Best Law Firm Accounting Software in 2024

Each month, a team of professional bookkeepers with experience in legal accounting gathers your data for you and turns it into accurate financial statements. You also get smart software to help you monitor your finances and stay in control of cash flow. Even the most experienced legal professionals can make trust accounting mistakes.

Keep strict records

An example specific to law firms would be the sub-account of segregated liabilities. Under the heading of segregated liabilities, your chart law firm chart of accounts of accounts should include pooled trust accounts and separate, interest-bearing trust accounts. Many law firms use QuickBooks for their core accounting, but acknowledge that QuickBooks does not follow the rigid Trust Accounting rules. (Some law firms try anyway, or worse yet, use an Excel spreadsheet to manage trust accounts).

Legal Accounting 101: A Guide for Law Firms

These regulations can make even the most experienced accountant’s head spin. Microsoft Excel for lawyers can be an invaluable tool for solo attorneys and small law firms. Trust accounting rules requires law firms to closely manage each of their client’s trust funds to avoid misappropriation. As easy as it may sound, it can quickly become a major hurdle for those who are manually tracking funds. For example, accidentally depositing trust funds into your operations account is a https://www.bookstime.com/ major violation.

• QuickBooks is not law-firm-specific, so while a great application, it may lack some of the legal-specific functions your firm requires.
• Reliable bookkeeping for attorneys also provides accurate financial data for legal accountants to work with.
• Even better, with Wave’s Pro Plan, you can safely give your accountant access to your books by adding them as a limited user.
• And with Clio’s Advanced Tasks, you can assign tasks to other users at your firm or even outside parties through its secure portal.
• IOLTA accounts are designed to keep client funds separate from your typical business or operating account—where you are allowed to accrue interest.

Frequently Asked Questions — Law Firm Accounting Software

LawPay protects your IOLTA account against third-party debiting and commingling funds—ensuring compliance with ABA and IOLTA account rules. While a bookkeeper keeps the day-to-day data accurate and updated, a controller can help you set up and oversee your financial system and accounting infrastructure. Controllers often oversee the bookkeeper’s work, reconcile the accounts, and make more significant ledger adjustments. Yes, QuickBooks lets you customize invoices to reflect your practice’s logo, information, and billing rates. You normal balance can also schedule invoices to automatically generate and go out to clients on specific dates or at set intervals. You can also schedule invoices to be generated and emailed at certain dates or intervals.

Legal bookkeeping takes place before any accounting can occur and is an essential administrative task for any law firm. Reliable bookkeeping for attorneys also provides accurate financial data for legal accountants to work with. To set up an accounting system that supports compliant financial management, you need specialized tools and applications. You can modify the chart of accounts in a generic accounting platform like Quickbooks Online. But, you’ll likely need integrated, lawyer-specific tools to manage and reconcile client advances and trust accounts.