Centerbase Terms: Glossary

The following is a reference list intended to define most of the terms that can be found within Centerbase. While every effort is made to make it as comprehensive as possible, it's possible that some terms have not been included. Be sure to search the site, support.centerbase.com, for more information. 

1. Accounts Payable: A module within Centerbase that shows which vendors/accounts need to be paid by your firm.
2. Actions: After running a query (clicking search), the results appear in the results list. Items in this list are now available for mass editing. Select the items to edit, then click ACTIONS at the top of the list. The following options are now available:
   • Delete: Deletes the selected records.
   • Edit: Edit a single field on the selected records. This will open a dialogue to select the field and set it for all records or reset the field to empty.
   • Link: Link the selected records to another item in Centerbase. This will open a dialogue allowing you to search for other Centerbase records to link the selected records.
   • Security: Set the security of the selected records. Opens the security dialogue, allowing the user to set normal security settings.
   • Set Active/Inactive: Set the selected records as active or inactive. This option is great for a massive clean-up of the data.
   • Set Layout: Choose from a drop-down menu of available item form layouts and update all records to have that layout.
3. Advanced Reporting: Centerbase’s new reporting and analytics solution.
4. Aged A/R: A system report within Centerbase that shows outstanding AR balances grouped by invoice age, client, and matter. 
5. Alternative Fee Arrangement (AFA):In Centerbase, you can choose to bill in multiple arrangements:
   • Flat Fee
   • Hourly
   • Project
   • Subscription
6. AR Sweep: A module within Centerbase that lets you view the outstanding balance and available funds of matters, then apply the funds to pay off multiple bills at once.
7. Automated Time Capture: Automated Time Capture is a Centerbase add-on that creates billable event records when you communicate with your clients through Secure Chat or the Centerbase Mobile App. It captures phone calls, text messages, and emails sent through the app. It also records time for appointments and tasks once they are completed.
8. Bank Deposits: A module within Centerbase that lets you view all your bank deposits.
9. Bill Template: Within Centerbase, you can have multiple bill templates that are revisable.
10. Billable Events: Billable events are like pre-time entries that store the matter, timekeeper, duration, and short description of the event. You can turn a billable event into a time entry to bill the client once the billable event or task is completed. Billable events are created by Secure Chat, both on the web and through the Centerbase Mobile App.
11. Billing Codes: A module within Centerbase that lets you manage and edit all your billing codes. 
12. Billing Entries: A module within Centerbase that lets you manage and edit all your billing entries. 
13. Billing: A module within Centerbase that houses all your billing tools. 
14. Calendar:Your Centerbase calendar can be viewed in a variety of ways and is bi-directionally synced with your Office 365calendar.So any changes made to your calendar via O365 will populate in Centerbase, and vice versa.
15. Calendaring:  Centerbase’s calendaring allows you to view firm-wide appointments and set court dates and deadlines, powered by Outlook and LawToolBox.
16. Case: Another name for “matter” within Centerbase.
17. Chart of Accounts: A module within Centerbase where you can manage and reconcile your accounts. 
18. Charts: Charts are dashboard tiles that can be created in Centerbase’s reporting module.
19. Checks: A module within Centerbase where you can manage all of your checks. 
20. Client Center: A module within Centerbase that shows you clients with outstanding bills, unbilled items, unposted bills, unpaid client money, and paid client money. 
21. Client Intake: A process which can be automated within Centerbase that gathers potential new client forms and prepares them for conflict checking and onboarding. 
22. Client Ledger: A report that shows all transactions for any selected client.
23. Client Portal: A tool within Centerbase that allows clients and firm staff to share documents, bills, and tasks/appointments.
24. Cloud Storage: How Centerbase stores and protects you and your clients’ data
25. Conflict Checks: A module within Centerbase that checks for conflicts of interest between clients.
26. Consolidated Billing: A module within Centerbase that lets you edit consolidated bills from the same client for different matters.
