OneLaw V4.3 Release Notes

Penalty interest can now be calculated and added directly to outstanding Accounts Rendered (ARs), without the need to create a separate invoice.

Interest is configured at the firm level in Practice Settings and applied in line with those preferences, ensuring penalty interest is charged consistently and only where the defined criteria are met. Once enabled, interest can be included or excluded at the party or matter level, providing additional control over when interest is applied.

Key points include:

• Penalty interest can be enabled and tailored to suit firm requirements, including interest rate, AR age, and invoiced amount thresholds
• Interest can be applied to individual ARs in line with the configured settings
• Where Debtor Management is enabled, penalty interest can also be applied to ARs in bulk

These enhancements simplify the process of applying penalty interest to overdue accounts, while giving firms clear control over when and how interest is charged.

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Invoice templates can now be linked directly to Parties. When a linked Party is selected as the Bill-To Party during invoicing, the associated invoice template is automatically selected by default in the Bill Maintenance screen.

This allows firms to align invoice presentation with specific client requirements, such as differing payment terms or templates for corporate clients, while still allowing users to override the selected template where required.

Key points include:

• Invoice templates can be assigned at the Party level
• The assigned template is automatically selected when that Party is used as the Bill-To Party for single or bulk invoicing
• Where no Party-specific template is set, the firm’s default invoice template is pre-selected

These improvements reduce manual template selection during billing and help ensure invoices are generated consistently in line with client expectations.

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A new AR Penalty Interest report is now available to identify Accounts Rendered (ARs) that are eligible for penalty interest and calculate the interest amount to be charged.

The report supports different interest calculation approaches, allowing firms to calculate interest from either the overdue date or the last interest date, depending on the AR’s current state. Alternatively, interest can be calculated for a specified period.

Key points include:

• Only ARs eligible for penalty interest, based on firm Practice Settings, are included in the report
• Interest calculations align with the firm’s configured penalty interest rules
• Filtering and grouping options are consistent with the AR Listing report, including Trust Ledger, AR notes, and Author grouping
• The report output includes additional columns to support review and processing of penalty interest

This report provides greater visibility and control when reviewing overdue ARs, particularly for firms that do not use Debtor Management, and supports more accurate and consistent application of penalty interest.

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The AML/CFT onboarding process has been improved to better support electronic identity verification (eIDV) integrations.

When an onboarding type that is linked to an eIDV provider is selected for a party, users are now prompted to start the electronic identity verification process. This ensures verification is initiated at the appropriate point in the onboarding workflow, rather than requiring separate or manual follow-up steps.

This improvement provides a more consistent and guided experience when using eIDV-enabled onboarding types and supports smoother compliance workflows for both individual and non-individual parties.

The Red Flag search screen has been improved so that results are now sorted by Item Date with the most recent items displayed first.

Previously, results were shown with the oldest Item Date at the top, which made it harder to quickly identify recent red flags. This change ensures the most relevant and recent activity is immediately visible when opening the Red Flag search screen, without requiring users to manually re-sort the results.

Party setup has been enhanced to allow multiple phone numbers and email addresses to be marked as AR Email or AR Text Messaging. This makes it easier to select the most appropriate contact details when sending emails or text messages during Debtor Management processing, without needing to update or replace existing contact information. Each party is required to have a default AR email address and default AR text messaging number, which will be used automatically where required.

A new withholding tax rate of 2 percent (Approved Issuer Levy) is now available for parties marked as non-residents.

This additional tax rate can be selected alongside the existing non-resident tax rate options and is reflected consistently across relevant workflows, including interest processing and ledger displays. The new rate is also available as a filter option in applicable client, party, and matter reports.

This improvement provides greater flexibility when managing non-resident parties who elect to apply the Approved Issuer Levy, ensuring tax treatment is recorded and reported accurately within OneLaw.

AR Statements can now be generated using document templates, providing a more consistent and configurable statement format aligned with invoices and other client-facing documents in OneLaw.

Firms can choose to continue using the existing standard AR Statement report or enable AR Statement templating, which allows statements to be produced using custom templates and consistent branding. When template-based statements are enabled, default reporting periods can also be set to streamline statement generation.

