CaseKeeper
Time & Billing System

Introduction
        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.

        System Requirements. Using CaseKeeper requires Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Access, version 2.x. There are no hardware requirements over and above those necessary to run Windows and  Access, but it is recommended that CaseKeeper be operated on a 486 or above class computer with a minimum of 8mb RAM.

        License. CaseKeeper and its documentation are copyrighted 1993 by Timothy L. Takacs, with all rights reserved. You may use this program on as many computers as you like without compensation to the author. You may freely modify this program to suit your needs. You may copy this program and its documentation and freely distribute unmodified copies of it. You may not distribute modified copies of this program or its documentation to persons outside of your organization. You may not charge anyone a fee for the program, either in its original state or as modified by you, and you may not bundle this program with any other product or service or use it as an incentive to purchase or lease any other service, without the written consent of Timothy L. Takacs.

        If you really like this program and wish to pay something for it, a fee of $25.00 is suggested. If you have modified the program and wish to share the modifications with others, please send a description of your modifications to me, the author, Timothy L. Takacs, P.O. Box 364, Hendersonville, Tennessee  37077. If you desire, I will credit your modifications in the next version of the program. If you find errors in the program or you just want to suggest some enhancements to it, please feel free to pass those along. I may also be reached at CompuServe 71242, 707.

        Disclaimer. CaseKeeper may contain design and programming flaws. Note that this program and its documentation are provided AS IS, and with any and all faults, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND (INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE). USE OF THIS PROGRAM IS ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO SOME OF THESE EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. YOU MAY HAVE OTHER RIGHTS THAT VARY FROM STATE TO STATE.

        Why should you use CaseKeeper, rather than other time and billing programs?  I have certainly not looked at all of the time and billing programs on the market; in fact, I have looked at very few.  Many of these programs boast thousands of users, generous technical support, and offer features that are not included in CaseKeeper.  If you are trying to find a time and billing program to use for your small law office or other professional firm, you will probably be examining several such programs before selecting one to use for your office.  Why choose CaseKeeper, then?

        First, CaseKeeper was written with the small professional office in mind.  I've been using CaseKeeper successfully in my office for over a year.  I keep track of clients, cases, and slips; I send out statements regularly; I know how much in fees and how much in services I generate; and I know what my profitable areas of practice are.  Most important to me, CaseKeeper helps me to make money in my law practice.

        Second, CaseKeeper is completely user customizable.  Your ability to modify CaseKeeper to suit your needs is limited only by your knowledge of Microsoft Access and by the features and flexibility of Access itself.  This is perhaps the principal reason that some organizations spend thousands of dollars to hire programmers to write computer programs for them--to give them, the users, complete control over the product.

        Lastly, the data you accumulate in CaseKeeper can be transferred easily to virtually any other database product, such as dBase, FoxPro, Approach, Excel, 1-2-3, etc., and perhaps to custom time and billing programs too (check their documentation on this).

        Conventions and Cursor Movements. This program is designed for and, indeed, cannot be run without Microsoft Access, version 2.x and Microsoft Windows. The user therefore should familiarize himself or herself with the cursor movements and commands available in these two programs. See especially Chapter 14 of the Microsoft Access Users Guide.
        Some of the more common ones that you should be familiar with in order to use CaseKeeper efficiently are:
            {TAB}or {ENTER}:  Moves from field to field; at the last field, it moves to the next record. {Shift}-{Tab} moves to the previous field.
            CTRL-PageDown or CTRL-PageUp:  Moves to the next or previous record.
            {F2} (this is Function-Key 2):  Select or deselect the current field.
            {Shift}-{F2}:  Open the Zoom Box, to see more information in a field that is displayed on the form.
            {ESC}:  Undo changes to the current field or record.
            CTRL-{ENTER}:  Insert a new line in a field, especially useful in Memo fields. (Most Memo fields in CaseKeeper, however, are set to enter a new line when the {Enter} key is pressed.)
            ALT-{DownArrow}:  Open a combo box to display choices.

See the Appendix for a list of AutoKeys available in CaseKeeper.

        Using the mouse:  Click on a field or its label to place the insertion point (that is, the cursor) into the field. To open a combo box to display choices, click on the Down Arrow on the right side of the field. Many of the forms used in CaseKeeper include command buttons. To push these buttons, click on the button. If the button is already active (it will be enclosed by dashed lines), click on it or press {ENTER}.

        Microsoft Access automatically saves changes to the current record when you move to the next record, press {SHIFT}-{ENTER}, or close the form or datasheet.

        Several actions can be taken from the keyboard using the CTRL key in combination with another key, instead of clicking on a button. These are designated on several forms using the caret (^) key, thus ^E means press the CTRL key and the e key (caps or lower case, it doesnt matter) at the same time. Note that Windows 3.1 provides for the use of the CTRL-X, CTRL-C, and CTRL-V to cut or copy selected items to the Clipboard, and to paste them into another part of the program or into another Windows application.
CaseKeeper




Overview
        Organization of the Program. A database application such as CaseKeeper stores its data in objects called tables. These tables are usually related to one another in a meaningful way to enhance data storage and retrieval and to minimize duplication of data. Data may be entered directly into the tables or it may be entered using database objects called forms. In CaseKeeper you will not enter data by editing tables but by using forms. The reason is that forms are easier to work with and allow for error and validity checking that is not available through the use of tables.

        The heart of CaseKeeper is the Cases table. While you will not (or should not) ever work directly with this table, all meaningful information about a particular matter is stored in or somehow related to this table. In CaseKeeper, any particular matter that you may handle on behalf of a client is called a case. (Your business may refer to it as a job, a file, a project, or a matter.)  Every case must have a client. (Client information is stored, naturally enough, in the Clients table.)  There may be several cases for one client, but each case must have a client. You dont have to worry about this; the program will not allow you to create a case without a client or delete a client who has cases associated with it.

        Details about the case are stored in a table called Slips. You will be entering and editing details about the case using Slip forms. Just as there can be no case without a client, there can be no slip without a case.

        What, exactly, do we mean by a slip?  A slip is any activity or action (as we refer to it in CaseKeeper) that enters a value for the case. For example, if you charge a client by time spent on a case, an action in which you expend time in the case on behalf of the client will, when entered as a slip in CaseKeeper, result in a value for that service charged in the case to your client. A conference of 1.5 hours at $100 an hour will result in a charge to the case of $150.


Actions

        The types of slips you can enter as values in a case are referred to as actions. There are six types of actions:  Services, Receipts, Disbursements, Adjustments, No Charge Services and Escrow Transactions .

        Services are actions you perform in a case on behalf of a client, resulting in a charge on the case to the client. If you charge by time spent,  you will enter time spent on a matter on behalf of a client, an hourly rate, and CaseKeeper will calculate the amount automatically. Or you may charge by the project or by the value of the particular service. For example, you may charge $250 to draft a contract. You would enter this amount directly into the slip.

