LawAccounting vs Clio
Clio and LawAccounting both include legal accounting now. The difference is depth. LawAccounting, together with CaseQube for practice management, gives a firm's finance team a full general ledger, multi-entity accounting and matter-level reporting on the same records as its matters.
Accounting at the core.
The general ledger, trust accounting and accounts payable are the core of the platform.
Built for firms with more than one entity.
Multi-office and multi-entity accounting with consolidated reporting in one system.
Reporting a CFO can use.
Profitability by matter, attorney and practice group, with WIP, realization and budget vs actual.
Two platforms with different starting points
Clio began as cloud practice management software. For years, Clio firms ran their books in QuickBooks or Xero. In February 2026, Clio added its own general ledger, Clio Accounting, as an add-on to Clio Manage.
LawAccounting started from the other end. It began as legal accounting software built on Salesforce, with the ledger, trust accounting and billing at its center. CaseQube adds intake, matters, documents and settlements on the same Salesforce records, so practice management and accounting are designed to work together on the same records.
Both paths now lead to one system for matters and money. Where they started still shows in how deep the accounting goes.
LawAccounting vs Clio, feature by feature
How Clio Accounting and Clio Manage compare with LawAccounting and CaseQube on the work a law firm's finance team does every month.
| Area | LawAccounting and CaseQube | Clio |
|---|---|---|
| Platform | Built on Salesforce. | Clio's own cloud platform, with 250+ integrations. |
| Accounting | The general ledger is the base of the platform. | Clio Accounting, an add-on to Clio Manage since February 2026. |
| Trust accounting and three-way reconciliation | Yes. | Yes. |
| LEDES and UTBMS | Yes. LEDES 1998B and XML. | Yes. LEDES bills and UTBMS codes. |
| Bank feeds | Yes. 15,000+ bank connections, with automatic matching. | Yes. Bank feed matching in Clio Accounting. |
| Cash and accrual | Accruals, adjustments and revenue recognition on matter close. | Reports run on a cash or accrual basis. |
| Accounts payable | Vendor ledgers, approval routing, payment runs and 1099 tracking. | Vendor bills, expenses, hard costs and 1099 vendors. |
| Financial reports | Statements, trial balance, period comparisons and custom reports with drill-down to the source transaction. | P&L, balance sheet, cash flow, reconciliation, general ledger and trial balance. |
| Profitability reporting | By matter, attorney and practice group, with WIP, realization, effective rates and budget vs actual. | Firm Insights reporting in Clio Manage. |
| Settlement management | Fee splits, liens and medical bills, with a client disbursement statement. | Medical records and settlement management in Clio Manage. |
| Intake and conflict checks | Included in CaseQube. | Clio Grow, a separate product. |
| Documents and e-signature | Included, with OCR search, templates and built-in e-signature. | Document management in Clio Manage, with Clio Draft for advanced automation. |
| Client payments | Card and ACH, posted to the right client ledger, with trust and operating kept apart. | Clio Payments, built in. |
Where LawAccounting goes further than Clio Accounting
Now that both platforms have a general ledger, the useful question is what a finance team can do with it. Firms looking for a Clio Accounting alternative usually need more entities, more controls or more reporting than a single-office firm.
What Clio Accounting includes
Clio Accounting syncs with Clio Manage and creates journal entries as billing and payments happen. It covers bank feed matching, operating and trust reconciliation, vendor bills, expenses, hard costs and rule-based automations. Its reports include a P&L, balance sheet, cash flow statement, reconciliation report, general ledger and trial balance, on a cash or accrual basis.
Multi-entity law firm accounting
LawAccounting runs multi-entity and multi-office accounting in one system, with consolidated reporting across entities and offices. Firms that operate more than one entity should ask Clio how it handles consolidated reporting. Bookkeepers who work with Clio firms note that firms with multi-entity structures often keep QuickBooks alongside Clio.
Legal accounts payable with approvals and payment runs
LawAccounting keeps vendor ledgers, routes bills for approval, runs batch payments and tracks payment history and 1099 vendors. Attorneys submit expenses for approval, and every cost can be tied to a matter, with hard costs, soft costs and client cost advances kept apart.
Matter profitability reporting
LawAccounting reports profitability by matter, attorney and practice group, along with WIP, realization, effective rates and originations. Budget vs actual and period-over-period comparisons sit alongside the standard statements. Every summary figure drills down to the transactions behind it, and reports export to Excel.
Accounting periods and month-end close
LawAccounting uses defined accounting periods with open and close steps for a controlled month-end. Accruals, adjustments and recurring or reversing journal entries are handled inside the close, and revenue can be recognized when a matter closes.
Trust accounting in the same ledger
Clio and LawAccounting both reconcile trust accounts three ways. In LawAccounting, each client and matter has its own trust ledger, earned fees move to operating with an approval trail, and the system alerts you to overdrafts and commingling. Trust reports for bar reviews come from the same ledger as the rest of the firm's books.
Practice management software with built-in accounting
Clio spreads the work across several products: Clio Manage for matters and billing, Clio Grow for intake, Clio Draft for advanced document automation and Clio Accounting for the ledger. It also connects to 250+ other apps, which is one of Clio's real strengths.
