Everything Caseo does

Open a matter in a minute. Choose the client (or add them), the matter type and the attorney. Caseo checks the new matter against your existing clients and opposing parties, and if there’s a possible conflict, someone has to record that they checked it, or waived it, before the matter is created.

Everything about a matter on one screen. Notes, calls, documents, key dates, the money and the full history of what changed, with who changed it and when. The status follows how firms work: open, closed, re-opened and finalised.

Playbooks for the work you repeat. Set up a checklist once for a type of matter, like a divorce or a RAF claim, and every new matter of that type starts with the same steps, so nobody has to remember what comes next.

Suggestions from your own records. Caseo points out things worth a look, like a matter that has gone quiet (sooner when its prescription date is close), or a client whose FICA is incomplete or due for review, and tells you why it’s showing each one. It works from your firm’s own records only.

Search like you’d say it. Type a client’s name, a matter number, or something like “open RAF matters opened this year”, and the results open straight away. Save the searches you use every week.

See who else has a file open. When a colleague has the same matter, client or draft invoice open, Caseo shows it, so two people don’t change the same thing at once.

Bring in old files in bulk. Paste rows from a spreadsheet to capture many matters at once.

WinDeed searches from the matter (opening soon). Connect your firm’s own WinDeed account once, then run a CIPC company report or a Deeds Office search (by person, ID number or property) from the matter’s documents. Caseo files the result to the matter as a PDF and adds the search’s cost to the matter as a disbursement, at the price your firm sets.

One record per client. Caseo spots a duplicate by ID, passport or company registration number before it’s created, and ID numbers are masked on screen.

FICA on every client. Record how you verified the client’s identity, the PEP and sanctions result, the risk rating and the next review date. The checklist changes with the type of client (a person, a company or a trust).

Your RMCP and risk rules in Caseo. Upload your firm’s RMCP and keep its versions, set your risk questions and how often clients are reviewed, and Caseo applies them to every client.

One diary for the whole firm. Court dates, prescription dates, consultations and reminders, by month, week, three days or as a list. You can reassign an entry and print the week.

Prescription dates with reminders. Give a matter its prescription date, and Caseo puts reminders in the diary six months, three months and one month before. Caseo knows South Africa’s public holidays, so a reminder that lands on one moves to the working day before.

The diary on your phone’s calendar. Copy your Caseo calendar address into Google Calendar or Outlook, and every entry shows up on your phone. You can bring your own calendar into Caseo the same way, by pasting its secret address.

A morning email of the day ahead. Each person can get a 07:00 email of their day, and a note when someone diarises something for them. Anyone can switch it off.

Trust and business kept apart, matter by matter. Every receipt, payment and transfer is recorded against a matter, in the trust ledger or the business ledger. Caseo refuses any trust payment or transfer that would take a matter’s trust balance below zero on any day, back-dated entries included.

Nothing in trust is ever deleted. A wrong trust entry is reversed with a reason, so the record stays complete.

Invoices, with or without VAT. Raise fees and disbursements on the matter, invoice them, issue credit notes, and record payments. Time you log on a matter can go onto the invoice, and work in progress stays off the bill until you finalise it.

Payment plans. Agree instalments with a client, and Caseo invoices each one on its due date.

Statements of account. Issue a numbered statement for a matter, and Caseo keeps a copy exactly as it went out.

Section 86(4) investments. Open an investment for a client, move money in and out, and record the interest.

Month-end reconciliation. Upload your bank statement (OFX or CSV), match it to your transactions, and Caseo checks the bank, the ledger and the client balances against each other. When an Administrator signs the month off, it’s locked, and reopening it needs a reason.

The firm’s own expenses and salaries. Record business expenses, with VAT on purchases, and mark salaries as paid.

Your accountant, included. Give your accountant their own read-only login at no extra cost. Or send them the month-end pack: a general ledger, a trial balance, a one-page summary, and files laid out for Xero or Sage. Caseo can email it to them on the 3rd of every month.

Documents on the matter. Upload, scan or photograph a document straight to PDF, open it in Caseo, and keep every version. A deleted document stays recoverable for 30 days.

Your own templates. Upload your firm’s Word templates once, and Caseo fills in the client’s and matter’s details to make a new document on the matter.

A private portal for each client. Send a client their own link. They see their matters, the documents you share, their invoices and your messages, and they can upload documents or take a photo of one. They never see your notes, your diary or trust balances.

Send from the file. Once an Administrator switches it on, Caseo emails invoices, statements, receipts and documents to the client with the PDF attached, from your firm’s name.

SMS updates. Caseo can text clients when you send a portal message, issue an invoice or statement, share a document, receive a payment, or set a court date. Each kind of message has its own switch.

Email into the file. Every person gets their own Caseo email address. Forward or copy an email to it, and it waits in “To file” for you to put on the right matter.

Everyone gets their own login. Up to five people, secretaries included: attorneys, candidate attorneys, secretaries and bookkeepers. Each has a role (Administrator, Supervisor, Attorney or Staff) that decides what they can see and do, and the server enforces it.

Working-hours sign-in. If you choose, staff can only sign in during the firm’s working hours.

Two-step sign-in is available for every user. An administrator can see every person’s sessions and activity.

One person, several firms. An attorney who works with two firms signs in once and picks the firm. Each firm’s information stays separate.

Share one matter with another firm. Share a matter by email with an attorney at another firm, or with their whole firm. They see only that matter, never your money, and you can see who had access and when.

18 reports, ready to run. Matter activity, referral sources, dormant matters, trust balances per client, trust-to-business transfers, the month-end pack, client statements, outstanding fees, unpaid invoices, third-party payers, work in progress, business income and expenses, the diary and deadlines, and fee-earner workload. You choose any date range. You can build your own report too, and see the firm’s trends on the Analytics page.

Xero. An Administrator connects your firm’s Xero organisation once in Settings, and Caseo sends your fee invoices, payments, credit notes and business-account entries to Xero. Trust stays in Caseo.

Sage Business Cloud Accounting (opening soon). An Administrator connects your firm’s Sage company once in Settings and chooses the accounts, and Caseo sends your fee invoices, the clients on them and their payments to Sage. Trust stays in Caseo. It opens as soon as Sage issues Caseo’s live connection.

LexisNexis WinDeed (opening soon). Use your firm’s own WinDeed account from inside Caseo: CIPC company reports and Deeds Office searches, run from a matter. The PDF is filed to the matter, and the cost goes on as a disbursement.

Calendars. Google Calendar and Outlook through your Caseo calendar address (see The diary).

We move your files with you. We bring your clients, open matters and trust balances across from your current system or spreadsheets, and check the figures with you before you go live. That’s at no charge. Administrators can also import files themselves from Settings.

Your data is always yours. An Administrator can download everything at any time from Settings: matters, clients, transactions, invoices, fees, time, the diary, FICA records, investments and the documents list, one by one or all together.

Caseo on your phone. Open caseo.co.za on your phone and add it to your home screen. You’ll see today’s diary, your matters and the money, and you can log a call or a note, or scan a document. Notes, calls, diary entries and court outcomes save even with no signal, and send when you’re back online.

Try it with your own firm. Try it free for 30 days. Leave your details under “Have us call you”, and the trial comes straight to your inbox. You open your own firm in Caseo and set it up yourself: your details, your logo, VAT, your trust and business accounts, your team. A guided tour shows each person around, with a sample matter to practise on.