You just got a new client. You’re ready to start work on their case. You are enthusiastic and confident in building the case the right way. Then, you learn accounting software for small legal business. You can’t believe your ears. Shouldn’t it be free? Why do I need to pay for a law firm software for my firm?
Are you a small legal business and looking for accounting software for law firms? Then you have landed on the right page to learn about accounting software for lawyers. We are here to list best accounting software or law firm software that is easy, simple and useful for your law firm business. You can get all types of accounting without any monthly fees.
PCLaw
PCLaw by LexisNexis is a popular practice management and accounting software that allows law firms to manage matters, track time and expenses, pay vendors, accept client payments, and manage trust accounts in one place. The program is ideal for both solo practitioners and law firms that track billable hours and calculate profit per hour.
- Remote time tracking with PCLaw Go
- Serves as an all-in-one legal management solution
- Integrates with other LexisNexis products
- Uses Legal Electronic Data Exchange Standard (LEDES) codes for easy billing
- No built-in payroll processing
- Complicated to use
- Difficult to share books with an external accountant
- No upfront pricing
Plans & Pricing
PCLaw doesn’t publish its pricing information on its website, but you can contact LexisNexis for a customized quote. You can sign up for a free demo before buying.
You can find almost everything you need in PCLaw. You can use LEDES codes to streamline client billing, create multiple accounts for client trusts, firm funds, and IOLTA accounts, create tasks and assign to different lawyers, and track time on the go with its mobile timekeeping app, PCLaw Go. Since it’s part of the LexisNexis family of legal practice management products, there are plenty of ways you can connect it with other programs that you currently use. It doesn’t have a built-in payroll management tool, but it integrates with ADP to process payroll duties. PCLaw is powerful but complicated legal accounting software, so you might want to enlist the help of a professional bookkeeper or accountant who is familiar with the program.
CosmoLex
Just like PCLaw, CosmoLex is an all-in-one accounting and legal practice management solution but is cloud-based rather than being installed on your local computer or network. PCLaw has a rich set of features, including time tracking, trust accounting, billing, and task and document management. It is part of the Tabs3 family that provides specialized law firm software for solo and midsized law firms.
- Built-in accounting suite; doesn’t require QuickBooks
- Free unlimited training and customer support
- Accepts online payments with LawPay
- Free login for an external accountant
- Doesn’t integrate with many third-party software
- No integrated payroll system
- Tiered pricing is only available for firms with 10 or more users
Plans & Pricing
CosmoLex costs $89 per user, per month, for monthly contracts and $79 per user, per month, for annual contracts. All accounts include free login for your accountant, unlimited training, free data migration, unlimited file storage, and an unconditional 90-day money-back guarantee.
You can try CosmoLex for free for 14 days before purchasing the software.
What sets CosmoLex apart is its built-in legal-specific accounting suite, which you can’t find in most legal practice management programs. This means you don’t have to subscribe to QuickBooks or any other accounting software. With CosmoLex, you can track and manage tasks and activities, capture billable hours, accept contingent, flat, or hourly fees, and accept payments with LawPay. It includes more than 100 reporting options to help you better understand your firm’s financial performance. On the downside, CosmoLex doesn’t have ample integration with third-party tools, which can be an issue if you’re using multiple software in your practice. For instance, you might need to look for an alternative if you want a solution with integrated customer relationship management (CRM) tools and client intake forms.
LeanLaw
Best affordable law firm accounting software
With a 100% five-star review rating on the QuickBooks Online App Store, LeanLaw is quickly becoming a favorite among accountants and bookkeepers who work with law firms, as well as law firms themselves. LeanLaw was built specifically with QuickBooks integration in mind. In fact, there is no “sync” between the two software programs — the integration is so deep, it happens automatically. This means your law firm’s accounting is always up to date and accurate. No more wondering if your reports were produced before or after a data sync.
LeanLaw is first and foremost a billing software. It boasts a flexible time tracking feature, which allows you to either run a timer or manually enter your time on whatever device you choose. From there, you can create your invoices in as few as four clicks, meaning you will no longer have to “find time” to bill your clients.
The best feature of LeanLaw, though, is its ability to keep your trust accounts updated and reconciled automatically. If you’ve ever dealt with an out-of-balance IOLTA, you know what a nightmare it can be to locate and resolve the discrepancy. LeanLaw fixes this problem once and for all.
LeanLaw’s pricing is $28 per user per month when paid annually, or $35 per user per month when paid monthly, making it one of the most cost-effective options on our list.
QuickBooks Online
One of the most popular accounting software solutions for small businesses, QuickBooks Online becomes a powerful law firm accounting software solution when used alongside Clio Manage.
