The matter workspace

When you open a matter, you land in its workspace: a single page that gathers everything about the case in one place. From here you can see the financial picture at a glance, work through every task and document, log time, send email, and track the firm's progress on the matter. This page explains every part of the matter workspace and how to use it.

A "matter" is a single legal case or file you are handling for a client (for example, a personal-injury claim or an estate matter). Each matter has its own number, its own clients, and its own workspace.

Before you begin

• You reach the matter workspace by opening a matter from the matters list. See Browsing matters for how to find and open a matter.
• You need View access for matters to open the workspace at all. If your role does not include it, you will see a "no access" message instead of the matter.
• What you can change inside the workspace depends on your role. Many actions (editing the matter, recording a trust deposit, working the workflow, creating tasks or invoices) require the matching permission. Firm owners can do everything. Where an action is hidden because of your role, this page says so.
• Some features in the workspace use a connected Google account (for sending email and scheduling). See Connecting Google (Gmail, Calendar, Meet).

A tour of the page

The workspace has three parts: a header at the top, a row of tabs below it, and (on the Overview tab) a sidebar on the right.

1. The header shows a breadcrumb (Matters > the matter's number, for example MAT-1042), the matter's title in large text, and the action buttons on the right.
2. The tab bar lets you switch between the different aspects of the matter: Overview, Tasks, Activities, Events, Notes, Communications, Documents, Invoices, and Transactions. The tab you choose is remembered in the page address, so you can bookmark or share a link straight to a specific tab.
3. The sidebar appears only on the Overview tab. It holds the matter's key details, its custom fields, and record information. On the other tabs the content uses the full width of the page.

The Overview tab

The Overview tab is the home base for the matter. It has three stacked sections: the stat cards at the top (with a Budget bar below them when the matter has a budget), the Workflow section in the middle, and the Recent activities timeline at the bottom. The sidebar on the right rounds out the picture with the matter's details.

The stat cards

Four cards across the top give you the matter's money picture at a glance. Each card shows a number and a short hint, and most are clickable.

• Trust balance shows the total held for this matter across your trust and IOLTA accounts. A "trust account" (also called an IOLTA account) holds client money you have not yet earned, kept separate from the firm's own funds. The hint reads "Trust + IOLTA accounts." A positive balance is highlighted. Clicking the card opens the related trust account, or the Accounts page if the matter touches more than one. See Accounts, trust, and transactions.
• Total billed shows the total amount invoiced on this matter, with the amount already collected in the hint (for example, "$1,200.00 collected"). Clicking the card jumps to the Invoices tab.
• Outstanding shows the unpaid balance across this matter's invoices, with the invoice count in the hint. Clicking it jumps to the Invoices tab.
• Overdue shows the amount past its due date. If anything is overdue the number is highlighted and the hint reads "Past the due date"; otherwise it reads "Nothing past due." Clicking it jumps to the Invoices tab.

The Budget bar

If the matter has a budget, a Budget bar sits directly below the stat cards. It shows at a glance how much of the budget the matter has used so far, so you can tell whether the case is tracking on plan.

The bar shows three things:

• The percent spent of the budget.
• The amount spent so far.
• Either how much budget is left, or, once the matter goes over budget, how much it is over. When the matter is over budget, the bar turns red.

"Spent" is the total billed across this matter's invoices that are Pending, Partially paid, or Paid. Invoices that are Draft, In review, Declined, Refunded, Canceled, or Archived do not count toward it. Because it counts the invoiced amount, a Pending invoice adds to the spend as soon as it is issued, before the client has paid.

You set a matter's budget when you create or edit it. On the Billing step, with the Hourly billing method, check Set a budget for this matter and enter a Matter budget amount. See Creating a matter.

The customers and related contacts

The matter's people live in the sidebar on the right, under Matter information:

• Clients lists the contacts the matter is being handled for. Each name is a link straight to that contact's record.
• Related contacts lists other people connected to the matter who are not the client (for example, an opposing party, a witness, or an expert). Each name links to the contact.

If a section has no one in it, it shows a dash. To add or change clients and related contacts, edit the matter (see Header actions below). For more on contacts, see Working with contacts.

Recent activity

At the bottom of the Overview tab, the Recent activities timeline records what has happened on the matter, newest first: when it was created or edited, stage changes, customers and contacts added or removed, billing changes, and more. This is covered in detail under The matter activity timeline below.

The tabs

Each tab opens a focused view of one part of the matter. Below is what each one is for. Most actions inside a tab are gated by the matching permission, so a button may be hidden if your role does not include it.

