Workpaper
- Account
- IOLTA Trust · Sep 2026
- Prepared
- MR 09/30
- Reviewed
- —
Finances
Legal billing and trust accounting that agrees with the bank.
Every invoice, payment, and trust dollar lives on a matter. Your bank feed, online card payments, and QuickBooks Online stay in step with it, so month-end is a check, not a hunt.
Tickmarks
- Agreed to bank
- Paid online
- On the books
- Footed
01 · The matter
Every dollar knows its matter.
Time, costs, invoices, payments, and trust all hang off the case. Open a matter's Finances tab and it reads like a statement: what's been earned, what's owed, what's held, and what's been spent.
How a matter can bill
Contingency / settlement
The fee comes out of the recovery when the settlement posts.
Hourly
Time and costs become the invoice.
Flat fee
One agreed amount on a single line.
Retainer + trust drawdown· This matter
The client funds trust up front, and invoices draw it down.
Hybrid
More than one arrangement on the same matter.
- N-01
Bill from what's unbilled
Pick a matter's unbilled time and expenses and turn them into an invoice. It goes out as a PDF with a link the client can pay from.
- N-02
Settlements post in one step
Posting a personal injury, workers' comp, or litigation settlement records the trust deposit, drafts the fee invoice, and lays out the disbursement checklist: fee, liens, costs, and the client's net.
Personal injury on Legasus - N-03
Aging a partner can read
Receivables and unbilled work age in the same buckets every month: current, 1–30, 31–60, 61–90, and 90+ days.
02 · Connections
Paid once. Recorded everywhere it belongs.
A client pays an invoice by card from the link in their email. The payment lands on the matter, the invoice closes, and QuickBooks Online shows the same figure. Nobody keys it in twice.
| Tickmark | Connection | What it keeps true |
|---|---|---|
| Agreed to bank | Bank feeds, through Plaid | Operating and trust accounts connect through Plaid, so activity arrives from the bank and the bank side of reconciliation fills itself in. Anything that doesn't line up with the register waits for someone to look at it. |
| Paid online | Card payments, through Stripe | Clients pay an invoice by card from its pay link. The payment is applied to the invoice, credited to the matter, and deposited to operating. |
| On the books | QuickBooks Online | Clients, invoices, payments, and expenses stay in step with your QuickBooks company, and trust maps to its own liability account. Your accountant keeps working where they already work. |
| Footed | Legasus | The bank, the trust register, and every client ledger add up to the same figure before anyone signs off. |
03 · Trust
Client money stays client money.
Every trust dollar sits on a client's ledger, and nothing leaves that ledger that isn't in it. Disbursements over your firm's threshold wait for a second finance admin, and whoever entered one can't approve it.
Trust and operating never mix
Accounts are set up as trust or operating. A trust entry can only post to a trust account, and each matter keeps its own client ledger.
A second admin on large disbursements
Your firm sets the threshold. Anything at or above it waits for another finance admin before it posts.
Locked months stay locked
Once a month is locked, nothing new posts into it. Unlocking takes a written reason, and the reason is recorded.
Retainers that ask to be topped up
Give a matter a retainer target and Legasus flags it when the trust balance runs below it.
Trust disbursement
Harbor Point LLC v. Caldera Builders · IOLTA Trust
Entered by MR
- Available on this ledger
- 28,400.00
- Firm approval threshold
- 10,000.00
What happens at each amount: under 10,000.00, posted; from 10,000.00 to 28,400.00, pending approval; above 28,400.00, blocked.
Try an amount
At or over the firm's threshold. It waits for a second finance admin, and MR, who entered it, can't approve it.
04 · FAQ
Legal billing and trust accounting, answered.
What the finance side of Legasus does today, in plain terms.
F-01Does Legasus keep trust and operating money separate?
Yes. Every account is set up as either trust or operating, and a trust entry can only post to a trust account. Each matter keeps its own client trust ledger, so the firm's trust balance always breaks down by client.
F-02What happens if a disbursement would overdraw a client's trust balance?
It doesn't post. Legasus checks the matter's trust balance before any disbursement, transfer out, or retainer draw, and blocks anything that would take it below zero. The message shows what's available and what was attempted.
F-03Who approves large trust disbursements?
Your firm sets an approval threshold, $10,000 unless you change it. A disbursement at or above it is saved as pending approval and waits for a second finance admin. The person who entered it can't approve their own disbursement.
F-04How does three-way reconciliation work?
Legasus compares three figures for a trust account: the bank balance, the trust register, and the total of every client ledger. With the account connected through Plaid, the bank side comes from the feed. A reconciliation that agrees is marked balanced; one that doesn't is marked with exceptions for someone to work through.
F-05Does Legasus work with QuickBooks Online?
Yes. Connect your QuickBooks Online company and clients, invoices, payments, and expenses stay in step between the two, with your trust money mapped to its own liability account. Your accountant keeps working in QuickBooks while your team works in the matter.
F-06Can clients pay invoices online?
Yes, by card through Stripe. Each invoice can carry a pay link. When the client pays, the payment is applied to the invoice, credited to the matter, and deposited to your operating account. Trust deposits are recorded by your team.
F-07Which billing arrangements does Legasus support?
Five: contingency or settlement, hourly, flat fee, retainer with trust drawdown, and hybrid. Each matter has its own billing profile. Costs are tracked as hard or soft, and invoices can be built from a matter's unbilled time and expenses.
F-08What can we run when the month closes?
Receivables and unbilled work aging by bucket (current, 1–30, 31–60, 61–90, and 90+ days), a matter profitability export, client statements as PDFs, and a compliance export pack. When the month is done, lock it so nothing else posts into it.
Close the month with the numbers already agreeing.
See your matters, trust accounts, and connected books in a 30-minute demo.