CaseKeeper for Microsoft Access, version 2.x.  By Tim Takacs  71242,707.

   CaseKeeper is a timekeeping, case management, and billing program designed specifically for small law offices and other service firms who charge by time spent or value billing. CaseKeeper will keep track of time spent and calculate amounts owed for each case. It will keep track of escrow deposits and withdrawals. It will print statements and reports for each case. It is simple to learn and easy to use, and probably can be used in ways that its author hasnt even thought of. CaseKeeper never destroys data unless you specifically order it to, unlike many billing programs that destroy data after running statements. This means that you can always print an itemized statement for any period of time you choose. Designed as an application for the Microsoft Access (registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation, by the way, as is Windows) relational database program, CaseKeeper offers almost unlimited flexibility, especially for users familiar with Microsoft Access.

  This readme file is for users who have questions, problems or difficulties using CaseKeeper.

  CaseKeeper Help:  CaseKeeper comes with a lengthy manual (casekpr.txt). This manual contains the text of CaseKeeper's Help text, which is not a genuine Windows help file (someday when my energy level is high I'll start working on that!).

  Installing CaseKeeper:  Before installing CaseKeeper, please read the manual for instructions!

  Previous CaseKeeper users:  This updated version of CaseKeeper makes several changes to the tables in CSKPRDAT.mdb.  You should not have any problems with using a previous version of CSKPRDAT.mdb, but you may wish to transfer your data to the new version.  See your Microsoft Access manual for instructions on how to transfer data from one table to another.

  Commonly asked questions, comments, or difficulties with CaseKeeper:

  1.  "Is my data safe?"  Yes.  CaseKeeper never destroys your records, unless you tell it to, and even then, you will be prompted before deleting records.  CaseKeeper stores your data in Microsoft Access tables.  This means that import and export of your data from or to other database programs can be accomplished with ease.

  2.  "My printer prints blank pages when printing CaseKeeper reports."  This occurs because the total of your left and right margins and the width of the report exceeds 8.5 inches, the width of a standard page.  All CaseKeeper reports are now 6.49 inches in width (one user reported that he was getting blank pages, so he shortened the width from 6.5 to 6.49 inches).

  3.  "I accidentally closed the Main Menu, how do I get it back?"  Press CTRL-M to bring up the Main Menu anytime in CaseKeeper.

  4.  "My forms open too slowly."  Modify CaseKeeper's startup function to open and hide forms you commonly use.  Or, open the form and instead of closing it, hide it by clicking on its Hide From button or selecting Window/Hide from the menu.  You can get it back by selecting it from the Main Menu, clicking on another form's Form Select button, or pressing the hidden form's hotkey (e.g. CTRL-A to open the Clients form).

  5.  "I want to have more than one client for a case."  I'm working on this one.  Meanwhile, the solution is to enter the full name of each client in the Last Name field, e.g. "Smith, Mary and Johnson, William."  You have space for 255 characters.

  6.  "I was trying to print statements but my print request was cancelled.  But CaseKeeper still updated the Previous Balance."  Print requests are cancelled usually because Microsoft Access does not have enough available resources to print.  Meanwhile, CaseKeeper has already formatted your statements and updated each case's Previous Balance and Last Bill Date.  Unfortunately, there is no way to undo each case.  If these print problems tend to occur frequently, first close other CaseKeeper forms.  Next, close other running programs that are also consuming resources.  Select About CaseKeeper from the Help menu for available resources.  If it is below 20 percent, you may have problems.
  Here's an easy workaround:  In the Statement Dialog, check the box that says "Don't Update Previous Balance...".  Print your statements as you usually do.  If you get an error, try again, remembering to check the same box.  If you are successful, open Statement Dialog, don't check the box this time, and click the View button instead of Print. CaseKeeper will format your statements and update the Previous Balance and Last Bill Date for each case.  Then close the statement report.

  7.  "How do I charge interest on past due balances?"  CaseKeeper does not automatically calculate and add interest to statements.  (This is something else on my list of things to do.)  You will need to calculate the interest yourself and create a new slip as a Charge to add the interest to the client's Statement.

  8.  "I can't enter enough characters in a field."  In the 12/28/94 version of CaseKeeper, I've increased the size of almost every text field to the maximum 255 characters.  (This does not consume unnecessary resources, by the way.)  If you are using an earlier version of CaseKeeper, you can do this yourself by opening CSKPRDAT.mdb, opening the table in Design view, and increasing the number of characters in the text field.

  9.  "I added a client, case, or slip by mistake and want to delete it."  You can delete a case by marking it and then selecting Delete Marked Cases from the Utilities menu.  Watch out, though, this will delete all of your marked cases!  To delete a client, case, or slip, go to the record you want deleted and press CTRL-D.  You will be asked whether you want to delete the record.  If the record has any child records (for example, if your client has a case associated with it, and slips associated with that case), those will be deleted too.  If those child records cannot be deleted, then you may be using an earlier version of CaseKeeper that does not support cascading deletes.  See your Microsoft Access manual on how to edit table relationships to allow for cascading deletes.

  10.  "I just added a new case but it's not in Review and Edit a Case form."  That's probably because Review and Edit a Case was open when you added the new case.  To update Review and Edit a Case, select Show All Records from the Records Menu or press the F9 function key.  You will also have to update the Find Case combo box.  Or, close Review and Edit, and open it again.

  11.  "I don't like how the Statement looks."  You can redesign it to suit yourself.  Just make sure you make a copy of the original to another name in case you mess up.  And make sure that the redesigned statement is named "rStatement."

  12.  "The New Slip form includes a field I haven't seen before:  Attorney.  Now I can't save any new slips or update existing ones.  What do I do?"  You have a previous version of CaseKeeper.  I added a new text field to the "tSlips" table called "Attorney".  If you are not using the updated tables in the current version, you will need to add the Attorney field to tSlips yourself.  Field length is 4 characters.

  13.  "I did something wrong, I don't know what, and I don't know how to fix it."  If you've already read the Manual, send me e-mail, call or write and I'll try to help.  Don't worry if you haven't sent me any money.  CaseKeeper is freeware.  If you want to send a check along with your request for help, feel free; it helps pay for telephone calls to users who need help.

  14.  "I'm getting frustrated with this blasted program.  It just doesn't seem right to me."  Relax, remember that learning new software always takes time and effort at the outset.  If you haven't read the Manual, that might help.  Send me e-mail if you have particular questions or problems or just want to get something off your chest.  (I value criticism; it helps improve CaseKeeper.)  Lastly, switch to another time and billing program.  Life is too short for the aggravation; find another program that you are more comfortable with rather than trying to fit yourself to CaseKeeper.  And thanks for trying CaseKeeper anyway.


Revision history:

05/??/94:  Initial upload to MSACCESS forum.

12/28/94:  Added some extra fields to the tables; increased the size of
           several fields in several tables.

06/16/95:  Polished up CaseKeeper some more.  Several forms (e.g. Clients)
           now have their own menus, for example. Improved Aging info.
           Added 8 (currently unused) User fields to the Clients, Cases,
           Slips, and AddressBook tables, to make expansion easier.  Numerous
           minor changes that you may not notice but which pleased the
           author.

07/07/95:  More improvements to the File menu of the three cases forms.
           Now available is a list of both escrow slips and non-escrow slips
           for the case.  I also added a Contacts List form, so that the user
           can attach an Address Book record to a case, for example, an
           opposing attorney.  The Open a New Case form has been enhanced;
           you can now print a statement directly from it, for instance.