27. Contacts: A module within Centerbase that shows all of your contacts and clients.
28. Copy Map: A feature within the Admin Tool that allows you to set what information copies over from record to record. 
29. Credit Distributions: A module within Centerbase that shows you all credits that have been applied to bills.
30. Credits: A module within Centerbase that shows you all credits created for matters or clients.
31. Dashboard: A customizable home page that automatically opens when you log into Centerbase.
32. Data Views: A module within the Admin Tool that allows you to link fields to different item types.
33. Deadlines: Deadlines are automatically populated in Centerbase using LawToolBox.
34. Debits: You can view all debits made within Centerbase in your T-Accounts.
35. Deletion Log: A record within the Admin Tool that shows what, when, and who deleted data out of your Centerbase site. 
36. Document Merge: A feature in Centerbase that populates a document in Word and automatically fills all blank fields with information from the specific matter or client you selected.
37. Electronic Billing (e-billing): Centerbase provides e-billing in LEDES and LSS templates.
38. ePre-Bill:An automated tool within Centerbase that electronically tracks edits and moves your pre-bills up the approval chain.
39. Expense: A billing entry type within Centerbase.
40. Export: The ability to pull data from Centerbase out of Centerbase.
41. Fee: A billing entry type within Centerbase.
42. Fields: A field represents each individual piece of information stored on an item. Examples of a field for a matter item include: Open Date, Plaintiff, Opposing Counsel, Attorney, etc.
43. File Explorer: A Window’s file manager application that Centerbase integrates with for document management.
44. Firm Accounting: A module within Centerbase that shows all of your firm’s accounting in cash or accrual mode.
45. Flat Fee: A billing entry type within Centerbase.
46. Form Designer: A tool within Centerbase that lets you change the layouts of your matters, clients, bills, etc. 
47. General Ledger (GL): A report within Centerbase that automatically runs in cash or accrual mode.
48. GL Budgets: A tool in Centerbase that lets you forecast and compare actual v. realized budgeted finances. 
49. Global Search: The main search bar at the top of your navigation bar.
50. Groups: Multiple user profiles that are bundled together which allows for easy security permission settings. Example: Billing and Accounting Department, Associate Attorneys, etc.
51. History Bill: An action button option in Centerbase on matters or clients that shows a full history of billing.
52. Hourly Fee: A billing entry type within Centerbase. 
53. HTML Editor: A feature found within the Admin Tool that allows you to edit automatic emails you send from Centerbase.
54. Import: A tool that allows you to take data outside of Centerbase and put it into Centerbase. 
55. Integrations: Centerbase uses Plaid, LawToolBox, QuickBooks Online, NetDocuments, and Microsoft Office as integrations. 
56. Invoice: This denotes the same thing as a “bill” within Centerbase.
57. Item Home Page: Every item in Centerbase has its own homepage which may be accessed from the navigation bar. If the item name is not immediately available on the navigation bar, it may be nested under the More tab on the navigation bar. Users can complete advanced searches from the item homepages. Examples of item home pages: Matters, Contacts, Bills, etc. 
58. Item Manager: A module within the Admin Tool that allows you to add, delete, and edit your record types within Centerbase.
59. Item Type: An item is the top-level record in Centerbase. Examples of an item include: Clients, Matters, Contacts, etc.
60. Journal Entries: A module within Centerbase that allows you to add, delete, and edit journal entries. 
61. LawToolBox: Centerbase’s deadlining integration tool.
62. LEDES (Legal Electronic Data Exchange Standard): Centerbase’s e-billing format.
63. Matter Dashboard: A place on the matter page to view WIP, matter status, unbilled costs, fees collected, matter balance, and trust balance.
