CounselGO Quickstart Guide

The following topics are covered in this article:

• What is CounselGO?
• Getting an Account
• Adding a Client
• Adding a Timekeeper
• Submitting an Invoice
• Managing CounselGO Users
• FAQs

What is CounselGO?

CounselGO is a portal for submitting invoices to clients who are using SimpleLegal to manage their e-billing and legal matters. CounselGO also helps track matters referred by clients and the timekeepers who work billable hours on those matters. Using CounselGO allows vendor law firms to deliver invoices to clients in a manner that makes tracking, review, and processing efficient.

Getting an Account

You must request access to CounselGO from your client directly. For each vendor, a client can assign up to two CounselGO admins. The CounselGO admins can create other CounselGO users for their firm along with resend activation emails, deactivate users, and set up accruals request contacts.

After the client enables CounselGO access for your firm, the designated admin(s) will receive a registration email to set a password (see example screenshot below). 

Any new CounselGO users added from your firm for that client will receive the registration email.

Adding a Client

If you are supporting more than one client who is using SimpleLegal for e-billing, the process for access is the same as described in the section above. The client must enable CounselGO access for your firm from their SimpleLegal environment and add at least one CounselGO admin. The designated admin will receive notification email indicating the client has enabled access, but setting up another password is not required. The additional client simply appears on the My Clients page in CounselGO so that you can switch between them as needed. 

Adding Timekeepers

Timekeepers are people from your firm who perform billable work that needs to be invoices. In CounselGO, hourly invoice line items must be associated with specific timekeepers. Please make sure to add any necessary timekeepers before attempting to submit an invoice.

There are two ways to add timekeepers and their rates via CounselGO:

• Submitted to Client: Only applies if the client has timekeeper rate validation enabled. Depending on billing guidelines, submitting rates for approval may be required.
• Law Firm Internal: Timekeeper rates not submitted to the client; resides in CounselGO only.

To add or view timekeepers, click Timekeepers from the navigation bar on the left.

If the client does not allow vendors to submit timekeeper rates, only the Law Firm Internal tab appears.

Submitting Timekeepers to Clients

To submit timekeeper rates for approval by the client:

1. Click the Submit Timekeepers button in the top-right corner.
2. Click Get Started under the preferred method (i.e., Excel, CSV, or Web Form). 
3. Fill in or upload the required information and then click Submit to notify the client.

Click here for detailed instructions on submitting timekeepers to clients.

Law Firm Internal Timekeepers

To add timekeeper rates that reside in CounselGO only:

1. Go to the Law Firm Internal tab and click New Timekeeper.
2. Enter the details into the web form and then click Save.
   

Click here for more detailed instructions on adding internal timekeeper rates.

Selecting Timekeepers for Invoice Line Items

When submitting a non-LEDES invoice (see section below), a drop-down listing timekeepers appears when adding an hourly line item. This list includes all approved and pending timekeepers whose rates have been submitted to the client as well as any internal timekeeper rates added via CounselGO only.

Submitting Invoices

Before moving forward, please make sure to confirm billing guidelines and requirements with your client. For example:

• Hourly line items in an invoice must be associated with specific timekeepers. Make sure to set up timekeepers in CounselGO before submitting invoices.
• Most clients require a PDF copy when submitting a LEDES formatted invoice. Make sure to verify that both formats reflect discounts and that amounts match across both.

Standard LEDES Formatted Invoices

(https://ledes.org/) Formats 1998B and 1998BI V2 are supported.

As a general rule, please use the standard LEDES format for producing invoices for clients using SimpleLegal if possible. There are a number of advantages to this method, including ease of processing for approval and payment.

1. Click the New Invoice (top right) button.
   
2. Click I have LEDES files. 
   
3. Drag and drop one or more LEDES invoices onto the page, or add them by clicking Choose Files and the file select window.
4. If you have a PDF copy of the invoice and the file name of the PDF includes the matching invoice number, you can upload them at this time.
   CounselGO uses the invoice numbers in the file names to match the PDF to the invoice.
5. Once you have uploaded all invoices, click Next, Validate Invoices to load the invoice information into CounselGO. If successful, the Review page appears.
   
