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Bookkeeping for law firms

Law firms bill by the hour, by a set amount for the whole matter or by stage of a matter, and they pay costs such as search and filing fees for clients along the way. We look after day-to-day bookkeeping for law firms across Australia.

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Businesses in Legal Services (ANZSIC class 6931)

Actively trading businesses across Australia
24,004 businessesAustralian Bureau of Statistics, Counts of Australian Businesses, June 2025, checked 15 October 2026
Of those, classified as non-employing
12,569 businessesAustralian Bureau of Statistics, Counts of Australian Businesses, June 2025, checked 15 October 2026
Of those, with 1 to 4 employees
7,588 businessesAustralian Bureau of Statistics, Counts of Australian Businesses, June 2025, checked 15 October 2026

Businesses by main state or territory

These counts are for the ANZSIC class Legal Services, which also covers barristers and conveyancing services, so they describe a wider group than law firms.

  1. New South Wales9,446 businesses
  2. Victoria6,718 businesses
  3. Queensland4,029 businesses
  4. Western Australia1,821 businesses
  5. South Australia1,288 businesses
  6. Australian Capital Territory331 businesses
  7. Tasmania233 businesses
  8. Northern Territory126 businesses
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, June 2025. Counts of Australian Businesses, data cube 2: Businesses by main state by industry class by employment size ranges (8165DC02.xlsx). Checked 15 Oct 2026.

Businesses by number of employees

  1. Non-employing12,569 businesses
  2. 1 to 4 employees7,588 businesses
  3. 5 to 19 employees3,240 businesses
  4. 20 to 199 employees573 businesses
  5. 200 or more employees34 businesses
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, June 2025. Counts of Australian Businesses, data cube 2: Businesses by main state by industry class by employment size ranges (8165DC02.xlsx). Checked 15 Oct 2026.

What we look after

What the books involve

  • Fee invoices: hourly, whole-matter and staged invoices from the practice management software matched to client payments, with a monthly list of what is unpaid by client and matter.
  • Disbursements: search fees, court filing fees and counsel's fees paid by the firm recorded against the matter, so they can be checked against what has been billed to the client.
  • Firm overheads: legal research subscriptions, practice software, insurance premiums and rent entered as bills, then matched to the payments that settle them.
  • Income by practice area: fee income coded by area of law or by fee earner, where the firm tracks it, so monthly reports show which work brings in revenue.
  • Card statements for the firm's credit cards reconciled each month, with receipts attached for searches, travel and filing costs paid by card.

Sources

  1. Counts of Australian Businesses, data cube 2: Businesses by main state by industry class by employment size ranges (8165DC02.xlsx)

    Australian Bureau of Statistics. Actively trading businesses at 30 June 2025, released 16 December 2025. Checked 15 October 2026.

    Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits, June 2021 to June 2025, licensed under CC BY 4.0 Licence: CC BY 4.0.

  2. Correspondence, GCCSA 2021 to GCCSA 2026 (CG_GCCSA_2021_GCCSA_2026.csv)

    Australian Bureau of Statistics. ASGS Edition 4, July 2026 to June 2031, released 22 July 2026. Checked 15 October 2026.

    Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 4, licensed under CC BY 4.0 Licence: CC BY 4.0.

Talk to us about your books

Tell us how your business runs and what you need from your books, and we will suggest a bookkeeping plan that fits.

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