Application Settings

Application Settings - Accounting

09/11/2026
Knowledge

How To

Learn how to add, change and delete general and miscellaneous accounting related settings such as Payment Types and Transaction Numbering.

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Desktop: Click the LEAP Menu > Settings > Application Settings > Accounting.

The LEAP Accounting Settings will open in a new window.

Web: Click > Settings > Application Settings > Accounting.

The LEAP Accounting Settings will open in a new window.

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You must be a LEAP Admin to make changes to the Accounting settings.

General

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The choices you make on this page have important implications for your management reporting and Tax reporting in your accounting software. We strongly recommend that you discuss these options with your financial advisor before you make your choices.

Click Accounting > General.

Tax Basis

When LEAP is configured by our consultants, they will set your tax basis as you require. You will not be able to adjust this setting without LEAP Support.

For more information about the accounting basis, click here.
Platform

Your Accounting platform will be visible in the drop down list as setup by our consultants. You will not be able to adjust this setting without LEAP Support.

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Group General Journal Items - this setting is specific to firms using Xero as their accounting platform.

When you tick the Group General Journal Items checkbox, LEAP will group general journal lines together when they are exported to Xero, rather than sending them as individual line items.
Enter or select your Lock Period Date.

This will be the earliest date where office transactions can be entered. Setting this date will prevent you from entering any office transactions outside of the lock period, so they don't transfer to your nominal ledger. This will be used at the end of the financial period.
Enter or select the current Financial Year Start Date.

This is the date your accounting system and your nominal ledger roll over to the new financial year.
Tick the Nominal Ledger Auto Export checkbox if you wish to enable automatic export of your nominal ledger journals to your accounting application.

If you enable the automatic export of your general ledger journals, regularly check your General Ledger Link to ensure that all journals are in your accounting application.
If you are using printed Trust Cheques, you can tick Use Asterisks on Trust Cheque Printouts. This is a security feature designed to prevent unauthorised alterations to the amount or details on the physical cheque once it has been printed.
If you wish to skip the Payment Type Details screen after selecting a Payment Type, untick the Enforce Payment Type Details checkbox.
Enter a value into either the Within amount € or Within percent % fields.

For information on Fee Estimate Warnings, please see our article here.
Time Recording - A time entry is made against a matter for time that was spent on work for a client. Time entries are based on an hourly rate and billable units. The default and most commonly used unit is 6 minutes. You can change the default time recording unit to be a value between 1 and 60.

Select the default Minutes per Billing Unit for the firm from the drop-down list.
Matter Activity Recording:
- Minutes per Billing Unit: Adjust the minutes per Billing Unit from the drop-down options.
- Billing Rate (A-F): Select the Billing Rate from the drop-down options.
When running Apply Activity Code on a time or fee entry, tick the checkboxes to also have the following fields update:
- Apply New Tax Status
- Apply New Fee Code/Staff Rate
- Apply New Description
Click Save.

Reports

Your selected ageing periods will apply across LEAP - on the financial summary for a matter, on statements and reports.

Click Accounting > Reports.
Enter your custom ageing periods in ascending order.
- Ageing Period (1) - example 30 days.
- Ageing Period (2) - example 60 days.
- Ageing Period (3) - example 90 days.
Last Audit Report Page No. will be automatically completed and the page numbering for trust reports is designed to be continuous to comply with client funds accounting regulations. This means the page numbers continue from one month to the next. For example, if your report ended on page 3 last month, this month’s report will start on page 4.
Enter or select a new date for the Client Funds Account Last EOM.

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Ensure you enter the correct date. For example, to run your first EOM for July 2026, you must set the Last EOM date to '30 June 2026'.
Click Save.

Payment Types

By default, LEAP provides you with the most common payment methods - cash, cheques, credit card and BACS. Your firm can add a different payment method if necessary.

Click Accounting > Payment Types.
Click New Payment Type and select a type.
Enter the Full Name.
Tick the checkboxes, if the payment type is a BACS (an automatic numbering system) and/or Needs Banking (included in a bank deposit slip).

If the selected payment type is a cheque, enter the number of clearance days i.e. A personal cheque may require five working days and a bank check may require three working days to clear.
Select the Payment Type.
Click Save.

Once you've added the payment type, it will become available as a payment type when creating either a payment or receipt.