Tasks

The Tasks tab lists the to-do items for this matter and lets you add, edit, complete, and remove them. It is the same task experience used elsewhere in Esqase, scoped to this matter. See Creating and managing tasks.

Activities

The Activities tab is where you track billable time and expenses on the matter. Each activity is a time entry or an expense that can later go onto an invoice. See Time and expense tracking.

Events

The Events tab shows the meetings and appointments tied to this matter and lets you create new ones. Events can sync to your connected Google Calendar. See Calendar and events.

Notes

The Notes tab holds the matter's internal notes: research, call summaries, and reminders for the team. You can also record time against a note. Several of the matter tabs (Tasks, Events, Notes, Communications, and Documents) carry a Record time control for billing time against an item; once that time entry has been billed or paid, the control becomes a view-only eye icon that opens the entry read-only. See Notes and Time and expense tracking.

Communications

The Communications tab logs the calls and emails exchanged about the matter, so the whole team can see the history of client contact. See Logging communications.

Documents

The Documents tab is the matter's file folder. Open, create, and edit documents, then share them or send them for signature. See The documents workspace.

Invoices

The Invoices tab lists the matter's invoices and lets you create and send new ones. The Overview stat cards summarize these. See Creating and sending invoices.

Transactions

The Transactions tab shows the payments, trust deposits, and other money movements recorded against the matter. This is where a trust deposit you record (below) shows up. See Accounts, trust, and transactions and Recording and managing payments.

The page sidebar

On the Overview tab, the sidebar on the right summarizes the matter. It is grouped into three blocks.

Matter information

This block holds the matter's core details:

• Stage shows where the matter sits in its pipeline (for example, Intake, In progress, or Closed). If your role includes Update access for matters, the stage is a clickable badge: click it and pick a new stage from the menu to move the matter. A spinner shows while it saves, and the change is recorded in the timeline. Without update access, the stage is shown as a read-only badge. Stages come from the matter's practice area, see Practice areas and stages.
• Clients and Related contacts (described above) link to the people on the matter.
• Matter description shows the plain-text summary of the case.
• Practice area shows the area of law the matter belongs to (for example, Family Law).
• Matter type shows the specific type or types within that practice area.
• Open date and Close date show when the matter was opened and, if set, closed.
• Statute shows the statute-of-limitations date, if one was set. The statute of limitations is the legal deadline for filing the case; missing it can bar the claim. If the deadline has been met, the date is followed by "(satisfied)."

Custom field values

Below Matter information is the Custom fields block. Custom fields are extra fields your firm defines to capture information Esqase does not track out of the box (for example, "Court file number" or "Insurance carrier"). Any custom fields set on this matter appear here with their values. If none are set, the block reads "Not set."

To manage them, click View in the block's header. This opens the Custom fields dialog described next.

The Custom fields manage dialog

The Custom fields dialog lets you add, fill in, and remove the matter's custom fields.

1. In the sidebar, in the Custom fields block, click View.
2. If you have Update access for matters, you can:
   • Use Add individual field to search for and add a single custom field.
   • Use Add field set to add a predefined group of fields at once. A "field set" is a saved bundle of custom fields you add together. See Field sets and using custom fields.
   • Create a brand-new field on the spot with the New custom field option inside the Add individual field menu, or a new set with New field set.
3. Fill in or change each field's value. Required fields must be completed before you can save.
4. Remove a field from the matter with the trash-can button next to it. This removes the value from this matter; it does not delete the field definition for your firm.
5. Click Save. You will see a confirmation, and the values update in the sidebar.

For more on creating and configuring these fields, see Custom fields.

Other information

The last sidebar block, Other information, shows record details:

• Matter ID is the internal identifier, with a copy button next to it.
• Created at and Created by show when and by whom the matter was created.
• Updated at and Updated by show the most recent change.

Header actions

The buttons in the top-right of the header act on the whole matter. Which buttons you see depends on your role.

Send email

Click Send email to compose an email tied to this matter. The composer is pre-linked to the matter, so the message is logged against it. You can pull in a saved template and your email signature. See Sending email.

Record trust deposit

Use Record trust deposit to log money received into trust for this matter (for example, a retainer paid up front). A retainer is an advance payment held in trust until you earn it.

1. In the header, click Record trust deposit. (This button appears only if your role includes Create access for transactions.)
2. The Record trust deposit dialog opens, already pointed at this matter and pre-set to a client-retainer deposit. Choose the account, enter the amount and date, and add any notes.
3. Save. The deposit appears on the Transactions tab and updates the Trust balance card on the Overview tab.

For the fuller flow and how trust accounting works, see Accounts, trust, and transactions.

