A vendor record captures/stores details about law firms and/or outside counsel that are working on your legal matters. In addition to general information, the vendor record is used to access other associated records (e.g., invoices and matters) and assign invoice reviewers. Most fields are optional but helpful for reporting, filtering, and data tracking purposes.
In addition to general information, the vendor record is used to manage various settings, such as enabling/disabling accruals and assigning default legal entities for cost allocation.
Continue below for additional information about fields and options in vendor records. For information about the list of vendors in Unity, click here.
To open a vendor record, go to Vendors from the left-side navigation bar and click on the hyperlinked name from the list page.
Alternatively, you can get to vendor records by clicking on their hyperlinked names from other records, such as the Vendors tab in matter records or the vendor name displayed under the details section of an invoice record.
Each record is separated into the following:
Overview
The Overview tab is separated into three sections to display vendor survey performance, capture general details (Attributes), and track changes and other activity on the vendor record (Activity Log).
Depending on system settings, most attributes and other settings can only be set or modified by Admins.
Vendor Survey Performance
If Vendor Surveys are being used to gather ratings/feedback from internal users who work with specific firms on matters, the metrics are displayed as tiled at the top of the Overview tab. To drill down into the data, click See Scorecard in the top-right corner. For additional information on Vendor Surveys, click here.
Vendor Attributes
Some fields may not appear to all users and depend on system-level settings and other configurations. To update an attribute, hover over the value and click the edit icon and click on the checkmark to save your changes. Click + add... to fill in any blank fields.
Activity Log
The Activity Log records changes, modifications, and other activity, including the name of the user and the date/time. Click Load More at the bottom of the log to see an expanded view, if applicable.
Files
This section is used to upload, view, and manage any supporting documentation or files pertaining to your company's work/agreement with the vendor. To upload documentation, click Upload Files in the top-right corner.
In addition to storing files for reference by internal users, customers can share files with specific users from the firm if using our General File Sharing feature. For additional details, click here.
Invoices
The Invoices tab shows all invoices submitted by the specific vendor to date across all assigned matters. Invoices in all statuses are shown. From here, you can click on the hyperlinked invoice number or matter name to see more details. Additionally, you can filter the list by keywords, such as matter name or status, by using the search field above the list.
Timekeepers
If timekeeper rates have been uploaded via CounselGO and approved by an admin in Unity, the timekeeper information appears under this section of the vendor record for reference. You can use the search field to filter the list by keyword, such as classification or name, or click Download to export the list for further review offline.
Matters
This section displays any matters the vendor is assigned to that are in Open status. Click on a matter name to view additional details. For instructions on how to assign a vendor to a new matter, click here.
Reviewers
The Reviewers tab is used to assign users who will be part of the review cycle for all invoices submitted by this vendor to determine whether the invoices will be approved for payment, adjusted, or rejected. They will be automatically assigned to invoices if the built-in invoice review rules for vendors are enabled at the system level. Click here for additional details about invoice review rules.
When assigning invoice reviewers, you have the option to set one level of review or multiple levels of review depending on your billing guidelines and needs. Follow the steps below to start assigning reviewers.
1. Click + Add in the top-right corner.
2. Select All of (default) OR Any of at the top of the window.
- All of means that all assigned reviewers must approve a submitted invoice for the invoice review cycle to move onto the next level of reviewers (if applicable) or end.
- Any of means that only one of the assigned reviewers needs to approve a submitted invoice for the invoice review cycle to move onto the next level of reviewers (if applicable) or end.
3. Select one or multiple internal users by browsing or searching the list and click Save.
Once you save the reviewer(s) to the vendor record, this means that there is one level of invoice review for submitted invoices. For example, if you select two reviewers and set the level to Any of, the review cycle will end when either one of the reviewers approves the invoice.
To add a second level of reviewers, repeat steps 1 through 4 above. From the Reviewers tab, you can click on a level to expand and view the users assigned to review incoming invoices.
To remove a level, click the ... (more) option under the Actions column and select Delete. Click Yes when prompted to confirm.
In addition to reviewers, you can use the Followers sub-tab to assign internal users who will have read-only access to all invoices submitted by this vendors. This is typically done if the user needs to remain informed of billing activity but does not need to review, approve, adjust, or reject the invoices. For more details about reviewers and followers in Unity, click here.
