Smokeball Release Notes

New features

• Pending receipts/payments and clearance days
  • You can now set up a specific number of working days where a trust receipt or invoice payment is held as pending in Smokeball until the funds clear in your bank account. Learn more about this feature in our clearance days article.

Refinements

• You can now bulk create invoices on the same matter for the same issue date.
• [Smokeball Prosper] Added a Branch Offices filter on the following reports: Aging Summary, Billed Fees & Expenses - Details, Billed Fees & Expenses - Summary, Money Received, Unbilled & Unpaid Overview, Work in Progress - Details, Work in Progress - Summary.
• Added an Issue Date column to the Billed Fees & Expenses - Details Report.
• Clarified the wording around activating surcharging for Smokeball Payments.

Pending receipts/payments and clearance days

You can now set up a specific number of working days where a trust receipt or invoice payment is held as pending in Smokeball until the funds clear in your bank account. Learn more about this feature in our clearance days article.

Refinements

• You can now bulk create invoices on the same matter for the same issue date.
• Added an Issue Date column to the Billed Fees & Expenses - Details Report.
• Clarified the wording around activating surcharging for Smokeball Payments.

This version is in beta

Version 9.11 is currently undergoing beta testing.

Option to restrict firm-wide settings

• You can now restrict staff members from making changes in Smokeball Settings that affect the whole firm. When this permission level is applied, the only areas the staff member can access in Smokeball Settings are:
  • Their Staff Card in the Staff & Users tab
  • The Outlook and Notifications tab
• In addition, the staff member can only access billing-related settings in the Firm Settings of the Smokeball Web App:

To restrict Settings for a staff member:

1. Before you begin, you must have Firm Owner permissions.
2. Open Smokeball Settings and navigate to the Staff & Users tab.
3. Select Permissions.
4. Click on the staff member to expand their permissions.
5. Untick Full Access under the Settings column.
6. Select Save & Close.

Ability to select a different branch office when generating a document

• When generating a letter, caption or document, you can now choose a branch office that is different to the one assigned to the matter.
• You can also choose the branch office after selecting Open with container... when generating a form from the Forms and Templates Library.
• Changing the branch via the methods above will not update the matter’s assigned branch. It only applies to the document you are generating.

Smokeball Bank Statements Analyzer

• Turn piles of bank statements into organized clarity.
• Get instant, AI-powered insights that provide financial clarity – no spreadsheets required.
• Upload statements simply, filter by transaction type, and uncover patterns, insights, and red flags in minutes.
• You can even query with AI, “show me all the transactions related to a holiday in Fiji” and watch the app surface exactly what you need.

Legal Chronology

• Create clear, accurate timelines in minutes with Legal Chronology.
• Turn key dates buried in documents from your matters into clear, accurate timelines in a few clicks.
• Quickly spot key events, reduce errors, and present a compelling case story with confidence.
• Useful for documenting timelines of parenting arrangements, outlining key transaction and settlement events, or building timelines of workplace incidents.

CaseMark

• Turn dense case documents into clear, usable insights.
• With CaseMark x Smokeball integrations, you can quickly generate deposition, trial, and hearing summaries, respond to discovery requests, or create comprehensive medical narratives.
• Secure, and easy to use, your files sync automatically.
• That means no downloading, no re-uploading, just faster answers at your fingertips.

Tailored, consistent documents for every branch

• Tier: Prosper+
• Region: US, AU and GB
• Create branch-specific document containers to easily manage different letterheads, footers and branding across offices. Smokeball applies the correct container to documents based on the matter’s branch, keeping files polished and consistent without manual updates.
• See how: US | AU | GB

See Dropbox files right from each matter

• Tier: Boost
• Region: US, AU
• Our integration lets you save your Dropbox documents directly to their respective matters, giving you instant access from within Smokeball.
• See how: US | AU

FamilyProperty integration: Family law updates

• Tier: Grow, Prosper+
• Region: AU
• FamilyProperty questionnaires now reflect recent changes to the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth), with new and updated questions covering financial wastage, housing needs, financial hardship, and pets. Pet details can also be added directly to the balance sheet. All captured information flows into your automated documents to support accurate and compliant drafting.
• If you have any questions, please reach out to [email protected].

