Welcome > What's new
What's new
We are excited to announce the following enhancements in Amicus Billing:
January 2024
A new E-Billing classification has been added to the Administration Profile
"Paralegal" is now available in the drop-down list of the E-Billing Position field. Select a firm member from the User Management screen, then click Admin to access the Administration Profile dialog. When an E-Bill is created using the "Paralegal" classification, a new E-Billing code "PL" appears after the Firm Member's name in the texfile that is sent to Clients for E-Billing.
June 2023
You can now create customizable Task-Based Billing Codes
Amicus Attorney comes with a series of codes known as Uniform Task-Based Management System (UTBMS). These codes are used to classify legal services. You can now create additional codes in the Task-based Billing dialog accessed by selecting Activity Codes under the Time section in Firm Settings. This new capability is especially helpful in jurisdictions outside of North America.
Optimized Payment Distributions
There are now expanded Payment Distribution capabilities when an invoice is paid. A new Fee Distr. column in the General Retainer statement makes it easier to view the fee distribution when it is made from multiple bank accounts.
February 2023
Easier access to all APX Reports
The Payment Methods report has now been added to the Reports list making all APX reports accessible from the APX setup page.
When recalculating Client Balances a prompt displays if the number of records exceeds 300
Recalculating client balances matches them with the account balances stored in the Amicus database. A new prompt displays if the number of Files and Clients records exceeds 300. The prompt informs you that processing such a huge amount of records will impact other Amicus Users and you are asked to consider running this task during off peak hours.
The Tax Rate field can now accommodate States requiring taxes to be computed to the third decimal
Changes have been implemented in Amicus Billing Tax Settings to allow for the Tac Rate to accept up to 3 decimal places.
August 2022
APX (Abacus Payment Exchange) Test Transaction
Onboard to APX and receive a $5 gift to see for yourself how funds flow through the portal and into your bank account.
APX Disbursement Report
The new APX Disbursement Report comes directly from APX. It allows you to view funds that were collected from APX and disbursed into your bank account. You can select a Report Period and/or enter search criteria to filter the report.
Expanded Email Settings for APX
The new APX Email Settings options gives greater control over how internal firm members are notified about APX transactions. Enable or disable specific notifications and adjust distribution lists so the right team members are kept informed. This could include failed payments, refunds, voids, recurring payments and more.
Removing APX Payment Methods via the Client Portal
A new Remove button allows clients to have greater self-serve options by being able to delete their own APX payment methods. A payment method cannot be deleted if it is tied to a recurring payment schedule.
Removing APX Payment Methods via PayNow
Clients who are sent a PayNow link allowing them to quickly pay their invoices can now manage their own saved payment methods. Payment methods that are tied to a recurring payment schedule cannot be deleted.
Bills can now be exported to a single PDF
Saving multiple draft bills to a single pdf file makes it easier to share multiple bills for review before they are finalized. This same capacity extends to finalized bills should you wish to save them as a single PDF.
New features have been added to the Tutorial Office
You can now use sample data provided in the Tutorial Office to create bills and run most reports.
February 2022
Introducing Abacus Payment Exchange (APX) 2.0
APX 2.0 takes secure credit card and ACH payment processing to another level. Firms already using APX will appreciate the significant improvements. New users will benefit from the accelerated Onboarding Experience, which will get them up and running in APX 2.0 within minutes!
Seamless Integration
Abacus Payment Exchange is fully integrated within Amicus Attorney. It streamlines your billing and collections by taking care of your credit card and ACH payment processing needs. This allows you to focus more energy on your practice. Designed for law firms, APX handles both operating and trust account transactions and ensures trust deposits remain whole. There is no duplicate entries of information into multiple systems..
Updated Interface
Key improvements have been introduced to the look and feel of the APX 2.0 platform. Forms for entering credit card and banking information have an improved usability for both firm members and clients using the Client Portal. Even the onboarding screens have been updated to make it easier for new firms to start using the system. Ease-of-use improvements abound..
New PayNow Email Templates
The PayNow capability lets you email payment links with your invoices to clients so they can quickly pay their bills. This capability dramatically reduces the collection time for firms. The new HTML payment request template ensures a more professional look and feel when sending PayNow links to your clients. The elegant new design is great right out of the box, but firms can also customize the look and feel of the payment request template with any HTML editor.
Improved Pay Now Customer Experience
Clients who receive a PayNow request email will also appreciate an improved experience. Clients can view the details about their invoices and outstanding payments, and easily add new credit card or ACH details to pay their bills. They can also save card or account details for use on future payments to speed up transactions.
New APX Portal to track payments
APX 2.0 includes access to the new APX Portal where firms can get an even greater insight into their payment processing. New reports, charts and graphs allow you to track payments and monitor trends from an elegant dashboard with options to drill down for more details.
Improved APX Reporting
The updated APX Transaction Report makes reconciliations much easier since it now references the Client Name, Matter ID and File Name. There is no need to run reports from multiple sources. All the information you need is contained in the APX transaction report, and available at your fingertips!.
Simple Onboarding
APX 2.0 includes access to the new APX Portal where firms can get an even greater insight into their payment processing. New reports, chWhen you decide to make the move to APX 2.0, the Onboarding process is a breeze. You do not have to wait for approval. Firms can start processing payments immediately after signup. The 2-3 business day wait times are a thing of the past. Sign up today so you can start taking advantage of APX 2.0!
