Introduction
This article breaks down the Tasks page.
Billable Labor Time
Specifies the labor rate in effect, which defaults to the billable rate for the user that the task is assigned to. (This can be modified in the Case using the Hourly Rates section).
Using these fields you can separate the cost of labor vs. the cost of travel, if you separate the two.
You can override this rate by clicking the Override button to the right of the Labor Rate field.
This will use the override rate and the Labor Time when calculating the total cost.
Total Cost
This is the total calculated cost of the time entry, based on the billing increments and rounding method set in Invoicing Options, as well as the No Charge, Exclude from Invoice and Overrides.
Note that flat fee entries will always show $0.
The total cost can be overridden by checking the Override checkbox to the right of the amount. This will ignore all other rates and times.
(Configure Invoicing button)
Billable Travel Time
This is the portion of the total time allocated for travel (as opposed to labor). If your firm publishes different rates for travel and labor, you can reflect those rates here and they will be calculated correctly in the invoice.
Billable Labor Rate
Specifies the labor rate in effect, which defaults to the billable rate for the user that the task is assigned to. (This can be modified in the Case using the Hourly Rates section).
Using these fields you can separate the cost of labor vs. the cost of travel, if you separate the two.
You can override this rate by clicking the Override button to the right of the Labor Rate field.
This will use the override rate and the Labor Time when calculating the total cost.
Title and Billable Description
When creating tasks, The Title is a description of the task or time entry, specifically what needs to be done. For example, this is a good title:
"Email and texts with opposing counsel about resetting the hearing."
For the Billable Description, you might add more detail to show the steps involved. Remember that the Billable Description should justify the time spent. If you spent a significant amount of time for the above Title, you might put more context:
"Review emails with client and witness about availability. Email and texts with opposing counsel about resetting the hearing. Revise the order to include the new hearing date of July 2, 2023 and send to opposing counsel for signature. Review and save the signed order. Forward to the duty judge for court approval."
The Title is what will be displayed when looking at task lists anywhere in the user interface, regardless of the view used (e.g. grid, table or calendar view, or within a lead, case or campaign). It is also the default text used on an invoice, if nothing additional is put in the Billable Description.
Due Date
The due date specifies the time by which this task must be completed.
By default, the due date is mandatory, but the start date is not. If you want this task to show up at a specific time interval on the calendar, specify the start date in addition to the end date.
Impact
Impact is the relative impact on your business, based on factors like money, reputation or business risk.
High impact tasks have a significant positive impact on the business, such as a big payday if completed on time, or a significant negative impact, like a grievance or sanctions if a deadline has passed.
Medium impact tasks have a smaller impact on the business. For example, launching a new marketing campaign that you think will get you 10% more business over the next 6 months.
Low impact tasks do not effect the business much. For example, you might have a task to come up with a better list of drinks you want in the fridge. It's something you might need, but it isn't going to move the business one way or another.
For example, if completing this task will result in a lot of money coming to your firm, that would be high impact. If failure to complete this task on time would result in a grievance, then this would also be high impact.
You can choose low, medium or high impact.
Urgency
Urgency is the timeframe in which a task must be completed.
High urgency tasks need to be done very soon, today or tomorrow.
Medium urgency tasks probably need to be completed in a week or two.
Low urgency tasks either have a due date pretty far out, or no due date at all (get to it when you have time kind of tasks).
Start Time
By specifying a start time, the task is changed from an all-day task on the calendar to a specific time block, determined by the start time and the estimated time specified above.
Estimated Time
This is the amount of time, in hours, that you estimate the task will require to complete. It is okay if the exact amount of time is not known, but it should be as accurate as possible.
This number is used in the Task view to estimate your total work for the day. Looking above the task grid you will see two boxes, one with the total number of tasks for the day, and one for the total amount of time necessary to complete all of the tasks. The boxes will be color-coded to indicate the relative difficulty of completing all of the tasks on time.
Because this field is not required, the estimated time to complete all tasks will show a "+" at the end of the time to indicate that they are tasks with no estimated time (effectively zero).
Categories
Categories
The categories listed here relate to the categories in the Tasks filters, and tie deeply into other functionality in Outlaw Practice.
Here are the major categories, and how they relate to the rest of the system:
Client - these are tasks related to a Case. If this category is chosen, then a Cases field will also be shown with a drop-down list of cases. By selecting a case, you have now tied the time for this task to the associated Case. If you switch to this case in the Cases page, you will see this time listed in the Time Entries section.
