How to Integrate NetDocuments and Soluno (ActionStep Accounting

Note: Soluno has been acquired by Actionstep and is now referred to as Actionstep Accounting. The integration steps below remain the same — only the product name has changed.

The Actionstep Accounting–NetDocuments integration is a one-way sync from Actionstep Accounting to NetDocuments. Here’s what that means in practice:

• When you create a Client in Actionstep Accounting, a corresponding Client is created in NetDocuments.
• When you create a File in Actionstep Accounting, a corresponding Matter workspace is created in NetDocuments.
• The NetDocuments workspace appears directly under a NetDocuments tab inside Actionstep Accounting’s File Manager, so users can access their documents without leaving the application.
• Conflict Checks in Actionstep Accounting can pull results from both systems, including documents and emails stored in NetDocuments.

Important limitation: The sync is one-way and assumes you’re starting fresh. Existing NetDocuments workspace structures will not appear in Actionstep Accounting, and any documents already in NetDocuments will need to be migrated into the new Actionstep Accounting-generated structures.

Activate the Integration in ActionStep\Soluno

Step 1: Email support@soluno.legal and request the Authorization Code needed to activate the NetDocuments integration. You’ll need this code in the steps below.

Step 2: In Soluno, go to Admin → Firm → Service Configuration → NetDocuments tab.

Step 3: Click Activate and review the activation screen.

Step 4: Select your Service/Account Location

Step 5: Enter the Authorization Code provided by Soluno support, then click OK.

Step 6: Enter your NetDocuments admin credentials.

Step 7: When prompted by NetDocuments, click Allow to authorize the connection.

Step 8: Select your NetDocuments Client Cabinet.

Step 9: (Optional) Select the cabinet for Contacts, or click Cancel to skip.

Step 10: Choose whether to sync Practice Areas using abbreviations (e.g., “Lit” instead of “Litigation”).

Step 11:  Decide how to push over the Numbers from Soluno to NetDocuments

Soluno requires every matter to have a unique matter ID, and the way it achieves that is by combining the client number and matter number together into a single ID — for example, client 1001 and matter 003 become 1001-003. That works fine inside Soluno, but most NetDocuments setups store the client ID and matter ID as separate profile attributes. You need to match what your NetDocuments environment actually uses:

• If NetDocuments stores only the matter number (e.g., “003”) as the matter ID → choose Yes to strip the client number off before syncing.
• If NetDocuments stores the combined client-matter number (e.g., “1001-003”) as the matter ID → choose No to sync it as-is.

Getting this wrong means your matters won’t match up between the two systems. If you’re not sure how your NetDocuments profile attributes are configured, check with your NetDocuments consultant before proceeding.

Step 12: You’ll be asked whether to perform a full clean install. Read this carefully before answering.

A clean install pushes everything from Soluno — every client and every matter — into NetDocuments. In most cases, you should not do this. If your client and matter ID structures aren’t an exact match between the two systems, a clean install will dump a large number of bad records into NetDocuments, which will need to be cleaned up manually.

The only scenario where a clean install makes sense is when you are working with a brand-new NetDocuments account with empty client and matter lookup tables, and the firm is not coming from an existing document management system. In that case, the clean install is the right move — it populates the NetDocuments tables with the data already in Soluno.

Soluno will then begin synchronizing Clients and Files with the NetDocuments lookup tables. This is a firm-wide setting — once enabled, it’s active for all users.

What to Do If the Integration Stops Working

Integrations occasionally go down, and when they do, attorneys still need to work. Here’s how to handle it without causing a crisis.

If no one with Actionstep Accounting admin access is available, don’t wait for the integration to be fixed before creating new matters. You can manually create the client and matter directly in NetDocuments, and attorneys can get back to work immediately. When the integration is restored, everything will sync up normally — manually created records won’t cause any issues.

If an attorney is complaining that they can’t save a document into NetDocuments because the matter doesn’t exist yet, spend the 15 seconds to create the matter in NetDocuments manually. Don’t let a temporary integration issue turn into a billing or deadline problem.

If a wrong matter was accidentally entered in Actionstep Accounting and pushed over to NetDocuments, you have two options: delete the incorrect matter from NetDocuments, or update the description in NetDocuments so that it matches the corrected entry in Actionstep Accounting. Either way, the fix needs to happen in NetDocuments — the integration only flows one direction, so correcting it in Actionstep Accounting alone won’t update what’s already been pushed over.

Reinitializing the Integration.

If you need to reinitialize the integration between Soluno and NetDocuments for any reason, don’t just jump back into the activation steps. Before you start, you need to confirm how the original integration was configured — because if you set it up differently the second time, your new records won’t match your existing ones.

The easiest way to do this is to go directly into your NetDocuments profile attributes and open the client and matter lookup tables. They’ll tell you everything you need to know:

• Open the matter table and look at the matter key values. If you see a combined client and matter ID (e.g., “1001-003”), then you know the integration was configured to push both over together. If you only see the matter number (e.g., “003”), then you know it was configured to strip the client number off.
• Open the matter type attribute and review its values. If you see abbreviations (e.g., “Lit”), then you know the integration was set up to sync using abbreviations. If you see full descriptions (e.g., “Litigation”), then you know it was using the full name.

Match those settings exactly when you reinitialize, and you’ll avoid creating mismatched records going forward.

Final Thoughts

The Actionstep Accounting–NetDocuments integration is straightforward to activate, but two steps deserve extra attention before you proceed: Step 10, where the matter number format needs to match your NetDocuments profile attribute setup, and Step 11, where choosing the wrong clean install option can create a significant cleanup problem. Take your time on both.

If you need help getting this integration set up correctly, contact us at Optiable and we’ll make sure it’s done right the first time.