Customize forms & letters better

Form Templates is the name for MR9’s tool for managing forms and letters. Like MR8’s Form Manager, it comes with a default set of forms and letters, is a basic word processor with data merge fields, and is designed to work with MR9 functions. It is both easier to use and offers more options.

More customization options

MR8 comes with a comprehensive set of legal forms, and you can use its Form Manager to customize the forms and create new forms — but customization is limited. For example the form types (categories) are predefined — such as Affidavit, Subpoena, and Waiver. And you can’t choose which sets of merge data fields are included in these form types.

In MR9 your form creation abilities have been leveled up. You can create your own form types and designate which datasets (collections of data fields) are used in each form type. Plus the new form templates have more options:

• You can designate specific form types to be used in MR9 billing functions.
• For all other forms you can choose which group of people will receive the form: the scheduling party, selected parties, or records locations.
• You can set the default printing options for form types. Depending on the dataset chosen for the form type you can choose to print each part or party on a separate form or print all of the parts/parties in one form — the same as MR8's “consolidate” option.
• Options for form groups (subcategories of form types) are similar to those in MR8 — you can create new form groups, add form templates to form groups, move form templates from one form group to another one, delete form templates, or delete existing form groups
• You can move/delete specific form templates or move them in bulk to a different form type or group.
• For lists of parties or locations that are printed on MR9 documents, you can customize the data lists used — adding data fields, deleting data fields, adding and formatting text, and customizing the layout of the list.

Start with your current forms

Like MR8, MR9 comes with a complete default set of forms you can use as is or edit to fit your business better. Plus any custom forms you already have will be converted to use in the new MR9 along with the rest of your MR8 data.

What’s easier in MR9’s Form Templates:

In addition to more customization options, the Form Templates function is easier to use:

• Less clicking to find a form: All forms are listed on the side of the function, organized by type, so you don’t have to click through screens and dropdowns to find the form you need. Plus you can create your own groups of forms to suit your purposes.
• Easy-to-find visual customization tools: You can more easily customize forms to look the way you want with the new Form Templates layout. Tools are grouped in major categories on tabs and each tab has all tools visible and organized in subgroups, so you minimize searching for a particular one.
• Several types of data fields: MR9 has the same contextual data fields that MR8’s Form Manager has, but 2 more types of data fields have been added: 
  • List Data Fields let you create tables in your form of related merge fields that you select. You can also select the order the fields appear as columns in the table, plus select other visual options.
  • You can also insert Special Fields, which allow you to customize their formatting — such as a Date field that you can select the order and appearance of day/month/year, and even include time stamps.

New forms customization functions in Setup

Some of the customization options described here are in separate functions in the Setup module.

Import your address book into MR9

Instead of re-keying your existing client and location information into MR9, export them to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet from your application, then import them into MR9 with the new Bulk Import function.

Quickly update multiple listings at once

Bulk Update is a stand-alone function in MR9 for mass updating firms, contacts, and locations. In MR8 there is some capability to update multiple database entries at once, but MR9’s Bulk Update expands that ability into many more fields, such as:

• Sales Tax Rate, Billing Rate Group, Finance Charge Rate, and almost 20 more fields for firms
• Contact Type, Client Of, Salutation, and 5 other fields for contacts
• Expeditor, Location Type and ROI Handled By for locations

In addition to the stand-alone Bulk Update function, Billing Rates has a Mass Update feature which you can use to update rates in multiple billing rate tables at once. With these power-user features, you will be able to keep your MR9 database updated more easily.

Label template management made easy

In MR8 you print labels using templates stored locally on your computer. This can be a pain to deal with: Everyone needs to have the label templates on their own computers, and if you get a new computer, you might lose your templates in the transfer. 

In MR9 there is a new, separate function called Label Templates that stores all of your company’s label templates together in the database. This is where you store labels that are used elsewhere in MR9, such as Production’s Envelopes and Labels function.

Everyone has access to the same label templates when printing labels from MR9, and you won't lose your label templates when transferring to a new computer because they are stored in the cloud. In addition to included label templates, you can create your own label templates in DYMO software and upload them here.

Other new Tools functions

There are more new functions in MR9’s Tools module:

Download Backup Files

If you want to have a backup file of your MR9 database onsite you can download one from up to 7 days in the past.

