Before you begin

• The Engagement Order status must be “Work in Progress” for a budget variation request to be submitted. A variation can also be requested prior to accepting the Engagement

Procedure

1. Find and open the Matter for which you want to request a Budget Variation.
The Matter screen appears. See the user guide Searching for Orders and Matters for other ways to access the Matter and Engagement Order.

2. If the Engagement tab is not already selected, click the Engagement
Details of the Engagement Order are displayed.
N1 - Approved Limit: The amount the Client has approved for the Provider to spend on this Matter. 
N2 - Budget %: The percentage of approved budget that the Provider has already spent.
N3 - Status must be “WORK IN PROGRESS - OPEN” for a variation request to be made.

3. To action the Engagement Order, scroll down to the Action section of the screen (N4) and click the Acquire button (or Action button). See the user guide Provider Worklists for information on the action buttons.
The Order in Progress screen appears with the details of the Engagement Order displayed.

4. Scroll to the bottom of the Order in Progress screen and click the Request Variation
The Request Variation screen appears with the Budget tab selected.

5. Click Edit Budget.
The Budget window opens. The Client-approved total for this Engagement Order is displayed (N5). There are two methods of requesting the variation:

• N6 - Request a total budget (without defining the amounts for each type of cost).
• N7 - Request a budget allocation for each particular type of cost.

6. To request a Total Budget, enter the total requested dollar amount (not the amount by which you want to increase the total) in the Requested Limit As seen in the example above, if the existing total is $10,000 and the new required total is $15,000 enter the value 15000 not 5000.

7. To request an Allocated Budget do the following:

a. Select the budget category from the Allocation drop down list.

b. Input the dollar amount to be budgeted for this cost category.
c. Click the Submit

N8 - The allocation is added to the Budget Allocations list.

d. Repeat steps 7a to 7c for each cost category that needs a budget allocation.

N9 - Each allocation is added to the Budget Allocations list.
N10 - The Requested Limit $ is automatically calculated and displayed as the sum of the Budget Allocations.

8. When you have finished defining the budget (by either means), click the Save and Close

The Budget window closes.

The Variation Items Not Yet Submitted screen appears.
In the Budget summary at the top of the screen, the list of variations is displayed in the Requested column with the Variation Status “New” (N14).   In this example the Allocated Budget method was used so the request is itemised. If the total Budget method were used only the requested Total Limit would be displayed.

The Budget details are also displayed on the Budget Tab (N15).

9. Enter the reason for the budget variation request and any other notes about the variation request in the Variation Comments field (for example: “Initial budget”).

10. Click the Request Variation

The Confirm Variation Request screen appears.

11. Review the details of the Variation Request and click confirm at the bottom of the screen

The display returns to the Matter screen with the Engagement tab selected.
N16 – The requested variation(s) are displayed on the Engagements tab.

N17 – The Status of the Engagement has changed to REQUEST FOR VARIATIONS.

The request is now back with the Client for them to either accept or reject the budget variation(s). The Engagement Order will not be actionable while it is waiting for approval.

Action the Client’s Response

Before the Provider can take further action on the Engagement Order, the Client’s response to the Budget Variation request must be viewed and acknowledged as follows:

1. Find and open the Matter for which you requested a Budget Variation.

The Matter screen appears.

N1 - When the Client has responded to the request, the Status changes to CUSTOMER RESPONSE TO VARIATION REQUEST.

N2 - You can see if the Client has accepted or rejected the variation(s) in the Variation Status column.

See the Tips & Troubleshooting section at the end of this user guide for other ways to find the Client’s response to the request.

2. Scroll down to the Action section of the Matter and click the Action 

The Customer Response to Variation Request screen appears.

The Budget section shows the revised budget that was approved (N3), the budget variation that was requested (N4) and the Client’s response to the request (N5).

If the Client provided a reason for their response, this is displayed on the Items tab (N6).  If any or all of the budget variation was rejected, it is mandatory for the client to provide the reason for rejection. You can click the Request Variation button (N7) to start the request process again and submit a modified request, if required.

3. To acknowledge the Client’s response, scroll to the bottom of the Customer Response to Variation Request screen and click the Response Viewed

A notification message appears indicating that the response has been acknowledged and that the Engagement Order is now returned to status ORDER IN PROGRESS – OPEN.

4. Click the OK

The display returns to the Matter screen with the Engagement tab selected.

N8 - The Engagement Order is returned to Work In Progress so other actions such as payment claims and closing the Order can be performed. See user guides Submit Payment Claim and Invoice During Engagement and Close Engagement and Submit Final Claim for details.

N9 – Because the Request for Variation has been dealt with, the Requested and Variation Status columns are cleared.

N10 – The new Approved Limit after incorporating the Client’s response is displayed.

Tips & Troubleshooting

To use MyWork to find the Client’s response to the variation request:

1. Enter the search criteria:

a. Select “Order” from the View Entity drop down list.
b. Select Available to My Resource.
c. Select “CUSTOMER RESPONSE TO VARIATION REQUEST” from the Status

2. Click the Submit
N1 - The Table lists the responses to variation requests.

3. Click the Action button (or Acquire button) next to the response you wish to action.

N2 - Use the Save View button to save this search so it can be run with a single click next time.

To use the Worklist to find the Client’s response to the variation request:

1. On the LPG menu, select Worklist > All.

The My Worklist screen appears.

2. Scroll down to the Orders section and click Customer Response to Variation Request.

NOTE: If there are no responses, the text will be coloured grey and you cannot click it. The list of Orders that have received a response to variation request is displayed.

3. Click the Action button (or Acquire button) next to the client response you wish to view.