        Receipts are actions in which you receive money that belongs to you. A payment on a balance due you for services is a Receipt. A payment received by you as a reimbursement for your own funds expended on behalf of a client is a Receipt. Receipts are NOT funds paid to you in escrow.

        Similarly, Disbursements are your own funds paid out or disbursed by you on a case on behalf of a client. If you advance a filing fee or recording fee from your own funds on a case, that is a Disbursement. A Disbursement is NOT a paying out of client funds from escrow.

        Adjustments are actions that can best be characterized as miscellaneous charges against a case or as write-downs or write-offs. For example, you may decide to discount a Service for a client. Rather than editing the services slip, you can add an adjusting entry to Write-Down the service amount. The result will be a deduction from the Case Balance of the written-down amount. This is similar to the No Charge Services action, which can be used to enter what ordinarily would be a Service action as a No Charge Service instead. Or you may wish to enter a Charge adjusting entry on a case. This slip would result in an increase in the amount charged on the case to your client.
        You also use Adjustments to handle fee refunds to clients.  Suppose your client pays you a $500 retainer on a case.  You begin work, and the client decides not to proceed.  You agree to a refund of $300.  How do you make adjusting entries?
        Make a Write-Down for $300 and in your slip's Note field, enter "Services not rendered."  To make a balancing entry, make another slip, a Charge for $300, and indicate in the Note field that this is "Unearned fee, refund to client."
        A special type of Adjustment is a Tax.  Some jurisdictions tax legal or professional services.  You will have to enter the correct tax manually; CaseKeeper is not set up to calculate and enter the tax automatically.  To bill the tax, make a Tax slip for the amount of the tax.  When you collect the tax, make a Tax slip and an adjusting negative entry in the Amount field.

        Escrow Transactions are actions that should be considered separate from the other actions we have discussed so far. Escrow Transactions are transactions involving other persons funds. There are only two subclasses of Escrow Transactions:  Deposits to Escrow and Withdrawals from Escrow. CaseKeeper tracks Escrow Transactions separately from the other five actions. If you receive $100 from a client to use for court costs in a case and deposit it in your escrow account, you will record this as a Deposit to Escrow on a CaseKeeper slip. When you write a check on your escrow account to the clerk of the court for the court costs, you enter this as a Withdrawal from Escrow on a slip. CaseKeeper automatically keeps track of balances in escrow.


Setup (See Appendix and UPGRADE.TXT for more information)

        First Time Users. If this is your first time using CaseKeeper, copy the four CaseKeeper files (CSKPRCOD.MDB, CSKPRDAT.MDB README.TXT and this CASEKPR.TXT) to your Microsoft Access default directory or the directory of your choice. You will not need the other two files in this archive, UPGRADE.MDB and UPGRADE.TXT.  CaseKeeper stores your data in a separate database (CSKPRDAT.MDB) that CSKPRCOD.MDB must attach to before using CaseKeeper. CaseKeeper automatically checks for attached tables everytime you open it. If this is your first time with the program, you will be asked a few questions about how you want CaseKeeper to open. Dont worry if you are not sure of your answer; you cant harm anything. Just click on a button and the setup program will do the work for you. After a few moments, CaseKeeper will have completed your setup.

        If you are on a network, attaching tables should improve performance. We have CaseKeeper installed in our office linked by Windows for Workgroups. You will keep your CSKPRDAT.MDB database, which contains your data, on one computer. Each remote computer will have a copy of CSKPRCOD.MDB, to which the tables in CSKPRDAT.MDB are attached. Forms and reports should load faster and less network traffic will be used.

        Users who are upgrading  from a previous version of CaseKeeper. DO NOT copy CSKPRDAT.MDB to the directory where you store your CaseKeeper data files. If you do, you will overwrite your existing data with empty tables and will have to restore your data from backups. Instead, copy ONLY the files CSKPRCOD.MDB, CASEKPR.TXT, README.TXT, UPGRADE.MDB, and UPGRADE.TXT to the directory of your choice. You should either delete or overwrite your existing copy of CSKPRCOD.MDB. 

	Next, follow the instructions for upgrading given in the UPGRADE.TXT file.

	Then, open CaseKeeper in the usual manner.

        You can open CaseKeeper directly from Program Manager by clicking on a program icon whose command line is C:\Access\msaccess.exe C:\Access\cskprcod.mdb, assuming that you store CSKPRCOD.MDB in your C:\Access directory. See the Microsoft Access Users Guide on how to open a database by clicking on a program icon in Program Manager.

        If you did not specify how you want the Main Menu to appear when you run CaseKeeper, click on the Macro button to the left of the database window. You will see two macros, named AutoExec Main Menu Bar and AutoExec Push Button Menu.  You have a choice in CaseKeeper of the menus you want to use. To open CaseKeeper with the menu bars at the top of the screen and the CaseKeeper Main Menu minimized, rename AutoExec Main Menu Bar to AutoExec.  To open CaseKeeper with the Main Menu restored, rename AutoExec Push Button Menu to AutoExec.  We suggest you use the Push Button Menu initially.

        After you have renamed the menu of your choice to AutoExec, close CaseKeeper and then open it again. (You will be opening CSKPRCOD.MDB, not CSKPRDAT.MDB.)  If you chose the Main Menu Bar option, the Main Menu appears as an icon on the bottom of your screen and the Menu Commands appear at the top of the screen. To experiment with the push button menus, double-click on the Main Menu icon to restore it, and click on Utilities to display the choices on the Utilities menu. (Or click on Utilities on the Menu Bar to open the Utilities drop-down menu.)  Click on  Attorneys and then the OK button (or simply double-click on Attorneys) and the Attorneys Form will open. 

        Fill in the appropriate information about each member of your firm. Pay careful attention to attorney initials. CaseKeeper uses the initials of the attorney to track the responsible attorney for each case. No two attorneys may, therefore, have the same initials in CaseKeeper. If this is the law firm of John A. Jones, Sr. and John A. Jones, Jr., it is suggested that you add an identifying suffix to distinguish the two attorneys. Use JAJ1 for the former, JAJ2 for the latter. Close the form.

        Double-Click on the Practice Categories selection to open the Practice Categories Form. Here is where you will customize CaseKeeper based on the areas of practice you or your firm concentrate in. We suggest you group the categories according to major areas of practice. For example, our sample is grouped by Family Practice, Personal Litigation, Small Business, and Real Estate. You should avoid major changes to these categories after you begin entering cases into CaseKeeper because CaseKeeper stores the category number , not its name, in its Cases table. When you are finished, close this form.

        Double-Click on Actions selection to open the Action Types Form. Note that while you can page through the Action Types (Services, Receipts, No-Charge Services, Escrow, Disbursements, and Adjustments) you cannot edit Action Types. You cannot edit or add any actions other than a Service. 

