Your office’s data moves out of Excel safely when it is cleaned before it moves: one record per client, a file number that links the sheets together, and consistent court names. It is then moved in the order of its links — from clients to cases, then hearings, then fee agreements — and the counts and samples are checked before Excel is left behind. Murafe has no self-service import tool: either your team enters the data, or migration is arranged as a service by agreement.
8-minute readLast updated: The Murafe team
Key takeaways
Excel is enough as long as it is one spreadsheet updated by one person; it stops being enough when its copies and notes columns multiply.
Make the client file number the key that links the Excel sheets together, not the client’s name, which gets written in more than one way.
Move the data in the order of its links: clients and opponents, then cases, then their hearings, then fee agreements with their instalments, and powers of attorney.
On switch-over day, save a final read-only copy of the Excel file, then check with counts, samples and balances.
Migration is either data entry by your team or a service by agreement, and the duplicate files screen catches whatever the clean-up missed.
When does Excel stop being enough?
Excel is an excellent tool as long as it is a single spreadsheet updated by one person who knows every cell in it, and starting with it is a sensible decision for a new office. The problem does not appear suddenly; it creeps in with every new sheet and every new colleague, until the file itself becomes a burden that needs someone to manage it. At that point the question is not “Should we leave Excel?” but “How do we move what is in it into law firm management software without losing anything?” Here are practical signs that your office has reached that point:
The file travels by email under names like “Cases - final - 2”, and nobody is sure which copy is the latest.
The “Notes” column now holds everything: the hearing date, the balance outstanding, the power of attorney number.
Only whoever opened the file today knows about tomorrow’s hearing, because nothing reminds anyone of it.
Answering “How much does this client still owe?” means adding up figures by hand from two or three sheets.
The file is open to anyone who has a copy of it, fee figures and sensitive notes included.
Clean before you move: the rules of a ready sheet
Messy data does not tidy itself up because it has entered a system; it becomes harder to correct once it is linked to cases, fee agreements and documents. So the most important stage begins before a single row moves: a separate sheet for each type of data, one row per record and one column per piece of information. The sheets are then reviewed against rules that the team agrees on and that everyone taking part in the clean-up follows:
The client file number is the linking key: every row in the cases or fee agreements sheet carries the client file number, not the client’s name, because a name can be written in more than one way. If your office has an established numbering scheme, keep it: the file number in the system can be edited to match it.
One record per person or company: look for duplicates by ID card number and phone number before name, and merge records that are alike.
Consistent court names: “Appeal”, “Appeals Court” and “Court of Appeal” are three values for one court, so use the official name as it appears in the system’s list of Qatari courts.
One format for dates (day/month/year) and for phone numbers, with no merged cells and no colours carrying a meaning only the person who applied them can see.
Required details complete: a phone number for every client without exception; for individuals, the ID card or passport number with its expiry date, and the nationality; for companies, the commercial registration number.
The migration map: where does each sheet go?
Before any data entry begins, write a map showing where each sheet goes and what needs deciding in advance. The map cuts down questions during the work and reveals early on the data that has no place to go or is missing essential fields; a single page reviewed by the partner and the accountant before you start is enough. Here is an example for an office handling cases, services and fee agreements — adapt it to your office’s own sheets and their names:
Excel sheet
Becomes in the system
Notes
Clients
Client files of the three types: individual, company / establishment, and government body
A phone number for every client, an ID card and nationality for individuals, a commercial registration for companies
Opponents
The opponents register, and each opponent’s capacity in their case
The duplicate files screen covers opponents too
Cases
A case file for each litigation degree, linked to the files of the other degrees
The court taken from the Qatari lookup lists, and a responsible lawyer and case team for every file
Hearings or the roll
Hearings inside each case file
Start with upcoming hearings; after that, the next hearing is created automatically when the decision is recorded
Fees and instalments
Fee agreements with instalments and due dates
Each agreement is linked to the cases or services it covers
Powers of attorney
The powers of attorney register in each client’s file
The expiry date drives the alert, so do not leave it empty
Consultations
Legal consultations with their category and consultant
Standardise the categories first so that the statistics are useful
In what order? Follow the links
The order of migration is dictated by the logic of the links before anything else: no case is created before its client, no hearing is recorded before its case, and no fee agreement is linked to a file that does not exist yet. Respect this sequence and you will not have to go back to link what was missed, or hunt for orphaned records with no owner. Within each step, start with the files being worked on these days, and leave closed ones for later:
Clients and opponents: everything after them points to them.