Template-based statements continue to support summary-level statement views and add a new transaction-level view, giving firms greater flexibility in how AR activity is presented

This improvement supports clearer presentation of AR activity, including interest charges, and helps firms deliver statements that better match their existing document standards.

When sending emails from the Debtor Management module, email templates can now have a specific From address set. This allows firms to send debtor communications from shared or role-based inboxes, such as accounts or accounts receivable, rather than from an individual user’s mailbox.

If a From address is set on the template, emails will be sent from that address by default. Where a user does not have permission to send from the specified inbox, they are prompted to confirm before sending and informed that the email will fail if access is not available. If no From address is set, emails continue to be sent from the user’s default email account.

This improvement supports clearer debtor communications and helps firms manage replies through shared inboxes, while providing appropriate warnings to users where access may be restricted.

When creating emails using the Single Process workflow in Debtor Management, the Managed Details are now populated automatically with the client and matter associated with the selected Account Rendered (AR).

Email templates can be configured to determine whether the email, related attachments such as invoices or AR statements, or both are automatically managed when sent. Firms can also choose whether these items are managed to the client or the matter. When auto-management is enabled, emails no longer require manual management from Outlook.

This improvement reduces follow-up administration when sending debtor-related emails and helps ensure communications are consistently and correctly filed against the appropriate client and matter records.

When sending emails through the Bulk Process workflow in Debtor Management, emails and related attachments can now be automatically managed back to the relevant matter.

Email templates can be configured to determine whether the email, related attachments such as invoices or AR statements, or both are automatically managed when sent. Firms can also choose whether these items are managed to the client or the matter. When auto-management is enabled, emails no longer require manual management from Outlook.

This improvement significantly reduces follow-up administration when sending large volumes of debtor communications and helps ensure records are consistently filed against the correct matter.

Penalty interest can be processed in bulk for multiple ARs

The Debtor Management AR Search screen has been enhanced to allow penalty interest to be applied to multiple Accounts Rendered (ARs) via bulk processing.

Users can now select multiple eligible ARs and calculate penalty interest in line with firm settings before processing the interest transactions together. The bulk process includes validation to ensure only ARs marked as interest chargeable are processed and provides a summary view of the interest to be applied before posting.

This improvement streamlines penalty interest processing for firms managing large volumes of overdue ARs and reduces the need to apply interest individually across multiple accounts.

The Process Single screen in Debtor Management has been enhanced to provide better visibility and easier navigation when working with individual Accounts Rendered (ARs).

The screen now includes additional contextual information, such as a financial summary and the most recent AR note, helping users understand the current state of the client and matter without leaving the workflow. Direct links are also available to quickly access related client, matter, and AR contact records where permissions allow.

Improvements have also been made to communication and navigation, including support for sending emails and text messages to multiple recipients and easier movement between selected ARs. Together, these enhancements reduce unnecessary clicks and make single AR processing more efficient and streamlined.

The AR Search screen has been enhanced to display summary totals for the Accounts Rendered (ARs) shown in the results.

The screen now shows the total outstanding balance across all ARs returned by the search, as well as the total outstanding balance for any ARs selected. This provides immediate visibility of both the overall exposure and the value of the selected ARs without needing to export or calculate totals separately.

This improvement makes it easier to review, assess, and act on ARs directly from the search screen, particularly when working with larger result sets.

The AR Search screen has been improved to allow users to customise which columns are displayed and to have those preferences remembered between sessions.

Users can now choose which columns to show and adjust their order and widths, making it easier to tailor the AR Search view to suit different workflows. These preferences are saved per user and automatically applied the next time the AR Search screen is opened.

This improvement helps reduce screen clutter, improves readability when working with large result sets, and brings the AR Search experience in line with other configurable list views in OneLaw.

The AR Search screen in Debtor Management has been enhanced with additional columns to provide clearer visibility of balances and penalty interest activity at both the client and matter level.

New columns include client and matter trust balances, client and matter AR balances, and penalty interest information, including the date and amount of the most recent interest charge and whether an AR is marked as interest chargeable or excluded.

These additions give users better financial context when reviewing outstanding ARs and support more informed decision-making when managing debtor activity, particularly where penalty interest is in use.

