Bookkeeping & Accounting Services for Law Firms and Legal Offices

As an attorney, you’re aware that when you receive money that belongs to a client, you must place those funds in a trust account separate from your own money. These funds are stored in IOLTA or “interest on lawyers trust accounts” accounts. To avoid this type of situation, use accounting software that allows you to automate these processes. For example, keeping track of invoices or monthly recurring expenses. Again, you should also be spending time daily recording your firm’s transactions.

• Making the jump from an attorney to running a law firm can bring a ton of new intimidating challenges.
• The good news is, we’ve made this guide to help you know the essentials of bookkeeping and accounting for law firms.
• For example, you might think you have plenty of money in the bank and buy a new computer before realizing you forgot to record that check to the court reporter.
• You’re busy providing legal services and developing business, so that Uber expense to meet a client sometimes falls through the cracks.
• I started doing the bookkeeping for a group of small businesses that are all owned or part owned by the same person in 2001.
• While bookkeeping is more transactional and administrative, accounting is more subjective, giving you insights into your law firm’s financial health based on legal bookkeeping information.
• Smaller law firms often require the services of outside or virtual bookkeepers and accountants.

Track and code credit card transactions to the GL and ensure statements agree to GL. Add to that the task of monitoring day-to-day finances law firm bookkeeping and you’ll have a plate that is simply too full. Outsourcing your bookkeeping can literally define the success of your firm.

Cash accounting

Some software platforms allow you to use accrual-based books for monthly management of the firm while also creating cash-basis statements for preparing tax returns. Look into the pros and cons of both methods for your firm, then be consistent going forward to ensure your records are accurate and easy to track. We use Quickbooks for law firms and provide top bookkeeping services for law firms in Irvine, including managing IOLTA accounts and ensuring compliance with bar rules. With years of experience, our bookkeeper law firm offers accurate and timely law firm billing to help your business run efficiently. This will free you up to focus on navigating to the best possible outcome for your clients with confidence that your law firm is managing its financials effectively, from payroll to expenses and invoices.

Cogneesol has completely streamlined our client onboarding and setup process. With client accounts being updated on a real time basis now, our income, therefore, follows a structured flow. This has given the firm’s partners good freedom to take important decisions of expansion and vertical integration. With this guide, you’ll understand key financial concepts, financial levers affecting your business, best practices for billing and collecting money, and how to manage and outsource financial work. Let our team of legal bookkeeping experts start doing the work for you. Practice Alchemy gives you a complete “plug and play” bookkeeping solution to manage your accounts and give you the necessary insights you need into your firm’s financials.

No Hiring Hassles

When you’re just starting out, you can keep costs low by recording all income and expenses in a spreadsheet, like our Excel Income Statement Template. SLC Bookkeeping’s team brings deep experience in legal accounting to your practice. Set up your brand new law office accounting system with our guidance and learn why QuickBooks for law firms may benefit your practice. Our bookkeeping team for law firms gives you the expertise of a CFO but at a fraction of the cost of a full-time employee.

We want to help you achieve maximum billing efficiency and increase your overall profitability with the best law firm accounting software. Irvine bookkeeping offers you comprehensive, cost-effective, and long-term law firm bookkeeping solutions. With our dedicated and experienced bookkeepers, you potentially transform the financial management of your law firm. An attorney is required to reconcile their trust bank statement to their client’s individual balance on a quarterly, or even monthly basis. Double-entry bookkeeping or double-bookkeeping accounting is a method that keeps track of where your money comes from and where it’s going.