Uniform Task-Based Management System (UTBMS) codes are a series of codes used to classify legal services performed by law firms using electronic invoice submissions. Firms using Legal Electronic Data Exchange Standard (LEDES) billing can enable UTBMS codes for time and expense entries in Clio Manage.
Tip: To learn more about LEDES billing, including downloading LEDES bills, adding your firm's ID or tax ID to bills, adding LEDES client ID to contacts, and managing timekeeper classification codes, refer to LEDES Bills.
Important: UTBMS codes are a standard created by the LEDES Oversight Committee, so the code list is fixed. Existing codes stay as published, and custom codes are unavailable.
Enable LEDES billing and select UTBMS code sets
LEDES billing and UTBMS code sets are configured in the General tab of your billing settings. Enabling LEDES billing at the firm level makes it available to enable on individual contacts and their matters.
- Go to the user menu > Manage settings > Invoicing > General.
- Select the Enable LEDES billing checkbox.
- Under code sets, select the sets to use. The options are:
- ABA Litigation
- ABA Bankruptcy
- ABA Counselling
- ABA Project
- LOC Patent
- LOC Trademark
- LOC eDiscovery
- EW Civil Litigation
- Click Save changes.
Disable LEDES billing
Disable LEDES billing at the firm level when the firm stops submitting LEDES bills. The setting is in the same General tab of your billing settings.
- Go to the user menu > Manage settings > Invoicing > General.
- Clear the Enable LEDES billing checkbox.
- Click Save changes.
Use UTBMS codes in time and expense entries
When a matter has LEDES billing enabled, activity code and task code fields are required when creating or editing billable time entries. Similarly, when creating or editing expense entries, the expense code field is required. UTBMS codes are optional on non-billable entries.
The code sets selected in the firm's billing settings, covered earlier in this article, determine the code options for each entry.
Note: Some activity codes are listed twice in the code list: one with a "V2013 Updated" label and one without. The labeled code indicates that the code's description was updated as part of the 2013 ABA UTBMS revision. Both versions are available to use and function identically.
Show or hide UTBMS codes on bills
When you use UTBMS codes for activities, a bill template setting controls whether the code descriptions print on bills. Bill templates control which information is on a bill and how it is laid out, across different types of templates, so clients understand their bill clearly.
- Go to the user menu > Manage settings > Invoicing > Invoice themes.
- Select the theme to edit.
- Select Matter > Line items.
- Select the Include activity descriptions in line item descriptions checkbox to include code descriptions on bills that use this template. Clear the checkbox to leave the code descriptions off.
Up next
LEDES Bills: Download LEDES bills and add the firm and timekeeper identifiers your clearinghouse requires.