Create custom Intake forms easily with our new form builder

I’m excited to introduce our latest update to our Intake tools. An effortless form builder that’s designed to streamline client onboarding. With an easy drag-and-drop form builder, smart conditional logic, direct lead intake, and the ability to duplicate and customize, gathering client information has never been easier.  Easy and intuitive form builder A straightforward, drag-and-drop form builder that anyone can use. No more fuss or complications when creating forms to gather client information. Smart conditional logic Forms now ask only what’s necessary, adjusting based on previous answers. This means less work for your clients and more relevant information for you. Direct intake from leads Ready to take someone on straight away? You can now send matter intake forms straight to potential clients. Just look them up in your Leads records and start getting details for your matter straight away. Just click Share Form to get started.  Duplicate and customize Save time by copying any existing form, whether your own or Smokeball's, then tweak it to fit your needs. No need to start from scratch every time.  Can you repeat the question? Use grouped fields when you need answers to the same questions multiple times for family members, property or anything else. Your client just clicks “add” to share as much or as little as needed.  Everything’s connectedAs always, our goal is to keep the information flowing so you can get your matters going. Data goes right into Smokeball, the moment it’s entered into a form, letting you take action right away. If you send a form to a contact that has details on record already, then that information will be pre-filled for them in the form. Questions or feedback? Click ‘Reply’ below and ask or share what’s on your mind. You can also check out our detailed guides on all things intake or go through it step by step by with an on demand course in the Smokeball Academy. 

Related:Communication & CollaborationMatter Management

What's New: Rate Sets, Save (Almost) Anything to Smokeball, Instant Insights and Incoming Intake Improvements

We’re back with another recap of Smokeball feature updates! Read and watch below to see a recap of  big features, as well as some smaller enhancements that you really shouldn’t miss out on.We’re introducing rate sets, accelerating document storage, providing instant firm insights, and refining our intake processes. Keep scrolling for links to help documents, guides and a place where you can reply with feedback or follow up questions!  Smart Rate Sets: Effortlessly customize and manage billing rates across your firm for precise, flexible charging. Simplify rate adjustments and schedule changes with a few clicks, enhancing efficiency and accuracy. Learn how to charge more in less time. Save (Almost) Anything To Smokeball: Effortlessly save documents, webpages, or images directly to your matters, eliminating the need for double handling. This minor tweak to your Print settings can lead to major time savings. Instant Firm Insights: As a firm owner, get instant insights into your firm's performance with our updated dashboard. Access real-time data on financials and case progress, empowering you to make quick, informed decisions. Keep your firm on the path to success and learn more about Firm Insights Reporting. Improvements to Intake: We now have more than 1600 tailored forms built in LeadPro and MatterFlow to help your firm with lead and matter intake. See the seamless transition from contact to case in our latest update. Get started with intake in our starter guide.Last but not least, stay tuned for a deep dive into our upcoming intake releases! Share Your Feedback and Ask Questions BelowYour input is crucial to our continuous improvement. We're eager to hear how these new features enhance your Smokeball experience and welcome any questions you might have. Share your thoughts and ask questions in the comments below; let's make the most of these exciting updates together.

Related:Billing & Trust AccountingCommunication & CollaborationMatter ManagementReporting & Insights

What's New: Smokeball's Notification Centre, Third-Party File Sharing, Zapier Integration, & More

We're back with some handy new updates that we've been working on. We've added a bunch of new features that we think you're going to like. Watch the video to see some of the highlights in action or keep scrolling to get all the details.  Notification Centre: Our new Notification Centre, found at the top-right corner of your Smokeball desktop app, is here to keep you in the loop. You'll easily see what's new and what needs your attention. Check it out in the video and read more about it here.Third-Party File Sharing: Sharing documents with clients just got a whole lot easier. With our updated Communicate feature, your clients will always have the latest versions of shared documents. See it in action and learn more here.Zapier Integration: We're happy to announce our integration with Zapier, a tool that connects Smokeball to a wide array of apps. Automate tasks and boost your productivity. Discover more and learn more here.Rate Sets for Staff: Our new Rate Sets feature makes managing firm rates a breeze. You can easily organize and attach staff rates to matters, and set dates for rate set updates. Learn more here.Out of Office Message in Communicate: Our new Out of Office feature in Smokeball Settings lets your clients and staff know when you're not available. Learn more here.InfoTrack Process Serving (Australia Only): Our InfoTrack integration now supports Process Serving. Access it from the matter tab or by right-clicking on a document. If you have CourtSync enabled, Process Serving will be available under the Litigation Services menu. Learn more here.Share your feedback and get help belowWe've designed these updates with you in mind, and we hope they make your Smokeball experience even better. Feel free to share your thoughts and ask questions in the comments below. 

