PMS Sync Staff User Guide
PMS Sync provides a controlled, live bridge between Aderant Expert and Clio Operate (built on the Sharedo platform). It allows fee earners and practice staff to search live finance records, preview target work types, resolve party duplicate conflicts, and provision complete matters into Clio Operate in seconds.
The 5-Stage Import Lifecycle
Search Matter
Direct query against Aderant by matter number, client code, or party name.
Resolve Parties
Match each participant against existing Clio Operate contacts to prevent duplicate entities.
Verify Roles
Inspect role cardinality badges ([Single] vs [Multi]) bound to the work type.
Check Conflicts
Amber conflict banner blocks the import button if duplicate single roles are detected.
Confirm & Import
Atomic creation of work item, linked contacts, participant roles, and default security teams.
Step-by-Step Staff Guide
Sign In & Select Environment
Single Sign-On authentication and target destination confirmation
Access is managed through your firm's identity provider. Navigate to the PMS Sync portal and select Sign in with Alterspective or Sign in with Microsoft Entra ID. There are no separate passwords to manage.
If your firm operates multiple destination environments (such as Production and UAT), an environment selector appears in the top navigation bar. Every operation—search, preview mapping, and matter creation—executes strictly against the active environment. Always verify your target environment before importing.
Note for embedded portal users: If PMS Sync is embedded directly within your Clio Operate workspace, you are authenticated automatically as your current active user.
Search for a Matter
Direct, live query into your firm's Aderant Expert database
Enter your search query into the dashboard search bar. Searches run directly against the live Aderant database through our secure, read-only connector:
Fastest lookup for specific matters.
Returns all matters belonging to the client.
Free-text search across parties and matter descriptions.
Preview & Resolve Parties (Link vs Create)
The critical deduplication decision for clients and participants
The preview screen displays the mapped Clio Operate work type, matter key dates, financial attributes, and all associated parties. For the primary client and every participant, PMS Sync searches Clio Operate in real time to locate existing contacts with matching names.
Party Resolution in Practice
Links to existing record Acme Holdings Pty Ltd (ODS-82914). No new contact is created.
- Attaches the new matter directly to your firm's existing Clio Operate contact.
- Preserves historical conflict checks, cross-matter reporting, and unified client billing.
- Keeps your firm's contact directory clean and free of duplicates.
Creates a brand-new entity. If this party already exists in Clio Operate, select Link above to prevent duplicate records.
- Provisions a brand-new contact record in Clio Operate ODS.
- Automatically stamps Aderant entity identifiers for bidirectional system traceability.
- Select this only when confirmed that the party does not already exist under an alias.
Verify Roles & Cardinality (Duplicate Prevention)
Enforcing strict participant schema constraints before write operations
In Clio Operate, every work type specifies exactly which participant roles are allowed, and whether a given role can be held by one person or many. PMS Sync introspects these rules live from your destination tenant:
Only one participant may hold this role on this matter (for example, primary-client, lead-partner, or instructing-solicitor).
Unrestricted participants can share this role (for example, contributor, co-counsel, expert-witness, or interested-party).
Role Allocation Conflict (1)
Action RequiredSingle-capacity roles can only be assigned to one participant. Multiple parties have been assigned the same single role below:
- primary-client (Primary Client)allows only 1 participant, but has 2 assigned:Aderant Party:Apex Holdings Pty LtdCurrent User:Sarah Jenkins (You)
Please reassign conflicting parties to different roles or a multi-capacity role (such as Contributor) before importing.
Dynamic "Add me as..." Role Allocation
When importing a matter, you can attach yourself as an active participant so the matter immediately appears on your personal Clio Operate workspace. PMS Sync configures this safely:
Role selected from 4 user-eligible roles on Commercial Dispute work type.
Only roles that Clio Operate permits system users to hold are offered in the dropdown.
Defaults to standard contributor if present; otherwise picks the primary user-eligible role.
If you pick a [Single] role already held by a party, the conflict banner prevents import.
Confirm & Import
Atomic creation, security provisioning, and live verification
Once your party links and roles are verified and all conflict banners are clear:
- Click Import into Clio Operate.
