Happy Thanksgiving from Orion
Happy Thanksgiving to our Orion Clients! Now that November is coming to a close, the Holiday Season is quickly approaching. In this edition of our Orion Happenings, the Support Corner articles will focus on the procedures and guidelines for successful preparation and processing of 1099 Forms at your firm.
Check those out below, contact the Support Desk if you have any questions or need assistance.
Schedule Your Firm Upgrade
Orion Version 4.6 is ready to be launched at your firm. This update contains many new enhancements to your existing Orion software. Check out the informative video below highlighting some of the new features, and the link to the notes regarding this release.
Orion Version 4.6 Highlights Video
Release Notes
Make sure you contact the Support Desk now to schedule the day/time for your upgrade.
Limited Time Add-On Module Sale
It’s a great time to be an Orion Client! We are offering a special promotion to our Clients, that will help your firm take advantage of our recently released software modules. These modules also contain new updates with the release of Orion Version 4.6.
For a limited time, your firm can purchase either TWO or THREE of the following add-on modules at a discounted rate: AP Imaging Module, Expense Reimbursement Module, or AR Collections Module.
If you decide to purchase two of these additional modules, you will receive a one time discount of 20% off the combined pricing. Those that purchase all three will receive a one-time discount of 30% off the combined purchase price.
Contact info@orionlaw.com to obtain pricing and take advantage of this special “Post User Group Meeting” Sale!
*This offer is valid for existing Clients only and will be available through December 31, 2014. Must purchase either two or three of the modules above to qualify for discount. Pricing does not include training.*
Orion’s Latest Press Release
Orion Announces Extensive Enhancements to Orion Software at the 2014 User Group Meeting
October 20, 2014 – ATLANTA – Orion Law Management Systems, Inc., a leading provider of financial and practice management software for law firms, announces Orion Version 4.6, an extensive update to the current Orion Version 4 Software, at the 2014 User Group Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia. The User Group Meeting is made up of administrators, partners, accountants, IT and other professionals from law firms nationwide.
The User Group Meeting provides clients with a forum to discuss law firm best practices and share expertise, be among the first to learn about Orion’s product updates, and provide constructive feedback to Orion staff. The agenda includes numerous general sessions and breakout sessions covering the latest trends in law firm management and technology. Orion secured noted author and lawyer Ari Kaplan as their keynote speaker, motivating the audience with his message “Recovery, Renewal & Reinvention: Navigating the Next Decade”.
Frances Rausch, Administrator at Boyd & Jenerette, P.A. commented, “Our relationship began with Orion in 1996, as a longtime client and user of Orion I find the User Group Meeting to be a valuable opportunity to continue my education and learn about new features directly from the Orion Staff. These sessions give users an opportunity to share our experiences with the software, as well as a direct line of communication to support and development at Orion.”
View the complete Press Release by clicking here.
Orion Buzz
Legal IT Professionals – Orion Law Management Systems Announces Extensive Enhancements to Orion Software at the 2014 User Group Meeting
LTN Law Technology News – Orion Releases Version 4.6
Yahoo Finance – Orion Law Management Systems Announces Extensive Enhancements to Orion Software at the 2014 User Group Meeting
Client Milestones
Redgrave LLP – Made the selection of Orion’s complete software solution including Financial Management and Practice Management.
Galloway, Johnson, Tompkins, Burr & Smith – Selected Orion to streamline Financial Management operations at their firm.
Beus Gilbert PLLC – Selected Orion’s Financial and Practice Management software to improve operations at their firm.
Dowling Aaron Inc. – Chose Orion’s Financial and Practice Management software as their new all-in-one solution.
Duncan & Allen – Chose Orion as their Financial Management software.
Orion Visual Analytics
Orion’s excited to announce another great addition to our software suite. A Webinar was hosted by Carl Mack, CEO of IntelliMetrics LLC. This gave you the first look at Orion’s new software enhancement, Orion Visual Analytics.
The Orion Visual Analytics platform provides Users easy to understand, concise insight into complex business questions. Orion Visual Analytics will give your Firm quick access to financial performance information at a variety of levels.
This new platform enables Orion Users to gain insight from data more easily and more quickly than they ever have using traditional management reports or Excel spreadsheets. If you were unable to attend our demo, click the link below to watch it now.
Orion Visual Analytics Introduction Demo
Watch the Recording Here
Interested in getting Orion Visual Analytics at your firm? Email the Support Desk for more information.
ALA Annual Conference & Exposition
As a proud supporter of the ALA, Orion is excited to announce that we will be attending the 2015 ALA Annual Conference & Exposition, taking place May 17-20, 2015 at the Music City Center in Nashville, TN.
Orion will also be celebrating its 30th year of providing excellence in legal management software! You won’t want to miss out on the fun, registration for attendees begins on December 1, 2014. For more information, visit the ALA website.