CaseQube and LawAccounting cover the same ground on one set of Salesforce records:
- Intake and conflict checks. Web intake forms, branching questionnaires and conflict checks before a matter opens.
- Matters and tasks. Stage-based matter workflows, with tasks created and assigned by rules you set.
- Documents. Templates filled from matter data, OCR search, built-in e-signature and secure share links.
- Settlements. Fee splits, lien and medical bill tracking and a client disbursement statement.
- Billing and payments. Time and expenses flow to invoices, and card and ACH payments post to the right client ledger.
Because it all shares one database, a payment, a trust transfer or a write-off shows up in the matter and the books at the same time.
Which platform is right for your firm
Choose Clio if
you're a solo or small firm with one entity, your accounting needs are covered by core financial statements and trust reconciliation, and a large integration marketplace matters more to you than accounting depth.
Choose LawAccounting if
your firm has a finance team, runs more than one office or entity, needs profitability by practice group and a controlled month-end close, or already works on Salesforce.
A test worth running
ask both vendors to demo the same scenarios from your own firm, such as a trust transfer across several matters, a settlement disbursement, a split bill and a year-end close. Seeing the same work in both systems tells you more than any feature list.
Already on Clio? How to migrate from Clio to LawAccounting
LawAccounting includes migration support for firms moving from their current system. Tell us how your firm uses Clio today, and we'll plan the move from there.
1. Scope the move.
Our team scopes your migration and quotes it before you commit.
2. Move your data.
We bring your accounting data into LawAccounting and set up your trust and operating accounts.
3. Train your team.
Training is part of the migration work, so your staff knows the system before you go live.
LawAccounting vs Clio FAQs
Does Clio have built-in accounting?
Yes. Since February 2026, Clio has offered Clio Accounting, a general ledger add-on for Clio Manage with bank feeds, reconciliation, vendor bills and financial reports. Before that, Clio firms ran their books in QuickBooks or Xero.
What is Clio Accounting?
Clio Accounting is Clio's general ledger module. It syncs with Clio Manage, creates journal entries as billing and payments happen, and produces a P&L, balance sheet, cash flow statement, reconciliation report, general ledger and trial balance.
What is the difference between Clio Manage and Clio Accounting?
Clio Manage handles matters, time, billing and trust activity. Clio Accounting is the add-on that holds the general ledger, bank feeds, vendor bills and financial reports. Trust funds applied to invoices in Clio Manage sync to Clio Accounting.
Do I still need QuickBooks with Clio?
Not always. Clio Accounting can replace QuickBooks for many firms. Firms with multiple entities, payroll in QuickBooks or an accountant who works in QuickBooks often keep it. LawAccounting includes the general ledger, trust accounting, accounts payable and multi-entity accounting, so you don't need QuickBooks alongside it.
Does Clio do three-way trust reconciliation?
Yes. Clio Accounting reconciles trust accounts three ways, comparing bank records, client trust ledgers and trust liabilities. LawAccounting does the same, with client and matter trust ledgers, overdraft and commingling alerts and trust transfers that carry an approval trail.
Does Clio support LEDES billing?
Yes. Clio Manage can produce LEDES bills and supports UTBMS codes. LawAccounting produces LEDES 1998B and XML files with UTBMS codes as well.
Can Clio handle multi-office or multi-entity accounting?
Ask Clio how it handles consolidated reporting across entities, since bookkeepers who work with Clio firms report that multi-entity firms often keep QuickBooks alongside it. LawAccounting runs multi-entity and multi-office accounting in one system with consolidated reporting.
Does Clio Accounting support accrual accounting?
Clio Accounting's reports let you choose a cash or accrual basis. Reviews from its launch described it as cash-basis only, so confirm the current details with Clio. LawAccounting handles accruals, adjustments and revenue recognition on matter close.
What reports does Clio Accounting include?
A P&L, balance sheet, cash flow statement, reconciliation report, general ledger and trial balance, plus a vendor expense export. LawAccounting adds profitability by matter, attorney and practice group, WIP, realization, effective rates, budget vs actual and custom reports with drill-down.
Is Clio good for mid-sized law firms?
Clio serves solo, small and mid-sized firms. A mid-sized firm with a finance team should test multi-entity accounting, payment approvals, month-end close and practice-group reporting in the demo, because those are where the two platforms differ most.
What are good alternatives to Clio for accounting?
It depends on how much accounting you need. CosmoLex combines practice management with built-in trust and business accounting. Many firms pair Clio Manage with QuickBooks Online, sometimes through a tool like LeanLaw. LawAccounting, with CaseQube, suits firms that want full legal accounting and practice management on one Salesforce platform.
How do I migrate my accounting from Clio?
Start with a scoped migration plan that covers your accounting data and trust records. LawAccounting includes migration support, quotes each migration before you commit and includes training as part of the work.
Make your firm's accounting easier to run
See the general ledger, trust accounting, payables and matter reporting working on the same records as your matters. Book a demo and bring the scenarios your current system makes hardest.