Recently we have had a considerable number of enquiries from prospective customers who have been looking to get a legal accounts package for their firm, and what surprised us, was the number of people who are not sure what it is they need.  

Equally, a lot of people do not know what to ask for in terms of functionality, and only during a demonstration do they realise that there are functionalities that are particularly important, but that they did not know even existed in the first place. 

Obviously, this issue is particularly relevant to solicitors who are starting out on their own, so these legal bookkeeping considerations are new to them. Having said that, there are also functionalities that only modern systems offer, and so perhaps some more experienced users may not be aware of them if they are using older packages.  As a result, we decided to put together a simple list of the kind of functionality you should look for when choosing legal accounting software.    

• True separation of client and office account transactions in one system. 
• Ledger cards showing both client, office and disbursement transactions.  
• Management reports incorporating specific Legal accounts structures 
• Client A/C to office A/C transfer function 
• Matter to Matter transfer function 

• Disbursement management – (linked and normal) 
• Printing a client matter listing showing balances 
• Accounting for multiple client A/C’s on each matter (eg; client A/C & deposit A/C) 
• Multiple Matters per client 
• Regulatory Reporting requirements 

• Reconciliation for the client and office bank accounts 
• Integration with a case management system 
• Ease of use in terms of navigation, finding data but also use of correct terminology 
• Technical and regulatory support. (Can the supplier support legal accounts questions and do they know the regulations surrounding legal accounts and bookkeeping) 
• The ability to delete entries 

• Batch entry of transactions 
• Industry specific product support  

The importance of some these individual functionalities varies depending on the needs of each firm, but the common reason that these functionalities are important is time. Whether you are paying someone to do your books for you, in which the cost analysis is self-evident, or you are doing you own bookkeeping where the analysis can be a little more vague, the key issue always comes back to efficient use of time.  

The accounting system you choose for your firm, needs to enable you or your bookkeeping team, to enter data, find data, analyse and report on your data quickly and efficiently. In the first instance, entering data shouldn’t be taking up more time than it needs to. Secondly, retrieving the data you need, whether it be for yourself or a client who is waiting on the other end of the phone, should be easy to do and easy to interpret. At a more macro level your system needs to provide you with the key data on where the firm stands and this again needs to be something you can access quickly and easily.  

From a regulatory perspective, it becomes even more important that the package your firm uses can produce the data you need for an audit or an inspection. This element is not even about the results of a negative finding, the time taken up within a firm when data can’t be found easily can be considerable. Time and again we hear reports of solicitors wasting hours of their time answering questions about transactions on matters because the data was not readily available or interpretable.  

Lastly, the ability to access data from wherever you or your staff need to work is becoming increasingly important. True cloud systems offer the user the ability to work on and access their firm’s data when and where they wish to, and they are no longer reliant on one or two computers that has the necessary software loaded on to them.  

Like many things in life, the compounding effect of these elements not working as they should is considerable. In short, it results in a lot of wasted time and money.  So, if you are looking to get your first accounting package for your firm, or you are looking to upgrade your existing system, be sure to ask the right questions.