Orion Law Management Orion Desktop Articles File Maintenance Service Codes Updated April 14, 2025 19:03 You use the Service Code Input and Edit program to enter, edit, or delete Service Codes. Service Codes are alphanumeric characters you define to represent up to 600 characters of information that can be used when entering fee transactions. Benefits of Service Codes Fee or Service Codes are used primarily for two reasons: They save key strokes and therefore input time for phrases often used to describe legal work ("Telephone conference with client regarding ...") Since they are indexed, they can be used to track the specific type of work the firm or a Timekeeper is doing. That is, they can be used to produce a report that tells you how many hours you are spending in court versus hours on telephone conferences. System Use Unlike many systems, Orion allows you to assign an hourly fee or a flat fee to a service transaction. Consequently, even if you are entering fees for an hourly Matter, you can still charge a flat fee rate for a particular service transaction. This should be done in cases where the firm has established forms or has automated a function (for example, wills, incorporations), making an hourly charge disproportionately low to the product or service performed.Service Codes are used by the system in two different ways: When you are in Orion Desktop Fee Entry and a Code is entered in the Activity field, the description is displayed. If a flat or hourly rate is established, that rate is used in calculating the transaction amount. The rate can be left as 0.00 if you want the service calculated at either the Matter or the attorney rate. When in the Description field of Fee Entry, a selected Service Code has its description appended to the transaction text. In this usage, the Flat/Hourly and Rate fields have no function. Recommended Approach Orion recommends that you use a simple and logical coding system that can be easily learned by new Timekeepers and data entry personnel. Also, since it is difficult to remember many Codes, we recommend starting with a reasonable number. You can always add Codes later. If your firm is already using Codes on the time slips, then adopt those Codes. This will make it easier for both the Timekeeper and the data entry personnel. Adding a Service Code Use this procedure to add a Service Code. Steps To add a Service Code:1. From the button bar, click Tools and select Manage Codes.2. In the Show Codes for field, select Services/Activities.3. From the button bar, click New. The following screen appears.4. Fill in the fields as required. For details, see "Field Descriptions – Service/Activity Code Entry Screen." 5. Click Save or press the F10 key. To clear the screen at any time prior to saving the transaction, press the F9 key or click Clear. Field Descriptions – Service/Activity Code Entry Screen The following table describes the fields. Field Description Code A Service Code can be any combination of from 1 to 4 alphanumeric characters. Default Rate If you have chosen to attach a flat rate or hourly rate to the Service Code, see the Rate Option field below, and enter the amount here. Rate Options You can attach an hourly rate or a flat fee to the Service Code.For instance, an in-court Code (such as AH for Attend Hearing) can be given an hourly rate of $350.00 per hour. You may wish to establish a flat rate for certain work, such as incorporation. By utilizing this system, you can mix hourly work with flat fee work on the same bill for the same Matter. This should be done in situations where the firm has established forms or automated the function, making an hourly charge disproportionately low to the product or service performed. If you want to set up this Service Code as having a specific flat rate or hourly rate, click one of the rate options. If no rate is entered, any time entered using this Service Code will be calculated at the Timekeeper's billing rate for the Matter. Default Time The default time (hours and units) for this service. If the service does not have a fixed time, leave it at 0.00. Billing Options Orion gives you the ability to set up certain parameters for Service Codes so that if those Codes are used, the time can automatically be written down to zero or flagged as off invoice. This option is useful for those Matters where a monthly flat fee is charged and all time is written down to 0.00. Values are: Off Invoice - If a Service Code is set for this option and it is used in the Activity field of a fee transaction, the transaction will be saved and automatically flagged as off invoice. This saves preparation time during the billing process. Write Down to 0 - The transaction is automatically written down to zero when saved. This does not affect the original amount of the time or the credit the Timekeeper gets for hours worked. Off Inv/Write Down - The transaction is automatically written down to zero and flagged as off invoice when it is saved. None - the fee transaction using the Service Code is saved as entered. Description The description to use when the Service Code is entered. This field has full word processing capabilities. You can enter or edit text at any place within this field. Word wrapping occurs when: Characters are entered outside the Description field boundary. An insertion pushes the last word in a line beyond the Description field boundary. Character deletion frees enough space at the end of the current line to allow insertion of a word from the next line. For additional information about this field, see "Description Field." Description Field Toggle the insert mode on and off in the Description field by pressing the Insert key on your keyboard. In the Insert Mode, characters typed on the keyboard are inserted at the current cursor position and any characters to the right are moved to the right one space. In the Typeover Mode, characters are entered at the cursor location and will overstrike any existing character at the cursor location. – Press the Delete key to delete the character that is under the cursor and pull any text to the right of the cursor one space.