Practice Management Software for UK Lawyers: Client Money, Billing & Cases (2026)

The SRA Accounts Rules 2019 (in force from 25 November 2019) replaced the more prescriptive 2011 rules with a shorter, outcomes-focused framework. They apply to every SRA-authorised firm in England and Wales.

Core obligations:

• Keep client money separate from firm money at all times (Rule 4)
• Pay client money into a client account promptly (Rule 2.3)
• Use client money only for the matter for which it was received (Rule 5)
• Run a central register of client accounts and maintain accurate accounting records (Rule 8)
• Reconcile the client account at least every 5 weeks — comparing cashbook, bank statement, and client ledger sum (Rule 8.3)
• Obtain an annual Accountant's Report within 6 months of the firm's accounting period end, if you held client money (Rule 12)

The firm's Compliance Officer for Finance and Administration (COFA) is jointly and severally responsible with the managers for compliance — and must report material breaches to the SRA as soon as reasonably practicable.

Client money includes advance payments for costs, settlement funds, and money held as agent or stakeholder — but not fees properly earned or disbursements paid on behalf of a client using firm money.

UK legal services are subject to VAT at the standard rate of 20% under the Value Added Tax Act 1994. The mandatory VAT registration threshold is £90,000 of taxable turnover (from 1 April 2024) — most established firms are well above this and registered.

Key points:

• Standard rate (20%) applies to most solicitor and barrister fees to UK-based clients
• Zero-rated (0%) — services to clients outside the UK (B2B) under the place-of-supply rules; B2C services to consumers outside the UK have more complex rules
• Outside the scope — court fees, stamp duty, and similar statutory disbursements paid as agent on behalf of the client (under the *Brabners* and *HMRC's revised guidance on disbursements*) — but search fees and many other recharges are now treated as part of your supply and subject to VAT
• Invoices must show your VAT number, the rate applied, and the VAT amount separately
• Tax point for ongoing matters can be the earlier of: invoice date, payment received, or service completion — important to get right for retainers and interim bills

UK solicitors typically bill in 6-minute units (one-tenth of an hour) — the universal standard inherited from the Law Society's guidance and tracked in the SRA Code of Conduct's requirement to act in clients' best interests with proportionate work.

Billing formats and standards:

• Interim invoices — "on account" or "statute" bills; the latter are final for a defined period and trigger client right-of-challenge under the Solicitors Act 1974, sections 70–71
• Engagement letters must include scope, fee basis, complaint procedure, and SRA / Legal Ombudsman details (per SRA Transparency Rules)
• Conditional Fee Agreements (CFAs) and Damages-Based Agreements (DBAs) require written agreement and specific disclosure
• Costs budgeting in civil litigation (CPR Part 3 + Precedent H) — high-value claims require court-approved costs budgets
• Disbursement handling — agency disbursements are outside the scope of VAT; principal disbursements are part of your supply

Since 2016, the SRA scrapped the old 16-hour CPD requirement in favour of a competence-based approach. All solicitors with a practising certificate must:

• Reflect on their practice and identify learning and development needs
• Address those needs with appropriate learning activities
• Record their reflection and learning (the SRA can ask to see it)
• Declare continuing competence on practising certificate renewal each year

The Law Society publishes a recommended Competence Statement and a separate Solicitors' Code of Conduct competence framework as a benchmark.

Coming in 2026 / 2027 — the SRA opened a consultation on 22 April 2026 (closing 15 July 2026) proposing to strengthen the regime by:

• Requiring all solicitors to record their learning needs and how they addressed them
• Requiring annual ethics scenario discussions with peers
• Enabling the SRA to mandate specific learning where competence concerns emerge

Barristers are regulated separately by the Bar Standards Board (BSB) and have their own competence-based CPD regime.

Since December 2018, the SRA Transparency Rules require law firms to publish prices and service information on their websites for specific work types — primarily:

• Residential conveyancing (sale, purchase, mortgage)
• Probate (uncontested estates, UK assets)
• Immigration (excluding asylum)
• Motoring offences (summary only)
• Employment tribunals (unfair / wrongful dismissal)
• Debt recovery up to £100,000
• Licensing applications for business premises

For each, the firm must publish:

• Total cost or average cost (or hourly rate + estimated hours)
• Whether VAT is included, and the VAT amount
• Description of services included and excluded
• Likely disbursements
• Key stages and likely timescales
• Qualifications and experience of the people doing the work

Non-compliance is a regulatory matter and is checked by SRA sweeps. Your website CMS and your practice management system should agree on these prices — and the engagement letter your software issues must match.

Pitfall 1: Office-to-client transfers. Paying disbursements from the client account without sufficient cleared client money. The SRA treats this as using one client's money for another — a material breach.

Pitfall 2: Skipping 5-weekly reconciliations. Rule 8.3 requires reconciliation at least every 5 weeks. Many firms drift to monthly or longer — a common audit finding.

Pitfall 3: Holding client money for fees that have been billed but not paid. Once you raise a bill, the money you transfer to settle it becomes office money — leaving it in the client account beyond a brief operational window breaches Rule 4.3.

Pitfall 4: Disbursements VAT handling. Post-*Brabners*, search fees and similar online searches are usually part of your supply (subject to VAT) — not agency disbursements. Treating them as outside the scope is a common HMRC finding.

Pitfall 5: Engagement letters missing Legal Ombudsman / SRA details. The Transparency Rules require these — and absence is a frequent SRA compliance finding.

Migration off a legacy UK platform should cover:

• Contacts & matters — clients, third parties, opposing solicitors, lender details (for conveyancing)
• Client ledgers — opening balance per matter, every receipt and payment, current balance (must reconcile to the penny — the COFA will check)
• Office ledger / time — unbilled WIP, draft bills, statute bills, paid invoices
• Documents & precedents — engagement letters, correspondence, deeds, with original timestamps preserved for the limitation period
• Disbursement history — agency vs. principal classification for VAT

LEAP, Clio UK, Actionstep, and Quill all offer CSV / Excel export for contacts and time; client ledger export usually requires their support team. Plan for a freeze date — stop entering data in the old system for 24–48 hours during the cutover, and reconcile both systems before going live.

EZ@Work imports CSV with a column mapper, runs an automatic client-ledger reconciliation check, and preserves document upload dates. We offer free migration assistance for solicitors moving from LEAP, Clio, or Actionstep on paid plans.