Multi Office Firms - New Firm Structure FAQ
Multi Office Firm Structure FAQ:
What is changing in Collaborati?
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All firms in Collaborati will be moving to the new Firm Structure in mid-July 2020. All existing firm offices will be updated to have a Parent Account, the new Firm Profile, for one or many Child Accounts or Offices (now referred to as Firm Offices).
Why is this happening?
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Collaborati does not adequately support common billing practices like requirements to enable a single firm timekeeper to bill in multiple currencies on behalf of more than one firm office.
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The firm structure provides a more efficient and simplified invoicing process for a firm with multiple billing offices.
Are there benefits with this Firm Structure update? Yes.
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Unified log-in:
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Collaborati firm users and firm admins will only need one user id email and password to log into their Collaborati account.
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All of the Collaborati data for the firm and associated offices will be available using this single log-in.
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Firm timekeeper profile:
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Simplifies the firm timekeeper data, to no longer need to duplicate a timekeeper’s information for every Collaborati office the timekeeper may bill on for the firm.
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A single firm timekeeper record consolidates all of the related information (clients, rates, invoices, matters) previously dispersed across each associated Collaborati profiles, making it difficult to track, search, and export data for a timekeeper.
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Searching data across Firm Offices
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Firm admins and users can now search across ALL firm offices for key information like invoices, matters, budgets, rates and any other data in Collaborati that their firm uses.
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Many processes that previously required a user to repeat the action multiple times for each Collaborati office (like adding a new billing rate for a timekeeper) are now simplified.
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What do I need to do?
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Respond to Mitratech’s Collaborati Support by May 22nd to ensure your data is correct
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You should have received an email with a survey that identifies the firm profile information needed.
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The survey that Mitratech Support sent also included a list of your firm’s assumed offices, which is pertinent information about your firm. We need this information to move you to the new Firm Structure.
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If you have not seen or completed this survey Click Here: firm survey please do so by May 22nd.
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Going forward, please respond to email requests or phone calls from Mitratech. We most likely need to clarify or collect additional information.
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Once Mitratech’s Collaborati Support team has all of your information by June, you will receive communication from Mitratech’s Support team on the scheduled maintenance work to update Collaborati offices to the new Firm Structure.
How do I know if this will impact me?
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You should have already received an email or been contacted by Mitratech Support.
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If not, the main impact of this update will be to firms with multiple Collaborati accounts.
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If you are unsure if this applies to your firm, please reach out to Mitratech’s Collaborati Support - contact link below.
Will our Collaborati users be able to see data for other offices in our firm?
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Yes.
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Office admins will become firm admins, and will be able to access the data for all offices attached to the Firm Profile.
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Normal Collaborati users (non-admins) will retain the same security rights they had previously, but the areas they could access previously will now have data for each of the offices attached to the parent firm.
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Identify any office profiles that will need to remain independent from the new Firm Structure and share with Mitratch’s Collaborati Support.
Will this impact my data or ability to bill?
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No. This will not prevent you from invoicing or your daily work in the Collaborati e-Billing system.
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You will still be able to send invoices to clients with multiple offices in the same way you do today.
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Minimal downtime impact. During this transition, there may be brief windows of time where you will be unable to access Collaborati because of maintenance work.
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We strive to schedule system updates on weekends, during non business hours, and Mitratech’ Collaborati Support team will communicate to Collaborati users well in advance of the planned maintenance.
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What if I don’t respond to Mitratech before the May 22nd deadline?
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You will not get the advantages of the new Firm Structure. Additionally, e-Billing clients may have billing requirements that require you to be in the Firm Structure. Contact Mitratech’s Collaborati Support if you have questions or concerns.
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If you do nothing and you have multiple office accounts, then each office account will be moved into a Single Firm account. Accounts can be merged by contacting Mitratech’s Collaborati Support.
What is the new Firm Structure?
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When Mitratech runs the automated firm update in Collaborati, the previously isolated accounts that were identified as belonging to the same firm, will be updated to the Firm Structure.
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A new Firm Profile is created and the firm offices are now attached to the firm profile. Users can then log into the Collaborati firm profile and have access to that firm’s associated offices.
Single-Office Firm Structure
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Collaborati offices that aren’t part of a firm or don’t have additional Collaborati accounts will still be updated to the new Firm Structure. For information about the Single-Office Firm Structure Click Here.
Who can I contact if I have questions?
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If you have questions at any point with regard to this project, you can reach out to the Mitratech Collaborati Support team by following this link: https://success.mitratech.com/Submit_Case_Form