Budgets
Items only appear in this section if an approved internal or external budget record in Unity is associated with a specific vendor as shown in the example image below:
Roles
The Roles tab is used to assign a Vendor Manager (internal point of contact assigned to the firm), grant CounselGO access to up to 2 admins from the vendor firm and other non-admin users, assign additional roles (e.g., permissions needed for Vendor Collaboration features), and add any other external contacts from the vendor firm for informational purposes.
If contacts have already been added to the vendor record you are viewing, information, such as name, email address, company, and assigned roles, is displayed for each contact.
Adding New Contacts
If you need to add a new contact:
1. Click +Create New Contact to enter the required information.
2. Fill in the required fields (i.e., First Name, Last Name, and Email) and optional details.
3. Select the vendor name from the Company dropdown list if you need to assign CounselGO access or additional roles. Select Other to add an internal contact and assign only labels.
4. If granting CounselGO access, leave the selection as Yes. If this is a new vendor, you must also grant access to at least one admin. For additional information on setting up CounselGO users, click here.
5. Click Create in the bottom-right corner.
Assigning a Vendor Manager
NOTE: Vendor Manager refers to the internal user from your organization who is being assigned as the main point of contact to a firm.
1. Click +Assign Role
2. Select the internal user from the list and then choose Vendor Manager from the dropdown.
3. Click Assign.
Settings
The Settings tab is used to manage vendor-level settings and other datapoints used for tracking and cross-record references, such as invoicing.
*Only appears if the relevant system-level feature or setting is enabled.
| Field/Setting Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Accruals* | OFF by default. Toggle to ON if you want to request estimates of spend for upcoming work from the vendor based on schedule settings in your environment. For more information about accruals, click here. |
| CounselGO Invoice Submission* | ON by default only if invoicing via CounselGO is enabled for all vendors at the system level. Toggle to OFF if this vendor is not billing for work via CounselGO. |
| Spend Agent Review* | Disabled by default. If this feature is turned on in your environment, you can click on this field to enable or disable for specific vendors as needed. For more details about Spend Agent, click here. |
| Diversity Data Collection | ON by default only if diversity data collection is enabled for all vendors at the system level. Toggle to OFF if optional diversity questions should not be included in the timekeeper upload flow in CounselGO for this vendor. |
| Require Invoice PDF* | Enabled by default only if this option is enabled at the system level for all vendors. It can be changed to Disabled if the specific vendor will not be required to attach a PDF version when submitting invoices in CounselGO. |
| Timekeeper Rate Validation* | OFF by default. Toggle to ON if approved timekeeper rates are required for invoices submitted by the vendor. Only applies if the relevant timekeeper rate features are enabled at the system level. Click here to review more details and other considerations about timekeeper rates before enabling. |
| Default Cost Code | Default Code Code that will be assigned to line items on invoices if none is provided. This is primarily used for cost allocation purposes and may be blank. May be labeled differently depending on custom label settings (e.g., Charge Number). If you want to automatically assign a Cost Code to all invoices submitted by the vendor, click +add... to select an option. |
| Default Legal Entity | Default Legal Entity that will be assigned to line items on invoices if none is provided. This is primarily used for cost allocation purposes and may be blank. May be labeled differently depending on custom label settings (e.g., Company). If you want to automatically assign a Legal Entity to all invoices submitted by the vendor, click +add... to select an option. |
| Default Practice Area | Default Practice Area that will be assigned to incoming invoices. This is primarily used for reporting and data tracking. May be labeled differently depending on custom label settings (e.g., Matter Group, Area of Law, etc.). If you want to automatically assign a Practice Area to invoices submitted by the vendor, click +add... to select an option. |
| Default Template* | Applies only for customers that allow new matters to be automatically created based on invoice numbers submitted by vendors in CounselGO. Click +add... if you want new matters linked to this vendor to populate fields from a specific matter template in your environment. |
| Custom Attributes | If there are custom attributes scoped to vendor records in your enviroment, a field is displayed for each one (in alphabetical order). |
| PO* | Applies only for customers that have the Purchase Order feature enabled and assign PO numbers at the vendor level. |