Legal Accounts Software

The Law Factory’s view of Legal Accounts Software

Legal accounts software’s basic responsibility is to record financial transactions for legal practices in an SRA compliant manner. All transactions relating to the holding and movement of client monies must be recorded on a client accounting ledger. Legal accounts software must also accommodate the office debtor side of the accounting ledger including disbursements and invoices and should also be able to record all elements relating to office expenditure. The package must also have the function to be able to reconcile all transactions against a bank statement and provide all the necessary reports for SRA Accounts Rules compliance and final annual accounting.

Integration of Law Firm Time and Billing Software

Legal account software, like many other types of software has evolved over the years. It used to be incredibly basic with core functions but has always had to strive to be compliant with the SRA Accounts Rules. As technology has evolved, so has the requirements from its users. Law firms now demand more from their software especially from the accounting side. Time and billing software for lawyers is now fully integrated with most systems so that rather than buying a separate billing system for law firms a law office can now handle the time recording, the rendering of the bills and the accounts processing all in one place. This helps with efficiency greatly across the case management and the accounts department.

There are many different gradients of legal account software, billing systems for law firms, case management software and time recording packages. Some are very basic and focus on their core attributes and some firms have several different systems to manage different elements of the practice. The recommendation currently however is to aim for an integrated package, whereby all the areas above can be brought into one system covering everything. The benefit here is that on a case by case basis all elements can be viewed in one area giving an immediate snapshot of the case’s position and where in the billing stages it currently sits.

Choosing the Right Legal Accounts Software

The look and feel of each legal accounts software package differ. The crucial element of the system chosen is the functionality. Does the package do what the firm needs? Is it comprehensive enough? Does the firm want a very basic system that satisfies the core criteria for the SRA or does it want something which will produce complex reports for cashflows and budgeting for example? It is important to choose the product carefully and have several demonstrations from different packages before settling on one.

The Law Factory has extensive knowledge of many different legal accounts software providers and can help choose one to suit. We also have contacts within the Legal Software Suppliers Association (LSSA) who can also assist and advise. Our extensive knowledge of the different software packages makes us well placed to handle all elements of the legal accounting and cashiering function for law firms.