Glossary
This glossary defines key terms and concepts used throughout SBOS.AI and the legal practice management domain.
Business Areas
The firm's operations are organized into five business areas:
| Area | Description |
|---|---|
| Value Creation (VC) | Development of tools, processes, and resources that support the firm's operations. Managed through Projects. |
| Value Delivery (VD) | The delivery of legal services to clients. Managed through Matters. |
| Business Operations (BO) | Management and execution of tasks that keep the firm running (payroll, facilities, compliance, etc.). |
| Marketing (M) | Activities that generate interest in the firm and its services. |
| Sales (S) | Activities involved in converting an interested prospect into a paying client. |
CRM Terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Contact | An individual person the firm interacts with. See Contacts. |
| Organisation | A company, trust, partnership, or other non-individual entity. See Organisations. |
| Client | The entity the firm acts for in a legal capacity. Composed of a primary Contact, and optionally an Organisation and/or secondary Contact. See Clients. |
| Relationship | A recorded connection between two Contacts or two Organisations (family, professional, referral, etc.). See Relationships. |
Matter Terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Matter | An instance of delivering a legal service to a Client. The core unit of legal work. See Matters. |
| Offering | A template describing a legal service the firm provides. Matters are created based on offerings. Practitioners browse the catalogue under Matters → Offerings; administrators configure them under Admin — Offerings. |
| Outcome | A specific result the firm aims to deliver as part of an Offering or Matter. |
| Component | A specific task required to achieve an Outcome. Time is tracked against Components. |
| Resource | Tools, templates, references, or other assets useful when completing a Component. |
| Disbursement | An expense incurred on behalf of a client (court fees, search fees, etc.). See Disbursements. |
Time Tracking Terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Unit | The standard billing increment. 1 unit = 6 minutes. Always rounded up. |
| Time Entry | A record of time spent on a task. Includes date, duration, description, and the associated matter/project. |
| Timer | A real-time clock for tracking work as it happens. See Timer. |
| Sales Time | Time spent on sales and business development for a matter (pre-engagement). |
| Component Time | Time spent working on a specific matter component (billable work). |
| Project Time | Time spent on internal project tasks (not billed to clients). |
Project Terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Project | An internal initiative for developing tools, processes, or resources. See Projects. |
| Task | A unit of work within a project. |
| Task Step | A granular sub-item within a task. |
| Sprint | A time-boxed iteration for organizing project work. |
| Project Template | A reusable blueprint for creating projects with predefined tasks. See Project Templates. |
Document Terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Document | A file stored in SBOS.AI, linked to a matter, contact, or organisation. See Documents. |
| Document Review | A workflow for requesting and completing reviews of documents by colleagues. See Document Review. |
| Syntaq | The document automation platform integrated with SBOS.AI. Enables automated generation of legal documents from templates and data. |
| Safe Storage | Secure storage for critical documents (wills, powers of attorney, etc.) linked to contacts or organisations. |
Trust Accounting Terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Trust Account | A bank account holding funds on behalf of clients, subject to regulatory requirements. |
| Statutory Trust | Funds held in compliance with statutory requirements. |
| Controlled Money | Funds held in controlled money accounts as directed by the client. |
| Trust Transaction | A deposit, withdrawal, or transfer of trust funds. |
| Trust Transaction Request | A request to perform a trust transaction, subject to authorization. |
Register and operations terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Risk register | A structured list of firm risks, mitigations, and owners. See Risk registers. |
| PPSR register | Operational tracking related to the Personal Property Securities Register. See PPSR registers. |
| Incident log | A record of security or workplace incidents and remediation. See Incident logs. |
| Asset register | Inventory of firm-owned hardware, keys, vehicles, or licences. See Asset register. |
| Mail register | Log of physical incoming and outgoing mail. See Mail register. |
Compliance terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| AML / CTF | Anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing controls. |
| CDD | Customer due diligence -- verifying identity and risk before or during an engagement. See AML / CDD. |
Collaboration terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Group | A collaboration space with members and optional shared safe storage. See Groups. |
| Routine | A recurring internal project used for operational cadences. See Routines. |
| Draft time entry | A suggested time row before it is posted to the timesheet. In the UI this workspace is labelled Auto time entries and appears under Time & Invoices when you have Matter.View. See Auto time entries. |
Administration Terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Role | A set of permissions that defines what a user can access and do within the platform. |
| Permission | A specific action a user is allowed to perform (e.g., "View Matters", "Edit Contacts"). |
| Lookup | A system-wide reference list (e.g., law areas, industry categories, office locations). |
| Metabase Report | A business intelligence dashboard or report powered by the Metabase integration. |
| Email Template | A configurable template for automated email communications. |
| PQE Adjustment | Post-Qualification Experience adjustment, used for lawyer billing rate calculations. |