Legal practice
Solo or small law practice with trust accounting obligations and strict confidentiality requirements.
Six short steps. No email or account.
Family
Professional services and agencies
You sell expertise and time, delivered as engagements or retainers.
- Priority decisions
- 10
Operating reality
What makes this different
The realities that change which tools can actually work for you.
Client trust accounting is governed by bar rules and mishandling it is a disciplinary matter. General accounting software alone is usually not sufficient.
Confidentiality obligations make document handling and access control a professional duty.
Malpractice cover is generally required to practise.
Billing models vary between hourly, flat fee and contingency, and the system must handle whichever you use.
Where to start
The decisions that matter here, in order
You do not have to take them in this order, and you do not have to take all of them. This is where most businesses like yours start.
- 1Documents and client portals
Keep files organised and share them with clients securely.
- 2Business insurance
Cover the things that could end the business in one bad afternoon.
- 3Passwords and security
Stop sharing logins over text, and protect the accounts that hold money.
- 4Invoicing
Send the bill, and let people pay it without writing a cheque.
- 5Accounting software
Track income and expenses so tax time is a report, not an archaeology dig.
- 6Customer records and follow-up
One place for every customer, conversation and next step.
- 7Appointment booking
Let people book a time without the back-and-forth.
- 8Contracts and signatures
Put the agreement in writing and get it signed without printing anything.
- 9Business banking
A business account, so personal and business money stop mixing.
- 10Email and file storage
Email at your own domain, and files everyone can find.
Your next step
Answer six short questions about your legal practice business: your team, where the work happens and what you want to fix first. You get an operating plan in the order to tackle it, with the must-haves and comparison points for each area.
Answers
Common questions
- What software does a legal practice business need?
- Solo or small law practice with trust accounting obligations and strict confidentiality requirements. The decisions that matter most are 10 areas, starting with the ones tied to how the work actually gets done and paid for.
- What makes running a legal practice business different?
- Client trust accounting is governed by bar rules and mishandling it is a disciplinary matter. General accounting software alone is usually not sufficient. Confidentiality obligations make document handling and access control a professional duty. Malpractice cover is generally required to practise. Billing models vary between hourly, flat fee and contingency, and the system must handle whichever you use.