        Before you go ahead and add more services, you should know that CaseKeepers slips forms provide a Memo field for you to enter details of any service action that you enter. You should not, then, feel the need to overload the Actions List with numerous services.
.CaseKeeper




Adding Clients, Cases and Slips
        CaseKeeper was designed to work as intuitively as possible. If, at any particular screen, you believe that CaseKeeper ought to be able to let you do something, chances are it will.


Adding Your First New Client and Case

        To add your first client to CaseKeeper, double-click on the Clients selection in the Main Menus Forms menu. Or select the Clients form from the Forms drop-down menu or press CTRL-A and the Clients Form will open to a blank client record. The cursor will be inserted in the Last Name field.

        Type the clients last name or, if this is an organization, type the organizations name (e.g. XYZ Corporation). Tab through to the remaining fields of the Clients Form, adding client information as appropriate. You must enter a Last Name in the Clients Form; if you attempt to save your client record without a last name, CaseKeeper will prompt you and you will have a choice of entering a last name or closing the form without saving your data.

        You can keep track of friends and relatives for this client by adding them through the Relatives Form. Click on the Family button at the top of the Clients Form to open the Relatives Form. You can add as many relatives as you like; however, you must enter something in the Last Name field or CaseKeeper will not save your relative record. If  you have previously added relatives for this client, the Smiley label appears in the upper right corner of the Clients Form. Click on the Family button to view or edit those records.

        Tab to the Phone fields, which is actually a subform of the Clients form. You can add as many telephone numbers as you like.

        The last field is the Comments field. To enter a new client, press {PageDown}; your client record will be saved and a blank client record will appear, ready for your next client. If you are in the Comments field (or any other place in the form, for that matter) and done entering information in the Clients Form, close the form.

        To open a new case for this client, click on the Open a New Case button at the top of the form or press CTRL-O. The Clients Form will close and the Open a New Case Form will open. Note that at the top of the Open a New Case Form is the name of the client you just added to CaseKeeper.

        The cursor will be inserted in the Case Name field. Note the preceding field, Attorney, that an attorney name is already filled in. CaseKeeper automatically enters the name of the first attorney that you entered in CaseKeeper. You can go back and change this. You can also change the Case Datethe date you opened the caseby backtabbing to that field and entering another date or by clicking on the field to place the cursor in the field.
        To change the attorney name, enter the first few letters of the last name of the attorney assigned to or responsible for this case. If you need to see a list of your attorneys, click on the down arrow of the Attorney combo box or press ALT-{DownArrow} and select your attorney from the list that opens.

        After entering the attorneys name, TAB to the next field, the Case Name field. Enter a descriptive name for the case (e.g. Defense of Smith promissory note). This is another required field. The Case Name will appear in the heading of the Statement that can be printed for this case.

        The next field is the Category field, which is another required field. In this field you will enter the name of one of the practice categories you assigned when you set up CaseKeeper for your practice. Type the first few letters of a category; Microsoft Access will fill in the remainder. TAB to the next field. If you need to see a list of your practice categories, click on the down arrow of the Category combo box or press ALT-{DownArrow} and select your category from the list that opens.

        Within the rectangular Billing Block is charge and billing information. Enter the hourly rate for this case, if there is one. You dont need to put in the dollar sign or trailing zeros; Microsoft Access adds those automatically. If this is not an hourly rate case, TAB through the field; do not attempt to delete the default hourly rate of $0.00. The next field, Interest Rate, is not currently being used by CaseKeeper. However, if you think you will be charging interest on balances past due, enter a number for Interest Rate equal to the annual percentage rate of interest you will charge. Go to the next field, labeled Bill, which is a radio button field. If this button is checked or filled in, you are telling CaseKeeper that it can prepare a statement for this case when you do your billing. If this button is unchecked, you are telling CaseKeeper not to prepare a statement, even if there is a balance due for this case.
  Why would you do this?  Suppose that you ordinarily send bills monthly to clients who owe you money. However, you agree to bill your insurance client only when its cases are closed. While you are accumulating a balance due for this client, you will not be preparing a monthly statement if the Bill field is unchecked.

        In Fee Basis, enter how you will be charging this case. Is this a strict hourly rate, value billing per a fee schedule, a contingency case, a retainer-type arrangement?  Enter it here. The next field is for billing information; in it enter a reminder to you of how you will be billing this client:  monthly, upon conclusion, as a retainer is used up, or in some other manner.

        A note on fee and billing arrangements:  There are probably as many fee and billing arrangements and opinions about them as there are lawyers in the private practice of law. CaseKeeper does not attempt to deal with any but the most basic form of fee arrangements. CaseKeeper will not automatically bill a monthly retainer; you have to enter that information yourself, every month. (You might set a Key Date to remind yourself to do that; see below for more information on this feature.)  If a client owes you money and you agree to a set amount for him to pay every month (or every week, etc.) on his bill, CaseKeeper will not automatically bill that amount instead of the entire balance due. (You could print a customized message setting forth these terms on the clients statement.)

        Or, for example, suppose you agree to accept a case in which you charge your client a fixed fee out of which you will be paying the expenses. For example, you charge your client $500 for a divorce, which includes the $75 filing fee. Your client gives you $500. How should you record this in CaseKeeper?

        CaseKeeper has no way of knowing what the filing fee is and whether or not you are paying it or your client is. You, therefore, have to tell CaseKeeper that your services are actually being charged to this case for $425, not $500. You should then record the $75 you pay out for the filing fee as a disbursement; after all, it is your money that is being spent, not your clients. But since the client has repaid your disbursement, you will record $75 of the $500 received as a Repaid Disbursement; the balance of $425 you record as a Receipt.

	The Case Comments memo box is set aside for any comments you might want to enter about this casefor example, opposing attorney information, case deadlines, statutes of limitation, and the like. You may enter as much information as you wish. The end of a line wraps to the beginning of the next line. To add a new line in the Comments box, simply press {Enter}. Press {TAB} to leave the Case Comments field.

        The last two fields are the optional Key Date and Key Note fields. These fields can be used to enter statute of  limitation dates, case review or diary dates, quick notes about a case, or case deadlines, just to name a few of  the many uses for these fields. See below, on retrieving information from CaseKeeper, for more on this feature.

        If you wish to print a case report for this case, click on the Print Case Report button at the top of the Open a New Case Form or press CTRL-R. To save your new case record, close the form or TAB through the last field to the next record.

Adding a New Slip

        If, instead of closing the Open a New Case Form you want to enter a slip for your new case, click on the New Slip button at the top of the form or press CTRL-N. The Enter a New Slip Form will open. Note that CaseKeeper places the name of your client and the case name in the combo box at the top of the Enter a New Slip Form, sets the hourly rate in the slip to the cases default hourly rate, and moves to the Amount field. The default amount is $0.00.

