounts from the net income total, then the subtotal of expenses will be
a negative number and should be reversed prior to printing. The example associated with the Sub Total option
displays running totals that reinforce the concepts associated with these codes.
TOTAL OPTION
74

Specifies whether the line item is a heading, detail or total line. The financial statements allow for six levels of
totals. The available options for this option are:
Blank Detail Line Item.
H
Heading Line
1-6
Total Line. - the entered number specifies the specific total to be printed. When printed the
specified total and all lower number totals are set to zero.
The Financial Statement program contains six levels of totals. Whenever a detail line is processed the
computed balances associated with the detail line item are added to or subtracted from all six totals. The Total
option specifies which Total balance, 1 - 6, is to be printed.
Below, please review the subtotal accumulations associated with the above example.
Revenue
Fee Income
Client Expense
Recovery
Other Income
Total Income
Total/Add
Option
H
Blank/Add
Blank/Add
Blank/Add
1
Cur Month
Line Item
Amount
$
0
$ 45,130
Level 1
$
0
$ 45,130
Level 2
$
0
$ 45,130
Level 3
$
0
$ 45,130
Level 4
$
0
$ 45,130
Level 5
$
0
$ 45,130
Level 6
$
0
$ 45,130
$
50
$ 1,000
$ 46,180
$ 45,180
$ 46,180
$ 46,180
$ 45,180
$ 46,180
$ 46,180
$ 45,180
$ 46,180
$ 46,180
$ 45,180
$ 46,180
$ 46,180
$ 45,180
$ 46,180
$ 46,180
$ 45,180
$ 46,180
$ 46,180
The total income line is classified as Total, Level 1. Accordingly, the current value of the level 1 total will be used as the total
amount, then cleared after it is printed.
Total Values
After Printing
Expenses
Client Costs
Administrative
Expenses
Total Expense
$ 46,180
$ 46,180
$ 46,180
$ 46,180
$ 46,180
0
7,700
$
0
$ -7,700
$ 46,180
$ 38,480
$ 46,180
$ 38,480
$ 46,180
$ 38,480
$ 46,180
$ 38,480
$ 46,180
$ 38,480
Blank/Sub $ 16,765
1 (rev sign) $ 24,465
$-24,465
$-24,465
$ 21,715
$ 21,715
$ 21,715
$ 21,715
$ 21,715
$ 21,715
$ 21,715
$ 21,715
$ 21,715
$ 21,715
H
Blank/Sub
$
$
The total expense line is also classified as a level 1 total. Since the level 1 total was cleared after Total Income,
the value of level 1 represents the sum total of all detail line items processed since the last level 1 total.
Expenses are coded as being subtracted from totals. The value of the Level 1 Total is therefore negative and
must be reversed prior to printing.
The total expense line is classified as Total, Level 1. Accordingly, the current value of the level 1 total will be used as the
total amount, then cleared after it is printed.
Total Values
After Printing
Net Income
$ 21,715
$ 21,715
$ 21,715
$ 21,715
$ 21,715
$ 21,715
$ 21,715
$ 21,715
$ 21,715
$ 21,715
$ 21,715
The Net Income Total number could have been any level number greater than 1 since level 2 - 6 contain equal values and
there are no additional line items in this sample format. After the net income is printed, the value of the level, 2, and all
lower levels are automatically cleared as noted below.
Total Values
After Printing
$ 21,715
$ 21,715
$ 21,715
$ 21,715
75