Sales - these are tasks related to a Lead. If this category is chosen, then a Leads field will also be shown with a drop-down list of leads. By selecting a lead, you have now tied the time for this task to the associated Lead. If you switch to the lead in the Leads page, you will see this time listed in the Time Entries section.
Marketing - these are tasks related to a Campaign. if this category is chosen, then a Campaigns field will also be shown with a drop-down list of Campaigns. By selecting a campaign, you have now tied the time for this task to the associated Campaign. If you switch to the campaign in the Marketing page, you will see this time listed in the Time Entries section.
Human Resources - these are tasks related to the hiring, firing, or maintenance of employees. For example, if you spend an hour teaching your paralegal, that time would go here. Or if you are creating a job description for a new secretary, that time would also go here. Any time you spend on your employees will generally end up in Human Resources.
Administrative - These are tasks that are not related to any other major area, and the majority of tasks for a secretary or receptionist. Examples would be ordering and restocking supplies, organizing your file cabinet or dealing with vendors. This also includes time organizing your tasks for the day!
When you create a task from within a campaign, lead or case, the associated category and it's related campaign, lead or case will automatically be selected. If you create a task from the main Tasks page, you can either create a task from scratch by clicking on the Add buttons in each grid section, or by selecting one of the Task Templates, which can be set to automatically select a category while leaving the associated campaign, lead or case empty.
By default, a category is required for a task. If this is not desired, an administrator may turn off this requirement in Options.
(Configure Categories button)
Cases
What case is this time for?
You can create new cases on the Cases page.
(Cases button)
By default, if a client-related category is selected, a client is required. If this is not desired, an administrator may turn off this requirement in Options.
(Options button)
Activities
What type of activity is this?
You can create new activity types in the Administration page.
(Activities button)
By default, an activity is required for a task. If this is not desired, an administrator may turn off this requirement in Options.
(Options button)
Assigned to
Which user
or group 
is this task assigned to?
If a group is assigned, any member of that group may start the task, at which point it will be assigned to the user that started the timer.
Participants
Use this field to include people directly involved in the task.
For example, if you had a call with an opposing counsel or prosecutor, you can add their name here.
Note that you do not need to include the client or lead if this task is already associated with that case or lead, as it is redundant.
This field is included when searching using the search bar, making it easier to find all tasks related to the participant(s) entered here.
Private
Private entries are only visible to the user that created them (unless they are assigned to another user). These are useful for sensitive information, or personal tasks do not need to be seen by others.
Docket
On which docket will this case be heard?
(Configure Dockets button)
Room Number
If there is a room that this docket is assigned to, it will appear here.
This will default to the room specified in the Docket, but it can be overridden.
Notes and Attachments
The Notes and Attachments section enables you to create notes or upload files from your computer.
There are two types of notes:
Text Notes have no formatting, and are great for taking rapid notes on a phone call.
Fancy Notes have rich formatting like MS Word, and are great for creating highly structured notes.
There are three ways to add attachments.
Click on the File(s)
button, then click on the Select... button to open a file chooser dialog, then choose the file and click OK.Click on the File(s)
button, then drag and drop files from your computer onto the Drop File(s) Here area.Drag files directly on to the Notes and Attachments box.
Notes or attachments can be downloaded using the Download button
.
Billable Option Fields
If this task is related to a case (or an initial consult with a lead), this area shows the detailed billable parameters.
(Billable) Description
The Description field is the description that will be visible on the invoice. If no Description field is given, then the Title will be shown on the invoice.
No Charge
No Charge means that the cost is set to $0, but is left on the invoice.
Exclude from Invoice
Exclude From Invoice means that the cost is set to $0, and is removed from the invoice. You should never delete a task just because it was zeroed-out, as Outlaw Practice uses these tasks to determine the total billed and paid for the case. Discounting your time to zero does not change the fact that you spent your valuable time on this task!
Rate and Time Overrides
The Rate and Time Override fields give you the ability to change the allocation of time between labor and travel, in case you bill at different rates for those activities. Any and all of these can be overridden. For example, you may cap your travel time for a court appearance to 1 hour if you have a particularly long drive to the courthouse. Or you may decide that you can not reasonably charge the full time that you spent, so you lower the time.
The time and rate on invoices will use the overridden values, but the original amounts are used for Billed and Paid calculations.
The time and rate on the invoice uses these overridden fields, but the real amounts are used for Billed and Paid calculations.
Total Cost
Total Cost enables you to set the total cost to any amount you wish. For example, you may have promised the client that you would charge no more than $300 for drafting a document, and although the total time spent accrued more than $300, you wish to cap it at that amount.
Flat Fees
Flat Fee cases will show the Flat Fee field, from which you can choose a flat fee category.