        If you wish to enter a dollar amount for this action, type in the amount and press {TAB} or {Enter}. The cursor will skip the Hourly Rate and Time Spent fields and will be inserted in the Action Name combo box. (You can backtab and enter an amount for time spent if you like, but it will not figure in any calculations performed by CaseKeeper. If you do decide to enter an amount for time spent, however, the Hourly Rate must be $0.00.)  Enter the first few letters of the action name or click on the down arrow to display your choices. TAB to the Memo field after selecting or entering your action name. Enter any description or comment you like in the field or leave it blank. Close the form to save your slip or TAB through to a new blank slip.

        If you wish instead to enter a value for time spent, leave the Amount field at $0.00 and TAB to the time spent field and enter a value in decimals (e.g. 1.2, 2.35, .2) representing hours. Note, though, that you may change the Hourly Rate if you wish for this slip. To open the Timer for this slip, click on the Timer button or press ALT-M or CTRL-T. CaseKeeper will automatically begin timing. If you click on the Stop button on the Timer, the elapsed time in hours will display. Click on the Start button to restart the Timer. When you next click on the Stop button, CaseKeeper displays in the Hours box the total accumulated time; in other words, the Timer works like a stopwatch.

        Suppose, for example, the interval between opening the Timer and clicking on the Stop button is .25 hours, then 45 minutes elapses before you click on the Start button. You click on the Stop button again 15 minutes later, and CaseKeeper displays .50 hours in the Hours box. To set your New Slips Time Spent field to the time in the Hours box, click on the Set button. To clear or reset the Timer, click on the Clear button.

        Note that, if the amount in Time Spent is greater than zero, CaseKeeper sums the time in the Timers Hours box and the amount in your New Slips Time Spent field. This feature allows you to accumulate time in your New Slips Time Spent field (but you should clear the Timer after adding the Hours to Time Spent; otherwise, you will be accumulating time in both the Hours box and the Time Spent field, giving inaccurate results). When finished with the Time Spent field, TAB to the Action Name combo box.

        Finally, after entering Time Spent data, selecting anything other than a Service in the Action Name combo box would not make sense, so select or enter a Service Action Name from the combo box and include a description or comments in the Memo field if you wish.

        If this action is a No Charge Service, you can enter values in the Amount, Time Spent, and Hourly Rate fields, but CaseKeeper will not show the total slip amount as a balance due you.

        A note on entering negative amounts (i.e. amounts less than zero). You might be tempted to do this when recording a Receipt, for instance. This is not necessary: CaseKeeper automatically recognizes whether the value you entered in the Amount field should be a negative amount.  (You must enter the negative amount when collecting a Tax, however).

        Before saving your slip, CaseKeeper runs several checks to validate your entries. If you get a message box, you will be given an opportunity to correct your error or close the Enter a New Slip Form without saving your slip.

        Thats it!  Youve added a new client, opened a case for that client, and entered your first slip for that case.
CaseKeeper




Viewing and Editing Your Data
	You can view and edit your data in CaseKeeper as easily as you entered new clients, cases, and slips. You can open new cases for existing clients. You can add or remove records as you like, using the commands for these actions available in Microsoft Access.


Viewing & Editing Clients

	Viewing and editing existing clients is very similar to adding new clients. The same form, the Clients Form, is used. Open the Clients Form from the Forms Menu or press CTRL-A. To find an existing client, click on the letter at the bottom of the form corresponding to the first letter of your clients last name, or the first letter of the organizations name. After a moment, the Client Pick List combo box opens and displays all records beginning with the first letter. Select your client in the usual fashion and CaseKeeper retrieves your client record.

	To clear the Client Pick List and view all records in alphabetical order, click on All.  To go to the Client Pick List quickly, use the ALT-N shortcut key. (This works in several CaseKeeper combo box pick lists.)

	To delete a client record, select the record from the Edit Menu and press {DELETE} or press CTRL-D. (CTRL-D deletes the current record on several CaseKeeper forms.)  You will be prompted to confirm your deletion. If any cases are associated with this client, you will be unable to delete the record.

	If this is a client who should be changed to Noncurrent, click on the X box near the Last Name field to empty the box. (You will ordinarily want to change a client to noncurrent when you have no open or dormant matters pending for that client.)


Adding a New Case

	You use the same form to enter a new case for an existing client as you did when you entered a new case for a new client. Click on the New Cases selection on the Forms Menu or press CTRL-O. The Enter a New Case Form will open with the cursor in the Client Name combo box in the client information area at the top of the form. Select the name of your current client from the combo box list in the usual manner and {TAB} to the next field. CaseKeeper will fill in the name of your client and you may add the new case for this client just as you did before.


Viewing & Editing Cases and Slips

	To see the data about the cases you have entered in CaseKeeper, select Edit Cases from the Forms Menu or press CTRL-E.  You can also select Quick Review, which gives a summary of case information and does not include marked cases. 

The Review & Edit a Case Form will open, with the cursor in the Case Pick List combo box in the bottom right corner of the form. You have seen this combo box before:  on the Enter a New Slip Form. On the Review & Edit a Case Form it works the same way. Select your case from the drop-down list or type the first few letters of your clients last name and {TAB} to the next field. Your case record for this case will be displayed, for you to review and edit as you wish.

	After you select your case, the cursor will have moved to the Status field, another combo box. You may choose to leave the case Open, Close the case, or make it Dormant. If you close the case and move out of the field, a new field above the Slips box which displays the Closed Date. You can move to this field and change the date if you wish, but you should not delete the date unless you intend to reopen the case. If you decide to reopen the case, CaseKeeper will automatically delete the closed date and remove it from the Review & Edit a Case Form after you save the case record.

	You can move from field to field on the Review & Edit a Case Form, but certain information on this form you cannot edit. For instance, you cannot edit the Client Address block  in the upper right of the form. To edit this information, you must open the Clients Form.

	In the lower half of the Review & Edit a Case Form is a listing of all your actions for this case. You can edit any slip for this case here, or add new slips. Click on the Explode button to the left of a slip to open the New Slip form.

	You can print a Case Details or Case Summary report from Review & Edit a Case. Click on the Print Case Details Report button or press CTRL-R. You can also print a bill or statement from Review & Edit a Case. Click on the Print a Bill button. CaseKeeper will open the Statement Dialog Form to your client and case and allow you to set the parameters for your statement, preview your statement, or print it. (You should open the Statement report in Design View and add your firms name, address and telephone information to the report. To bypass CaseKeepers Main Menu, hold down the {SHIFT} key while you open the CaseKeeper database. You can also change the fonts and font sizes and other design attributes of the Statement. Hint:  Backup the original statement to a new name before editing it.

	You may also view and edit escrow transactions directly from the Forms Menu. Click on the Edit Escrow button on the Forms menu and enter the case name in the Edit Escrow Dialog combo box.


Adding a New Slip to an Existing Case

	CaseKeeper offers several methods for adding new slips to existing cases.

