Practice Management Software for Australian Lawyers (2026)

Trust accounting in Australia is governed by the Legal Profession Uniform Law (LPUL) in NSW, Victoria, and Western Australia — and by parallel state legislation in Queensland (Legal Profession Act 2007), South Australia, Tasmania, the ACT, and the NT.

Core rules across every Australian jurisdiction:

• General trust account at an approved ADI — must be held with an authorised deposit-taking institution approved by the designated authority (Law Society of NSW, Legal Services Board Vic, etc.).
• Deposit within one business day — trust money must be banked the next business day after receipt.
• Monthly trust reconciliation — trust ledger, cashbook, and bank statement must reconcile within 15 working days of month-end.
• Annual external examination — every firm holding trust money must appoint an approved external examiner whose report is filed with the designated authority by 31 May each year (for the year ending 31 March).
• Controlled money accounts — separate ledgers for money held under written direction (e.g., conveyancing settlements held overnight).

The penalty for a trust deficiency is severe: it is a statutory ground for practising certificate suspension, regardless of intent. Reconciliation cannot be optional or quarterly.

The Uniform Law (Part 4.3) and equivalent state acts impose detailed billing rules on Australian law practices:

• Costs disclosure — before or as soon as practicable after instructions are accepted, you must give the client a written estimate of total legal costs (the "Cost Disclosure"), unless costs are below the threshold (~$750 in NSW/VIC).
• Itemised bills — clients can request an itemised bill within 30 days, and you must provide it within 21 days at no extra charge.
• Time recording — most firms record in 6-minute units; entries must identify the fee earner, date, task, and time.
• GST shown separately — every invoice line must show GST as a separate amount; the bill must clearly state "Tax Invoice".
• Trust-to-office transfers — withdrawals from trust to pay your fees require either (a) a written authority from the client or (b) issuance of a bill at least 7 days before the transfer.

Failing to issue a compliant Cost Disclosure can render the costs agreement void and trigger automatic reduction of the bill on assessment.

Australian solicitors must complete 10 CPD units per CPD year (1 April – 31 March), with units across four mandatory fields:

• At least 1 unit in Ethics & Professional Responsibility
• At least 1 unit in Practice Management & Business Skills
• At least 1 unit in Professional Skills (advocacy, drafting, negotiation, research)
• At least 1 unit in Substantive Law
• Up to 6 additional units in any of the above

One unit = one hour of activity. Self-paced online activities, podcasts, and webinars count subject to caps (typically up to 5 units may be "private study" in NSW).

Barristers have separate, parallel CPD rules (10 units in NSW under the Bar Association rules). Each state's Law Society can audit you — keep certificates for 3 years after the CPD year. Annual practising certificate renewal requires a declaration of CPD compliance; a false declaration is a disciplinary matter.

To practise law in Australia, you must:

• Hold a current Australian Practising Certificate issued by the designated authority in your home state (Law Society of NSW, Victorian Legal Services Board, Queensland Law Society, etc.).
• Pay the annual practising certificate fee (NSW: ~$486 employee solicitor, higher with trust authorisation; Vic: ~$700; varies).
• Maintain Professional Indemnity Insurance through the state scheme: LawCover (NSW), LPLC (VIC), Lexon (QLD), LawCover (ACT) — mandatory and uniform.
• Renew by 30 June each year. Your CPD declaration, trust account designation, and fitness-to-practise statement are all part of renewal.
• If holding trust money, file the external examiner's report by 31 May for the year ending 31 March.

Under the Uniform Law, your certificate is recognised across NSW, VIC, and WA without separate registration. Non-Uniform states (QLD, SA, TAS, ACT, NT) recognise interstate certificates under the Mutual Recognition Act, but you must notify the local authority.

Legal services supplied in Australia are subject to GST at 10%. Specifics:

• GST registration is mandatory once your turnover hits $75,000 per year (the registration threshold).
• Tax invoice required for any taxable supply over $82.50 (incl. GST) — must show ABN, "Tax Invoice" label, GST amount, and recipient details for invoices over $1,000.
• GST-free supplies — services to clients who are outside Australia at the time of supply, and certain consumption-outside-Australia supplies under GST Act s.38-190. You must hold evidence that the recipient is non-resident and the service is consumed offshore.
• Disbursements — true agency disbursements (court filing fees paid as agent, ASIC fees) are outside the scope of GST and reimbursed dollar-for-dollar. Other on-charged costs (couriers, photocopying) are part of your taxable supply and attract 10% GST.

BAS lodgement is monthly, quarterly, or annual depending on turnover. Most solo practitioners lodge quarterly (28 days after the quarter end).

Pitfall 1: Late external examiner's report. Missing the 31 May deadline triggers automatic referral to the Legal Services Commissioner. Book your examiner in February.

Pitfall 2: Failing to issue a Cost Disclosure. Many solos skip the written estimate when the matter feels "small". If the bill ends up over the disclosure threshold, the costs agreement is unenforceable on assessment.

Pitfall 3: Mixing controlled money with general trust. Conveyancing deposits, settlement monies, and any funds held under written direction must sit in a separate controlled money account or trust investment account — never the general trust.

Pitfall 4: Treating disbursements as GST-free when they're not. Photocopy and courier on-charges are taxable supplies. Only "true" agency payments (court fees, ASIC fees paid in the client's name) are outside GST.

Pitfall 5: Self-paced CPD over the cap. NSW limits private study to 5 of the 10 units. Audit failures here are common at certificate renewal.

LEAP dominates the Australian small-firm market and has a well-known migration cost: it's expensive ($130–150+ AUD/user/month), proprietary, and very sticky. Other legacy tools include Lawmaster, Open Practice, FilePro, and Affinity.

A clean migration to a modern cloud platform follows this plan:

• Week 1: Export clients, matters, contacts, time entries, and the open trust ledger from LEAP (CSV / their export tool). Print month-end trust reconciliation and external examiner's report PDFs for the record.
• Week 2: Import client/matter data into the new system. Load opening trust balances per matter; reconcile to the bank statement.
• Week 3: Produce a sample bill end-to-end — verify GST, cost disclosure references, ABN, and the "Tax Invoice" label.
• Week 4: Run parallel for one full calendar month, reconcile both, then cut over on the first day of the next month.

Retain LEAP read-only access for at least 7 years (Uniform Law record-retention). EZ@Work provides CSV imports and a side-by-side trust ledger view to make the parallel period painless.