Product Overview
CostsMaster Quota is a specialist software tool for the preparation of costs budgets and N260s providing streamlined budget management.
When time is of the essence as a result of court imposed deadlines Quota can help prepare accurate and compliant documents speedily and easily. It is a streamlined version of Draftsman with only the necessary elements in view.
Work can be easily recorded, in as much detail as you wish, and then Quota calculates the figures for you. Details of the opposing parties budgets can be entered in order to prepare the Precedent R Budget Discussion Report. For further information, and without the need for any additional work, Quota can also produce a Budget Comparison document, a Budget Report and Supporting Documentation.
As with Draftsman, work can be imported from a time recording system and then amended or excluded as appropriate.
Throughout the proceedings budgets can be updated so that the costs can be monitored and compared to the anticipated costs.
Following completion of the case there is no need to duplicate all of the work entered in respect of the incurred costs as the file can be imported into Draftsman and used as the basis of a Precedent S.
Detailed Features
Budgets
Produce Budgets quickly in Word, PDF & Excel with optional supporting documentation for the advocate at the hearing
Import opponent’s Budget and produce a comparison in Word & Excel
Manage Budgets simply and effectively and produce a report of how the current costs stack up against the Budget
Import Work
Import work from time recording systems in XML, CSV or Excel format
Easily map CSV files not in the prescribed format and save the mapping for future use
Quickly split bulk work into individual elements, add any missing work and exclude non-recoverable items
Import work from other CostsMaster files
Productivity
Simplified entry when recording work
Preview any document instantly
Display running totals for the budget or current part with options regarding the level of detail shown
A range of searches allow you to locate items that are blank or that have unassigned phases, estimated time or are excluded
Create templates with frequently entered data to save you time when starting a new file
Abbreviations can be defined for frequently used words and phrases which are immediately expanded to their full text
Record notes which can optionally appear as annotations in exported documents
Program functions can be accessed by mouse or keyboard shortcut for speed of entry of information
Safety features include timed auto saves and incremental backups to preserve data in the event of a system crash
Use the History window to instantly revert to any point in the current session or any saved backup
Save the contents of any grid to a CSV file for loading into Excel
Quickly locate items in grids using the comprehensive filter and sort options
Recording Work
Claim attendances as time or a lump sum figure. Time can be entered interchangeably as minutes, units or hours and minutes and the program will automatically interpret the time you have recorded
System Requirements
Operating System
- Windows 7 onwards (including Windows Server)
Office Software for Bill Generation
- Word 2007 onwards
- Excel 2007 onwards (for Costs Budgets only)
Note
CostsMaster will create exported documents with any version of Office 365, but with online copies of Office 365 the ability to automatically view documents after export is dependent on Windows’ ability to launch the apps based on the relevant file extensions (.rtf, .xlsx). Should this not be possible to do automatically, it is always possible to view the files by launching the online application manually.
Display
- 1024 x 768 Screen Resolution. Multiple Displays supported.
CPU
- No special requirements. Any machine capable of running the supported operating systems should suffice. As with everything, the faster the machine, the better.
Memory
- 512MB – 1GB Ram (1 – 2GB recommended)
Hard Drive Space
100 MB free space on your hard drive