Edit

Click Edit to change the matter's details. This opens the matter in the editing wizard, where you can update its title, description, clients, related contacts, practice area and type, dates, team, billing, and more, step by step. See Creating a matter for the wizard, which is the same flow used here in edit mode.

Copy link

The More actions button (the "..." icon) holds Copy link. Click it to copy a direct link to this matter to your clipboard, so you can paste it into a chat or email for a colleague. You will see a confirmation when the link is copied.

Managing workflow items on a matter

The Workflow section sits in the middle of the Overview tab. A "workflow" is a checklist of steps for moving the matter forward (sending an email, scheduling an event, creating tasks, drafting an invoice, advancing the stage, and so on). On a matter, those steps appear as a list of items you can check off, reorder, and act on.

At the top of the section, a progress bar shows how many items are done out of the total (for example, "3 of 7 done" with "4 pending · 43%"). The refresh button reloads the list.

Adding workflow items

If the matter has no items yet, you will see a short empty state with two buttons. If it already has items, use the + button below the list, which offers the same two choices:

• Add workflow copies all the steps from a saved workflow onto this matter at once. In the Assign workflow set dialog, pick a workflow from the Workflow dropdown and click Import workflow. The steps are added and you can edit them afterward. (Only active workflows appear; if you have none, the dialog tells you to create one first under Workflows.)
• Workflow item adds a single step. In the Add workflow item dialog, pick the item type (such as Email, Task, Form, Event, Status change, Task list, or Invoice), configure its details, and click Add to matter.

See Workflows and the builder and Workflow step types for how workflows are built.

Completing and uncompleting an item

Each item has a checkbox on the left.

• To complete an item, tick its checkbox. If the item has an action it has not run yet (for example, an Email that hasn't been sent or a Task that hasn't been created), Esqase asks whether to run the action first: choose Apply and mark done to do both, or Just mark done to only check it off. Completed items are struck through and shaded.
• To reopen an item, untick its checkbox. The item is marked not done again.

Some item types also have a direct action button next to them, for example Send on an email item, Create task on a task item, Create draft invoice on an invoice item, or Advance on a status-change item. Using the action runs that step and, where it makes sense, links the resulting record back to the item.

Linking and unlinking records

Many items connect to a real record they create, a task, an event, a form submission, or an invoice. When an item is linked, you will see a button to open that record (for example, View task or View invoice).

• To unlink a record from an item, open the item's "..." menu and choose Unlink record. The record itself stays; only the connection is removed.
• For event items, the scheduling menu offers its own unlink and delete choices; unlinking an event reverts the item to to-do so you can schedule again.

Sorting items

If you have update access, each item shows a drag handle on the left. Drag an item up or down to reorder the list. The new order is saved automatically.

Editing or removing an item

Open an item's "..." menu (the "More actions" button) to:

• Edit the item's configuration. (Editing is unavailable once an item is marked done.)
• Remove the item. Removing offers, where applicable, to also delete the record it created (its task, event, form, or invoice). A confirmation dialog lets you choose.

The matter activity timeline

At the bottom of the Overview tab, the Recent activities timeline is the matter's audit history: a dated, ordered list of everything that has happened on the matter. It records actions such as the matter being created, edited, or moved between stages; clients and related contacts being added or removed; team members assigned; billing changes; and workflow items being completed.

• The list shows the most recent entries first, ten at a time, with Page controls at the bottom to move through older entries.
• The refresh button reloads the timeline.
• The filter button (the funnel icon) opens a small Filters menu with Show view activity. By default, simple "viewed this matter" events are hidden to keep the timeline focused on real changes. Turn this on to also show who opened the matter and when.

Each entry shows what happened, who did it, and when. This history is part of how Esqase keeps a complete, tamper-evident record of activity for compliance. For the bigger picture across your firm, see Activity timelines and audit logs.

Common questions

Why don't I see the Edit or Record trust deposit button? Those buttons appear only if your role grants the matching permission (Update access for matters, and Create access for transactions, respectively). Ask a firm owner or administrator to adjust your role if you need them. See Roles and permissions.

Why is the sidebar missing? The sidebar shows only on the Overview tab. Switch back to Overview and it returns on the right.

I changed the stage but the matter didn't move on the kanban. Why? Changing the Stage badge moves the matter to the chosen stage immediately and records it in the timeline. If the board looks stale, refresh the matters list. See Browsing matters.

A workflow item won't let me edit it. Editing is disabled once an item is marked done. Untick its checkbox to reopen it, then edit.

Related

• Browsing matters
• Creating a matter
• Practice areas and stages
• Accounts, trust, and transactions
• Creating and sending invoices
• Workflows and the builder
• Custom fields
• Activity timelines and audit logs