AutoTime AI is now available in Beta

• Tier: Grow, Prosper+
• Region: US, AU, GB
• We’ve taken AutoTime one step further with AutoTime AI, a new tool designed to make reviewing and editing your time entries even easier. AutoTime AI learns from you by monitoring your last 100 time entry description edits. When you click the AI button, it suggests time entry descriptions that reflect the way you’ve written and refined them in the past. The more you use it, the more accurate and personalized the suggestions become.
• Benefits for your firm:
  • Save time – reduce manual edits with AI-powered suggestions tailored to your style.
  • Increase consistency – ensure time entries reflect the same language and formatting across matters.
  • Improve accuracy – let AI do the heavy lifting while you focus on reviewing and approving.
• AutoTime AI is currently in Beta, and your feedback will help us fine-tune the experience before general release.
• See how: US | AU | GB | Share feedback on Beta

Reminder: Two-factor authentication required soon. Set it up now.

• To help further protect your firm and client’s data, two-factor authentication (2FA) will soon be required to log in to Smokeball. 2FA adds an extra layer of security to prevent unauthorised access, and it only takes a few minutes to set up.
• We recommend setting up 2FA as early as possible to strengthen account security and avoid any last-minute disruption.
• How to set up 2FA: US | AU | GB

Tailored, consistent documents for every branch

• Tier: Prosper+
• Region: US, AU and GB
• Create branch-specific document containers to easily manage different letterheads, footers and branding across offices. Smokeball applies the correct container to documents based on the matter’s branch, keeping files polished and consistent without manual updates.

See Dropbox files right from each matter

• Tier: Boost
• Region: US, AU
• Our integration lets you save your Dropbox documents directly to their respective matters, giving you instant access from within Smokeball.

FamilyProperty integration: Family law updates

• Tier: Grow, Prosper+
• Region: AU
• FamilyProperty questionnaires now reflect recent changes to the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth), with new and updated questions covering financial wastage, housing needs, financial hardship, and pets. Pet details can also be added directly to the balance sheet. All captured information flows into your automated documents to support accurate and compliant drafting.
• If you have any questions, please reach out to [email protected].

AutoTime AI is now available in Beta

• Tier: Grow, Prosper+
• Region: US, AU, GB
• We’ve taken AutoTime one step further with AutoTime AI, a new tool designed to make reviewing and editing your time entries even easier. AutoTime AI learns from you by monitoring your last 100 time entry description edits. When you click the AI button, it suggests time entry descriptions that reflect the way you’ve written and refined them in the past. The more you use it, the more accurate and personalized the suggestions become.
• Benefits for your firm:
  • Save time – reduce manual edits with AI-powered suggestions tailored to your style.
  • Increase consistency – ensure time entries reflect the same language and formatting across matters.
  • Improve accuracy – let AI do the heavy lifting while you focus on reviewing and approving.
• AutoTime AI is currently in Beta, and your feedback will help us fine-tune the experience before general release.

Reminder: Two-factor authentication required soon. Set it up now.

• To help further protect your firm and client’s data, two-factor authentication (2FA) will soon be required to log in to Smokeball. 2FA adds an extra layer of security to prevent unauthorised access, and it only takes a few minutes to set up.
• We recommend setting up 2FA as early as possible to strengthen account security and avoid any last-minute disruption.
• How to set up 2FA: US | AU | GB

Changes to the support of Windows 10, Office 2016 and Office 2019

• From 15 October 2025, Microsoft will no longer support Windows 10 or Office 2016 & 2019.
• This means Microsoft will no longer release security updates or provide technical support for these versions.
• Although Smokeball will still work, we will be phasing away from developing and testing future versions of Smokeball for Windows 10 and Microsoft Office 2019 or earlier.
• There is no immediate impact if you are currently using these versions with Smokeball.
• However, to make sure your firm continues to get the most secure and reliable experience, we recommend reviewing our latest System Requirements and upgrading to a newer version of Windows and Office if needed.
• Doing so will ensure you can take full advantage of Smokeball’s features and any future improvements.

Branch office smart letterheads

• Smart letterheads can now accommodate documents with branch specificity.
• You can create a standard letterhead (available to all branches) or create a customized letterhead for specific branches based on an existing original container.
• Customized letterheads inherit structure and automation from the original letterhead but enable each branch office to apply its own letterhead, logo, formatting, or template.
• Generating a template from a matter with an assigned branch will then use the relevant letterhead, and branch-specific letterheads are applied automatically.
• Otherwise, the original default firm letterhead will be used.
• Note: Your firm must have one branch added to see the customized letterhead feature.
• Get started by navigating to Firm Settings > Document Containers.

Bug Fixes

• Resolved an issue that caused the Referral Agreement Fee Amount to be erased.
• Resolved an issue where decimals registered as hyperlinks in the Details field of Tasks.