LeanLaw

This will guide you through the process of creating soft costs in LeanLaw. Follow the step-by-step instructions to manage your expenses effectively.

Differentiating Between Hard and Soft Costs: 

1. Understand that hard costs are expenses that you advance on behalf of clients, recorded in QuickBooks, and imported into LeanLaw. 
2. Soft costs are billable expenses that you charge clients for without having paid for them in advance. 

1. Soft costs include items like photocopies, mileage, or any additional charges that you want to bill to the client. 

1. Locate and click on the “plus” sign or “quick create” button, often found in the LeanLaw interface. 

1. Choose the client to whom you want to associate the soft cost. In this example, let’s select “John Smith.” 

1. Describe the nature of the soft cost expense. For instance, if it’s photocopy charges, mention it here.

1. Input the amount you want to charge the client for the soft cost. In this example, let’s use $25 as the amount. 

1. Choose the user or staff member responsible for this expense. This helps in tracking who incurred the cost. 

1. After filling out the required information (client, description, amount, and user), click “Save” to create the soft cost entry. 

1. Navigate to the expense page in LeanLaw. You will see the newly created soft cost entry, which will not have a green circle as it was not created in QuickBooks. 

1. Check the billing page in LeanLaw to confirm that the soft cost entry is ready to be included in the client’s invoice. 

1. Access LeanLaw: 
   1. Log in to your LeanLaw account. 
2. Differentiating Between Hard and Soft Costs: 
   1. Understand that hard costs are expenses that you advance on behalf of clients, recorded in QuickBooks, and imported into LeanLaw. 
   2. Soft costs are billable expenses that you charge clients for without having paid for them in advance. 
3. Identify Soft Costs: 
   1. Soft costs include items like photocopies, mileage, or any additional charges that you want to bill to the client. 
4. Access the Quick Create Button: 
   1. Locate and click on the “plus” sign or “quick create” button, often found in the LeanLaw interface. 
5. Create a New Expense Entry: 
   1. Click on “New Expense.” 
6. Select the Client: 
   1. Choose the client to whom you want to associate the soft cost. In this example, let’s select “John Smith.” 
7. Specify the Expense Description: 
   1. Describe the nature of the soft cost expense. For instance, if it’s photocopy charges, mention it here.
8. Enter the Amount: 
   1. Input the amount you want to charge the client for the soft cost. In this example, let’s use $25 as the amount. 
9. Select the User: 
   1. Choose the user or staff member responsible for this expense. This helps in tracking who incurred the cost. 
10. Save the Expense: 
    1. After filling out the required information (client, description, amount, and user), click “Save” to create the soft cost entry. 
11. Review Soft Cost Entry: 
    1. Navigate to the expense page in LeanLaw. You will see the newly created soft cost entry, which will not have a green circle as it was not created in QuickBooks. 
12. Billing Ready: 
    1. Check the billing page in LeanLaw to confirm that the soft cost entry is ready to be included in the client’s invoice. 

By following these steps, you can effectively enter and track soft costs in LeanLaw, ensuring that they are billable to the client when appropriate.

Step-by-Step Instructions