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Apply Penalty Interest in Debtors

Daniel Martin
  • Updated

Overview

Penalty Interest allows your firm to calculate and apply interest to overdue Accounts Rendered (ARs) directly from Debtors.

In Debtors, Penalty Interest is applied to the ARs you select. This workflow is AR-centric and review-first: nothing is applied automatically, and interest must be reviewed before it is committed.

This article explains how to apply Penalty Interest in Debtors and what happens after interest is processed

Who can do this

  • Users with Debtor Management and Manage Accounts Rendered permissions

Before you start

Before you begin:

  • Your firm must have Debtor Management enabled.
  • Penalty Interest must already be enabled and configured at the firm level.
  • Only ARs that are eligible for Penalty Interest will appear when filtered.

Note
Penalty Interest follows the same eligibility rules as single‑AR processing. There is no AR‑level override - if an AR is excluded due to configuration or exclusions at the Party or Matter level, it cannot be forced through processing.

Steps

  1. Open Debtors and filter eligible ARs

    • In OneLaw, go to the Debtors tab on the navigation ribbon.

    • Select AR Search.

      Result: The Outstanding ARs screen opens, showing any previously used filter selections.

      Outstanding ARs screen showing the AR Search filter panel. Filters include Client and Matter search fields, AR date options (Action date due, Older than days, or date range), AR Statements inclusion, Author and Team filters, AR balance threshold, Status, and a Penalty Interest dropdown set to “Interest Chargeable”. A Search button appears on the right, used to return eligible Accounts Rendered for bulk processing

    • If required, use the available filters to narrow the AR list (for example, by AR date, balances over, author, or status).
    • Ensure that Penalty Interest is set to Interest Chargeable.
    • Select Search.

    Note: Debtors remembers the last set of filters you used. When you reopen the Outstanding ARs screen, those filters are reused and results may already be displayed based on those criteria.

  2. Select ARs for processing

    • Select the checkbox next to each AR you want to include.
      • You can select individual ARs, or

      • Use the select‑all option for the current filtered list.

         

        Outstanding ARs results grid showing multiple Accounts Rendered selected using the checkbox column on the left. Each row represents an individual AR and displays details including Account number, Client, Matter, AR date, age, reference, status, next action date, AR balance, last credit and last Penalty Interest dates, and Penalty Interest status set to “Chargeable”. This grid is used to select eligible ARs for bulk Penalty Interest processing.

    Only selected ARs are included in the bulk calculation.

  3. Set Penalty Interest calculation options

    • With ARs selected, on the navigation ribbon select Penalty Interest.

      OneLaw Debtors tab showing the Debtors toolbar. The Penalty Interest button is highlighted, alongside options such as AR Search, Process Single, Process Bulk, Print, SMS Log, AR Reports, and Select Columns. This button is used to start bulk Penalty Interest processing for selected Accounts Rendered.

      Result: The Penalty Interest Processing window opens.

      Penalty Interest Processing window showing calculation options for bulk Penalty Interest. The window includes a Date field, radio options to calculate interest from the overdue date or last interest date, or for a defined period using start and end dates, and a Narration field defaulted to “Penalty Interest”. Buttons at the bottom allow the user to calculate interest or cancel before proceeding to review.
    • Review the Date field and update if required.
    • Under Calculate Interest, choose how interest should be calculated:
      • From overdue date or last interest date, or
      • For period, then select a start and end date.
    • If required, update the Narration.
    • Select Calculate Interest.

    This calculates interest for the selected ARs and opens the review screen.

    Note: The calculation option applies to all selected ARs in this run and does not change firm configuration or eligibility rules. Penalty Interest calculations are subject to billing and eligibility validations. If an error is shown when you select Calculate Interest, review the selected ARs, the calculation period, and the current billing context, then adjust and try again.

     

  4. Review calculated Penalty Interest
    After calculation, a review window opens showing the selected ARs and the calculated Penalty Interest amounts.

    Penalty Interest Processing review window showing calculated Penalty Interest for selected Accounts Rendered. Each row represents an AR and displays client, matter, AR date, rate, AR balance, last interest date and amount, and the calculated Interest Chargeable. Checkboxes allow individual ARs to be deselected before selecting Process to apply the interest.

    • Review the calculated Interest Chargeable amount for each AR.
    • If required, deselect individual ARs using the checkbox column.
    • Confirm the ARs you want to include.

    No Penalty Interest is applied at this stage.

    Note: This review step is required. Penalty Interest is only applied when you select Process in the next step.

  5. Process Penalty Interest

    • In the review window, select Process.
      Result: A confirmation window opens, showing how many ARs will have Penalty Interest applied.

      Penalty Interest Processing confirmation window stating that a penalty interest transaction will be applied to the selected number of Accounts Rendered. The window includes Yes and No buttons to confirm or cancel the action, and an option to not show the confirmation again.
    • Review the confirmation message.
    • Select Yes to proceed, or No to cancel.

    When you confirm:

    • Penalty Interest is applied to the confirmed ARs.
    • Each AR balance updates to reflect the applied interest.

  6. Review and handle the processing summary report

    After Penalty Interest is applied, the Penalty Interest Processing Summary report opens.

    Penalty Interest Processing Summary report window showing a summary of Accounts Rendered that had Penalty Interest applied. The report lists account, client, matter, AR date, rate, interest charged, and new balance totals. Buttons at the bottom allow the report to be Exported or Managed into OneLaw, or the window to be closed.

    From this window, you can choose how to handle the report:

    • Select Export to save the report externally in Word, PDF, or Excel format, or
    • Select Manage to manage the report into OneLaw.

    If you choose to manage the report:

    Manage Report window used to manage the Penalty Interest Processing Summary into OneLaw. The window includes fields to select a Party and optional Matter, enter or confirm the report file name, choose document categories, and optionally record time spent. OK and Cancel buttons are shown to complete or cancel managing the report.
     

    • Select the Party and, if required, the Matter the report should be managed to.
    • Choose one or more document Categories.
    • If applicable, Record Time spent generating the report.
    • Select OK to complete managing the report.

    Optional: Continue with bulk actions

    Penalty Interest Processing prompt asking whether to process additional bulk actions on the same Accounts Rendered, with Yes and No buttons to continue or return to Debtors.

    After closing the processing summary, you can choose whether to continue with additional bulk actions on the same ARs.

Result

Penalty Interest is applied to the selected eligible Accounts Rendered, and AR balances are updated accordingly.

A Penalty Interest Processing Summary report is generated, showing the interest applied and updated balances. The report can be exported or managed into OneLaw, and the user may choose to continue with additional actions on the same ARs.

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