	The easiest method is to select  New Slips from the Forms Menu or the Forms drop-down menu. CaseKeeper will display the Enter a New Slip Form, ready for you to select an unmarked case from the combo box. After selecting your case, you can then add information to your new slip in the usual fashion.

	You can also press CTRL-N from almost anywhere in CaseKeeper to open the Enter a New Slip Form. If you are working in Review & Edit a Case Form, the Quick Review Form, or Open a New Case Form, CaseKeeper will open the Enter a New Slip Form to the case displayed on the cases forms. Press CTRL-S if you are working in one of the three cases forms and want to open a *blank* slip instead.


Viewing & Editing Todays Slips

	Select All Slips from the Forms Menu Bar. Note that your slips are sorted in descending chronological order, with todays (or the latest) slips at the top.
CaseKeeper




Retrieving Information
	Using Microsoft Access query capabilities, you can extract your data from CaseKeeper , organize it in meaningful ways, derive calculations from it, group on it, and filter it using criteria you choose. You can create new forms and reports based on the queries that you design. See your Microsoft Access Users Guide for a complete discussion of queries.

	CaseKeeper offers several parameter queries opened from its Questions Menu:   Todays Key Dates, Key Date, Cases by All  Categories, Cases by Category,  Cases by Case Date, Cases by Status, Actions by Action Type, Escrow Balances, and Case Balances. It also offers two parameter dialogs, called Client Parameters and Case Parameters, to filter client and case information.


Key Date

	Double-click on Key Date and CaseKeeper will prompt you for beginning and ending dates of Key Dates you set. CaseKeeper will display your Key Date, the Case Details (i.e. your clients name and the case name), the Case Note (if any) and the Status of your case. Unlike the other queries on the Question Menu, you can edit the Key Date and Key Note fields on this query and save them to the cases record. Double-click on any field to open the Review & Edit a Case form.

	You can probably think of numerous uses for CaseKeepers Key Date and Key Note fields. You can set an unlimited number of Key Dates/Key Notes for a case. You can set a Key Date for a field when you want to review the case again. You can set the Key Date and Key Note fields to remind you of upcoming case deadlines, or statutes of limitations, or, in general, any to-do items pertaining to that case. You do not have to set a Key Date in order to use the Key Note field. The Key Note field will hold up to 100 characters, so you can use it to keep short notes about the case. (Note, however, that if you do not set a Key Date you cannot use the Key Date query to find your note.)

	You can find all Key Dates you set for a range of dates or todays date. To find todays Key Dates only, type todays date in the Begin Date field and click on the OK button. (If you are interested in the Key Dates for one date only, you do not need to repeat the date in the End Date field.)  For example, if today is March 1, 1993, you can type March 1, 3/1, 3-1, 1-mar, or the full date format (e.g. March 1, 1993) and CaseKeeper will display all of todays Key Dates.

To use the Key Date pop-up calendar, click on the Calendar button on the upper right of the Key Date form or double-click in the Key Date field. Then, place the cursor in the Key Date forms data field and double-click on a date on the Calendar. CaseKeeper writes the date on the pop-up calendar in the Key Date field and closes the Calendar.

To use the more advanced features of Key Date, click on the Key Date Case button in the upper right of the form to open the Key Date Details for this case.


Todays Key Dates

Choose this menu selection to view all of todays (and prior to today) key dates set for your cases.

Cases by Category

	Double-click on Cases by Category in the Questions Menu. The Cases by Category Dialog box will open. Enter the name of a practice category and then a beginning date and an ending date. (When you are asked for beginning and ending dates in CaseKeeper, that means from and including the beginning date through the ending date.)  Enter dates in any of the formats accepted by Microsoft Access:  3-1-93, 3/31/93, 1-mar-93, March 1, 1993, and march 1, 1993, are all acceptable dates. Enter the responsible attorney and the case status (open, closed, dormant, or all case. After a moment or two the results of your query will be displayed.

	For example, you opened 22 Divorce cases from January 1 through March 31, 1993, and you want to view them all. Click on the Cases by Category button. Enter Divorce, January 1, 1993, and March 31, 1993 (without the quotes) in the dialog box. You will see the practice category name, client name, case name, and case date in the columns of the query. To view the case, double-click on any of its controls to open the Review & Edit a Case Form.

If you leave the practice category blank, CaseKeeper will retrieve cases in all categories. If you choose All Cases in the Status field, CaseKeeper retrieves all cases. If you leave the responsible attorney field blank, CaseKeeper retrieves cases for all attorneys.

If you leave the begin date blank, CaseKeeper inserts January 1, 1950 in the field. If you leave the end date blank, CaseKeeper inserts todays date in the field.

You can use the Cases by Category Dialog instead of Cases by Status and Cases by Case Date.


Cases by All Categories

	Double-click on Cases by All Categories in the Questions Menu. You will be prompted for beginning and ending dates. Enter dates in any of the usual Microsoft Access formats. The result of your query will display in the first column your practice category,  in the second column the number of cases in that practice category you opened during the period of time you entered, and in the third column the total Services actions you charged for those cases opened in that practice category during the period of time.

	For example, suppose your query shows you that from January 1, 1993, through March 31, 1993, you opened 22 divorce cases. It also shows in the third column $12, 250.00. This amount is the total in fees you charged for the twenty-two divorce cases (not the total charged for all of your divorce cases during this period of time). The amount shows the total of all Services actions you charged on  the divorce cases you opened from January 1 through March 31, 1993. Double-click on any of the three fields in the Divorce row and CaseKeeper will list all of your divorce cases from January 1 through March 31.


Cases by Case Date

	Double-click on Cases by Case Date. CaseKeeper will ask you for beginning and ending dates. The result will be a list of all cases you opened from the beginning date through the ending date. Double-click on any of the fields for a case to open the Review & Edit a Case Form for that case.


Cases by Status.

	Enter Open, Closed, or Dormant, when CaseKeeper prompts you for Status. The result will be a list of your open, closed, or dormant cases. Again, you can double-click on a field to open the Review & Edit a Case Form for that case.

Actions by Action Type

	CaseKeepers Actions by Action Type Dialog box  will ask you for an Action Type ID. Enter A for Adjustment, D for Disbursement, E for Escrow Transactions, N for No Charge Services, R for Receipts, or S for Services. Then supply beginning and ending dates. To view all actions, leave the ID field blank. To view actions for a single date, just enter the beginning date; CaseKeeper fills in the ending date for you when you click on the OK button.

	This query would be useful to see at a glance a list of receipts during a given period or to examine services that were charged during the period. To review and edit a slip from Actions by Action Type, double-click on any of the fields for that slip and the Slip Form will open to this slip.


Fees Charged & Received

	CaseKeepers Fees Charged & Received Dialog box will ask you to enter beginning and ending dates. The result is similar to the Cases by All Categories query, with these important differences. The result shows the practice category name, the total number of cases for which there were either fees charged or fees received for that practice category, and the total fees charged and the total fees received for that practice category.