   
   • Get an Error? Please refer to the Common LEDES Validation Errors in the FAQ section of this document or contact [e-mail] for assistance.
6. With the validated LEDES invoice(s) loaded, you can add attachments, change the currency, enter a matter name, or add notes.
   Here is a list of ISO 4217 currency codes. See "Active Codes"
   IMPORTANT! Take care when choosing the matter. Selecting the wrong matter will delay processing. 
   
7. Review the information on this page. Errors on invoices generally require the client to reject the invoice and then request you to submit it again.
8. Click Everything Reviewed Submit All Invoices.

Non-LEDES PDF invoices

1. Click the New Invoice (top right) button. 
   
2. Click I don't have LEDES files. 
   
3. In the top panel, enter in invoice details:
   • Invoice Number
   • Invoice Description
   • Invoice Date
   • Billing Period Start and End Dates
   • Currency
   • Additional Notes/Comments
4. Add Attachments to upload a PDF of the invoice or other evidence.
5. Select Client Matter... drop-down list of assigned matters, select the matter that this invoice applies to.
   Select Other if a referred Client Matter ID is not required.
6. Firm Matter ID.
7. Click the + Line Item button.
8. Complete the required fields on this page.
   • Type: Select the line item billing type (hourly fee, expense, flat fee, adjustment, tax).
   • Date: Date the line item occurred.
   • Description of Services: The description of the work done for this line item.
   • Units/Hrs: Enter the # of units (for expenses, flat fees, hours, etc.) 
     NOTE: CounselGO calculates the Line Total. You cannot enter it manually. To set the flat fee or fixed cost, enter a '1' as the hours and the desired amount for the rate.
   • Cost/Rate: Enter the line item cost or hourly rate here. 
     If there are rates with the same ID, the one with the most current effective date will be listed.
   • Taxable: If the invoice includes tax, tick the Taxable checkbox and enter in the Tax Rate and Tax Type.
9. Click Save and Add Another to continue adding line items or click Save if there are no more line items to be added.
10. After you have added all of the line items, please review the entries.
11. When the invoice is ready, click Submit To Client (top of the Manual Invoice page).

Once you submit an invoice, the invoice cannot be recalled. If you find an error, please reach out to your client to reject the invoice so you may correct the invoice and resubmit it. 

Managing CounselGO Users 

You can manage CounselGO users from your firm by going to Users from the navigation bar on the left.

NOTE: User lists are specific to the client you are currently viewing in CounselGO; it is not a comprehensive list of all CounselGO users from your firm. If you are using CounselGO to support more than one client, go to Clients from the navigation bar to switch into other clients and manage their associated CounselGO users. 

From here, you can add new users, update details such as email address and first/last name for existing users, resend activation emails, and set accruals request contacts. For more detailed instructions on how to manage CounselGO users for your firm's clients, review the CounselGO Admins section in the resource center.

Adding a New CounselGO User

The following steps must be taken from each client in CounselGO the user should be able to access. Adding them to one client does not mean they automatically have access to all clients.

1. From the Users list page, click the New User button. The Add User pop-up window appears.
   
2. Provide the user's Email address, First Name, and Last Name.
3. Select boxers for permissions as follows:

• • Leave boxes blank if creating a non-admin CounselGO user.
  • Select Admin if creating a CounselGO admin (only applies if your client only added one CounselGO admin admin when granting access).
  • Select Accruals if the user should be notified of monthly requests for unbilled activity (i.e., accruals requests contact). 

     4. Click the Save button.

Updating a CounselGO User

1. From the Users list page, click name of a user. The user's details display on a pop-up window.
2. Make any necessary changes to the user's Email address, First Name, Last Name, or permissions.
3. Click the Save button.

FAQs

Why won't my LEDES invoice load or validate in CounselGO?

Common issues with LEDES files include

• missing header identifier row ( LEDES1998B[] or LEDES98BI[] )
• missing or extra columns ( 24 columns for LEDES1998B and 51 columns for LEDES98BI )
• missing brackets at the end of each line of the file ( should always be [] )
• incorrect field delimiters ( should always be pipe delimited | )
• unrecognized or non-ASCII characters 

Why hasn't my invoice been paid yet?

The first action should be to contact the client and request a status of any unpaid invoice. If there appears to be an error or issue with the invoice, please contact the Support Team at [e-mail] along with the invoice number(s) and the Support Team can investigate further.

Video

How to submit invoices in PDF format - general walkthrough video

Contact Us: Please contact [e-mail] for any other questions. We are happy to help.