– Press the Backspace key to delete the character to the left of the cursor and pull any text at and to the right of the cursor left one space.– Select a block of text and press any of the above keys to delete the block. Non-Destructive Cursor Movement Keystroke Purpose Left Arrow Move the cursor to the left. Right Arrow Move the cursor to the right. Up Arrow Move the cursor up one line. Down Arrow Move the cursor down one line. Ctrl + Left Arrow Move the cursor to the beginning of the next word to the left. Ctrl + Right Arrow Move the cursor to the beginning of the next word to the right. Home Move the cursor to the beginning of the current line. End Move the cursor to the end of the current line. Other Keystroke Combinations Keystroke Purpose Ctrl+Home Move the cursor to the beginning of the description. Ctrl+End Move the cursor to the end of the description. Shift+Home Highlight text from the left of the cursor to the end of the line on the screen. Shift+End Highlight text from the right of the cursor to the end of the line on the screen. Shift+Home Highlight text from the left of the cursor to the beginning of the description. Shift+End Highlight text from the right of the cursor to the end of the description. You can check the spelling of this field or search and replace specified contents of the field by right-clicking and choosing the appropriate option. Editing a Service Code You can retrieve and edit any Service Code that has been saved. Any changes made on the Service Code will only affect future fee transactions. It will not change the Service Code used for transactions already stored in WIP. Steps To edit an existing Service Code: 1. From the button bar, click Tools and select Manage Codes.2. In the Show Codes for field, select Services/Activities.3. Select the Code you want to edit and click Edit.4. Make any necessary changes. You cannot edit the Code. For details, see "Field Descriptions – Service/Activity Code Entry Screen." 5. To save your changes, click Save or press the F10 key. Deleting a Service Code You can delete any existing Service Code from the system. However, if you plan to run reports based on Service Codes you deleted, the report will reflect a blank Code. Steps To delete an existing Service Code:1. From the Button Bar, click Tools and select Manage Codes.2. In the Show Codes for field, select Services/Activities.3. Select the Code you want to delete.4. Click Delete or press the Ctrl+Delete keys. The system prompts you to confirm the deletion.5. Click Yes if you want to delete the Code or No if you want to keep it. Client Advance and Expense Codes You use the Manage Codes program to enter, edit, or delete cost advance and expense accounting Codes. Cost Advances vs Expenses Orion allows you to differentiate between cost advances and expenses. Cost Advances are also referred to as hard costs. They are direct, out-of-pocket advances made by the firm for the Client, such as a court filing fee. Such disbursements are usually not written up or down and are directly reimbursed by the Client to the firm. Expenses, such as telephone or copy charges, are also referred to as soft costs. They are not direct advances, but are expenses incurred by the firm on behalf of the Client during the handling of the Client's case. For soft costs, the actual cost of the item may include an overhead that is passed on to the Client in the form of a write-up of the firm’s cost for the item. There must be at least one Expense (EX) and one Client Advance (CA) Code on file in order to enter Expenses and Client Advances in the system. If you are using the Accounts Payable module, only transactions using EX Codes can be entered through the Expense Input and Edit program. Client Advances (CA) must be entered through the Accounts Payable Voucher Entry program. Adding a Client Advance or Expense Code Use this procedure to add a Client Advance Code or an Expense Code. Steps To add a Client Advance Code or an Expense Code:1. From the Button Bar, click Tools and select Manage Codes.2. In the Show Codes for field, select either Client Advances or Expenses.3. From the Button Bar, click New. The following screen appears.4. Fill in the fields as required. For details, see "Field Descriptions – Client Advance or Expense Code Entry Screen." 