This article explains how to post a Bill chit in Unity® Practice Management. 

What is the Bill Chit? 

• This chit raises a bill to the client (you can include costs incurred by the practice, i.e. disbursement debits).
• It creates a debit transaction on the office side of a Ledger.
• Anticipated client disbursements are supported, i.e., the bill will be marked as paid by the value of the anticipated client disbursement.

How to Access the Chit

1. Open the Accounts program.
2. Click the Posting icon.
3. Double-click the Office Folder to display a list of Office chits.
4. Double-click the Bill option.

How To Post the Chit

1. Select an Matter Code. Enter a matter code manually or search for a matter code by clicking the Three Dots.
2. Enter a Reference.
3. Select a Branch.

4. Enter the Amount of Profit Costs. By default, all profit costs will be allocated to the fee earner who opened the matter (this information is stored in the CoreData program). To amend the profit costs split, click on the Three Dots next to the Profit Costs field and a new window will pop up. You now have the following options:

   • All fields are editable.
   • Click the Plus sign to add a new record (in order to split the profit costs between different fee earners).
   • Click the Minus sign to delete any unwanted records.
   • Click Get TR Split to split the profit costs according to the ratio of time recording each fee earner has submitted within the date range specified. By default the system will allocate a date range which includes all transactions. You can override this by entering a different date range.
   • Click OK to save any changes or click Cancel to quit the window without saving.
5. To allocate Unbilled Disbursements or add Anticipated Disbursements do the following:
   • Click the Three dots next to the Disbursements field and a new window will pop up. This window is divided into 2 sections. The upper section will display any Unbilled Disbursements drawn on the Ledger. The lower section allows you to add anticipated Disbursements to the bill where they have not yet been drawn from Office. Please note that you must post an equivalent Office disbursement debit chit (marked as Already Billed) afterwards. This is necessary in order to balance the Office Ledger.
   • To partly pay an existing Unbilled Disbursement locate the required record in the upper section then enter an amount into the Credit Now field.
   • To fully pay an existing Unbilled Disbursement locate the required record in the upper section then tick the All checkbox.
   • Please note that the VAT Code and VAT fields in the upper section are also editable.
   • To add a new anticipated Disbursement click the + symbol in the lower section to add a new blank record. There are 5 fields which need filling in with the required information. You are required to:
     • Select whether the Disbursement will be paid through the Office or Client account. If Client account is selected then that proportion of the bill will automatically be marked as paid. 
     • Select a Disbursement Type.
     • Select a VAT code.
     • Enter a Net Amount.
     • Amend the calculated VAT amount if necessary.
   • Click - symbol to delete any unwanted records.
   • Click OK to save any changes or click Cancel to quit the window without saving.
6. Tick the Paid checkbox if the bill has already been paid.
7. To enter a Narrative, either enter the text manually or click the dropdown arrow to select from a list of standard Narratives. (An entry in this field is not mandatory.)
8. To write off the work in progress on a matter when posting a bill tick the WIP Write Off checkbox. The W/Off Up To option will become available allowing you to select/enter a date up to which you want to write off the work in progress.
   • This is particularly useful in the case of interim bills.

9. Select a posting Date.

   • The posting date field will default to the current date.
   • If the date selected is within the next financial month then the Post Into Next Month checkbox will become available. The checkbox will be ticked by default which means the transaction will automatically be posted into the next financial month. You may click on the checkbox to remove the tick. This will disable the post ahead feature allowing the transaction to be posted into the current financial month.
10. Enter a Batch (if applicable). 
11. Click Post to post the transaction to the Ledger Card.

Miscellaneous Options

• To open another chit type, click Posting from the dropdown menu, and choose another chit.
• Click View to see the Ledger Card.
• Click Options to get the following options:
  • Chit Colours: to enable/disable posting chit colour schemes.
  • Dialog Style: to enable/disable the dialog style. 
  • Case-Sensitivity Dictionary: to launch the Case-Sensitivity Dictionary utility.

• Click Keep and select either Branch, Bank, Date, Details, Reference or Narrative to retain them for future postings. 
• Click Cancel to clear the contents of the chit.