Legal-Specific Business Accounting

CosmoLex allows large and small law firms alike to manage trust accounts without worrying about maintaining legal compliance with American Bar Association standards. Unlike other accounting software that is only capable of handling general accounting tasks, such as QuickBooks, CosmoLex is equipped to handle all of your firm’s trust accounting needs, and it makes it look easy. [Text Wrapping Break][Text Wrapping Break]Our accounting and bookkeeping software has the financial reporting capabilities necessary to ensure compliance with legal standards surrounding trust accounts. CosmoLex is also packed with trust accounting features like three-way reconciliation reports, automatic trust to general transfer, and individual or bulk payments with trust funds. CosmoLex also has specific features to protect client funds, like preventing the commingling of funds and overdrafts.

Integration between our robust accounting platform and other legal business features like client relationship management software and cloud-based timekeeping and expense tracking prevents firms from wasting time (or money!) doing manual data entry between programs. There’s a reason CosmoLex is considered the best law firm accounting software—we simplify administrative tasks, so you can focus on the work you do best.

CosmoLex law firm accounting software uses advanced technology and security protocols to ensure client information always remains confidential. We’ve completed the SOC 2 Type 1 security attestation because we’re committed to ensuring our system will be protected from unauthorized access. This certification required an audit by an outside investigator to ensure our security practices were thorough, comprehensive, and strong. Additionally, we’ve passed a threat assessment analysis by leading cybersecurity expert Phalanx Secure Solutions, Inc. All client and law firm data is secured by bank-grade 256-bit SSL encryption, which is the same security standards used by the military, and all data is stored in an encrypted state. This means that even if a cyberattack were to occur, your data would be unreadable by any unauthorized eyes. Additionally, all servers are located in the U.S. and all data is backed up every few hours. Finally, each account is secured by two-factor authentication, and individual permissions and firm-specific security protocols can be customized on every account.

CosmoLex is a cloud-based accounting software for law firms, which means it’s easy to access our features remotely. Unlike desktop software, cloud-based, or web-based, software options give law firms the option to send invoices, track time entries, perform legal services, access documents and financial data, and use accounting features from any place with access to the internet. In this day and age, it’s imperative to choose software designed to be accessed from anywhere, so you can get work done at all times without sacrificing efficiency.

CosmoLex’s cloud-based software is more accessible, secure, and cost-effective than traditional desktop programs that require you to create a patchwork of tools to run your practice.

CosmoLex offers all-inclusive pricing for all its innovative features, including client relationship management tools, accounts receivable, and project management features. Because information is stored on the cloud instead of on a laptop, local server, or filing cabinet, it’s safe from theft or natural disasters. And because legal business can be performed from the courtroom, the car, or the couch, it’s easier to get things done when it works for you.

CosmoLex is designed for attorneys and law firms, but it has major benefits for clients, too. When you use CosmoLex to manage your business accounts, you improve the client experience from your first touchpoint to your last. CosmoLex’s automation and client management tools help firms streamline client intake, making the process fast and seamless with features like secure document sharing and e-signature.

During representation, clients access a secure client portal where they can message their attorney, send and view important documents, and access their billing reports. CosmoLex also enables clients with the option to pay invoices via credit card or online, improving law firm accessibility and boosting client convenience. Law firms can create professional-looking invoices and email them to clients in one click, helping clients get their bills paid by their due date. They can even use the accounting software to send automatic late payment reminders to past-due clients to help clients stay on track with payments throughout their matter.

CosmoLex helps firms stay in compliance with legal industry standards. For example, CosmoLex maintains incredibly strong security protocol, ensuring client data is always safe and secure. Because lawyers have an ethical duty to ensure client confidentiality, CosmoLex helps law firms stay in compliance by encrypting information and securely housing documents and data.

Another major concern around online payments is staying in compliance with the rules surrounding trust accounting and IOLTA accounts for law firms. These rules dictate that client funds cannot be commingled with general funds, that credit card processing fees cannot be taken from client accounts, and that comprehensive three-way reconciliations be performed daily for trust accounts. CosmoLex has specific safeguards in place to prevent breaches in legal compliance when working with trust accounts. For example, CosmoLex’s credit card processor, CosmoLexPay, automatically pulls fees for online payments from a designated legal account instead of from the client account.