Email Log

View lists of emails sent and look up details about each email sent in these uneditable email logs.

Merge History

You can merge entities in MR9, then use this function to find merged entities in a specific date range.

Making your own reports is easier in MR9

If you tried to use Query Maker before to create your own reports and quit out of frustration because it was too confusing, too primitive, or didn’t give you the results you were looking for, you will want to try MR9’s radically different and easier to use Query Maker.

In redesigning Query Maker, we simplified the user interface while at the same time making it a more robust data retrieval system so there’s less clicking, fewer steps, and less process — but more options and better results.

More data set options

Because your MR database is so large, the first step in creating a report has always been selecting which part of the database you want to search. In both versions you select a single function data set — such as Contacts or Orders — or a preset combination data set (previously called Views), which combine multiple data sets — such as Contacts and Firms or Invoices, Orders, and Parts. An improvement in MR9’s version is that you have a third option: Large data sets have been divided into subsets, so you can select a smaller table to work with. So instead of the full Contacts data set, you can use only Contacts’ Preferred Services. Or instead of the full Orders (Cases) table, you can select the Order Parties subset to use for generating a report.

Contextual operators & simplified query equations

The list of operators has been streamlined to show only those that are relevant to the field type you are searching — so you don’t have to wade through unnecessary options when building your reports.

As in MR8, you can make a simple report that searches one field only — for example you could search your contacts by the last date they logged into your MR Connect. Or you can build a report that searches multiple fields with different dependencies — for example you could search for all of your clients in a specific set of cities in California. The difference is that in MR9 you will find it much easier to construct your queries to get the results you want from these more advanced searches. You will also find it easier to customize the look of your report when selecting which information to include from your database in the report.

Save, share, & update queries

Saving your generated results for printing, sharing, and/or archiving is easy — no more right-clicking! Simply select an export option from a dropdown. And you can not only save and share your results, you can save and share your queries with others so they don’t have to reinvent the wheel by building their own. You can reuse your queries or customize them to create new queries. Other users can do the same with queries you share. There is also a collection of queries created by our development team that you can use and customize for generating reports.

Use MR9 data in QuickBooks

Import contacts, custodians, invoices, payments, and other financial transactions from MR9 directly into QuickBooks with the faster, easier to use QuickBooks Integrator in MR9.

Faster process with more options at the same time

If you use MR8 and QuickBooks you will find the integration between MR9 and QuickBooks more convenient. We simplified the processes of importing invoices, custodian fee checks, and payments received into QuickBooks — plus added more options while making it work faster at the same time. Here's what you can look forward to:

Ability to import more types of information

Called Integrator for QuickBooks in MR8, MR9’s QuickBooks Integrator give you the ability to import additional categories of MR data into QuickBooks including:

• Contacts
• Locations
• Credits, duplicate payments, refunds, voids, and write-offs

Also:

• You will be able to include overpayments when adding data to QuickBooks.
• MR9 will give you the ability to add surcharges (for credit card fees) to posted invoices. And QuickBooks Integrator will include them in received payment imports.

More QuickBooks editions work with MR9

MR8 works with the desktop and single user online versions of QuickBooks MR9 work with all of the QuickBooks cloud based solutions too.

Better troubleshooting

To use QuickBooks with MR8/MR9, a port must be open in your router/firewall. In MR9 you will be able to simply click a button to check that it is open.

If an error occurs when importing items, MR9 will continue to import everything and flag the error in the results for you to correct.

One-stop QuickBooks connection

With this improved integrator, we have removed the export checks option from Payables’ Print Checks function. Instead of the 2-application process of exporting checks from MR8, then importing checks into QuickBooks, you will have a one-button ability to add those checks to QuickBooks from within MR9.

Renamed, moved, & removed Tools functions

In addition to all of the new Tools features, there has been a lot of reorganization in the module:

• Database Manager is removed because it is not needed.
• Code Manager is renamed Lists and moved to the Setup module.
• Form Manager is renamed Form Templates.
• Repository Access Log is renamed Repository Download Log.
• Integrator for QuickBooks is renamed QuickBooks Integrator.
• System Preferences and Users and Groups moved to Setup.
• Web is moved to its own module: Connect.