Settings and Customisation in Custody Note

Custody Note's settings are designed around a simple principle: information you enter every time should be entered once. The settings screen lets you configure defaults for your practice so that each new note begins with the correct firm name, representative details, and billing preferences already populated.

Firm and Representative Details

The most commonly used settings are firm name and representative details:

• Firm name — appears on all exported PDFs and printed notes
• Representative name — your name as it will appear in the note header
• LAA account number — referenced in billing exports
• Default custody suite region — pre-populates the custody suite field for representatives who regularly attend a specific area

These defaults mean that for the vast majority of attendances, you do not need to re-enter your own details. They appear in the new note automatically and can be overridden for any individual attendance where they are not correct.

Instructing Firms

If you act as an agent for multiple instructing firms, the Firms screen lets you save each one — name, branding details, billing contact — once. They then autocomplete on every new attendance, and the right firm details flow into the exported PDF.

Billing Defaults

The settings screen includes configuration for billing preferences: default travel time assumptions for regularly attended custody suites, standard billing category mappings for common attendance types, and preferences for how time is rounded in the fees section. These preferences are particularly useful for accredited representatives and solicitors who attend a small number of custody suites regularly, where standard travel times are well-known.

PDF Export Settings

The settings screen controls the appearance of exported PDFs: whether to include or exclude the fees section in standard exports, page margins and font preferences for printed copies, and whether to include a confidentiality footer on exported documents. The confidentiality footer option is useful where notes are being shared electronically and you want to ensure that the recipient is reminded of the document's status.

Sync and Backup Configuration

If you are using the optional cloud sync feature, the Backup tab is where you configure your sync provider, credentials, and sync frequency. Sync settings are separate from the core note settings and are not required for the application to function.

Why Good Defaults Matter

At 3am, entering your firm name and LAA number into a new note is a minor inconvenience that can become a source of error. A note that has the wrong firm name because you mistyped it while tired is a note that may cause confusion when it is audited. Defaults configured once in settings are defaults that are correct every time.