LawAccounting vs LeanLaw
LeanLaw and LawAccounting both give law firms legal billing and trust accounting. The difference is what sits underneath. LeanLaw is built on QuickBooks Online and needs it to run. LawAccounting replaces QuickBooks, with the general ledger, trust, billing and practice management in one platform.
No QuickBooks underneath.
The general ledger, financial statements and bank reconciliation are part of LawAccounting.
One system of record.
Trust, billing and the books post in the same system, so there's no sync to watch at month-end.
Room for more entities.
Multi-office and multi-entity accounting with consolidated reporting in one system.
A billing layer on QuickBooks and a full accounting platform
LeanLaw is legal billing and trust accounting built natively on QuickBooks Online. Time, billing, payments and trust run in LeanLaw, and every invoice, payment and trust transaction syncs to QuickBooks, which holds the general ledger. It's aimed at firms of roughly 3 to 50 attorneys whose bookkeeper already works in QuickBooks.
LawAccounting is a complete legal accounting system built on Salesforce. The general ledger, journals, billing, trust accounting, bank reconciliation and reporting all live in one product, and CaseQube adds intake, matters, documents and settlements on the same records.
LawAccounting vs LeanLaw, feature by feature
How LeanLaw and QuickBooks Online together compare with LawAccounting and CaseQube.
| Area | LawAccounting and CaseQube | LeanLaw with QuickBooks Online |
|---|---|---|
| General ledger | Built in. Double-entry ledger with journals and trial balance. | In QuickBooks Online. LeanLaw requires an active QuickBooks subscription. |
| Financial statements | Built in. | In QuickBooks Online. |
| Bank reconciliation | Built in, with 15,000+ bank connections and automatic matching. | In QuickBooks Online. |
| Trust accounting and three-way reconciliation | Yes. | Yes, automated, with trust entries posting to QuickBooks. |
| Trust-to-operating transfers | Automated, with an approval trail. | Automated. |
| Trust alerts | Real-time overdraft and commingling alerts. | Real-time trust balance tracking. |
| Legal billing | Hourly, flat-fee, contingency, retainer and hybrid, plus split billing. | Hourly, flat-fee, contingency and hybrid, plus split billing. |
| LEDES | LEDES 1998B and XML, with UTBMS codes. | Yes. |
| Reporting | Profitability by matter, attorney and practice group, with WIP, realization and budget vs actual. | Realization, collection rate, days to collect and matter profitability. |
| Multi-entity accounting | Consolidated reporting across entities and offices. | Depends on your QuickBooks setup. |
| Settlement accounting | Fee splits, liens and disbursement statements. | Contingency billing. |
| Practice management | CaseQube, on the same records as the books. | Matter management in LeanLaw. Practice management through other tools. |
What changes when QuickBooks holds the general ledger
LeanLaw makes QuickBooks work much better for a law firm, and its sync is one of the strongest available. The trade-off is that your financial records live in two products.
Your books follow QuickBooks' structure
The chart of accounts, financial statements and bank reconciliations stay in QuickBooks. LeanLaw adds the legal detail on top, but the general ledger itself is a QuickBooks file.
Month-end spans two systems
Billing and trust activity happen in LeanLaw, while bank reconciliations and statements happen in QuickBooks. For most small firms that works fine. As attorneys, accounts and entities are added, checking that both systems agree becomes more of the close.
Multi-entity firms depend on QuickBooks' limits
Firms with several entities, offices or holding companies need consolidated reporting. With LeanLaw, that depends on how QuickBooks Online is set up. Ask LeanLaw how it handles more than one entity before you decide.
Where LawAccounting goes further than LeanLaw
Firms looking for a LeanLaw alternative usually like LeanLaw's billing. What they want is to stop running two products for one set of books.
A QuickBooks replacement for law firms
LawAccounting includes the general ledger, journal entries, financial statements, accounts payable and bank reconciliation, so QuickBooks isn't needed underneath. Trust entries, invoices and payments post in the same system that produces the statements.
Bank reconciliation in the same workflow as trust
LawAccounting connects to more than 15,000 banks and matches transactions automatically. Firms with several operating and trust accounts reconcile all of them in one place, alongside three-way trust reconciliation.