The AR Search screen in Debtor Management has been enhanced with additional filtering options to make it easier to find and manage Accounts Rendered (ARs). Users can now apply more flexible filters across clients, matters, status, penalty interest, and statement inclusion, allowing searches to be refined to match different debtor management workflows.

Search behaviour has also been improved so that results are shown immediately when the screen is opened, and a user’s most recent search filters are remembered and reapplied between sessions.

These improvements reduce the need to repeatedly reconfigure search criteria and make it faster to locate relevant ARs when working with large or complex debtor lists.

Precedent Libraries can now be mapped directly to SharePoint web folders using a Microsoft 365 integration.

Previously, libraries could only be mapped to SharePoint folders that had been synced locally to a user’s OneDrive and accessed via File Explorer. This enhancement removes that limitation and allows libraries to be linked directly to SharePoint locations without requiring local folder mapping.

When using SharePoint-based Precedent Libraries, users can also search within a library using full text search, making it easier to locate specific precedents as libraries grow.

This improvement provides greater flexibility when managing precedent storage, supports cloud-first workflows, and simplifies both access to and management of precedent libraries for firms using Microsoft 365.

Fragment Libraries can now be mapped directly to SharePoint web folders using a Microsoft 365 integration.

Previously, Fragment Libraries could only be accessed via SharePoint folders that were synced locally to a user’s OneDrive and accessed through File Explorer. This enhancement removes that limitation and allows Fragment Libraries to be linked directly to SharePoint locations without requiring local folder mapping.

This improvement supports cloud-first workflows and simplifies both access to and management of Fragment Libraries for firms using Microsoft 365.

Additional fields have been added to the standard merge fields available for use in Document Assembly. This expands the range of matter, client, and billing-related information that can be merged into documents.

The newly available fields include matter created date, client created date, fee types and sub fee types, current nature and purpose for a client, current risk rating and comment, and the default AR contact.

This improvement provides greater flexibility when building templates and supports more consistent inclusion of key client and matter information in assembled documents.

Default values can now be configured for specific InfoSheet field types, reducing the need for users to manually populate common information when an InfoSheet is first applied.

Default values are supported for Check Box, Choice List, and Date fields, and are applied when an InfoSheet is first added to a party or matter, whether added manually or automatically.

This improvement helps streamline data entry, supports more consistent capture of information, and reduces repetitive manual input when working with InfoSheets across parties and matters.

InfoSheets have been enhanced to support blocks and conditional fields, allowing data to be collected in structured, repeating sections and shown or hidden dynamically based on user input.

Administrators can now group related fields into blocks that can repeat as needed, as well as configure individual fields or entire blocks to appear only when specific conditions are met. This enables InfoSheets to better reflect real-world legal data collection scenarios, such as capturing multiple items of the same type or displaying additional details only when relevant.

This improvement allows more sophisticated and flexible InfoSheet designs, reduces the need for manual document editing, and supports more accurate and efficient document assembly when working with complex or conditional data.

The Xero integration has been enhanced to support penalty interest by allowing firms to map penalty interest transactions to a dedicated GL account.

Where penalty interest is enabled, a Penalty Interest account is now available for mapping within the Xero integration settings. This ensures penalty interest transactions are exported consistently and correctly alongside other financial transactions.

This improvement supports accurate financial reporting and reconciliation for firms using penalty interest with Xero.

Existing reports have been enhanced to include penalty interest where this feature is enabled in Practice Settings.

Penalty interest is now available as a transaction type in relevant trust and financial reports and is included in report outputs and filters where applicable. This ensures penalty interest transactions, balances, and credits are visible and reportable alongside other financial activity.

This improvement provides more complete and consistent reporting when penalty interest is in use, helping firms review, reconcile, and report on interest charges across trust, client, matter, and accounts rendered reports

Reporting performance has been improved by optimising how reports are generated and rendered, resulting in faster report execution and a more responsive experience for users.

Reports now provide earlier on-screen feedback during processing and can be previewed directly within OneLaw, allowing users to view and manage reports without needing to export them to another application. This improves visibility when working with larger or more complex reports and reduces wait times.

These changes also help ensure that running reports does not impact performance for other users working in OneLaw at the same time.