Related:Billing & Trust AccountingCommunication & CollaborationMatter Management

What's New: Custom Billing Increments, Detailed Fee Summaries, 'Pay Now' Buttons in Reminder Emails, and Much More

I’m back to show you some of my favorite features that we’ve been working on here at Smokeball.   Enhanced Billing Increments We’re making it easier to accommodate different billing increments that your clients might request. You can now customize billing increments at a matter level down to the minute. Jump to this feature in the videoClick to enlargeBillable vs Non-Billable Amounts WidgetTime is money, so we’ve added a billable vs non-billable widget to our dashboard that lets you check how much of your work can be directly billed to a client vs how much isn’t. Armed with that information you can start to close the gaps and make sure everything that can be billed, is billed. Jump to this feature in the videoClick to enlargeInvite clients and third-parties to events Whether it's a court hearing or a client meeting - it’s now easy to invite not only internal staff but also clients and other parties to attend. Event invites land in your client’s portal with the option to easily add the event to any personal calendar apps they might use to organize their time. Jump to this feature in the videoClick to enlarge Professional Fee SummaryDesigned to cut down on Invoice queries - our update to the professional fee summary makes it easy for your client to see exactly who worked on their matter. Visit your invoice template settings to switch the summary on.  Click to enlarge Invoice Reminder Emails with Pay Now LinksOur Invoice reminder emails automatically alert clients of payments that are overdue. You can now embed a pay now  button in these reminder emails to quickly move your clients to the payment step.  Tell us what you thinkThese updates are for you. If you’d like more detail, different features built, or just need help setting these features up we’re here for it. Jump into the replies below and share your thoughts.  

Related:Billing & Trust AccountingCommunication & CollaborationMatter ManagementDocuments & EmailsReporting & Insights

What's new: Signatures, auto address lookup, safe custody documents and evergreen retainer invoicing

We’re just putting the finishing touches on our latest update to Smokeball. Watch the video to learn what’s new and click the “subscribe” button at the bottom of this post to be the first to know when these features are live!  We’ve built more than we could cover in our video this month! Here’s the highlights and links to find out more:  Now available in Smokeball Billing Streamline compliance and invoicing with embedded signaturesYou can now embed signatures in invoices automatically. Add the signatures you need in settings then customise as much as you want to by choosing which signatures are needed for each matter and invoice type.[US only] Automate evergreen retainer top-ups Quickly update invoices to include retainer to top-up requests. This feature works well with the existing ability to set an alert when your retainer balance drops below a preset amount. Learn more about what we’ve recently released in Smokeball Billing. Coming soon in Smokeball desktopImportant - these features are scheduled to be released soon and are not yet live in Smokeball desktop. We’ll let you know when they’re ready to go right here.  [AU only] Store files with your contact for safe custodyDigital safe custody documents such as wills, certificates or title and assets are now easy to link to a contact for use across multiple matters.Click to zoom in Create a new Lead or Matter from a contactWord of mouth recommendations are still a major source of new clients. Because of these connections - you will often find the details you need are already stored in your contacts in Smokeball. Right clicking on an existing contact now lets you create a lead or matter that is already linked up to the contact in your records. Click to zoom in  You auto-complete me. Autocomplete addresses in contact cards. Get some extra peace of mind that your address is correct with our autocomplete function. As you enter in details, we’ll search for matching street addresses. Just click the right one to automatically update the rest of your contact’s details. Click to zoom in  Keep what matters in your matter view Sub-items give you space to record as much or as little detail as you need for each matter that you create for your clients. Declutter your view by hiding the items you don’t need. Click to zoom in  For the full list of what’s to come in Smokeball, visit our release notes page.That's all for now! Let us know what you think or ask questions by replying below.

