Smokeball Boost Release - January 2024

This month, we have released some new features and refinements to Smokeball Boost. Read on to learn more.

New Features

Stripe now accepts international credit cards

If your firm is connected to Stripe, your clients can now pay invoices or deposit trust funds using an international credit card.

International credit card payments are subject to Stripe's international transaction fee, which can be viewed on the Stripe pricing page.

Smokeball detects if an international card is used when you select a country other than Australia when entering credit card details. In turn, the international transaction fee will be calculated, and the total amount the client pays is now displayed directly above the Process button.

If your client has received a request to pay via the Credit Card Payment Portal, they can also use an international credit card to pay through that portal.

Unbilled Time & Disbursements - Summary Report

The Unbilled Time & Disbursements Report has been rewritten into Summary and Detailed reports.

The new Unbilled Time & Disbursements Summary Report will show the following information:

Available Filters:

1. Date Range (default is Current Month)
2. Run By (default is None)
3. Subtotal By (default is None)

Available Columns: 

1. Column 1 - displays information based on what is selected in the "Run By" filter
2. Column 2 - displays information based on the "Subtotal By" filter
3. Disbursement Value
4. Disbursements % (if percentages are enabled)
5. Hours
6. Hours % (if percentages are enabled)
7. Fees Value
8. Fees % (if percentages are enabled)
9. Total Value
10. Total % (if percentages are enabled)

Unbilled Time & Disbursements - Details Report

The Unbilled Time & Disbursements Report has been rewritten into Summary and Detailed reports.

Along with improved performance and additional columns, the new Unbilled Time & Disbursements Details Report will show the following information:

Available Filters:

1. Date Range (default is Current Month)
2. Run By (default is None)
3. Subtotal By (default is None)
4. Include GST (default is False)
5. Columns

The following filters default to showing all information unless otherwise specified:

1. Person Responsible
2. Introducer
3. Timekeeper 
4. Matter Status 
5. Entry Type
6. Client name
7. Matter name

Available Columns:

1. Date
2. Matter Number
3. Client
4. Subject/Description
5. Entry Type (Time, Fixed Fee, Disbursement)
6. Included on Draft Invoice?
7. Billable?
8. Write Off?
9. Hours/Quantity
10. Rate
11. Total (ex. GST)
12. GST
13. Total (incl. GST)

The following columns will only appear if they have been selected in the Columns filter:

1. Matter Type
2. Matter Description
3. Person Responsible
4. Introducer
5. Timekeeper
6. Activity
7. Task
8. Trust Balance

Refinements

Display operating account bank details on the PDF invoice

Instead of adding your bank details in the invoice notes or attaching them separately, there is now a dedicated spot on the invoice for them.

To turn on this feature:

1. Navigate to Firm Settings and select Accounts from the left menu.
2. Select the Operating Account Detail tab.
3. Toggle Show payment details on invoice.
   

Limit changes to Trust and Operating Account details to Firm Owners only

To enhance security around bank account details, you can now restrict the ability to change Trust and Operating Account details to Firm Owners only.

To turn this on:

1. Navigate to Firm Settings and select Accounts from the left menu.
2. To restrict trust account detail changes, toggle Allow only Firm Owners to edit Trust Account details from the Trust Account & CMA Settings tab.
   
3. Select Save.
4. To restrict operating account detail changes, select the Operating Account Detail tab and toggle Allow only Firm owners to manage operating account details.
   
5. Select Save.

Whenever there is a change in the details of an Operating or Trust account, an email notification will be sent to the user who is currently logged in.

Additionally, if an email address was changed in Smokeball, the previous email address will be sent a notification letting them know of the change.

Both of these features are designed for added transparency in case a user has had their account compromised.