LINE SPACING
The line spacing value specifies how many blank lines should be printed AFTER the specified line is printed. The
available options are:
1
Single Spaced
2
Double Spaced
3
Triple Spaced
Single spacing is assumed if the Line Spacing option is blank.
GENERAL LEDGER DISTRIBUTION
The General Ledger Distribution allows G/L #s to be associated with detail line items. Each distribution line
contains a G/L Lower and G/L Upper number. If a single account is to be associated with a line, simply enter the
lower value and leave the upper blank. If a range of numbers should be processed, enter the lower and upper
values and the system will accumulate the value of all accounts within the specified range. The G/L Lower value
is verified for accuracy, but the G/L Upper value is not verified. There is no limit to the number of GENERAL
LEDGER DISTRIBUTION lines which may be associated with a financial statement line item.
Note: The upper right corner displays identification information about the currently displayed record. Please
note that if the record selectors are used to scroll through the format, all line items from all defined formats will
be available for review. Use care, when modifying data to ensure that the desired line item is being changed.
FORMAT LISTING (PRINT/VIEW)
The Format Listing button simply prints a copy of a financial statement format. A sample Income Statement and
Balance Sheet format are displayed at the end of this section.
ERROR LIST (PRINT/VIEW)
The Error List is designed to detect three common errors associated with Financial Statement Formats.
In order to run the Error List, the START G/L# and END G/L# fields must be entered identifying the account
numbers to be utilized for verification. The Start and End numbers associated with a balance sheet would
include the entire chart of accounts from the first asset account through the last expense. An income statement
would have a more limited scope including the first revenue account through the last expense account.
The errors noted on the report include:
Duplicate General Ledger Numbers: If duplicate General Ledger Account Numbers are included in the same or
different line items within the same financial statement format, the accumulated total will be misstated causing
the statement to be inaccurate. The Duplicate General Ledger Number portion of the Error Report checks for,
then identifies Duplicate General Ledger Numbers used within the displayed format.
Missing General Ledger Numbers: The Missing Number portion of the Error Report verifies that all G/L
numbers from the chart of accounts, within the entered Start and End G/L# range, are included in the format. If a
new account is added to the chart of accounts, it must be added to the appropriate financial statement format. It
is possible that the added number will be naturally added to a line item if it falls within a pre-defined range of
numbers.
Extra General Ledger Numbers: The Extra General Ledger Number portion of the report checks for and reports
all account numbers falling outside the specified Start and End G/L # range. For example, Income statements
typically include only revenue and expense items. If a liability account were inadvertently added to the income
statement format in error, it would be detected via the extra account number section of this error report.
The error list cannot verify the accuracy of the Add/Sub or the Reverse Sign codes. It is important to visually
verify the accuracy of new formats as they are entered into the system. It is highly recommended that existing
formats be reviewed for accuracy on a regular basis to ensure that all new accounts are reflected in the formats
accurately.
An sample Error list can be found at the end of this section.
76

PRINT STATEMENT (PRINT/VIEW)
The Print Statement button prints the actual financial statement defined through the format. A Thru Date must be
specified defining the scope of the report. The current month is always the month noted within the Thru Date.
Year to Date Totals are computed from the Start Date through the Thru Date.
FORMAT TYPE:
The Format Type identifies the type of Statement to be printed. The two available types of formats are the
Balance Sheet Format and the Income Statement Format. The default format type is determined by the first
character of the Statement Code. Statement codes starting with the letter "B" default to the Balance Sheet
Format. All other Statement Codes default to the Income Statement Format. The available options are:
I:
Income Statement Format. Compares Current and Year to Date totals to either the
prior year or to budget values. Computes a variance.
B:
Balance Sheet Format. Reports current year to date balances only.
STATEMENT TYPE:
The Statement Type identifies the type of Statement to be printed. Balance Sheet type formats, Formats starting
with a B" always utilize actual. Income Statement type formats may use either option. The available options
are:
Actual:
Compares the Current Year General Ledger Values to the Prior Years General Ledger
Values.
Budget:
Compares the Current Years General Ledger Values to the Budgeted Values.
A sample balance sheet and income statement is displayed at the end of this section.
Sample: Financial Statement Format List - Income Statement
Sample: Financial Statement Format List - Balance Sheet
Sample: Error List
Sample: Income Statement
Sample: Budget Statement
Sample: Balance Sheet
77