64. Matter Ledger: A report on the matter that shows all cash flow pertaining to the matter.
65. Matter: The equivalent to a “case” within Centerbase. 
66. Memorize Vendor Bills:A tool within Centerbase that duplicates frequently used vendor bills.
67. Mobile App: Centerbase’s mobile app is available for Apple or Android phones. 
68. Modification Log:A record within the Admin Tool that shows any changes made within your Centerbase system.
69. Navigation Bar: The main navigation pane on the left side of your Centerbase site.
70. NetDocuments: Centerbase’s document management partner.
71. Object: Equivalent to an “item” within Centerbase.
72. Office365: Centerbase integrates with Office365 using calendaring, document management, email management, etc. 
73. Online Banking:Centerbase’s online banking module allows you to reconcile your credit card using our Plaid integration. 
74. Origination: Centerbase’s origination feature allows you to set origination and report on it.
75. P&L Report: A report built into Centerbase that shows profits and losses for your firm. 
76. Parties: In Centerbase, parties associated with matters, clients, bills, etc. can be found on that specific record type. 
77. Payment Distributions:A module in Centerbase that shows payments that have been applied to bills. 
78. Payments: A module in Centerbase that shows all payments made by clients.
79. Permissions: Used when describing what users or groups are allowed to access or edit records within Centerbase.
80. Plaid: Centerbase’s online banking integration tool.
81. Posted Bills: Bills in Centerbase that have been made public to clients for payment.
82. Potential New Clients: Contacts in Centerbase that haven’t been onboarded as clients yet.
83. Quick Notes: Notes that you can make on a matter or client
84. QuickBooks: Centerbase’s accounting integration that feeds information back and forth to our proprietary accounting system.
85. Recent: A module that shows any record you’ve visited recently within Centerbase.
86. Record Security:Security that pertains to item and object types.
87. Record: A record is a basic unit of data in Centerbase, representing a single occurrence of an item. Examples of a record for a matter would include McDonald, Mike – Estate Plan; Forbes, John – Commercial Litigation.
88. Referrals: A module in Centerbase that helps you track where your clients originated from.
89. Refunds: A module within Centerbase that shows all refunds.
90. Related Items: A tab on each item type that shows any other related items.
91. Retainer:Treated similarly to trusts in Centerbase.
92. Secure Chat: An online communication system in Centerbase that allows firm employees to instant message back and forth.
93. Security: A module within Centerbase that sets record and user-level permissions.
94. Split Billing: Centerbase allows for split billing between different matters for the same client. 
95. System Health: A module within Centerbase that shows specifically where there is inaccurate data on your site. 
96. System Settings: A module within Centerbase that allows for customization and personalization of your Centerbase site.
97. T-Accounts: A module within Centerbase that shows you every debit and credit recorded within Centerbase.
98. Taskframe: Centerbase’s project management tool that allows you to track and delegate project responsibilities.
99. Tax Items: A module in Centerbase that houses all items and tax amounts.
100. Time Entries Approval: A module within Centerbase that allows you to approve time entries and turn them into billing entries.
101. Timekeeper (TK): In Centerbase, a timekeeper can be one user or a group of users.
102. Timekeeping: Centerbase’s module that allows for recording, editing, adding, and deleting time entries.
103. Trust Account: A trust account is the same thing as a retainer within Centerbase. You can have multiple trust accounts for one matter or client in Centerbase.
104. Trust Accounting: Centerbase has an accounting module built specifically for managing trust money alongside firm money.
105. Trust Bank Transfers: A module within Centerbase that shows when you move trust funds from one account to another within Centerbase. 
106. Windows Administrative Tool: Centerbase provides a program for Windows we call the Admin Tool.  This tool is for administrative-level functions that an average user won’t need daily.  Some functions in the Admin Tool are:
     • Creating charts that can be viewed on the web dashboard
     • Creating HTML templates that can be used in workflows and custom e-mails
     • Viewing deletion/change logs
     • Managing items and fields
     • Managing users (This includes adding new users, deactivating old users, resetting passwords, managing default security settings, group membership, and basic permissions.)
     • Importing data
     • Finding/merging duplicates
     • Customizing data views
     • Customizing Mobile App settings (iOS and Android)
107. Workflows: Centerbase’s automation tool that lets you sequence steps in your Centerbase site.