CosmoLex legal accounting software also helps firms stay compliant by providing marketing automation tools, time tracking and document management, and more, ensuring all attorneys provide ethical, prompt representation to every client.

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When you purchase a CosmoLex subscription, you access our free, in-house support. We’re available every step of the way to help law firms make the most of our supportive features.

When many firms first partner with CosmoLex, they’re transitioning from a different legal practice management software solution. We are able to help firms safely and securely migrate their existing data with turn-key service to ensure all data is transferred to CosmoLex successfully and without data loss.

Once law firms begin using our system, our in-house support team is always available to provide training or onboarding or simply answer specific questions about our products and services. Whether your firm needs help understanding how to create invoices from time entries, set up custom workflows to enhance your project management, use our legal client relationship management tools to convert more leads to clients, or generate actionable reports from your law firm’s accounting software, our team members are ready and available to assist you.

There are many differences between CosmoLex and Quickbooks, but they all come down to this: CosmoLex was specifically designed for law firms, and QuickBooks wasn’t. As such, it doesn’t have the built-in features that help law firms work efficiently, stay legally compliant, and reduce duplication of data.  

For instance, QuickBooks, like other accounting software, requires firms to sync data with their timekeeping or expense-tracking software. This syncing process must be done every month, and it must be entirely accurate, or attorneys can risk fines, ethics violations, or even disbarment. With CosmoLex, data is all housed in the same comprehensive system, so there’s no need to enter data manually or painstakingly check for syncing errors each month.  

QuickBooks Online also wasn’t designed with complex trust accounts in mind, so it doesn’t give attorneys the peace of mind that they’re maintaining compliance when working on these accounts. In order to stay compliant using QuickBooks Online, attorneys must use complex, time-consuming workarounds to QuickBooks’ traditional processes.   

In contrast, the best law firm accounting software has built-in protection for overdrafts and commingling, automatic fund posting, and one-click three-way bank reconciliation to ensure all trust accounts are handled appropriately.  

Finally, QuickBooks makes it difficult to accept online payments at your law firm. QuickBooks doesn’t track payments with invoices, so legal professionals must manually reconcile accounts each day to ensure accounts are kept up to date. CosmoLex’s legal-specific payment processing automatically reconciles each account each day and processes partial payments appropriately. 

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CosmoLex is designed to be used by all law firm professionals, not just attorneys. Almost all of CosmoLex’s practice management features can be used by all team members to make workflows more streamlined. For example, all employees of a law firm can track time to help their office determine areas of inefficiency. Senior attorneys can create custom workflows to delegate tasks throughout the team. By customizing account and document permissions, client information stays secure and confidential while matter tasks are allocated for maximum efficiency

CosmoLex empowers law firms to accept credit card payments, debit card payments, and automated clearing house payments (ACH payments). All of these payment types can be made online, saving clients time driving to a legal office or mailing legal payments to their attorney.

Three-quarters of consumers prefer to pay with a credit or debit card, so expanding your firm’s accepted payment methods can improve the client experience and boost loyalty. Allowing online payments through legal billing software for law firms also helps attorneys to get paid for the work they do faster without needing to send past-due notices or follow up on unpaid bills—time-consuming tasks that eat into billable hours.

Credit card payments also increase accessibility for law services, since clients don’t have to have the funds on hand to pay each bill. With debit card and ACH payments, funds are withdrawn immediately from the client’s bank account, but these methods still provide the added convenience of immediate online payments.

CosmoLex is packed with so many legal practice management features that most law firms may not need any other software solutions. But if you rely on other tools for your regular workflow, it can be helpful to integrate them with a comprehensive law firm accounting software to maximize efficiency.

CosmoLex integrates with dozens of third-party tools, including Google applications like Gmail, GSuite, Google Calendar, and Google Drive. It also integrates Microsoft Office 365 programs (like Outlook, Office, and OneDrive), LexShare, DropBox, NetDocuments and Chrometa. All of these applications automatically sync with CosmoLex, meaning data is easily transmitted between tools without requiring time-consuming duplicate data entry.