	For example, if you entered March 1, 1993, and March 31, 1993, as the beginning and ending dates, one line of your results might be:
	Divorce		4	$3,250.00	($4,575.00)
This tells you that between March 1 and March 31, 1993, in four of your divorce cases you either charged a fee or received a fee (or both). The total fees you charged for your divorce cases during the period was $3,250.00 and the total fees received was $4,575.00.

	To view the cases for that practice category, double-click on the practice category name. You can then double-click on any fields on this form (Cases by Category, by Fees) to open the Review & Edit a Case Form for that case.


Escrow Balances

	Double-click on  Escrow Balances to display a list of all cases that have escrow balances  greater than zero. Double-click on any field to open the Review & Edit a Case Form for that case.


Case Balances

	The result of this query will give you a list of Client and Case Names who have balances greater than a certain amount that you are prompted to enter. For example, to display a list of all clients/case names who owe you more than $100, enter 100 (without quotes) when prompted. Note that the result of this query will not display case balances that are $100.00 or less. Double-click on any field to open the Review & Edit a Case form for that case.


Client Parameters/Case Parameters

These dialog boxes are largely self-explanatory. To find all of your clients whose last names begin with Wil, for example, enter wil (without the quotes; note that searches are not case-sensitive) and click on the Search button. CaseKeeper retrieves all of your clients whose last names or names begin with Wil, for example, Williams, Wilson, Wilco Printing Company, etc.

	Use the Case Parameters dialog to filter similarly for case information.


Create a Query

	The Create a Query feature enables you to create your own query. You can create any type of query available in Microsoft Access using any table or query in CaseKeeper. You can save your query and use it again.

	See your Microsoft Access Users Guide for more information on creating queries.


Printing Results

	To print the results of your query, select Print from the File menu.
.CaseKeeper




Moving and Deleting Clients and Cases

	Move NonCurrent Clients moves all noncurrent clients to a separate table (Noncurrent Clients) and deletes them and their associated relatives records from the Clients table. First, of course, you must click on the Current Client? X box to empty it for each client record to be moved. Second, your client must not have any cases associated with it. For that reason, you should Move Closed (or Marked ) Cases or Delete Marked Cases before moving clients to the Noncurrent Clients table. If you do not, you will get an error message from Microsoft Access, telling you that 0 records were deleted, [##] records have key violations. . . or something of the sort. If this is the first time that you have moved clients or cases, this probably means that there are [##] number of clients for which you failed to move or delete cases. Go ahead and complete the query, then close the cases that are open, and start over again.

	If this is not the first time you have moved clients or cases, this message may mean one of two things. First, it could mean what we indicated above, that there are a number of noncurrent clients you are moving for which you failed to move or delete cases. More likely, though, it means that you are moving a closed or marked case whose client already contains an associated record in the Noncurrent Clients table. You are being told that the client record is not going to be copied again to the Noncurrent Clients table.

	Example:  Your client is XYZ National Bank, for whom you open several new cases every month. These cases usually open and close within a matter of a few days. You decide to mark all closed XYZ Bank cases at the end of each month and move them. For each such case CaseKeeper will attempt to append all case and client information. Microsoft Access will move the case information to Closed Cases, but will not duplicate the client information, giving you a warning message instead, which you may safely ignore. Your marked cases are moved and your client information safely remains as a current client in the Clients table.

	Delete Cases deletes all cases from your Cases table that you have marked for deletion using the Delete button on the Review & Edit a Case Form. It automatically deletes any slips associated with the case. Once the case and its slips are deleted, they cannot be recovered.

	Move Closed Cases moves all Closed cases out of the Cases table and into the Closed Cases table. Slips associated with the Closed cases are not moved but permanently deleted and cannot be recovered. If you wish to retain the slips, you should copy CaseKeeper and your data to another Microsoft Access database or export the Cases and Slips tables to another database; then run Move Cases.

	Storing out-of-date case and client information may not be important to you. If so, run Delete Cases to delete all marked cases and their slips from the database. (Warning!:  CaseKeeper deletes all Closed cases from the Cases table when  running the Move Cases action, even those with case balances. Therefore, unless you do not use CaseKeeper for billing or choose to write-off the balances, change the status of these cases to Open or Dormant before running Move Cases.)

	After deleting your closed cases, you can delete their associated client records by selecting and deleting them one-by-one from the Clients Form. Or you can switch to Datasheet from the View Menu and click on the record selector and delete the record by pressing the {DEL} key. (You can also create an Action Query that deletes all noncurrent clients. See your Microsoft Access Users Guide.)

	From CaseKeepers Utilities Menu, select View Moved Clients & Cases to view your moved clients and cases. Press CTRL-R to print a Closed Case Report.

	A word about marking cases. Cases can only be marked for moving or deletion from the Review & Edit a Case Form. A marked case does not display in the Enter a New Slips Form case name combo box, in the Quick Review case name combo box, the Statement Dialog combo box, and the Escrow Dialog combo box. Can you enter a new slip for a marked case?  Yes, while viewing your marked case in Review & Edit a Case Form, you can click on the New Slip button.
CaseKeeper




Printing Statements and Reports
	Printing Statements with CaseKeeper is easy. From the Reports Menu, select Statements to open the Statements Dialog Form. To view or print single statements, select the case from the combo box and enter information in the remaining fields if you desire. CaseKeeper will not print statements for cases that you have marked or in which the Bill field is set not to bill. (Note that in printing statements CaseKeeper defaults to printing all statements where case balances are greater than zero, for all attorneys in the firm, with a statement date of today, and showing detail transactions from and including the first day of last month and the last day of last month.)

	If you wish merely to view your statements before printing them, click on the View button. To print your statement or statements, click on the Print button.

	If you set the Begin Date and the End Date for the same day, these dates will not be printed on the statement (that is, in the space above the detail section and below the case information section). For example, if, today, you open a new case, make a service action, and print a bill, you will probably want to set the Begin and End Dates for today.

	CaseKeeper does not destroy data. It will not warn you if you have previously printed a statement for a case, edited slips for that case, and then run a statement for that case again. Because you are free to edit your slips in any case at any time, CaseKeeper does not run prebills. To run prebills, print your statements as you ordinarily would, make your corrections, and print your statements again. If you wish not to update the previous balance and last bill date fields when you view or print statements (or prebills), click on the Dont Update checkbox on the Statement Dialog.

	CaseKeeper will print a Case Balances Report. This report yields the same information as does Case Balances on the Question Menu.

Just like with Statements, you can also view or print escrow statements or reports for a case. Select Escrow from the Reports menu to open the Escrow Dialog. Notice that it looks very much like the Statement Dialog, except it lacks the Greater Than and Less Then fields, which are not really appropriate for an escrow report. The Case Pick List box lists all unmarked cases in which you have entered escrow transactions. Select a case and click on the View button to view the report, Print to print it. To view or print all escrow statements, leave the Case Pick List blank.