Edit Payment Types

Select any of the Payment Types you wish to edit.
The Edit Payment Type window will open.
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- Full Name: enter the description of the payment type that will display in your 'Payment Type' selection list.
- Needs Banking: when the box is unchecked, the payment clears, and no bank deposit is processed. The funds will appear in the undeposited funds account in Accounting.
- Auto EFT No: when the box is checked, the Payment No. will automatically be completed for payments. If you leave it unchecked you will need to manually complete the Payment No.
- Auto Cheque No: when the box is checked, the Cheque No. will automatically be completed for cheque payments. If you leave it unchecked you will need to manually complete the Cheque No.
- Clearance Days: enter the number of days required for the cheque to clear.
Choose the fields you would like to edit and make your changes.
Click Save.

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Alternatively, if you wish to Delete a Payment Type, click Delete on the bottom left of the window.

Auto Completion Text

You're able to add auto-text into LEAP to save you time when entering transactions. Auto-text can be added to:

Separate Designated Client Accounts Trans - Reason
Office Anticipated Payment - Billing Description
Office Cost Recovery - Billing Description
Office Credit Journal - Reason
Office Credit Refund - Reason
Office Disbursement Journal - Reason
Office Disbursement Write-off - Reason
Office Payment - Billing Description
Office Payment Request - Billing Description
Client Funds
Time & Fee - Billing Description
Client Journal Transfer - Reason
Client Payment - Reason
Client Payment Request - Reason
Client Receipt - Reason
Client to Office Transfer - Reason

Click Accounting > Auto Completion Text.
Click New Auto Completion.
Select the Type from the drop down list.
Enter the Description.

This is the exact content that will be used for the auto complete text.
Click Save.

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After configuring the Auto Completion Text, you will need to open the transaction and manually delete the current text in the reason/description section, and then type the first letter to get prompt for auto completion. You cannot edit the reason without first removing the existing text.

Transaction Numbering

You're able to use the last number of various accounts and transactions to set up automatic sequential numbering. You'll be able to set up your check book automatic numbering as well. Each accounting entry has an individual reference.

Click Accounting > Transaction Numbering.
BACS Autoprefix - enter the character you wish to use for BACS payments and LEAP will assign a sequential number to each transaction to ensure your records remain organised and traceable.
Enter the last number for each accounting entry required.

For example, if the Last Invoice No. used is 16, then the Next Invoice Number when generated will be 17.
Click Save.

For other numbers such as Last Cheque No. please see our article here.

Billing Categories

Click Accounting > Billing Categories.
Click New Billing Category.
Enter the Billing Category Name.
Click Save.

To Edit a Billing Category, select it from the list and adjust the name, delete or archive the entry.
To view all archived Billing Categories, click the icon to the right of the window and select Show Archived.

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For more information on Billing Categories including assigning a billing category to a matter, please see our article here.

Reporting Groups

You can set up Reporting Groups within LEAP, allowing matters to be classified by user-defined criteria (e.g. matter type; office location; department) which then can be reported on directly within LEAP using the following reports.

Matters Opened Report
Matters by Last Activity Report
Closed Matters Report
Aged Debtors Report
Aged Disbursements Report
Aged WIP Report
Aged WIP & Disbursements Report
Fee Contributions & Recovery Report
Fee Contributions & Recovery by Matter Type Report

Create a Reporting Group

To create a Reporting Group:

Click Accounting > Reporting Group.
Click New Reporting Group.
Enter the Group Name.
Click Save.

Assign a Reporting Group to a Matter

Once you have created a Reporting Group, you can assign a matter to a specific Reporting Group.

To assign a matter to a Reporting Group:

Open the matter.
Make sure you're on the Details & Correspondence tab.
Open Matter Details.
Select a Reporting Group from the drop-down.
Click OK.

Delete a Reporting Group

To delete a Reporting Group:

Click Accounting > Reporting Group.
Open a reporting group.
Click Delete.
Confirm the deletion.

Archive a Reporting Group

To archive a Reporting Group:

Click Accounting > Reporting Group.
Open a reporting group.
Click Archive.

To view all archived Reporting Groups, click the icon to the right of the window and select Show Archived.

Client Funds - Interest Rates

Click Accounting > Client Funds - Interest Rates.
Select either:
1. Flat rate applied to all Client Funds and balances.
2. Range of rates by dates and amounts.
Both options allow for the Interest Rate to be negative.

Last Modified Date

9/11/2026 12:25 am

Title

Application Settings - Accounting

URL Name

Application-Settings-Accounting-IE