LEAP Accounting provides small firms with all the tools needed to easily manage legal matters without the need for qualified bookkeeping staff. By separating legal accounting from the General Ledger and GST Reporting which is done in MYOB, lawyers and paralegals can work effectively processing fixed fees, time, disbursements, cost recoveries, bills and access simple reports with relevant information specifically for small firms. This provides flexibility and the ability to use part-time bookkeeping support without compromising productivity.

LEAP Accounting allows you to comply with the Trust Accounting requirements of the Law Society of Singapore. With strong data integrity and comprehensive audit trails you can get your bookkeeping done and minimise many of the risks of legal practice.

Accurate record keeping is essential for every business, but particularly so for law firms that have to meet special legal accounting requirements as well.

Without the substantial financial and human resources of larger firms the principals of most small and medium size firms want software systems that recognise their unique characteristics and are specifically designed for firms their size.

They want their accounting system to be -

• Easy to use

• Accurate

• Reliable

• Proven

• Capable of being operated by relatively low skilled and affordable staff.

LEAP Accounting is such a system.

Make more money by keeping accurate time records

Keeping accurate contemporaneous notes of all attendances is not only good professional practice, it is essential for managing practice risks as well. And if you do this properly, you can use the same information for your time recording and billing!

LEAP Accounting has an easy to use Time Sheet that enables you to combine these activities and results in a single effortless work process. You can find matters quickly, have multiple slips open at the same time, use meaningful task codes and even record an item without a matter number thereby overcoming the common problem of making notes when receiving new instructions. You can then go back later to assign the time item once you have created the matter.

Because you have recorded the information accurately from the start, it is easy for you to generate your bills directly from the system, eliminating duplicated work. With flexible styles and formats you can create bills that are easy for your clients to understand and which conveniently include any trust movements on the invoice thereby minimising reasons for non payment.

The most profitable firms are those with the most disciplined time recording practices. By adopting this simple approach you will find that you will start making more money almost immediately.

Manage and understand your profitability and cashflow

With bills going out quickly and accurately your cashflow will start to improve and you will want to ensure that you manage funds in accordance with your business plan and keep working capital to a minimum.

The powerful reporting options in LEAP Accounting enable you to keep close track of debtors and the other important KPI’s relevant for a law firm your size. We have eliminated the reporting confusion faced by so many practitioners using systems designed for large firms and you will find that reporting options are meaningful and relevant. Reports are easy to print to screen or hard copy and all information in the reports is always up-to-date.

Monthly partners meetings and individual fee earner reviews will be dramatically enhanced using the special reports designed in consultation with practitioners to enable you to have “short and sharp” meetings and reviews.

You will easily detect trends as business conditions change and your practice develops and will be able to make informed decisions about your resourcing requirements.

Comply with your trust, tax and payroll requirements

Even though you have a small or medium size business, you still have the same compliance obligations of the largest organisations. Matter accounting includes all matter accounting including time, fixed fees, disbursements, anticipated disbursements, cost recoveries, trust money and trust statements, controlled money and transit money. The system includes unique “statement download” capabilities from your bank to make bank trust reconciliations quicker and easier than ever before.

The trust accounting in LEAP Accounting has been certified by all Law Societies in the jurisdictions that require certification.

LEAP Accounting integrates seamlessly in real time with MYOB which is used for the office accounting.

So you will prepare your BAS using software that is used by more than 300,000 small businesses in Australia.

As a bonus, MYOB includes a Payroll package so you will be able reduce costs associated with salaries, PAYG and superannuation. With this combination of software you will, even as a small or medium business, have the peace of mind of knowing that your systems are compliant while you get on with the business of practicing law.

Minimise accounting and administration costs

Keeping accounting and administrative costs to a minimum is critical to the bottom line and the solution that combines LEAP Accounting with MYOB was critical to delivering many of these cost savings. For example: -

• Your accountant is likely to be familiar with MYOB so they can give you better value and service;

• You can find book keeping staff more easily because MYOB is so common;

• You have an integrated payroll system;

• The total cost of buying and maintaining the system is substantially reduced because an off the shelf product is used;

• Support for the general ledger and payroll is available from a network of independent consultants, accountants and the software supplier. This reduces your dependency on any one software provider;

• If you run other businesses in conjunction with your firm that are not related to legal issues, then MYOB can also be used to run these businesses.

Get started easily and affordably

It is surprisingly easy to get started with LEAP Accounting, and whether you are starting a new practice, taking on existing manual balances or converting from another system, our experienced consultants will have you installed and trained quickly.

The “open” software development environment means that the solution does not have any overbearing hardware or infrastructure requirements – significantly reducing start up costs even further. LEAP Accounting can run stand alone on your Notebook if that is how you run your business or with multiple users over your network for as many users as required.

Features of LEAP Accounting that are important to small and medium firms include:-

• Fixed fee management including time comparisons and progressive WIP allocations

• Time recording using the revolutionary LEAP Timesheet

• Disbursements

• Cost recoveries

• Flexible bill formats to meet the needs of your different types of client

• Email invoicing and statements with “smart tag” merge data in the emails with age based email templates

• Trust accounting

• Trust Statements

• Trust to Office transfers to minimise working capital requirements

• Powerful and relevant reporting for fee earner reviews and partners meetings

• Data Analysis

• Get Statement” online bank statement download for bank reconciliations

• Cash and Accrual accounting

• Controlled money

• Transit Money

• Seamless real-time integration with MYOB for GL and BAS

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