Multi-entity law firm accounting
LawAccounting runs the books for several entities and offices in one system and rolls them up into consolidated reports.
Payables approvals and a controlled close
Vendor bills go through approval routing before payment runs, and each vendor keeps its own ledger and 1099 tracking. Defined accounting periods with open and close steps give the finance team a controlled month-end.
Settlements and practice management
For contingency firms, LawAccounting with CaseQube calculates settlement splits, tracks liens and produces a disbursement statement for the client. CaseQube adds intake with conflict checks, rule-based matter workflows and documents with built-in e-signature, all on the same records as the books.
Which platform is right for your firm
Choose LeanLaw if you're committed to QuickBooks Online, your accountant works in QuickBooks and isn't moving, you run a single entity, and you want strong legal billing and trust accounting on top of the books you already have.
Choose LawAccounting if you want one system of record for trust, billing and the general ledger, operate more than one entity or office, need payables approvals and a controlled close, or want practice management and accounting on the same records.
A sign worth watching for: if your team ever fixes a reconciliation by editing a sync entry, the problem is structural, not a one-time bug. That's usually when firms start looking at one platform instead of two.
Already on LeanLaw? How to migrate from LeanLaw and QuickBooks to LawAccounting
LawAccounting includes migration support for firms moving off QuickBooks and other legacy systems. Tell us how your firm uses LeanLaw and QuickBooks 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 LeanLaw FAQs
Does LeanLaw replace QuickBooks?
No. LeanLaw is built on QuickBooks Online and requires an active QuickBooks subscription, which holds the general ledger and financial statements. LawAccounting replaces QuickBooks entirely.
Does LeanLaw require QuickBooks Online?
Yes. LeanLaw needs an active QuickBooks Online subscription and doesn't support QuickBooks Desktop.
Does LeanLaw do three-way reconciliation?
Yes. LeanLaw automates three-way reconciliation between the bank statement, the QuickBooks trust ledger and individual client balances. LawAccounting also reconciles trust three ways, inside the same system as the general ledger.
Does LeanLaw support LEDES billing?
Yes. LeanLaw's billing includes LEDES and split billing. LawAccounting produces LEDES 1998B and XML files with UTBMS codes.
Does LeanLaw handle contingency billing?
Yes. LeanLaw supports hourly, flat-fee and contingency billing on one platform. LawAccounting supports the same models and, with CaseQube, adds settlement splits, lien tracking and client disbursement statements.
Can LeanLaw handle multi-entity accounting?
It depends on how QuickBooks Online is set up, so ask LeanLaw to show you before you decide. LawAccounting runs multi-entity and multi-office accounting in one system with consolidated reports.
Who is LeanLaw for?
LeanLaw says it's built for firms of typically 3 to 50 attorneys that want legal billing and trust accounting connected to QuickBooks Online.
Can I replace QuickBooks entirely at my law firm?
Yes, with a legal accounting system that includes its own general ledger. LawAccounting includes the general ledger, trust accounting, billing, accounts payable and financial statements, so QuickBooks isn't needed.
What is the difference between LeanLaw and LawAccounting?
LeanLaw adds legal billing and trust accounting on top of QuickBooks Online. LawAccounting is a complete legal accounting platform on Salesforce that replaces QuickBooks, with practice management through CaseQube on the same records.
What are good alternatives to LeanLaw?
It depends on whether you want to keep QuickBooks. TrustBooks works alongside QuickBooks for trust accounting. CosmoLex and Tabs3 include their own general ledgers. LawAccounting, with CaseQube, suits firms that want to replace QuickBooks and run trust, billing, the books and practice management in one platform.
How do I migrate from LeanLaw and QuickBooks?
Start with a scoped migration plan that covers your accounting data and trust records. LawAccounting includes migration support for firms moving off QuickBooks, quotes each migration before you commit and includes training as part of the work.
Make your firm's month-end close easier to run
See trust accounting, billing, bank reconciliation and the general ledger working in one system, with no QuickBooks underneath. Book a demo and bring the reconciliation that currently spans two products.