Legal professionals struggling with accounting is not something that is new. Keeping track of all financial transactions and generating financial reports in your law firm is not what you actually signed up for. According to a Gartner report, lawyers spend approximately 40% of their time in administrative work which can be automated completely.
Getting your hands on a legal billing solution that can streamline your accounting process is crucial for your law firm. Accounting is an essential part of any law firm. It provides clear insights and clarity for budgeting towards respective parts of your practice.
Manual accounting is time-consuming and frustrating at times which increases the error probability. Adapting a tool to harness this challenge will make your firm’s financial operations smoother, more efficient, and easier.
Adapting to free tools is especially valuable. There is countless legal accounting software available at no cost for a certain period of time and some are even available free of cost. Let’s directly jump to what is legal accounting software, what are the free options available for legal professionals and law firms, and what features you should consider while looking for law firm accounting software.
Best Legal Accounting Software for Law Firms
Xero
Xero offers an easy-to-use online accounting system for lawyers with exceptional reviews and an easy interface. Xero is one of the top-rated accounting software liked by many businesses and professionals. The solution can be accessed with any device with an internet connection on it, with Xero’s robust accounting features, small businesses can view their cash flows, transactions, and account details from any location. Bank transactions are all automatically imported and coded.
Xero provides unlimited user support and integration with a variety of systems, including ADP, Bill.com, and Vend. The solution comes with a 30-day free trial period for product testing and feature evaluation. When paired with practice management software, Xero is proven to be one of the best accounting software for law firms.
QuickBooks
QuickBooks Online is an accounting solution designed for various industries such as health care, the legal sector, and other such industries. It offers a web-based accounting solution that controls all aspects of the accounting process and the financial side.
The software can be used for multiple reasons such as payroll, invoice management, booking keeping, etc. Quickbooks offers a free trial to lawyers, their applications allow you to record client payments and execute other crucial processes of financial management.
TrustBooks
TrustBooks is a cloud-based software that offers a unified dashboard to help legal professionals and law firms to manage accounting operations seamlessly, The application provides a three-way trust reconciliation summary including details from the bank balance, trust ledgers, and client ledgers.
TrustBooks offers integration with third-party applications such as CaseFox, Clio, and LawPay. The best it’s when you pair TrustBooks with case management software, it’s easier to import client details, perform reconciliations, and generate reports.
ZohoBooks
ZohoBooks is a robust accounting solution for law firms tailored to cater small and mid-size firms. Its free plan is restricted to organizations generating less than $50,000 in annual revenue but if you are eligible for the plan then the features are unlimited. The solution has end-to-end accounting features to handle the more monotonous, frustrating parts of this side of your practice— including invoicing and raising sales orders. The program also has a client portal to help you seamlessly connect with your customers.
Wave
Wave is one of the more tested and used accounting software, it’s an accessible and versatile program that doesn’t need any training for use. The entire suite of accounting features is available for free, including unlimited income and expense tracking, the ability to run multiple businesses from a single account, and unlimited bank and credit card connections. One of the drawbacks is that you can’t track accounts payable.
What Is Legal Accounting Software & Why Does Every Law Firm Need It?
Legal accounting software can help streamline the billing and invoicing process and provide law firms with valuable insights into their cash flow.
Additionally, as firms deal with sensitive client data, legal accounting software can help them remain compliant with laws designed to safeguard private client information.
Features that accounting software offers to boost up your accounting process are?
- Time Tracking
Legal accounting softwares allow you to track your time and your billable hours. A valuable solution will not just provide accounting features, but also time-tracking features. With CaseFox legal billing software, you can track your time, including billable and non-billable hours, and get detailed reports of your activities.
- Client Portal
With a seamless and easy-to-use client portal, lawyers and law firms can easily get a hold of client communication, and check for payments. Moreover, clients can easily view their payment history and stay in the loop with their attorneys all the time.
- Billing & Invoicing
A viable legal billing solution will allow you to generate invoices and create a streamlined process for billing and payments. With features like a bulk invoice generator, you can generate hundreds of invoices with just one click.
- Contact & Client Management
Client relationships are crucial for a law firm. A quality legal accounting solution will contain contact management capabilities, recording information for clients and related parties.
- Trust Accounting
Managing clients’ funds brings an extra level of complexity. Trust accounting software will include features to support managing multiple financial accounts, tracking funds, and credit and debit allocation.
- Financial Reporting
Generate reports on trust ledgers, client payment history, attorney productivity, and more. Filter data by practice area, case files, attorney, etc., and gain insight into business trends.
- ILOTA Accounting and LEDES Billing
With accounting software law firms can create professional custom invoices for their practice with pre-made template features. Accounting software also provides LEDES invoicing and UTBMS codes for smooth billing functioning.
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- Exceptional Security
Having solutions that are not good enough, and can’t provide your law firm exceptional security, will become a matter of concern later on. A good accounting management system should provide features that can secure mishappenings like loss of information, better cybersecurity, and role management.
Summing Up
CaseFox offers powerful integration with most accounting solutions for law firms like Xero and QuickBooks. CaseFox also provides specialized features for trust accounting management and gives you advanced insight into the financial status of your law firm. We offer a free lifetime subscription to our customers with limited users. It also gives the ability to view your firm’s progress, your billing and invoice activities, reporting, and analysis.
We, at CaseFox believe in building a trustworthy relationship with our clients. Hence, we offer a powerful legal billing software that integrates with high-end accounting solutions. Also, our software focuses on helping law firms grow exponentially in different legal services. Try Now!