5. Click Save or press the F10 key. Field Descriptions – Client Advance or Expense Code Entry Screen The following table describes the fields. Field Description Code You can use up to six alphanumeric characters for the Code. However, you must precede each cost advance Code with the letters CA. Also, you must precede each Expense (soft cost) Code with the letters EX. This is the way the system determines whether the expense is a hard cost or a soft cost.To view a list of existing Codes, use the F8 key or click the Look- up button. The list contains other accounting Codes that are used in the accounting programs and cannot be deleted or modified. However, you can change the descriptions to suit your preferences. Our Unit Cost The cost per unit to the firm, if applicable. For instance, if photocopies cost the firm 3¢, enter that amount in this field. Client Unit Cost The amount you want to charge the Client per unit. This is applicable only if you know the unit cost for the expense. Write Up % If you do not enter anything in the Our Unit Cost or Client Unit Cost fields, the cursor will stop in the Write Up % field. Orion allows you to charge the Client a certain percentage above the cost to the firm.This is useful when you do not know the firm's cost until the invoice comes in from the Vendor. For instance, many firms will charge 5% over the actual cost of long distance charges in order to recoup the sales tax paid to AT&T. Therefore, for the EX Code you set up for long distance charges, you would enter 5.0 in the Write Up % field. Percentage write ups can be used on any accounting Code. Options/Combine If you have set up your System File to charge sales tax, the Taxable field is accessible. Otherwise, it is grayed out. If the type of transaction for which you are setting up the code is subject to sales tax, select the Taxable field. If it is not taxable, select the field to remove the check mark.Each accounting Code can be summarized (combined) on the invoice to the Client. This means that if you do not wish to see repeated entries for the same accounting Code on the invoice format, then you would request that the Code be combined and the invoice would print one entry with a total amount of all entries for the same Code. This is typically used for photocopy charges and postage charges where individual entries would not be printed on the final invoice. To combine transactions with the same accounting Code on the invoice, select the Combine field. To itemize the transactions, select the field to remove the check mark. Billing Options Orion gives you the ability to set up certain parameters for accounting Codes so that if those codes are used, the transaction can automatically be written down to zero or flagged as off invoice. This option is useful for those matters where you cannot charge for photocopies, etc., but you want to track them. Values are: Off Invoice - If an accounting Code is set for this option and it is used in the Code field of an expense transaction, the transaction will be saved and automatically flagged as off invoice. This saves preparation time in the billing process. Write Down to 0 - The transaction is automatically written down to zero when saved. This does not affect the original amount of the transaction. Off Inv/Write Down - The transaction is automatically written down to zero and flagged as off invoice when it is saved. If the Billing Option is set to None, the expense transaction using the accounting Code is saved as entered. Description The description to use when the accounting Code is entered. This field has full word processing capabilities. You can enter or edit text at any place within this field. Word wrapping occurs when: Characters are entered outside the Description field boundary. An insertion pushes the last word in a line beyond the Description field boundary. Character deletion frees enough space at the end of the current line to allow insertion of a word from the next line. For additional information about this field, see "Description Field." Editing a Client Advance or Expense Code Use this procedure to edit an existing Client Advance Code or Expense Code. Changing the Client Unit Cost or the Write Up % fields will not affect existing Expense or Client Advance transactions. Changing the Description field will only affect unbilled transactions where the Combine field is checked. Note: There are Codes other than those beginning with CA or EX in the accounting Codes data file. While these codes can be displayed in the look-up list, only those Codes that begin with CA or EX can have their Code field changed by this program. You can change the description of these Codes but DO NOT change the Code as it will affect the operation of other Orion programs. Steps To edit an existing Client Advance Code or Expense Code:1. From the Button Bar, click Tools and select either Manage Codes.2. In the Show Codes for field, select either Client Advances or Expenses.3. Select the Code you want to edit and click Edit.4. Make any necessary changes to the description. You cannot edit the Code. For details, see "Field Descriptions – Client Advance or Expense Code Entry Screen." 5. To save your changes, click Save or press the F10 key. Deleting a Client Advance or Expense Code Although the system allows it, you should be careful about deleting Client Advance Codes or Expense codes that are referenced by existing expense transactions. Steps To delete an existing Client Advance Code or Expense Code:1. From the Button Bar, click Tools and select Manage Codes.2. In the Show Codes for field, select either Client Advances or Expenses.3. Select the Code you want to delete.4. Click Delete or press the Ctrl+Delete keys. The system prompts you to confirm the deletion.5. Click Yes if you want to delete the Code or No if you want to keep it. Was this article helpful? Yes/No