We have a special program to make this change easy. Choose File > Tools from the RTG Bills menu.
Suppose matter 1-1 has a matter-level retainer account. Now the client brings you a new matter, 1-2, and they want to use the same retainer for both matters.
Here we'll explain how to switch to a client-level account for this client.
We have a special program to make this change easy. Choose File > Tools from the RTG Bills menu.
Select Move Retainer Balance from the list of tools, then click OK.
If you don't see this tool in the list, you must install it. Follow the instructions for installing a free update.
Type in the Matter Number and the Account Number of the existing matter-level retainer account. Type in a New Description for the new client-level retainer account that you are about to create.
In addition to moving the retainer balance from the old account to the new one, the client's matters will be changed to use the new account. Choose between (a) changing all matters for this client, or (b) changing only the matter that now has the retainer account.
Each matter has five retainer settings: a standard retainer account and whether to apply the retainer automatically to fees, expenses, late charges, and taxes. For the current matter, any of these five settings that use the old retainer account will be changed to use the new retainer account. If you choose to change all matters for the client, the other matters are changed in the same way that the current matter was changed.
For example, if the current matter was set to apply the matter-level retainer to fees, it will now apply the client-level retainer to fees. And if you choose to change all matters, the other matters will also be set to apply the client-level retainer to fees (regardless of the current setting).
Click Move.
Click Yes to make the change.
When the message says the change is done, click OK.
Two adjustments were created to move the retainer balance to the new account. The adjustments will appear on the next bill. You can edit them if you wish to change the way the changes are described.
To summarize, RTG Bills does not change the retainer type from matter-level to client-level. Instead, it creates a new client-level retainer account and two adjustment transactions to move the balance from the old account to the new one.