Financial Statement Format List: INC
Print
Seq
Add
Sub
Line Description
Rev
Sign Total Space Page
Lower
GL #
Upper
GL #
Ref No.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
0 Income Statement
10 Revenue
20
Fee Income
22
Client Expenses Recovered
27
Other Income
30
Total Income
33 Expenses
35
Client Costs
40
50
Total Expenses
60
Net Income
A
A
A
A
A
S
S
N
N
Y
Y
Y
N
N
N
N
Y
N
H
H
1
H
1
2
2
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
2
2
1
2
2
2
2
2
1400
1401
1402
140001PDK
1500
1502
150002PDK
1999999
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4/24/98 4:12:15 PM
Financial Statement Format contains the Instructions used to print financial statements.
rptGlFinStmt_Fmt
78
46
47
48
93
94
49
73
92
53
96
97

Financial Statement Format List: BS
Print
Seq
Add
Sub
Line Description
Rev
Sign Total Space Page
Lower
G/L #
Upper
G/L #
Ref No.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
0 Balance Sheet
10 ASSETS
20
Cash in Bank
30
Cash in Bank - Trust Accounts
40
Total Assets
50 LIABILITIES
55
Payroll Withholdings
60
Other Liabilities
A
A
A
A
A
65
Total Liabilities
70 EQUITY
80
Year to Date Income
85
Retained Earnings
86
Total Equity
90
Total Equity and Liabilities
A
A
N
N
N
N
N
Y
Y
Y
Y
N
N
Y
Y
N
N
H
H
6
H
1
H
1
6
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
2
2
1
1
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1100
1101
110001
1103
1200
1203
1270
1202
1400
1300
1598
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4/24/98 4:29:53 PM
Financial Statement Format contains the Instructions used to print financial statements.
rptGlFinStmt_Fmt
79
98
79
80
81
82
83
56
84
84
89
85
86
88
100
87
Start G/L#:
End G/L #:
1300
1598
Financial Statement Format Error List - Format Code:INC

_____________________________________________________________________________________
Duplicate Account Numbers Referenced within this Format:
Acct No
Account Description
Sequence #'s
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Missing Account Numbers within this Format:

Acct No
1300
Account Description
Retained Earnings
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Account Numbers within this Format Outside Specified Range:

Acct No
Account Description
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4/24/98 4:55:53 PM
rptFmtErr - Financial Statement Format List
80
INC
Income Statement
Revenue
Fee Income
Other Income
Total Income
Month to Date ( Apr 30 1998 )

Current Year
Prior Year
Variance
%
_________________________________________________________
Year to Date ( Jan 01 1998 - Apr 30 1998 )

Current Year
Prior Year
Variance
%
_____________________________________________________
$45,130
$50
$1,000
$46,180
$44,673
$146
($90)
$44,728
$458
($96)
$1,090
$1,452
1%
-66%
-999%
3%
$48,267
$40
$1,000
$49,307
$56,580
$1,381
$2,340
$60,301
($8,313)
($1,341)
($1,340)
($10,994)
-15%
-97%
-57%
-18%
Expenses
Client Costs
Total Expenses
$7,700
$16,765
$24,465
$11,927
$23,369
$35,295
($4,227)
($6,603)
($10,830)
-35%
-28%
-31%
$6,700
$15,110
$21,810
$11,765
$23,506
$35,271
($5,065)
($8,396)
($13,461)
-43%
-36%
-38%
Net Income
$21,715
$9,433
$12,281
130%
$27,497
$25,030
$2,466
10%
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4/24/98 5:17:22 PM
1
Financial Statement Format printed in Income Statement Format. rptGlFinStmt_Inc
81
Budget
INC
Income Statement
Month to Date ( Apr 30 1998 )
Actual M-T-D Budget M-T-D
Variance %
____________________________________________
Revenue
Fee Income
Other Income
Total Income
$45,130
$50
$1,000
$46,180
$10,000
$0
$0
$10,000
$35,130
$50
$1,000
$36,180
Expenses
Client Costs
Total Expenses
$7,700
$16,765
$24,465
$0
$0
$0
$7,700
$16,765
$24,465
Net Income
$21,715
$10,000
$11,715
351%
362%
117%
Year to Date ( Jan 01 1998 - Apr 30 1998 )

