Configuring matter accruals is a multi-step process that begins in Suite Manager and continues in eCounsel for users who have been granted the Allow Access to Accrual Notification Setup security attribute. In Suite Manager, the following steps must occur:

• In the System Settings component, the player type and role for the primary vendor contact must be specified. Once these fields are selected, eCounsel will send notifications to all players with the specific type and role for each matter for which accruals are enabled. See Selecting Primary Contacts.
• In the Users/Groups component, all users or groups of users who can create notification schedules must be granted the permission to access this functionality in eCounsel. See Configuring Accrual Notification Setup Users.
• In the Scheduler component, the Matter Accrual Notification E-mailer task must be imported and a schedule created so that the task will execute on a daily basis. See below.

In eCounsel, the following steps must occur:

• Users who have been granted permission to create notification schedules can configure the e-mail template to be sent and create schedules on a monthly, quarterly, or yearly basis using the Accrual Notification tool. A single schedule will generate e-mails to all primary vendor contacts for each matter for which accruals are enabled. Each e-mail will list all matters for which the recipient is the primary vendor contact.
• For each matter for which accruals are tracked, the Accrue Costs checkbox must be checked. This checkbox will add an Accruals tab to the matter so that costs may be entered when received.
• Add the law firm/vendor designated as the primary vendor contact to the matter as a player with the specified player type and role. If a primary e-mail address does not exist for the player, make sure and enter one. Multiple players may be specified.
• Run the Matter Accrual Report prior to the date a notification will be sent to identify any matters requiring accruals that do not have a designated primary vendor contact or for which the contact does not have a primary e-mail address in eCounsel. The Business Objects version of this report can be scheduled to be e-mailed on a recurring basis.