Bookkeeping for lawyers is a great niche, but it has its own set of “laws.” Clients’ retainers must be held in trust. Productivity is tracked by attorney. Expert witnesses must be paid. How do you use QuickBooks Online to track all that?

Trust Accounting is the workflow of setting aside your clients’ prepaid funds in a separate bank account to pay for the costs associated with their cases. Trust accounting isn’t just used by attorneys - you’ll also find it used in other industries including car dealerships, real estate companies, and travel agencies.

If a law firm's trust account is not managed properly, the attorney can be audited by the bar association or even worse - lose their license to practice.  Therefore, lawyers need to manage their records accurately, and it’s an essential skill set for bookkeepers.

Another consideration is software. A law office’s day-to-day operations are frequently managed using software solutions such as Clio and LeanLaw. The good news is that QBO integrates with these apps to create a streamlined end-to-end financial tracking system for compliance, business analysis, and tax reporting. We’ll look at the best practices for synchronizing your QuickBooks with Clio and LeanLaw.

Most firms also need to track cases and finances by partner. We’ll show you which QBO features make that possible!