The custom checkbox feature is an additional way to make time entries and expenses stand out in filters and reports and has a variety of uses. If your firm is required by the FEC to track its lobbying activities, you can label your checkbox “Lobbying” and have a system to separate lobbying efforts from other firm activities. If your firm begins a new initiative for the quarter, you can label any activities linked to that initiative so you can later view the success of that initiative in reporting. The uses and name of the checkbox are yours to decide.

Setting up the checkbox is as simple as naming it in your Firm Info settings.

Click the Settings gear ⚙️ on the top right of your page to open your firm’s Settings page.

In your firm’s Settings page, click Firm Info underneath the Firm Setup heading.

Locate the field called custom checkbox Name, click inside the field, and type a name for your custom checkbox. This will name the checkbox as well as the filters and report associated with all time entries and expenses that use the checkbox.

When you’re done, click the green Save Changes button.

The custom checkbox can be assigned to time entries and expenses.

Create a time entry (for a reminder on how, click here). However, before you save your time entry, click the custom checkbox, located just above Hours, if you’re creating a time entry from the Time Entries page, or above End Time, if you’re creating a time entry from the Calendar.

Create an expense (for a reminder on how, click here). However, before you save your expense, make sure you click the custom checkbox, located just above the Save button.

Once you’ve made time entries or expenses with your custom checkbox, you can use filters to see only those entries in which that checkbox is checked. There’s also a special report that compares your firm’s activity in which the checkbox is checked against activity in which it isn’t.

In the Time Entries page, on the left side of the page you’ll see all of the ways you can filter which time entries LeanLaw shows you. Look for the filter that’s named after your custom checkbox, and click the dropdown menu underneath it. With this dropdown you can include all entries in which the checkbox is checked, exclude them, or choose to view only them.

In the Expenses page, on the left side of the page you’ll see all of the ways you can filter which expenses LeanLaw shows you. Look for the filter that’s named after your custom checkbox, and click the dropdown menu underneath it. With this dropdown you can include all entries in which the checkbox is checked, exclude them, or choose to view only them.

The custom checkbox report is a report of your firm's billed data--meaning all time entries, expenses, and fixed fees currently in any state of invoice as well as items which have already been paid by clients. The billed data is sorted into columns based on whether the items had the custom checkbox checked or not. This report provides insight into how much of your firm's billing is based on the custom checkbox, and how it compares to regular operations.

To reach the custom checkbox report, click on Reports in the main navigation bar. Then, from the Reports page, click on the report you see named after your custom checkbox, under the heading titled Other.