Set up private Time Recording

Updated Jan 25th, 2022

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This guide explains how to set up Osprey’s time recording feature if you have never used it before. Legal Aid time recording is set up by default, but if you are intending to use time recording on your private matters, you will need to set it up first.

Choosing your style of Time Recording

Firstly, we will need to decide how to time record. Osprey allows three different methods of recording your time entries.

The Time Units setting gives you three options:

• Actual Time – Use this if you want your fee earners to record their time as the actual number of hours/minutes that they spent on the work.
• 6 Minute Units – Use this if you want to record time in 6 minute units e.g. fee earner enters 1 for 6 minutes, 2 for 12 minutes etc.
• Round up to 6 mins – Use this if you want to record in actual time, but have the system automatically round the value up to the nearest 6 minutes of time. E.g. fee earner enters 5 minutes – system records 6 minutes, fee earner enters 13 minutes – system records 18 minutes.

The Time Type option gives you 2 options:

• Integrated – Use this option if you wish to incorporate your time when billing your clients.When a bill is posted to the client ledger, the system will ask you which time entries you want to bill. The time will then be removed from the list of WIP and placed into the Billed Time area of Osprey.
• Non-Integrated –Use this option if you do not wish to incorporate your time when billing your clients. Any time recorded will then need to be written off prior to archiving the matter.

Add your Activity Codes

Now that we have chosen our time types, we will need to set up some activity codes. Activity codes relate to the activity which is being done, e.g. Letter Out, Letter In, Email In, Email Out, Perusal, Telephone Call etc.

Click Save when you are finished, and continue until you have added all of your required activity codes. You may add as many activity codes as you wish. Osprey allows you to link activity codes to just the work types they are relevant to, so ensure that you have added all activity codes relevant to all types of work.

Add your Work Types

Before you can use your new activity codes, they must be linked to the Work Types you want to use them with. Work Types are the different types of work that your firm do on behalf of your clients, e.g. Divorce, Crime, Conveyancing etc.

• Navigate to Supervisor > Code Setup > Work Types.
• If you need to add a new Work Type here, you may do so by clicking the New button :

• Enter an ID in the W/T box for your Work Type. This should have no spaces or special characters in (e.g. ?,.!% etc.)
• Enter a Description for your Work Type.
• If you have Workflows set up and would like to have a Workflow automatically loaded on adding a matter of this Work Type, select this in the Default Workflow box.
• If your clients log into the Osprey portal from your web site and you want them to be able to see the Workflow stages, enter a Published Description.
• If your clients log into the Osprey portal from your web site and you want them to be able to see the Workflow stages, tick the Published? box.
• Leave In Use ticked to be able to set up matters under this Work Type.

Link activity codes to work types

• Navigate to Supervisor > Code Setup > Work Types.
• Alongside the Work Type you wish to link Activity Codes to, click the Link Activity Code button:

• Locate the Activity Code you wish to link and click the Activity ID to link it:

Choose a Rate Type. This can be Hourly or Unitary. If you chose to record time in 6 Minute Units earlier, time will still be recorded in units even if you select Hourly here. Choose:

• Hourly – if you want all fee earners to charge the same set percentage of their Hourly Rate for this activity.
• Unitary – if you want all fee earners to charge the same amount for this activity.

e.g. 1 – Choosing 100 in the Percentage/Unit Rate box, and Hourly in the Rate Type means that each fee earner will charge 100% of their hourly rate per hour for this activity.

e.g. 2 – Choosing 15 in the Percentage/Unit Rate box, and Unitary in the Rate Type means that every fee earner will charge £15 per unit for this activity.

e.g. 3 – Choosing 50 in the Percentage/Unit Rate box, and Hourly in the Rate Type means that each fee earner will charge 50% of their hourly rate per hour for this activity – sometimes used for Letters In.

Click Save when you are done. Repeat for each Activity Code you want to link to the work type.

Add Remuneration Types

Remuneration Types are the Hourly Rates that your fee earners charge. It is possible to link Fee Earners to a Remuneration Type at a different hourly rate than the Default, so you will need as many Remuneration Types as each of your fee earners have different hourly rates.

e.g. If all of your fee earners simply have one hourly rate, you will just use the STANDARD Remuneration Type provided to you as default.

If all of your fee earners have two hourly rates dependant on the complexity of the work to be performed, you will need two Remuneration Types.

To add a Remuneration Type, navigate to Supervisor > Code Setup > Remuneration Types and click the New button at the top of the screen.

• Enter the Remuneration ID, avoiding using spaces or other special characters.
• Leave Private or LA on P, and Version on User Defined.
• Enter the Remuneration Description.
• Enter the hourly rate in the Default Value box. This is the value per hour which will be charged by any fee earners who are NOT linked to this remuneration type.
• Enter further info in the Info box if required, and leave In Use ticked if you want to be able to use this Remuneration Type when setting up new matters.

Click Save when you are done.

Link Fee Earners’ charging rates (Remuneration Types)

If the majority of your fee earners charge £150 per hour for this Remuneration Type, but there are one or two who have a different hourly rate, we can link these fee earners to charge a different rate to the £150 default.

Navigate to Supervisor > Code Setup > Fee Earners.

Click the Link Rem Type button alongside the Fee Earner you would like to set a different charging rate for.

Click the Remuneration ID that you want to set the new fee earner rate for:

And now enter the rate that this fee earner should charge when working on matters set for this remuneration type:

Save your changes.

So now, although the STANDARD remuneration is set at £150 per hour, when f/e MB records time using this remuneration, the rate will be £250:

Fee Earner JP is not linked to the STANDARD remuneration type, so is charging the default amount per hour: