Legal Business Accounting Software for Law Firms

This is why it often makes sense for small law firms to choose accounting software specifically designed for law businesses. As a lawyer, it’s your responsibility to protect client data, including data that may be stored or processed in your legal accounting software. With this in mind, it’s important to vet the security features of any potential solution.

MyCase three-way trust reconciliation tools enable you to stay in compliance with bar regulations. But lawyer accounting involves more than simply preparing tax returns and complying with relevant ethical and regulatory guidelines. Get a close-up view of how accounting on Salesforce can eliminate the need for costly integrations—and silos of mismatched information—by sharing the same database as your CRM. In regards to security, Clio’s cloud-based allows you to store sensitive information on your computer while being accessible to you anywhere.

Housing all Financial Data in One Location

Or, do you simply want to move away from spreadsheets and manual data entry? No matter what your specific needs are, it’s important to take stock of the features that are most important to achieving your goals. That said, when considering features, it’s also important to think of your goals both in the short and long term. A cheaper solution might offer a quick fix for one problem, but you’ll be back to the drawing board when the business experiences unexpected changes or growth.

With a subscription to Xero, you can add unlimited users to manage your accounting. There is no additional fee for users which is common in other accounting software services on this list. Accounting programs for lawyers make your legal services run more effectively and efficiently. There are many accounting programs available and most are designed to improve time management, billing, accounting, and case management. That being said, here are our recommendations based on the availability of these legal-specific features, plus things like ease of use, customer service, and comprehensiveness of bookkeeping and accounting features.

Basic Bookkeeping

CosmoLex’s automation and client management tools help firms streamline client intake, making the process fast and seamless with features like secure document sharing and e-signature. See invoices paid 70% faster with LeanLaw’s streamlined accounting workflows. When choosing law firm accounting software, it can be challenging to know which specific features you need to keep your business running smoothly. It’s super easy for data entry errors to happen, but when they do, it costs time and money.

• If you’re looking for software that can competently handle both bookkeeping and accounting, you’ll need to pay close attention to the features that it includes.
• You want to make sure it will work with the other applications you are using today.
• This is why it often makes sense for small law firms to choose accounting software specifically designed for law businesses.
• The one feature PCLaw lacks is payroll processing, though they do partner with ADP for payroll processing.
• QuickBooks Online is Intuit’s cloud-based (web-based) edition, which provides much, but not all, of the classic Desktop functionality.

If your law firm deals with a lot of paper bills, you’ll also be happy to know that Xero has partnered with Hubdoc and now lets you capture all your bills and receipts and store their digital copy. This way, you can keep your office clutter-free yet have a copy of all your expenses for tax season. Zoho Accounting also provides a similar portal for vendors, which has the same features as the customer portal. However, you might not need it much as a law firm unless you’re leasing your resources or outsourcing your work.

Solo and Small Firm Marketing

You can use these reports to create budgets for your firm, track financial trends, and more. With the right information available when you need it, you can make data-driven business decisions to help your firm succeed. Trust accounting must be done correctly in order for law firms to stay compliant.

Upgrade to Premier to gain greater business insights and hands-off billing. Always be sure to check the available integration options to ensure that your chosen legal accounting tool can integrate with the other software your company already uses. Businеssеs with annual rеvеnuе undеr $50,000 can usе Zoho Books’ frее plan forеvеr.

Paying too much for accounting software can hurt your finances, but cheaper options may lack critical features and scalability, leading to future expenses. Find thе right balancе bеtwееn cost and fеaturеs to еnsurе thе softwarе еfficiеntly supports your firm’s financial managеmеnt nееds without compromising financial stability. This is brought to you by an accurate recording of transactions and collaboration with your accountants and bookkeepers in real-time. All of this will help you make informed decisions and churn out more profit. Plus, law firms with clients overseas will benefit from its ability to accept multiple currencies. So, despite limited integration options, Sage Accounting offers practically everything to meet most needs.

Consider what functionality would be most useful, and make them deal-breakers when selecting an option. Ethical and legal rules for accepting online payments, such as credit and debit cards and peer-to-peer payments, vary by state and location. Whether you should take payments via payment apps, such as PayPal or Venmo, depends on whether clients are paying for earned fees or retainers.

Online Payments

And because they’re tax compliant, you can feel confident they’ll keep your books organized and prepared for tax filing. Without regular—and accurate—financial reporting, you may not see potential opportunities, and smaller problems may inadvertently escalate. For example, in Xero, you can easily edit the layouts of your financial reports to prioritize what’s most relevant Running Law Firm Bookkeeping: Consider the Industry Specifics in the Detailed Guide for your firm. Kelly is an SMB Editor specializing in starting and marketing new ventures. Before joining the team, she was a Content Producer at Fit Small Business where she served as an editor and strategist covering small business marketing content. She is a former Google Tech Entrepreneur and she holds an MSc in International Marketing from Edinburgh Napier University.