New Recurring Payments
Amicus now leverages the power of APX 2.0 to support recurring payment options that schedule payment processing. With weekly, bi-weekly, monthly and quarterly options, you are in control of when payments should be made. You can even do one-off scheduled payments for a later date, that does not require a recurrence pattern. Payments can be made to operating or trust accounts as needed.
June 2021
New Interface
We are pleased to announce the rollout of our new User Interface (UI) for Amicus 20.7. The same great workflows, features and functionality that Amicus users have been accustomed to have been maintained in the updated UI.
Dashboards
The Home screen dashboards on the ATTORNEY-side and BILLING-side give you an up-to-date summary of the various aspects of your practice.
New Notification changes
A new alerting system includes alerts and prompts when synchronization goes off-line for any reason.
More Dynamic File Details
The updated UI maximizes the entire screen real estate in our File Details dialogs meaning that you can explore more data without scrolling. The reading panes have been improved, “People on File” is now hidden, and the vertical layouts have been switched to horizontal layouts.
Clear Search Tool
A new Clear Search tool displays in the Amicus taskbar after a search has been completed in select modules.
Enhanced Security
Our enhanced security for Exchange / Office 365 Connections tracks Contact, Calendar & Email Integrations and improves performance. Amicus now allows for Token-based authentication, although users can continue to connect using their Username and Password. The XML manipulation API's have been replaced with Microsoft XML Core Services (MSXLM).
Daily Checks
There is now a nightly service that runs in the background to keep Amicus humming and a RefreshEventCache can pick back up where it left off.
Optimizations
Amicus 20.7 has optimized its resources to handle the surge in virtual private network (VPN) usage resulting in significant improvement in the way Amicus handles auto-updates. Subsequent updates will benefit from this change.
Reports
Improvements to our reports.
Printing Options
New printing options that make it easy to print copies of emailed bills.
June 2020
Get Paid Faster - Accept Credit Cards link
It is now easier to sign up for APX (Abacus Payment Exchange) with the addition of a Get Paid Faster - Accept Credit Cards link in the Trust Receipt and Receive Payment dialog.
March 2019
Pay Now emails
You can now include an embedded URL provided by the Abacus PayNow service in emails for clients to click and easily make an APX payment.
Reversing APX payment methods
APX now has the ability to reverse APX payment methods.
APX Payment Method List
APX now has a new APX Payment Method List report that lists all Primary Clients with their Payment Method.
Apply Taxes using Activity Codes
There is now an option to apply taxes individually on Time Entries using Activity Codes.
New Security Profile
A new Security Profile allows the responsible lawyer to change time entries on draft bills.
Expanded UTBMS Activity Code List
The UTBMS Activity Code list has been expanded.
Reprint bills
Amicus Billing Users can now reprint Bills.
Referral Report
The new Referral report is a handy way to track how clients are being referred. The report can be filtered to display only necessary information.
Managing edits to time entries
A new Time and Fees Change Reason option activated by the firm Administrator appears at the bottom of the Time Entry Details dialog.
Time and Fee Journal Report
Tracking changes has been added to the Time and Fee Journal report so you can see the reason for the time entry change when Include Corrections is selected on the report.
APX
New videos have been created to show you how to Set up and Manage a Payment in APX.
October 2018
APX
The following enhancements have been made to APX (Abacus Payment Exchange).
An existing payment method can now be edited.
You can now apply an APX - Credit Card / ACH payment while creating a bill on single, consolidated and split billing.
The Bill Summary report has been updated to include the APX payment option in the Payment amount field.
Import Time/Fees and Expenses
You can now import Time/Fees and Expenses (Client Costs) from a CSV file in both Amicus ATTORNEY and BILLING views. The Actions menu now includes the Import options of Time / Fees and Expenses.
Activating and De-Activating [For Administators Only]
There is now the capability to activate the Amicus Billing functionality at a later date for additional licenses. Updating Amicus Billing at a later date allows a user to continue to work and post time entries to other Billing softwares.
A Use Amicus Billing checkbox has been added to the Time - Accounting System dialog. This can be accessed by selecting Accounting under the Time tab in Firm Settings.
When an additional Amicus Attorney/Billing user license is purchased as a bundle users can toggle this selection on/off even after the Billing wizard is completed.
Updating Billing Licenses [For Administrators Only]
Amicus can be upgraded to include a Billing license in the Evaluation period.
Billing Behavior on Client Expense
The Client Expense Details dialog has been updated to include Billing Behavior. This can be accessed from any module in the BILLING side.
September 2018
Address fields
The five US Virgin Islands territories (American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands) have been added to the State Address pull-down lists:
For the following dialogs:
Credit Card payment method
E-Check payment method
On the following tabs during the Onboarding process:
Firm Address Basic Details tab
Home Address on Personal Information tab
Addresses on the Verification tab
Client Portal — Clients can now view and share their invoices in the new Billing module of the Client Portal. As well, they can make payments via credit card and ACH. Afterwards they can generate and print a report of all Client Portal billing activities
Billing Security — a heightened security feature has been added which enables the user to control access while performing billing functions and viewing of certain billing modules and reports.
APX — Abacus Payment Exchange (APX) is a payment solution that uses a single platform to process accounts and bill clients so you get paid the same day. With APX, there are no hidden fees or long-term contracts. Only a 3% flat fee is charged for credit card transactions. APX accepts most payment options including Mastercard, Visa, E-Checks, ACH, American Express, and Discover.
APX - Credit Card and ACH Report — A new report has been added to the Reports module