Actual Y-T-D Budget Y-T-D
Variance %
_____________________________________________
$48,267
$40
$1,000
$49,307
$40,000
$0
$0
$40,000
$8,267
$40
$1,000
$9,307
$6,700
$15,110
$21,810
$0
$0
$0
$6,700
$15,110
$21,810
$27,497
$40,000
($12,503)
21%
23%
-31%
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Copyright 1998 , L.A.W.S. Corporation
4/24/98 5:24:31 PM
1
Financial Statement Format printed in Budget Statement Format.
rptGlFinStmt_Bgt
82
BS
Balance Sheet
As of April 30, 1998
ASSETS
Cash in Bank
Cash in Bank - Trust Accounts
Total Assets
LIABILITIES
Payroll Withholdings
Other Liabilities
Total Liabilities
Current Year to Date
Prior Year to Date
___________________________________
________________________________
$11,393.67
$11,001.33
$118,592.86
$11,311.75
$22,395.00
$1,274.25
$4,672.60
$129,904.61
$311.75
$4,500.00
$5,946.85
$4,811.75
EQUITY
Year to Date Income
Retained Earnings
Total Equity
$27,496.76
($11,048.61)
Total Equity and Liabilities
$25,030.27
$97,444.09
$16,448.15
$122,474.36
$22,395.00
$127,286.11
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4/24/98 5:31:21 PM
Financial Statement Format printed in Balance Sheet Format. rptGlFinStmt_Bs
83

General Ledger-Daily Activity
DAILY ACTIVITY
The DAILY ACTIVITY button summarizes Cash, Accounts Receivable and Work In Process. The Daily Activity
inquiry functions always display the Cash, A/R or WIP balance forward amount along with individual line items
summarizing activity per day. The ending balance always displays the Cash, A/R or WIP balance as of the
specified End Date. The Daily Activity Report has the option of summarizing data by either day or by month.
After selecting Daily Activity, the following form is displayed.
Daily Activity Selection

FISCAL START
This field is used when generating the Monthly Summary Report only. It is ignored when used in conjunction with
the Inquiry and the Daily Summary Report options. The Monthly Summary Report summarizes twelve months of
activity. The report begins at month identified within the Fiscal Start field and ends at the month identified within
the End Date field.
MONTH START
Identifies the starting date for inclusion of data on the Inquiry and Daily Summary Report options. This option is
ignored with the Monthly Summary Report.
END DATE
Identifies the ending date for inclusion of data within all Daily Activity options.
84
General Ledger - Daily Activity

Inquiry Option
The inquiry option allows review of Cash, Accounts Receivable or WIP. The Inquiry option summarizes activity
by day. The Balance column displays the actual balance forward on the first line of the form. Each Daily
Activity Line summarizes the daily activity along with the daily change in value. The form total always displays
the actual ending balance. The Available options include:
Cash Cash Activity will be summarized and displayed.
A/R
Accounts Receivable Activity will be summarized and displayed.
WIP
Work In Process Activity will be summarized and displayed.
INQUIRY BUTTON
The Inquiry Button will display either the firms Cash, Accounts Receivable or WIP activity within the date range
specified.
Daily Cash Inquiry Option
Cash: If the Cash option is specified, the following form will be displayed:
Information Displayed
DATE
The date on which cash activity occurred. Only dates on which cash activity was posted will be displayed. The
first entry on the form represents the balance forward date. All other dates on the form represent the summary of
daily activity.
85