- A final confirmation dialog recaps the exact work type, number of contacts created vs linked, and security teams being provisioned. Confirm to execute.
- The result card presents an Open in Clio Operate link that opens your new matter in a new tab.
Staff Decision Matrix
Use this quick reference to guide common decisions when previewing matters for import:
| Scenario | Screen Indicator | Recommended Staff Action | System Safeguard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Matter already imported | Imported | Click View → to access the existing matter. | Import write is blocked; cannot duplicate matters. |
| Matching contact found in Clio Operate | ✓ Links to existing record | Verify name/ID match; leave "Link to existing" selected. | Prevents duplicate ODS entity; unifies matter history. |
| Genuinely new client or third party | ⚠ Creates brand-new record | Select "Create a new entity (don't link)". | Stamps Aderant source IDs on contact for traceability. |
| Two parties assigned to [Single] role | Conflict (1) | Change one party to a [Multi] role (e.g. Contributor). | Import button is locked until conflict resolves. |
| You require immediate matter access | Add me as participant | Check box; verify assigned role (e.g. Contributor). | Only user-eligible roles shown; includes conflict check. |
| Aderant matter is closed | Status: Closed | Preview and import normally, or rely on scheduled close-sync. | Imports as closed; close-sync never re-opens matters. |
| Default security team missing | Result note: Team not added | Matter is created safely; notify administrator to check Settings. | Matter import succeeds; security role config flagged. |
Import History & Audit Trail
The History page logs every import attempt across your firm:
- Who & When: Records the staff user who initiated the import, timestamp, and destination environment.
- Created Assets: Details the generated Clio Operate work item ID, contacts created versus linked, and security teams added.
- Failed Attempts: Any failed attempt is recorded with full diagnostic error messages—nothing fails silently.
Administrator Configuration
Users with the administrator role have access to configuration controls under Settings and History:
Configure agent URLs, API keys, and Clio Operate OAuth credentials per environment. For on-premises Aderant connections routed through an Azure Relay tunnel (endpoints ending in servicebus.windows.net), configure the Azure Relay SAS Key and SAS Rule Name (e.g. proxy-send). Direct or ngrok setups leave SAS fields empty.
Specify default security groups and teams attached to every newly imported matter by work type, ensuring information barriers and practice group access controls are established from day one.
Configure how Aderant department codes and matter types map to Clio Operate work types, key dates, attributes, and participant roles. Use Preview mapping against real Aderant matters before saving, and Backup/share to export configuration JSON before making changes.
Configure scheduled background jobs for Close-Sync (closing Clio Operate matters when closed in Aderant) and Auto-Import (scheduled intake for nominated client codes), with optional Microsoft Teams webhook notifications.
Troubleshooting & Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the "Import into Clio Operate" button disabled?↓
The import button is locked whenever any of the following occur:
- Role Allocation Conflict: An amber conflict banner is displayed above the button because multiple parties (or yourself) share a
[Single]capacity role. Change one party to a different or multi-capacity role. - Unresolved Party: A party in the preview has a missing or unmapped role that does not exist on the target work type. Select a valid role from the dropdown.
- Writes Disabled: Imports are toggled off in Settings for this environment (previews still operate). An administrator can enable writes.
What happens if I accidentally link to the wrong contact?↓
During preview, no data has been written to Clio Operate. Simply adjust the dropdown selection to the correct match or choose Create a new entity before confirming the import.
If the matter has already been imported, navigate to the work item in Clio Operate, select the Participants tab, and update or re-link the contact directly on the matter record.
Why does search return zero results?↓
- Check the Environment Switcher: Ensure you are querying the intended environment (e.g. Production vs UAT).
- Verify Matter Number: Try searching solely by the matter number without hyphens or prefixes.
- Connection Health: If search yields no results for any query, your firm's on-premises agent or proxy connection may be offline. Check with your administrator or review the status indicator on the dashboard.
Why do I see "Import writes are not enabled"?↓
Why was a default security team not added?↓
Looking for Architectural or Setup Details?
Consult the technical overview and visual architecture guides for deep system context.