Related:Billing & Trust AccountingMatter Management

Introducing our new marketplace for high quality Australian legal precedents

As a lawyer in a small firm; ensuring your precedents are always up to date and covering best practice approaches can consume time we don’t always have. Not everyone has the luxury of larger firms where it’s easy to tap a specialist on the shoulder for some advice and the peace of mind that you’ve covered everything.  Introducing Marketplace Precedents for Australian firmsThat’s why we’ve launched Marketplace Precedents. It’s a new subscription service that connects you with professionally crafted precedents that are written and maintained by your industry peers.  Save hours and leverage the legal IP and experience​Save yourself hours of drafting documents from scratch and leverage the legal IP built into this new library of precedents from those who have being doing it for decades.​​Peace of mind with always up to date precedents​Starting with Precedents Online, we are actively partnering with specialist legal firms to bring you high quality and up-to-date precedents each month, ranging from Commercial Law to Family to Conveyancing. ​​How it works (Precedents Online Pricing)​Precedents Online is an optional add on to your existing Smokeball subscription at $99 + GST a month, per firm.* Introducing our first partnersWe’ll be adding new partners offering precedents in other areas of law all the time. Here’s what’s live now: Commercial Law PrecedentsPrecedents Online has partnered with us to offer a range of Commercial Law precedents.  Family Law Precedents (and more)The Family Law Education Network of Australia (FLENA) has joined us to offer a comprehensive array of family law focused precedents that are FCFCOA amalgamation compliant.  Subscribing to FLENA precedents also gives you access to a FLENA specific community, wellness support and a range of CPD training opportunities.  We are always on the lookout for more partners​Have something unique to offer, or precedents we don’t have? We’d love to talk.  Want to know more? It’s easy to get in touch. Reach out to your customer success manager, send me a message or reply below. *Terms and conditions apply: Pricing is subject to change and your Subscription will be coterminous with your Smokeball Subscription Term.​

Related:Document Automation

Are you a FamilyProperty user? Learn about new changes to the integration here

We have partnered with FamilyProperty to deeply integrate their powerful features within Smokeball. It’s never been easier for Australian Family Law professionals to support their clients, with the best solution out there. Watch the video below to learn more about some exciting new features which are live right now! Watch the video Thanks for watching our update on our new FamilyProperty intergration. Learn more in the links below or type in a reply to talk to the team right now. Our new integration takes all the features you know and use on a daily basis in FamilyProperty and allows you to access them directly within the Smokeball desktop app. You can now: Send the FamilyProperty Questionnaire to clients from within Smokeball Sync important information captured in FamilyProperty or Smokeball between both systems Work on your FamilyProperty Balance Sheet or Parenting Calendar without leaving Smokeball Track time spent working in FamilyProperty Automatically save documents created in FamilyProperty back to SmokeballLearn more: -Check our our detailed article on all the features the new integration brings-Get in touch with the FamilyProperty team to learn more about how FamilyProperty-Join the community to hear about new Smokeball features and future updates to our FamilyProperty integration-Have a question or feedback? Let us know in the replies below! FamilyProperty is currently available to Australian customers only. 

Related:Matter Management

Latest productivity and billing features

It’s been a busy few months! We’ve wrapped up some fantastic new features for all of our clients - here’s the highlights: Drafting documents to multiple clients just got easier When creating letters or precedent/forms, you can now choose from the contacts linked to the matter rather than editing the address block manually.  No more manual editing or removing clients automatically added from the matter into the address block. Read the version 8.3 release notes for details.Customise your view  It’s now easy to show, hide or reorder columns to help you find what you need in the form library / precedent library. Simply right-click anywhere in the column header bar to see what columns are available to you.Keep track of time and expenses in closed matters Need to add time and expenses to closed matters?  Well now you can! You could do this from the billing side and now you can do it from within the Smokeball desktop too. This way, you can focus on serving clients, even when the matter is closed. Find out moreEdit your time and expenses in bulk Getting paid just got easier – that's always a winner! You can now change multiple time or expenses items from billable to non-billable (or vice versa). And, if you need to change individual time-based billable items to a fixed fee, it’s now a breeze! Find out moreProtect trust fund allocations  Smokeball Billing lets you set aside and protect funds earmarked for a specific purpose, ensuring those funds don’t get used accidentally (oh no!). It’s easy to start protecting your trust funds today.Bank recs made easy You asked, we listened! The Bank Reconciliation screen just got better, with improved sorting, filtering and searching. Even with loads of data, these improvements will help you reconcile in no time. Review Smokeball trust accounting features for full details.And there’s more...We’ve made many more improvements over the last month. Read all about all new features and fixes in our Support Hub.I’d love to hear your feedback – hit reply to post your thoughts.  

Related:Billing & Trust AccountingDocument AutomationMatter ManagementDocuments & Emails