RECEIPTS, DISBURSEMENTS, and ADJUSTMENTS
Represents the summarized daily cash activity for the specified date. Receipts are accumulated through the
Cash Receipts program, Disbursements through the Cash Disbursement program, and Adjustments through the
processing of Manual Journal Entries.
BALANCE / DAILY CHANGE
Represents either the beginning or ending cash balance or the daily change in cash position.
The first line on the form represents the Cash Balance Forward amount.
Each line item thereafter summarizes daily cash activity. The Balance / Daily Change amount on these lines
represents the net change per day in the cash balance, i.e. the daily disbursements and or adjustments
subtracted from the daily receipts.
The total line on the form summarizes all activity by category on the form. The Balance / Daily Change amount
is the Ending Cash Balance as of the specified End Date.
A/R Inquiry Option
A/R: If the A/R option is specified, the following form will be displayed:
86

DATE & BALANCE / DAILY CHANGE
The Date and Balance / Daily Change columns are as described with the Cash Inquiry option. Only days on
which A/R activity is posted are displayed. The Daily Change is computed by subtracting the A/R Receipts and
Adjustments from the Billings.
BILLING, RECEIPTS, ADJUSTMENTS
Billing totals are accumulated from the Finalized Bills based on the invoice date. Receipts and Adjustments are
accumulated from the Process Cash program based on the Deposit Date.
WIP Inquiry Option
WIP: If the WIP option is specified, the following form will be displayed::
DATE & BALANCE / DAILY CHANGE
The Date and Balance / Daily Change columns are as described with the Cash Inquiry option. Only days on
which WIP activity is posted are displayed. The Daily Change is computed by subtracting the Billing from the
Entry / Adjustments.
ENTRY / ADJUSTMENT
The dollar value of WIP entered into the system through Time Entry and Check Writing , net of the adjustments
to WIP entered through the WIP adjustment program.
87

Daily Activity Report Options
PRINT / VIEW Button
The Print/View button will generate the Daily Activity Reports. The generated reports summarize all three
categories on information including Cash, Accounts Receivable, and Work in process. The report may be
generated based on the available options:
Daily Summary
Displays the summarized daily activity within each category of data. Days
without activity are not included on the report.
Monthly Summary
Summarizes Cash, Accounts Receivable and Work In Process activity within
month.
Sample Daily Activity Reports are displayed on the following pages.
Sample: Daily Cash, Accounts Receivable and WIP Activity
Sample: Monthly Summary of Cash, A/R and WIP
88
Start:
End:
Daily Cash, Accounts Receivable and WIP Activity

Cash
Date
___________
02/28/1998
03/01/1998
03/02/1998
03/03/1998
03/04/1998
03/05/1998
03/06/1998
03/07/1998
03/09/1998
03/10/1998
03/12/1998
03/17/1998
03/25/1998
03/31/1998
04/03/1998
04/15/1998
04/21/1998
04/24/1998
Receipts
Disb's
J/E's
Balance
______________________________________________________
1,293
0
0
0
0
0
2,500
0
0
0
0
364
0
2,680
0
0
0
Firm Total:
6,837
Accounts Payable Due:
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
-323
0
-1,318
0
0
6,414
7,707
7,707
7,707
7,707
7,707
7,707
10,207
10,207
10,207
10,207
10,207
10,571
10,247
12,927
11,609
11,409
11,409
200
-1,642
0 - 7 Days:
8 - 14 Days:
15 - 21 Days:
22 - 28 Days:
Over 28 Days:
Total Due:
11,409
$977.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$977.00
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
200
0
Accounts Receivable
Receipts
Adj's
Billing
Balance
Entry/Adj
_____________________________________________________
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
599
0
0
0
0
0
0
555
1,293
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
364
0
590
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
44,454
43,161
43,161
43,161
43,161
43,161
43,161
43,161
43,161
43,161
43,760
43,760
43,396
43,396
42,806
42,806
42,806
43,361
1,154
2,247
43,361
Mar 01,1998
Apr 28,1998
Work In Process
Billing
Balance
_______________________________________
688
390
800
1,050
1,750
750
520
900
53
0
3
0
-500
-500
0
125
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
599
0
0
0
0
0
0
555
36,378
37,066
37,456
38,256
39,306
41,056
41,806
42,326
43,226
43,278
42,679
42,682
42,682
42,182
41,682
41,682
41,807
41,252
6,028
1,154
41,252
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4/28/98 12:49:19 PM
1
rptDayBal - 'Daily Activity' from G/L Menu
Start Date:
Monthly Summary of Cash, A/R && WIP
End Date:
89
January 01 1998
April 28 1998
Jan
Feb
Mar
April
May
June
July
Aug
Sept
Oct
Nov
Dec
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CASH
Balance Fwd:
$116,485.21
CR $2,690.00
Disbursements
J/E Adj
($112,761.64)
$3,723.57
$4,156.94
$6,413.57
$2,680.00
($323.25)
$10,247.26
$0.00
($200.00)
($1,318.27)
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
Ending Balance:
$3,723.57
$6,413.57
$10,247.26
$11,408.99
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Receivables
Balance Fwd:
Billing
Receipts
Write Up/Down
$45,396.88
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$45,396.88
$97.00
($1,040.00)
$0.00
$44,453.88
$598.85
($1,656.94)
$0.00
$43,395.79
$555.00
($590.00)
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
Ending Balance:
$45,396.88
$44,453.88
$43,395.79
$43,360.79
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Work In Process:
Balance Fwd:
Billing
Wip Entry/Adj
$36,524.75
$0.00
$503.75
$37,028.50
$0.00
($650.00)
$36,378.50
($598.85)
$6,402.50
$42,182.15
($555.00)
($375.00)
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
Ending Balance:
$37,028.50
$36,378.50
$42,182.15
$41,252.15
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

