How it runs for law firms and solo practitioners
The team lead reviews the pack and the partners receive it with a plain-language note.
What is outsourced financial reporting?
Outsourced financial reporting means a remote accounting team prepares your periodic financial statements and management reports instead of an in-house controller. The team works from your own accounting file, applies a consistent close and review process, and issues a report pack on a fixed date each month. You keep the data, the software and the decisions.
What we handle for law firms and solo practitioners
- P&L by practice area with fee revenue, costs recovered and overhead allocated
- Billed, collected and written-off amounts by attorney with realization rates
- Balance sheet showing trust bank and trust liability agreeing to the cent
- Costs advanced receivable aged by matter
- Partner compensation and draw schedules against budget
The KPI that matters here
Reporting pack delivered within 7 business days of month-end with realization and collection rates by attorney included.
Law firms compliance notes
IOLTA and trust accounting (US and Canada)
Client funds sit in a separate trust or IOLTA account with an individual ledger per client, and the firm may never hold its own money there beyond what the rules allow for bank charges. We support the supervising attorney by keeping the client ledgers current, preparing the monthly three-way reconciliation and flagging any negative client balance the same day. We never have signing authority on trust accounts and never move client funds; the attorney approves and executes every transfer.
SRA Accounts Rules (UK)
Firms regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority must keep client money separate, reconcile client account at least every five weeks, return client money promptly when there is no longer a reason to hold it, and obtain an accountant's report within six months of the period end unless exempt. We prepare the reconciliations and the working papers for the COFA and the reporting accountant; the firm remains responsible for the client account.
Retainers, earned fees and transfers
An advance fee deposit is a trust liability until the work is done and invoiced. We prepare the transfer schedule showing which earned fees may move from trust to operating after the invoice is issued and any required notice period, and the attorney authorizes the transfer. Revenue is recognized when earned, not when the retainer is received.
Costs advanced and disbursements
Amounts the firm pays on a client's behalf are recorded as a receivable from that client and matter, not as firm expense. In the UK, disbursements need correct VAT treatment depending on whether the firm acted as agent. We track each cost to its matter and confirm the VAT position with the firm's accountant.
Law firms software we work in
- QuickBooks Online
- Xero
- Bill.com
- Clio
- LeanLaw
- CosmoLex
- PracticePanther
- LawPay
- All 50 platforms
More for law firms and solo practitioners
Other services for law firms
Financial reporting in other industries
Frequently asked questions
Can you report realization and collection rates by attorney?
Yes, realization compares billed fees to the value of recorded time, and collection rate compares cash collected to fees billed, both pulled from Clio or LeanLaw and reconciled to the ledger. The pack shows each attorney and practice area monthly and trailing twelve months. Write-down reasons captured at billing explain the gaps.
How do you present the trust position on the balance sheet?
The trust bank balance appears as an asset and the total of client trust liabilities appears as a matching liability, and the two must equal. The pack includes the signed three-way reconciliation as a schedule. This lets partners and the firm's accountant see trust compliance without opening the practice management system.
Do you provide cash-basis and accrual-basis views?
Most law firms keep tax books on a cash basis, so the pack is cash-basis by default with unbilled time and unbilled costs advanced disclosed as memorandum figures. Where partners want an accrual view for management, we add it as a separate schedule. Your CPA decides the tax basis; we report on whichever you use.
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