News from 4L Law Firm Services
Preparing for 1099s
Orion has once again partnered with Michael Marget of 4L Law Firm Services, to provide our Users with the most up-to-date information regarding 1099 processing at their firms via a FREE webinar opportunity.
Fourth 1st Annual “To 1099 or Not to 1099” Webinar
Thursday, December 11, 2014 at 2:00 PM EST
Register Now
This is a friendly reminder to our Clients and friends: The deadline for providing 1099’s to “1099-reportable payees” is just three months away. The 1099 IRS reporting deadline is four months away; five, if you file electronically.
- Are you up-to-date in reviewing all firm bank accounts (including Client Trust Accounts) to identify all 1099-reportable payees?
- Do you have W-9’s on file from all of your 2014 1099-reportable payees?
- If you plan to or are required to file electronically this year (250 or more 1099’s) have you previously established an account on the IRS Filing Information Returns Electronically (“FIRE”) System? (The IRS suggests you allow at least 45 days for processing a new FIRE account)
If the answer to any of those three questions is “No” it’s time to start getting all your ducks in a row. January is always busy enough as it is and 1099 reporting requires a lot of time if things are not planned out in advance. Make sure you sign up for this webinar today as space is limited!
Client Trust Account – Last Activity “Aging” Report by Mike Marget of 4L Law Firm Services
We all know the client trust accounting rules inside/out. No comingling. Prompt withdraw of funds earned by the firm. Report all activity to clients. Investigate uncashed checks. Do reconciliations. Keep good records. Make sure everything balances. But as accountant-administrators, we tend to defer to the lawyers the task of ensuring trust accounts are “closed” and everything disbursed when the matter is completed.
An interesting story was told during last month’s Orion User Group Meeting. An administrator reported being “grilled” by an examiner from the State Bar as to why certain client trust accounts had no activity (deposits or withdrawals) over the last six months. Why were these funds still being held by the firm? That got me thinking…
Read the rest of the article by clicking here.
Orion and Affinity Consulting Group
In this edition of our Orion Happenings, the Tech Tip is written by Scott Bassett, Esq., Newsletter Editor at Affinity Consulting Group. Affinity and Orion have maintained an excellent relationship over the years. Both companies have a reputation of being valuable business partners to their Clients by providing top-notch customer service.
Affinity consultants are legal process, technology and management experts who can help you run an efficient and profitable law firm. Reach out to them for the tools and experience you need to optimize your practice. For more information on Affinity Consulting, check out their website here.
Orion’s Knowledge Base
Orion has released a valuable tool to its clients, known as the Knowledge Base. Many of you are already taking advantage of this when seeking support or general Orion knowledge, but we wanted to take a moment to remind our Happenings readers of this resource.
Orion’s Knowledge Base contains hundreds of helpful articles and video tutorials, written by our IT and Support Staff here at Orion.
If you don’t already have access, email the Support Desk and we will get you set-up with your username and password.
Support Corner
Preparing for 1099 Processing
Processing and creating 1099 Forms is done once a year and can be a challenging task. Procedures performed on a daily, weekly or monthly basis are easy to remember. Those performed only once per year require “refreshing” your memory every time you need to use the procedure. The key to making the production of 1099 Forms easier and less stressful is in setting up the vendors correctly on the front end and in knowing how to get the most out of the 1099 processing program.
Preparing for 1099 Processing Guidelines – Read the guidelines and procedures to follow when preparing for 1099 processing.
Vendor Set-up – This video focuses on how a vendor is initially set-up for the 1099 default and how to correct a distribution line in a voucher.
Work-File Query – This video covers setting up your work-file query to be used with 1099 processing, which you can view by clicking here. Note: Most Clients will not need to re-do this task, but if you are a new Client you may find this video beneficial.
Processing 1099 Forms in Orion
1099 Processing Instructions – Once you are prepared by making sure the steps above are completed, you are ready to process your 1099 Forms in Orion.
1099 Processing Instructions Video – This video is another helpful aid to help you understand the processing instructions.
Editing Layout – Watch this video for help in editing the layout of your actual 1099 Forms.
Tech Tip
MS Word Tip of the Month for November
– Scott Bassett, Esq., Newsletter Editor at Affinity Consulting Group
The two document formats lawyers most often encounter are Word (.docx) and Adobe Acrobat (.pdf). In Word 2013, you can not only open, create, and edit Word files, you can do the same with PDF documents.
For many years (since Word 2007), you have been able to save (or export) MS Word documents as PDF files from within Word. With Word 2013 (or Office 365, which includes Word 2013), you can open PDF files in Word. That process actually converts text-based PDF files into editable Word files. You can then make changes and save the modified document as a Word file and/or convert it back to PDF from within Word. This is a huge convenience. The downside is that the “round trip” conversion process from PDF to Word to PDF (like all similar “round trip” file format conversions) may cause the appearance of the document to change slightly. For example, page breaks or other formatting features may change from the original PDF…
To read the complete Tech Tip, click here.