BillWiz Export Conversion Program

OVERVIEW

The BWEXPORT program is used to export updated fee and cost transactions from the TABS III system into a user specified export file. The export file can then be imported into the BillWiz program.

INSTALLATION

The BWEXPORT conversion program (BWEXPORT.EXE) must be transferred to the directory on your hard disk where the TABS III program files reside.  This is done by using the INSTALL program.

To install the BWEXPORT Interface program on your hard disk:

1) Insert the BillWiz Export Conversion program disk into floppy disk drive "A" and enter the following commands:

        A:
        INSTALL

2) Follow the on-screen instructions to install the software onto your hard disk. The Install program will locate your TABS III software on your hard disk so that the interface program can be transferred to the same directory as TABS III. After the installation process, the message "Installation Complete" will be displayed.

EXECUTING THE BWEXPORT INTERFACE PROGRAM

Use the following procedure for conversion:

1) Invoke the conversion program by entering: BWEXPORT

2) First, you will be prompted to enter the export file name. By default, this file name is created in the TABS III data directory, but you can specify a different drive and path if desired.

3) Next, you will be prompted to enter a beginning and ending client/matter number. The program will check that the client/matter numbers are in the correct format but will not verify to see if the client/matter numbers are valid.

4) Next, you will be prompted to enter the statement number. The program does not verify that the statement number entered is valid.

5) Lastly, you will be prompted to enter Y or N if the above options are correct. If you enter "N", the program will be aborted. If you enter "Y", the program will search the TABS III data files based on the options entered. The program will display the message "Total Records Processed:" followed by a count for each fee or cost transaction exported from TABS III. If no transactions are converted, either the client/matter number range was invalid, the statement number was invalid, or the TABS III statement had no fee or cost transactions to convert. If the program finished executing successfully, you will need to transfer the export file to the BillWiz import directory.

NOTE: If the TABS III Combine Matters code is set to "Y" on all matters for the desired client, the statement number on those matters will be the same when final statements are generated. This would enable you to run BWEXPORT a single time to export the data from multiple matters into a single export file. Otherwise, if the Combine Matters code is set to "N" (the default), BWEXPORT would have to be run for every single matter for the desired client since each matter would have a separate statement number

NOTE: This program was written to convert individual fee and cost transactions from the TABS III archive files. Therefore, only transactions that have been updated can be exported from TABS III. You must make sure that both the "Archive billed fee and cost transactions" option on screen #4 of TABS III customization and the "Archive Trans?" option on screen #3 of the Add/Change/Delete Client program are set to "D" (detail) or "S" (summary).

NOTE: Only cost transactions are exported from the TABS III cost archive file.  Payment and retainer transactions are ignored.

NOTE: If you are using a demo version of the BWEXPORT program, a maximum of ten fee and cost transactions will be exported from the TABS III system.