AI is everywhere, but clarity is rare. Befree Elevate: where CFOs & finance leaders turn insight into real transformation.

Know More

Law Firms Trust Accounting & Financial Solutions

Befree provides specialist accounting for law firms across Australia, ensuring your trust accounts stay accurate and audit-ready. We streamline your financial processes so you can focus on your clients without worrying about compliance obligations.

Talk to an Expert
accountants for hospitality

Accounting for Law Firms Built Around Compliance and Control

Running a successful law firm means balancing billable hours with strict regulatory obligations. The stakes are high. A single administrative breach in your trust account can trigger a Law Society audit and put your practising certificate at risk. Slow WIP tracking and delayed invoicing can quietly damage cash flow, even in profitable firms. That’s why accounting for legal firms goes far beyond year-end tax work. You need structured law firm trust accounting that keeps client funds protected, reconciliations accurate, and compliance airtight.

Befree provides the operational backbone your practice needs to scale with confidence. From daily legal bookkeeping and disciplined trust monitoring to partner reporting and profit distribution planning, our team ensures your records remain audit-ready. Our legal trust accounting services reduce compliance pressure, strengthen billing workflows and minimise the risk of breaches, giving you the clarity and control to focus fully on your clients and cases.

GDPR
Compliant

ISO 27001
Certified
XERO Platinum
Partner
ACCA Approved
Employer – GOLD
0 +

Delivery Centres

0 +

Years of Experience

0 +

Employees Worldwide

0 +

Global Clients

Professional Law Firm Bookkeeping Services You Can Rely On

From audit risk protection for your trust ledgers to daily cash flow acceleration, our legal accounting services give you complete control of your practice finances.

Trust Account Management

We manage daily trust account reconciliations in compliance with the legal profession uniform law and prepare your files for your annual external examination.

WIP & Lock-Up Reporting

Tracking your work in progress against billings for your “lock-up” days so you can reduce the time you spend doing the work to get paid.

Disbursements & Cost Recovery

Expert bookkeeping for law firms to track anticipated disbursements (search fees, court filing fees, etc.) and recover them from clients under the right GST treatment.

Office vs. Trust Accounting

We maintain strict separation between your office and trust accounts, preventing commingling of funds, a common trap in bookkeeping for lawyers.

Partner & Fee Earner Performance

Detailed reporting on billable hours per fee earner, realisation rates, and profit-sharing calculations for equity partners.

Legal Payroll Services

Management of salaries for solicitors and support staff, including complex bonus structures based on fee-earning targets.

We Work With Your Existing Tools

autoentry.jpg
NetSuite.jpg
xero.jpg
sage.jpg
vt.jpg
sage50.jpg
dext.jpg
hubdoc.jpg
quickbooks.jpg
freeagent.jpg
hm.jpg
brightpay.jpg
capium.jpg
iris.jpg
taxcalc.jpg
cch.jpg
kashflow.jpg
bright-1.jpg
engager-1.jpg
senta-1.jpg
pixie-1.jpg
karbon-1.jpg
Ignition-1.jpg

Legal Bookkeeping Services for Modern Legal Practices

From sole practitioners at the Bar to multi-partner practices, our team understands the unique characteristics, structural demands, and strict compliance requirements of accounting for law firms.

Boutique Law Firms

Scalable law firm bookkeeping services for criminal, family, and conveyancing practices that need to keep overheads low but compliance high.

Barristers

Specialised support for the bar, managing chambers fees, clerk payments, and BAS lodgments for sole traders.

Mid-Tier Practices

Full-service legal accounting for multi-partner firms, including high-volume trust transactions and department budgets.

Conveyancing Practices

Full-time bookkeeping for property lawyers, matching PEXA settlements and trust transfers.

Meet Your Dedicated Legal Accountant

Our team delivers professional bookkeeping services for law firms, ensuring compliant trust management, precise reporting, and complete financial clarity.

MuthuKumar T, Partner at befree EBU department

Muthukumar T

Partner, EBU

Darshan Danecha, Director at befree EBU department

Darshan Danecha

Director, EBU

Darshan Trivedi

Associate Director, SME

Prashant Chauhan

Partner, Business Services

Our Step-by-Step Legal Trust Accounting Service Process

STEP 02

Sign Up

  • Formalise engagement and define the scope of bookkeeping services for law firms.
STEP 04

Handover

  • Transition trust reconciliations, payroll, and BAS workflows.
STEP 06

Streamline

  • Optimise billing cycles for better cash flow and partner reporting.
STEP 01

Requirement Gathering

  • We assess your Trust Account status, practice management software (e.g., LEAP), and audit cycle.
STEP 02

Sign Up

  • Formalise the engagement and set expectations.
STEP 03

Onboarding

  • Set up secure access to your practice management system and bank feeds
STEP 04

Handovers

  • Smooth transition of tasks and responsibilities.
STEP 05

Review

  • Monitor monthly trust compliance, WIP levels, and disbursement recovery.
STEP 06

Streamline

  • Within 3–4 weeks, your processes run on autopilot.

Why Choose Befree for Legal Accounting Services

Smart accounting for law firms goes beyond just tax. We synchronise with your billing cycles and audit requirements.

Financial Advantage

Save 40-50% on legal bookkeeping services compared to hiring a specialised legal cashier in-house.

Flexibility

Scale your support instantly during big litigation cases or property settlement peaks.

Specialisation

We understand the difference between ‘Trust Money’ and ‘Controlled Money’ and how to treat them under the Uniform Law.

Agility

Daily reconciliation of Trust Accounts, ensuring you are always audit-ready.

Lower Overheads

Eliminate recruitment fees and finance staff leave expenses.

Quick Setup

Experts in LEAP, Actionstep, and Smokeball for immediate integration.

Transform your
business today!

Looking to outsource accounting or streamline your back-office operations? Book a free consultation or request a trial to discover how our expert consultants can support your business’s growth.

Or simply fill out the form—our team will be in touch shortly.

FAQs about Our Bookkeeping Services for Law Firms

How should a law firm operate under accounts rules?

The general accounts rules require law firms to return client money when there is no longer a reason to keep it. Under the legal profession’s Uniform Law of Australia, all money received for legal costs incurred prior to the rendering of services must be paid directly into a trust account. And finally, no client money shall be mixed with office money, even temporarily.

Deficiency in a trust account occurs when a payment from a particular trust matter ledger exceeds the available balance for that matter. In Australia, causing a deficiency or intermixing trust money are serious irregularities. Solicitors are statutorily obligated under the Uniform Law to report trust account irregularities (or suspected irregularities) to the law society as soon as reasonably possible after they are identified. Strong law firm trust accounting controls are essential to prevent these breaches and protect your practising certificate.

No. The use of a general office account to hold client funds is a violation of the Legal Profession Uniform Law. Any money received prior to legal services being rendered, or destined for disbursements not yet invoiced, is trust money and must be placed in a trust account. No matter if the money is held for 10 minutes or 10 weeks, the office account is never a substitute.

We prepare the accounts for the external examination. We are not the auditor (as you need an independent External Examiner), but our law firm bookkeeping services ensure your files, ledgers, and reconciliations are 100% ready, making the audit process faster and cheaper.

Lock-up is the cash tied up in unbilled WIP and unpaid debtors. If your lock-up is too high, your firm can be profitable on paper but have no cash to pay rent. We focus on reducing lock-up as a core part of our legal accounting services.