Together, QuickBooks Online and Clio:
- Sync financial information (like contacts, invoices, financial information, trust transactions, and more) to eliminate duplicate data entry and manual check writing.
- Sync payments and credit notes applied to bills in Clio to QuickBooks Online.
- Manage amounts in Operating and Trust accounts (To learn more about legal trust accounting using QuickBooks and Clio, read this guide).
- Ensure that amounts in trust are reconciled between Clio, QuickBooks Online, and your associated bank accounts—via an automated trust workflow.
- Simplify time-tracking.
- Ensure simple and accurate data management and reporting.
Pros
- Easy to use. The user-friendly interface allows for easier navigation.
- Seamless integration. Working with Clio’s practice management software, QuickBooks Online creates a comprehensive, time-saving accounting solution for law firms.
- Remote access. You can access cloud-based software from anywhere you have internet access.
Cons
- Not designed specifically for law firms. On its own, QuickBooks Online is an accounting solution for all kinds of businesses.
- Tiered subscription levels. Multiple pricing levels allow users to choose a subscription plan that suits their budget, but lower-tier plans may not have the features of higher-cost plans.
Xero
Xero’s online accounting software is designed for small businesses, like law firms—helping to streamline and simplify your practice’s financial management.
Xero also integrates with Clio, which helps make this accounting software incredibly useful in the specific context of law firm accounting. Together with Clio Manage, you can use Xero to:
- Automatically connect client invoices and expenses in Clio Manage to Xero to create a seamless link between your accounting and billing process.
- Create customized online invoices—to help you get paid faster.
- Gain valuable business insights from real-time, flexible financial reporting and dashboards.
- Save time with automated bank feeds and reconcile accounts with ease.
- Simplify payroll and stay compliant by using Xero’s integrated payroll software.
Pros
- User friendly. Lawyers aren’t accountants, and Xero doesn’t expect you to be. Because it’s made specifically to simplify accounting for small businesses, Xero is easy to use.
- Connection with Clio. By linking Xero with your firm’s practice management software, you can streamline accounting and billin +g workflows to save time and reduce errors.
- On-the-go access. You can access Xero’s cloud-based software from anywhere you have internet access.
Cons
- Not designed specifically for law firms. While not exclusively made for law firms, Xero is made for small businesses—like small law firms. By using Xero with Clio, you can connect accounting with legal-specific functionality.
- Time-tracking is an add-on. Project and time tracking functionality, which is important for law firms, is an add-on to Xero’s Starter, Standard, and Premium plans.
TrustBooks
Made exclusively for lawyers, TrustBooks’ legal accounting software makes it easier to manage your law firm’s accounting and meet state bar requirements. Key TrustBooks features include:
- Trust account management features—so your firm can stay compliant with your state bar.
- Auto-generated three-way reconciliation for trust accounts.
- Easy reporting for clients and trust ledgers.
- Automatic daily backups.
TrustBooks also integrates with Clio to eliminate the need for duplicate data entry, which saves you time and reduces the chance of error. The integration lets you import all bank activity from Clio to TrustBooks—so you don’t need to complete double entry with your accounting software
Pros
- Industry-specific design. Made for attorneys and law firm’s, TrustBooks is made to handle the needs of law firm accounting.
- Focus on trust accounts. Staying compliant and managing trust accounts correctly is essential for law firms, and TrustBooks is designed with features to make this easier.
- Cloud-based. Because it is cloud-based, TrustBooks is easy to access.
Cons
- Email-only support. TrustBooks offers support via email only, which may not be ideal for customers who need more immediate support.
FreshBooks
FreshBooks’ cloud-based accounting software works for solo practitioners and law firms looking to streamline their bookkeeping needs. With FreshBooks, you can send professional invoices with ease, track and expenses on the go, and accept payments online.
Pros
- Cloud-based for on-the-go access. This can be useful for tracking things like expenses while you’re away from the office.
- Adds professionalism to invoicing and billing. FreshBooks makes it easy to create customized (for example, with your law firm’s logo), professional-looking invoices in minutes. FreshBooks’ recurring profiles makes it easy to automatically send out monthly billing invoices, and auto-bill functionality allows you to set up a billing schedule to automatically charge your client’s credit card.
Cons
- Lacks legal-specific accounting features. With more bookkeeping features than accounting features tailored to law firms, FreshBooks does not offer a solution for trust accounting or other legal-accounting-specific challenges.
Conclusion:
Best accounting software for small legal business? Or is best accounting software for lawyers to trust affordable and trustworthy with our money? These are simple questions. Or not. Sometimes, the search for an answer can be a little complicated, especially if you are a rookie in business. Accounting, however, has its own jargon, procedures, and even styles, which can make it tough to decipher the one that is better suited for your style of business.