Most attorneys fear about correctly dealing with consumer cash. Not solely is mishandling of belief account funds among the many main sources of bar disciplinary motion, however the concern is most acute amongst solo and small agency attorneys. Usually, smaller companies lack the accounting staffing, construction, and software program of bigger opponents, and are sometimes much less capable of face up to a monetary accident.
One of the simplest ways for a small agency to beat these hurdles is to embrace a user-friendly, built-in resolution the place matter info and accounting knowledge coexist in a single software program product.
CosmoLex Helps You Observe the Guidelines
Attorneys usually joke that they attended regulation college as a substitute of enterprise college as a result of they hate math. Sadly, each enterprise entails math, and the joke could have the final chortle. Regulation companies confront two forms of accounting: basic enterprise accounting and consumer belief accounting (additionally known as IOLTA). And the foundations and rules for the 2 are fully totally different. Many accountants and bookkeepers themselves don’t know the IOLTA-specific ideas and compliance necessities.
Good belief accounting software program prevents you from making errors. In the identical approach that regulation apply administration software program (LPMS) understands the idea of a “matter” (i.e., contacts plus appointments plus paperwork, time entries, bills, notes, and so on.) in a approach that Outlook and Gmail don’t, legal-specific accounting instruments perceive IOLTA necessities in a approach that basic enterprise accounting packages don’t.
These respective understandings reinforce each other in CosmoLex, which mixes matter administration and accounting in a single product. A single supply of fact makes it simpler to keep away from belief accounting pitfalls like comingled funds, IOLTA overdrafts, duplicate examine numbers, and different frequent errors.
CosmoLex Helps Make Belief Accounting Painlessly Paperless
Guide accounting is each time consuming and error susceptible. Regardless of whether or not you’re utilizing a siloed piece of software program, a sequence of Excel spreadsheets, and even paper ledger books, CosmoLex represents an incredible step ahead for accuracy, effectivity, and safety.
A matter may have many shifting components involving a belief account. A single exercise may influence consumer billing, belief, and working accounts. For instance, the agency invoices the consumer (consumer billing), then disburses belief funds to pay the bill (belief account), and transfers these earned funds for its use (working account). Recording this sequence of occasions appropriately in a number of disconnected paper or digital programs not solely consumes time higher spent elsewhere, nevertheless it additionally dangers bookkeeping inaccuracies that turn into more durable to seek out and proper the longer they linger.
With CosmoLex, you may:
- Effortlessly handle single consumer ledgers or a number of belief accounts with separate ledgers for belief and working accounts;
- Apply belief funds to particular person or bulk invoices with ease, together with computerized transfers from belief to basic accounts, and generate disbursement checks straight from the system; and
- Effectively handle and disburse third-party lien claims, import digital financial institution statements, and auto-reconcile your books to save lots of time and cut back errors.
CosmoLex’s built-in resolution ties collectively matter exercise and time monitoring, invoicing, and accounts receivable. All pertinent knowledge is all the time at your fingertips. This linkage reduces the danger of errors and omissions. It additionally saves time which may in any other case be spent monitoring down and fixing discrepancies between an LPMS and a synced accounting program, to say nothing of spreadsheet information or ledger books.
CosmoLex Helps Reconcile You to Good Belief Accounting
Your jurisdiction’s governing physique probably has guidelines concerning belief account reporting necessities. The extra guide, disjointed, and rare your belief account bookkeeping and oversight, the extra time consuming and painful any required reporting will probably be.
In lots of jurisdictions, your bookkeeping ledgers and financial institution statements should match to the penny each day. As attorneys, we have now a fiduciary accountability to deal with consumer funds responsibly, and that features the power to conform well timed with IOLTA monitoring and reporting rules.
CosmoLex performs three-way reconciliation reporting with only one click on and supplies a full set of belief record-keeping and monetary stories to make sure compliance and transparency.
Through the use of CosmoLex, a purpose-built, built-in resolution, you keep regularly knowledgeable on the standing of your IOLTA account, eliminating the uncertainty, stress, and misplaced time that might in any other case outcome from weeks or months of lax belief account reconciliations.
Get Began with CosmoLex and Make Good Bookkeeping Simpler
CosmoLex’s LPMS resolution with built-in accounting provides three core, interconnected options to maintain you compliant:
- Constructed-in safeguards to forestall errors and missteps throughout the agency;
- Automated checking account reconciliation to make sure that the agency and the financial institution match; and
- Complete reporting to know the well being of the enterprise and meet compliance wants.
Belief accounting with CosmoLex is seamlessly built-in into the authorized software program, working alongside regulation apply administration, billing, and basic accounting features.
CosmoLex ensures that your regulation agency’s belief bookkeeping is managed robotically, in real-time, and within the background. With CosmoLex, belief accounting turns into a streamlined, dependable course of, permitting your agency to focus extra on authorized apply and fewer on monetary administration. Study CosmoLex’s belief accounting instruments, and its different highly effective LPMS options, by visiting their website.
Final up to date August twenty third, 2024