Selecting Case Details from the Reports menu enables you to view or print a comprehensive report about your case. In addition to including all the fields in the Case Report, the Case Details Report adds a list of your non-escrow transactions and other useful information. If you regularly move your cases to the Closed Cases table or delete them from CaseKeeper altogether, you might want to print out a Case Details Report as a paper record of your transactions in the case. (Moving cases deletes all slips for that case.)
CaseKeeper




Address Book
	The Address Book Form is a simple utility created for  the convenience of CaseKeeper users who might want to keep address book records in the same Microsoft Access database with their clients and cases information. The Address table, where your address information entered through the Address Book Form is stored, is not related to or connected with your client and case information. This means that the Client records you enter in CaseKeeper through the Clients Form will not appear in the Address Book Form. To insert your client records in the Address table, you will have to enter them manually through the Address Book Form or paste them in.

	The Address Book Form works almost exactly like the Clients Form. One field, however, is something you havent seen before:  The Type combo box. Unlike other CaseKeeper combo boxes youve seen, you are not limited to the pick list that is displayed when you click on the down arrow or press ALT-{DownArrow}. In fact, the first time you use the Address Book Form, there will be no selections for you to pick from in the combo box pick list. You will use this box to enter a descriptive type for the record you are entering. For example, if you are adding a member of the Rotary Club to your Address Book, you might type Rotary in the combo box. The next time you open the Address Book or move to the next record, Rotary will appear in the combo box pick list for you to select. (Be Careful!  If you make a mistake and enter Notary instead of Rotary, Notary will appear in the combo box.)  You will then have to use the Find button to find the Notary entry and correct it.

     Using the Contact List.  You can attach Address Book records to a case by using CaseKeeper's Contact List.  For example, suppose you want to record the opposing attorney for a case.  CaseKeeper's Contact List is accessible from any of its three Cases forms.  Select Contacts List from the form's File menu.  The Contacts List form opens.  From the drop-down "Contact Name" combo box that lists all of the names in your Address Book, find the attorney's name or law firm and select it.  Tab to the Description field and type an identifier, such as "Attorney for XYZ Corp.".  Close the Contacts List form, or continue to add as many different contacts as you like.

     If you attempt to enter a name that is not listed in the Contact Name combo box, the Address Book form will automatically open for you to add the name. (If you know that it's not going to be there, you can skip this step and simply click on the button to the left of the combo box instead.) Once you have added and saved that Address Book record, return to the Contacts List form.  With your cursor in the Contact Name combo box, press the function key F9 or select Show All Records from the Record menu in order to refresh/requery the contents of the combo box.

  To view the full Address Book information about the contact, click on the button to the left of the Contact Name combo box.

Note that if you delete an Address Book record that has been attached to a case, you will not have deleted the attachment.  (If you open the Contacts List for that case, you'll see that the combo box is empty, but the record still exists.)
CaseKeeper




Appendix:  Setup and Customizing CaseKeeper

    This Appendix is for CaseKeeper users who may want additional information on how CaseKeeper can be customized to their liking.

    Placing CaseKeeper in Program Manager as an icon. To give CaseKeeper its own icon in a program group in Program Manager follow these steps:
    Select your Microsoft Access icon in its program group and copy it to the program group where you want to start CaseKeeper.
    Go to this program group and select the icon that has just been copied. From the File menu, choose Properties. . . . In the Description box, type CaseKeeper and tab to the Command line.  In the Command line, enter C:\ACCESS\MSACCESS.EXE C:\ACCESS\CSKPRCOD.MDB, assuming that your Microsoft Access program files are located in the C:\ACCESS directory and you store CSKPRCOD.MDB in that directory.

    Click on the Change Icon button and select an icon for CaseKeeper. We use the red dollar-sign icon that may be found by entering C:\WINDOWS\MORICONS.DLL in the File Name box.
Click on OK to accept the icon of your choice and OK again to accept your Properties changes. The icon you selected to run CaseKeeper will now appear in your program group. If you want CaseKeeper to open automatically when you start Windows, move or copy your CaseKeeper icon into Windows Startup group.

    Customizing the AutoExec macro. CaseKeeper includes two AutoExec macros for you to use, AutoExec Push Button Menu and AutoExec Main Menu Bar. Functionally, these macros are identical; the difference is that in the latter macro, CaseKeepers Main Menu is opened as an icon (i.e. minimized).

    Some users prefer to open large forms "hidden" when the AutoExec macro is run. This reduces the time that these forms take to "open" when the user calls them from a menu. You will probably find that most of your work in CaseKeeper will be in the Clients, New Slip, and three cases forms (Review & Edit a Case, Quick Review, and Open a New Case). You may choose to add an OpenForm action to the end of your AutoExec macro to open all or any of these forms "hidden" or minimized.  Or, look in the Setup module for the two AutoExec functions.

    Hiding CaseKeeper forms. Instead of closing a CaseKeeper form, you can hide it by selecting Hide from the Window menu or, in several forms, by clicking on the Hide button. If any forms are hidden, select Show from the Window menu to display a list of hidden forms or click on the Form Select button that appears on several CaseKeeper forms. Double-click on the name of the form that you want to show.

    Using the Dialer. A dialer feature is included on the Clients form and Address Book.  Before dialing a number, click on the Setup button to make sure your COM port is properly set.

    Modifying the Case Report. Open the Case Report in Design view to see how this report has been cobbled together. Feel free to modify the Case Report to display case information to your liking. You should be aware, however, that when a Case Report is printed, this reports OnFormat function in its Detail section hides a number of controls if they are null. This prevents gaps and spaces from showing up on the Case Report. If you remove any of these controls from Case Report, you may cause an error to occur when the Case Report is printed. To avoid this, open the Case Report macro and delete the line from the Hide Controls function corresponding to the control that you deleted from the Case Report.

    Modifying the Statement. A CaseKeeper statement actually consists of a main report (rStatement) and a subreport (rsStatement, or "Statement Details"). The Statement Details subreport will shrink when there are no detail records to print or view for a case. For example, suppose that XYZ Corporation owes you $500 on a case on May 1. During the month of May, you add no actions (slips) for this case; on June 1, XYZ Corporation still owes you $500. When you print Mays statement for XYZ Corporation on June 1, CaseKeeper will print no detail records (there are none for the month of May), only the Previous Balance ($500) and Balance Due ($500).

    Do not delete any bound controls on either the Statement report or its Statement Details subreport, as unpredictable results have been known to occur. If you do not want certain information to print or display, select the control in Design view and set its Visible property to No.

    If you decide to modify Statement or Statement Details, you probably should make a copy of the original report (copy it to the clipboard and paste it back as, for example, "StatementOld") and then modify the report as you please. If you mess up, simply delete your modified Statement or Statement Details and rename your "StatementOld" to "rStatement."