Cases, each degree in its own file, with the responsible lawyer and the case team.
Each case’s hearings, starting with the upcoming ones, together with the decision of the last hearing if it is available.
Fee agreements and their outstanding instalments, linked to the cases or services they cover.
Powers of attorney with their expiry dates, in the files of the clients they belong to.
Before you start, settle with the accountant the question of old financial transactions: are past years’ vouchers moved in full detail, or do you keep to the current fee agreements and the instalments still outstanding on them? The answer determines the size and length of the work more than any other factor, so put it in writing in the migration scope from the outset. Whatever stays out of the migration remains in the office’s original books and files, to refer to when needed.
Two routes to migrate, and no import button
The picture should be clear from the start: Murafe does not include a tool where the office uploads its Excel sheets itself and has them turned into files in the system. You have two routes. Your team can enter the data through the system’s screens, which is a practical option if the active files are limited in number, because the data entry itself becomes training. Or data migration can be arranged as a service by agreement with the office, like setting up the system and training the team, with its scope set by the volume and condition of the data. Either way, the office is asked for the same things:
Clean Excel sheets, one sheet per type of data.
The migration map showing what goes where.
The names of the team members and their roles, and the lawyer responsible for each case.
One person at the office to go to with questions and to review the result.
Switch-over day and the checks after it
Choose a switch-over day and announce it to the team, and on that day save a final copy of the Excel file bearing the date, set to read-only. From that day on, every hearing, decision and voucher is recorded in the system alone, and Excel remains a reference for comparison, not a place to work. Then give the checks the first few weeks: an error found early is corrected in minutes, while one found months later takes days. Four tests are enough for peace of mind:
Counts: compare the number of cases at each degree and status in “Statistics and reports” with the numbers in Excel, and click any figure that does not match to open the cases themselves.
Sample: pick twenty files at random and check the client, the opponent, the court and the next hearing in each.
Balances: produce a statement of account for a number of clients, and compare each one’s balance with your books.
The coming days: print the hearing roll for the next few days and compare it with the lawyers’ diaries.
Duplicates that slip through the clean-up
However carefully the team checks, some duplicates will slip through, especially when a name is written two ways, or a company is recorded once under its trade name and again under its manager’s name. That is why Murafe guards against duplication in two places. During entry, it warns you if you add a client with an ID card number or phone number already on record. After entry, the “Duplicate files” screen in the clients section shows groups of records that appear to belong to the same person, by name, ID card number or commercial registration number, with a tab of their own for opponents. Merging works like this:
In each group, choose the record you want to keep.
Click “Merge into the selected record”, then type the Arabic word “دمج” (merge) to confirm.
Everything belonging to the duplicate — cases, powers of attorney, fee agreements, vouchers, documents and messages — moves to the record you kept, any empty fields in it are filled in, and the duplicate is then deleted.
The first weeks: the team reviews its own files
The best training after migration is for each employee to work on their own data. Ask every lawyer to open their cases in the system and review them one by one: the opponents, the court and the next hearing. That way they learn the screens they will use every day and, at the same time, check data they know better than anyone. Team training is arranged by agreement, and after that the user guide inside the system stays at hand, explaining each section step by step, with a search. To make the first weeks easier:
Create the roles and permissions before the team signs in, so that from day one each employee sees only what concerns their own work.
Every account starts with a temporary password that the system asks the user to change at first sign-in.
Treat the alert at the top of the client list, with its count of clients with missing details and expired ID cards, as a daily to-do list until it reaches zero.
Anyone who needs to analyse figures will find an “Export” button in the statistics that downloads the report as a file that opens in Excel, so there is no need for a new spreadsheet on the side.
Questions on this topic
Moving the data before cleaning it. A duplicate client, or a court name written three ways, moves across as it is, and becomes harder to correct once it is linked to cases, fee agreements and documents. An hour of cleaning before migration saves days of corrections afterwards.
With four tests: comparing the number of cases at each degree and status between the statistics and Excel, reviewing a random sample of files line by line, comparing the statements of account of a number of clients with the books, and comparing the hearing roll for the coming days with the lawyers’ diaries.
Settle this with the accountant before you start: either move their details as part of the agreed migration scope, or keep to the current fee agreements and outstanding instalments and keep the old books for reference. What matters is that the decision is in writing before the work begins.
Its role changes. The final copy saved on switch-over day stays as a read-only reference, and what you need for analysis comes out of the system: “Statistics and reports” export as a file that opens in Excel, as does the “Office expenses” page. Day-to-day recording, though, belongs in the system alone.
