Yet, if you own a small firm with multiple attorneys, employees, or contractors, hiring a bookkeeper is more than worth it. Law firms juggle their clients’ money more than in most industries. Accountants in law spend much of their time tracking what money the firm earned and what needs to go to clients, the courts, or third parties.

Hiring myself as a bookkeeper would be an expensive waste of resources.Would you hire someone who has mediocre recordkeeping skills to manage your books for $300/hour? If that’s your billable rate, then that’s what you’re effectively doing. First, you’ll deposit all retainer checks and similar money that belongs to a client in an IOLTA account. After hours and hours of testimony, jurors and observers alike were left in a fog of confusion about all the adjustments that the failed firm made to boost the income shown on its books.

Clio: Trust Accounting, Invoicing, Time Tracking, and More

Over-drafting one client account often means funds get automatically pulled from another client account—which results in the law firm accessing unearned client funds. Business accounting is what law firms have in common with other businesses. This includes the expenses of running a law practice—such as overhead, payroll, and the rent for the office—assets, liabilities, and equity. For most of you lawyers operating in a law firm, you may have a law practice management system and another system for your law firm accounting.

To do this, legal accountants capture expenses, provide financial forecasting, and prepare financial statements. That’s why we’ve put together everything you need to know about law firm accounting and bookkeeping. It’s important to remember that a standard payment processor will keep a certain percentage of each transaction as a fee. Because of this, you run the risk of breaking certain trust accounting laws . Your business’s accounting method will affect cash flow, tax filing, and even how you do your bookkeeping. While mismanaging an IOLTA account carries stiff penalties, many law schools offer little to no training when it comes to managing trust accounts. As a result, attorneys often find themselves making several common mistakes again and again.

Use financial reporting to identify opportunities

The trust ledger is similar to a checkbook register and should include every trust transaction for every client. This trust ledger must be reconciled to the bank statement for the trust funds account. There may be some trust transactions in the ledger at the end of the period, which will appear as outstanding items on your reconciliation. This is fine but look closely at the outstanding items to ensure they aren’t an incorrect ledger entry.

Is a system of bookkeeping where every entry to an account (i.e., every financial transaction) requires a corresponding and opposite entry to a different account. A double- entry system, therefore, has two equal and corresponding sides—or debits and credits—and creates a balance sheet consisting of assets, liabilities, and equity. The provision of services and the respective legal services agreement shall be governed by and interpreted in accordance with laws of the jurisdiction, where the relevant the Firm is registered. We shall not be liable for any loss or damage if the client uses our advice, documents or other material prepared in relation to the assignment for any purpose other than for which they were provided.

Choosing an accounting method (cash vs. accrual)

We’ll dive more into the specifics of why you need a CPA later on in this piece, but trust us when we say hiring one will make your life much easier. With that said, here are the steps we recommend you follow, whether you’re a small or large firm. Start by making a list of your mandatory expenses, like licenses, fees, rent, utilities, etc. These best practices all come back to one idea — staying organized.

These are funds you must keep separate from your firm’s operating funds. And without proper care, it’s easy to slip up and make a dangerous error. Whether you’re a solopreneur or run a firm with a hundred lawyers, knowing where every dollar is going will help you make better decisions for the firm’s health. Danielle Bauter is a writer for the Accounting division of Fit Small Business.

But every payment provider has a different fee structure so look into that beforehand. If you don’t keep your books up-to-date, you’ll need to play catch up at the end of the year. It’s either to manage as the money is either in the bank or not in the bank. We’ve said it again and again, but never, ever mix your personal and your business finances. Following the above three best practices allows you to optimize your finances. It’s crucial to collect and organize your financial data regularly, not just at the end of the year. In our opinion, this is an oversight, as mismanaging these accounts can lead to serious consequences, even disbarment.

Unfortunately, accounting and tax rules can be every bit as convoluted as any area of study in the legal industry. law firm bookkeeping These payments are to cover your federal and state income taxes as well as your self-employment taxes.