    "Marked" Cases and "Do Not Bill" Cases. A statement cannot be printed  for either marked cases or "Do Not Bill" cases (i. e., the Bill radio button is empty). Other than this, there is no difference between a Do Not Bill case and any other unmarked CaseKeeper case. A marked case, however, will not display in the Case Pick List of the New Slip form and Quick Review form. More importantly, only a marked case can be moved or deleted by making the appropriate selection from the Utilities menu. Note that even though a case is marked, if  a balance is due the case will be displayed on the Case Balances form and printed on the Case Balances report. To prevent this, enter a New Slip as a write-down of the balance due, to "zero-out" the balance due.

    Deleting Duplicate Clients and Cases. Occasionally a duplicate client or case may be entered into CaseKeeper. To prevent accidental deletion of records, CaseKeeper was purposely designed to make deletion of client and case records more than a one-step procedure.

   To delete a client record, open the Clients form and display the client record you wish to delete. From the Edit menu, select Select Record. From the Edit menu, select Delete or press the {DELETE} key. You will be asked to confirm the deletion. Or, press CTRL-D to delete the client record.  If there are cases or other records associated with the client, you will be prompted to confirm the deletion.  Deleting the client record will delete all records associated with that client (cases and slips, key dates,  and relatives).

    To delete a case, mark the case and then select Delete Cases from the Utilities menu. Do this only if this is the only case that you have marked. Otherwise, if you continue you will find that all of your marked cases will be deleted from the Cases tables, and you will not be able to retrieve them.

    To find other marked cases, select Show Marked Cases from the Utilities menu. The Marked Cases form will open, listing all cases that you have marked. You can delete cases from this form. To delete a case, find your case on the form and click on the record selector box to the left of the form. The box will be highlighted. Press the {DELETE} key; you will be prompted to confirm the deletion.

    Zip Code Lookup. After entering a zip code in the Clients form and Address Book form, CaseKeeper pauses to look up your zip code. If your Zip code is in CaseKeeper's ZIP table, CaseKeeper will automatically fill in the City and State fields in your new record. This slows down data entry slightly, but ensures that your city and state fields are always entered correctly. This feature also allows you to tab through the city and state fields and simply enter the zip code, and let CaseKeeper fill in the city and state fields for you.  If you don't like this feature, open the form in design view and delete [Event Procedure] from the zip code field's AfterUpdate property.

    Zip codes for the state of Tennessee are included with CaseKeeper.  You can add zip code information for your jurisdiction.  Several BBS's and online services (such as CompuServe) contain Zip code databases in their libraries.  Look at the structure of the "tZip" table in your CSKPRCOD.mdb.

    Using the CaseKeeper calendar.  In almost every date field in a CaseKeeper form, you can double-click in that text box to bring up the CaseKeeper Calendar.  If the text box is empty, the Calendar will open to today's date.  If not, it will open to the date in your text box.  To use the Calendar to set the date in your form, double-click on the date in the Calendar.  Click on the arrow and double-arrow buttons to increment by month and year.  Click on the Month-Year display to return to today's date.

Or, while your cursor is in the date field, press the "+" key to increment by one day, the "-" key to decrement by one day.  To increment the displayed date by one week, press "k"; decrement a week by pressing "w."  Press "m" and "h" to decrement and increment by one month; press "y" and "r" to decrement and increment by one year.
CaseKeeper




Appendix:  Auto Keys and Keyboard Shortcuts; Revision History
        Auto Keys in CaseKeeper. CaseKeeper includes numerous Auto Keys or keyboard shortcuts to make your work in CaseKeeper quicker and more efficient. These keys are invoked by press either the CTRL key or the ALT key and the letter following at the same time.
            CTRL-A:  Opens the Client form.
            CTRL-B:  Opens the Address Book.
            CTRL-D:  Deletes the current record (you are prompted to confirm the deletion).
            CTRL-E:  Opens the Review & Edit a Case form.
            CTRL-K:  Opens the New Key Date form.
            CTRL-M:  Opens the Main Menu form (useful if you accidentally have closed Main Menu).
            CTRL-N:  Opens a New Slip form; if you are working in any of the three cases forms (New Case, Review & Edit a Case, Quick Review), the New Slip will be set to enter a new slip for the same case you are working in.
            CTRL-O:  Opens the Open a New Case form.
            CTRL-P:  Prints the current record.
            CTRL-Q:  Opens the Quick Review form.
            CTRL-R:  Prints a Case Summary Report in Open a New Case form; opens the Print a Case Report  Dialog if you are working in Review & Edit a Case or Quick Review; prints a Closed Case Report if in the Moved Clients/Cases form.
            CTRL-S:  Opens a blank New Slip form, even while working in one of the three cases forms.
            CTRL-T:  Opens the timer while in a New Slip form.
             CTRL-Z:  Opens the Zoom Box.

        While working in several CaseKeeper forms the following keyboard shortcuts can be used:

        If a letter in a label is underlined, you can move the cursor to that field by pressing ALT-<underlined letter>. In addition, in many CaseKeeper forms the following conventions are used:

            ALT-C:  Closes the form, saving any changes. This is the keyboard equivalent of clicking on the Close form icon. This is also equivalent to selecting Close and Save from the File menu in the menu bar.
            ALT-D:  Opens the pop-up Calendar. This is the keyboard equivalent of clicking on the Calendar button.
            ALT-F:  Moves the cursor to the Filter text box, on those forms that have them (e.g. Address Book, Clients).
            ALT-H:  Hides the form. This is the keyboard equivalent of clicking on the Hide form icon. This is also equivalent to selecting Hide from the Window menu in the menu bar.
            ALT-K:  On the two Key Date forms, this command opens the Key Date Case form, and is the keyboard equivalent of clicking on the Key Date Case button. On the three cases forms, this command  moves the cursor to the Key Dates subform.
            ALT-N:  Moves the cursor to a combo box for selecting a client or a case or a name (for example, the Client Pick List in the Clients form footer; the Case Pick List on the Review & Edit a Case form; the Name Pick List on the Address Book).
            ALT-O:  In forms that contain them, this keyboard shortcut moves the cursor to a note or memo field.
            ALT-P:  Prints a report; this is the keyboard equivalent of clicking on the Printer icon on several CaseKeeper forms (for example, Open a New Case, to print a summary Case Report).
            ALT-S:  Opens a slip on the three cases form; the keyboard equivalent of clicking on the New Slips button.
            ALT-Z:  Opens the Form Select; the keyboard equivalent of clicking on the Form Select button on a CaseKeeper form.

Revision History

August 29, 1994:  Cascade delete Clients and all related records (Cases, Slips, Key Dates, Relatives).  Added Social Security Number and Date of Birth to Clients table and Clients form.  Added "Tax" Action to Adjustments.  Added Slips Report.  Fixed error in append and delete queries on Utilities Menu.
