LawAccounting vs FreshBooks for law firms
FreshBooks is easy invoicing and accounting software built for freelancers and small businesses. It has no trust accounting and no LEDES billing. LawAccounting is built for law firms, with trust accounting, legal billing, matters and the general ledger in one platform.
Client money handled properly.
Trust ledgers for every client and matter, three-way reconciliation and overdraft alerts.
Billing for legal work.
Hourly, flat-fee, contingency, retainer and hybrid billing, with LEDES 1998B and XML for corporate and insurance clients.
Matters, not just projects.
Every time entry, cost and payment is tied to a matter, with documents and intake on the same records.
LawAccounting vs FreshBooks at a glance
How legal billing and accounting software compares to FreshBooks once a firm starts holding client funds.
| Area | LawAccounting | FreshBooks |
|---|---|---|
| Double-entry accounting | Yes. General ledger, journals, trial balance and financial statements. | Yes. Double-entry accounting with standard business reports. |
| Bank reconciliation | Yes. 15,000+ bank connections, with automatic matching. | Yes. |
| Time tracking and invoicing | Yes, recorded against matters. | Yes. Time entries attach to clients and projects. |
| Online payments | Card and ACH, posted to the right client ledger, with trust and operating kept apart. | Card and ACH online payments. |
| Trust accounting | Included. A trust ledger for every client and matter. | Not offered. |
| Three-way reconciliation | Included. | Not offered. |
| Retainers | Held in trust and applied to invoices when earned. | Billed upfront for blocks of time or a budget. Not trust accounting. |
| Billing models | Hourly, flat-fee, contingency, retainer and hybrid, plus split billing. | Hourly and flat-rate projects, plus retainers. |
| LEDES | LEDES 1998B and XML, with UTBMS codes. | Not supported. |
| Profitability reporting | By matter, attorney and practice group. | Project profitability reports. |
| Matters and documents | Included, with intake, documents and e-signature. | Projects and a client portal. |
Why law firms look for a FreshBooks alternative
Plenty of solo lawyers start on FreshBooks. It's affordable, the invoices look good and clients can pay online. Things change the day the firm takes its first trust retainer, its first contingency case or its first corporate client that requires LEDES.
FreshBooks trust accounting doesn't exist
FreshBooks has no trust ledgers. Some lawyers try to track client money as credits or liability accounts and keep the real client ledgers in a spreadsheet. When a bar examiner asks for each client's deposits, disbursements and running balance, reconciled monthly, that record has to be rebuilt by hand.
A retainer in FreshBooks isn't money in trust
FreshBooks retainers reserve a block of time or a budget and bill the client upfront, which suits agencies and consultants. A legal retainer is often client money that has to sit in trust until it's earned. LawAccounting tracks that money on the client's trust ledger and moves it to operating with an approval trail when fees are earned.
Legal billing software, not just invoicing
FreshBooks makes clean invoices for hourly and flat-rate work. Legal billing also needs pre-bill review, contingency fees, split billing across payers, consolidated bills for clients with many matters and LEDES files for corporate and insurance clients. LawAccounting handles each of these.
Practice management software with built-in accounting
FreshBooks organizes work by client and project. LawAccounting, with CaseQube, ties every time entry, cost and payment to a matter, and adds intake with conflict checks, documents with e-signature and settlement accounting on the same records.
When FreshBooks is enough for a lawyer
FreshBooks can work for a lawyer who never holds client funds, bills simple hourly or flat fees and has no e-billing clients. Contract lawyers, freelance attorneys and legal consultants often fit that description and do fine with it.
Once any of those conditions changes, the firm needs trust accounting and legal billing. Many solo practitioners at that stage add a separate trust tool next to FreshBooks. Others move to one system that handles both.
A test worth running: ask any general accounting tool to show you a three-way trust reconciliation. If the answer starts with "here's the workaround," you have your answer.
How to move from FreshBooks to LawAccounting
LawAccounting includes migration support for firms moving off general accounting systems. Tell us how your firm uses FreshBooks today, and we'll plan the move from there.
- Scope the move. Our team scopes your migration and quotes it before you commit.
- Move your data. We bring your accounting data into LawAccounting and set up your trust and operating accounts.
- Train your team. Training is part of the migration work, so your staff knows the system before you go live.
LawAccounting vs FreshBooks FAQs
Can lawyers use FreshBooks?
Yes, for invoicing, time tracking, expenses and general accounting. FreshBooks has no trust accounting, so lawyers who hold client funds need a separate trust tool or legal accounting software.
Is FreshBooks good for law firms?
It's good small-business software, but it wasn't built for law firms. It has no trust ledgers, no three-way reconciliation and no LEDES billing. For a lawyer who never holds client money, it can be enough.
Does FreshBooks have trust accounting?
No. FreshBooks doesn't offer IOLTA trust accounting. LawAccounting keeps a trust ledger for every client and matter, with three-way reconciliation and overdraft alerts.
Are FreshBooks retainers the same as a trust account?
No. A FreshBooks retainer reserves a block of time or a budget for recurring work and bills the client upfront. Client money held in trust must stay on the client's trust ledger until it's earned, which FreshBooks doesn't track.
Can FreshBooks be used for IOLTA accounts?
Not on its own. FreshBooks has no client trust ledgers, so firms would need workarounds or a separate trust tool. LawAccounting is built around IOLTA trust accounting.
Does FreshBooks support LEDES billing?
No. FreshBooks doesn't support LEDES. LawAccounting produces LEDES 1998B and XML files with UTBMS codes.
Does FreshBooks do three-way reconciliation?
No. FreshBooks reconciles bank accounts, but without client trust ledgers it can't compare the bank balance, trust ledger and client totals. LawAccounting shows all three in one view.
Can FreshBooks track matters?
FreshBooks tracks work by client and project, and some lawyers use projects as matters. LawAccounting ties every time entry, cost, payment and trust transaction to a matter.
When is FreshBooks enough for a lawyer?
When you never hold client funds, bill simple hourly or flat fees and don't have e-billing clients. Contract lawyers and legal consultants often fit that description.
What are good alternatives to FreshBooks for lawyers?
It depends on what you need. TrustBooks adds trust accounting next to a general accounting tool. LeanLaw adds legal billing and trust accounting on top of QuickBooks Online. LawAccounting, with CaseQube, puts trust accounting, legal billing, the books and practice management in one platform.
How do I move my law firm off FreshBooks?
Start with a scoped migration plan that covers your accounting data and any client funds. LawAccounting includes migration support, quotes each migration before you commit and includes training as part of the work.
Make your firm's billing and trust accounting easier to run
See trust ledgers, legal billing and matters working together in one system built for law firms. Book a demo and bring the first retainer or contingency case FreshBooks can't handle.