rptMoSum_CWA - General Ledger Menu - Daily Activity
4/28/98 2:02:26
90
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General Ledger Menu

General Ledger Maintenance Screen

JOURNAL ENTRY SOURCE MAINTENANCE

Journal Entry Source Maintenance Screen

JOURNAL ENTRY PROCESSING

Journal Entry Processing Screen

YEAR END CLOSE

Year End Close Screen

Sample: Year End Close Journal Entry

JOURNAL ENTRY SUMMARY REPORT

Journal Entry Summary Report Selection

Sample: Journal Entry Summary Report

Trial Balance Selection Screen

Sample: Trial Balance

DETAIL GENERAL LEDGER

Detail General Ledger Selection

Sample: Detail General Ledger Report

Chart of Accounts Selection

Sample: Chart of Accounts

Financial Statement Processing Screen

Financial Statement Format List - Income Statement

Daily Activity Selection

Copyright 1999 L.A.W.S. Corporation

L.A.W.S. Documentation Manual

General Ledger Menu

Copyright 1999 L.A.W.S. Corporation

L.A.W.S. Documentation Manual

More Detailed Chart of Accounts using Sub-Accounts

Major Account Sub Account

Complex Chart of Accounts using Sub-Accounts and Attorney Codes

Major Account Sub Account

Copyright 1999 L.A.W.S. Corporation

L.A.W.S. Documentation Manual

Office Rent - Detroit

Identify Matters with the correct Profit Center.

Posting Revenue to Profit Centers

L.A.W.S. Documentation Manual

Posting Client Costs to Profit Centers

Copyright 1999 L.A.W.S. Corporation

L.A.W.S. Documentation Manual

General Ledger Maintenance Screen

Copyright 1999 L.A.W.S. Corporation

L.A.W.S. Documentation Manual

Copyright 1999 L.A.W.S. Corporation

L.A.W.S. Documentation Manual

Budget Values by Month Screen

Copyright 1999 L.A.W.S. Corporation

L.A.W.S. Documentation Manual

Copyright 1999 L.A.W.S. Corporation

L.A.W.S. Documentation Manual

The available options include:

Copyright 1999 L.A.W.S. Corporation

L.A.W.S. Documentation Manual

JOURNAL ENTRY SOURCE MAINTENANCE

Journal Entry Source Maintenance Screen

Copyright 1999 L.A.W.S. Corporation

L.A.W.S. Documentation Manual

Copyright 1999 L.A.W.S. Corporation