Onboarding Guide

Welcome to Brightflag! Follow this step-by-step guide to get started. 

Use the index below to jump to the step that’s relevant to you:

1. Go Live 

2. Account Activation 

3. User Permissions 

4. Timekeeper Submission

5. Matters

6. Submit Invoices

7. Submit Accruals 

8. Invoice Payment 

9. Brightflag Support 

Go Live 

Before the go-live date, you will receive communications from the Brightflag team which will share further information and answer some questions you may have. . From your client’s go-live date, all invoices should be submitted to Brightflag for approval and payment. This means a switch from another system or a move away from emails to your client’s accounts team. 

If your client is already using Brightflag and you need an account created, follow this guide to get an account set-up.

Account Activation

For privacy reasons, there are 3 login URLs for Brightflag. The URL you use will depend on your client’s preference or location. 

You will receive an email which contains a link to the correct login URL. Click on the link in the email and follow these steps to create your password and activate your account. 

Please note that this account has been created for you and should not be shared with colleagues. 

User Permissions

Now that you’ve set your password and can access your account, it’s time to take a look around Brightflag.

At login, you’ll land on the ‘My Firm’ page. To expand the menu and access other pages, click on the icon in the top left-hand corner.

Brightflag offers three types of permissions for vendor users: Vendor Admin, Vendor Office Admin, and Standard User. The type of access that you have will determine what other pages you can access and what actions you can take in Brightflag. 

To find your access level, follow these steps. 

Timekeeper Submission 

If you are issuing hourly fee invoices, you’ll need to upload timekeeper rates to Brightflag before you can start submitting invoices.

Rates must be approved by the client, or else invoices containing unrecognized timekeepers will be rejected.

In order to submit your firm’s timekeepers, you can follow the steps in this article.

Matters

There are two ways to have matters created on Brightflag; client creation or vendor creation.

• Client Matter Creation: If your client creates a matter on Brightflag, you will receive an email notification when you are added to that matter. Otherwise, the matter will appear on the Matters page.
• Vendor Matter Creation: If your client has enabled the option for your firm to create matters on Brightflag, you will see the ‘Request Matter” button at the top right-hand section of the Matters page. Follow these instructions to request a matter on Brightflag. Once you have submitted the request, the client will need to approve it. You’ll be notified in an automated email from Brightflag once the request has been approved by your client. 

Submit Invoices 

Once your timekeepers have been approved and relevant matters created, you can get started with invoice submission. Brightflag accepts both PDF and LEDES 98B and 98Bi V2 invoice formats in either hourly fee or fixed fee. LEDES 98Bi V2 must be used if you are adding tax or PO numbers. Please note that some clients require that you attach a PDF invoice at LEDES submission.

Check out the following articles for more detail: 

How to Submit a LEDES Invoice to Brightflag  

How to Submit a PDF Invoice to Brightflag  

How to Submit a Fixed Fee PDF Invoice to Brightflag  

Submit Accruals 

Towards the end of each month, you may be required to submit accruals to Brightflag.

Accruals (or work-in-progress) are amounts for work that has been carried out but not yet invoiced. These amounts can be estimates but should be as close to the expected invoice amount as possible. Accruals can be submitted individually or in bulk.

Submitting Accruals in Bulk 

Submitting Accruals Manually 

Invoice Payment 

Payment is handled outside of Brightflag.

Once your invoice has been approved by the client on Brightflag, it will be exported via their preferred AP route and directed to their Accounts team. If your invoice is rejected, it will not be paid, and you will be required to make amendments and resubmit to Brightflag.

Since payments are handled outside of Brightflag, Brightflag Support does not have access to payment status. If you have any concerns about payment timelines, please contact your client directly.

Brightflag Support 

• Brightflag Help Center: You are viewing this article on the Brightflag Help Centre. You’ll find a range of articles specifically for vendors that will answer your questions. We encourage you to use the Help Centre as a self-service method for any issues you may have.
• Brightflag Support: If you run into any issues using Brightflag, you can also contact our support team. Support SLAs are 2 business days, but you’ll receive an initial response from the team within 2 hours.