Law firm chart of accounts
A law firm's own books follow its matters: the time recorded on each one, the costs it pays out for clients along the way, and what it spends on its lawyers' certificates and training. These accounts add those to the general chart of accounts.
- By Book Keeping Pros
- Sources checked 15 Oct 2026
What this industry adds
- When the firm pays a search fee, filing fee or counsel's fee for a matter from its own account, Matter disbursements not yet billed records it against that matter, ready to check against the client's next bill.
- Time lawyers record on open matters builds up between bills. Unbilled time on open matters tracks it, and your accountant can say how that figure should be measured for the firm.
- Locum and contract lawyer fees keeps invoices from lawyers and paralegals brought in for particular matters or busy periods.
- Some running costs belong to legal practice: Practising certificates and law society fees, Continuing legal education, Law reports and research services, and File storage and archiving for closed files, wills and deeds each have an account.
Download the chart
The general accounts and this industry's accounts in one CSV file, in code order, which opens in any spreadsheet program.
Download the CSV fileThe accounts this chart adds
| Code | Account name | Type | What goes in it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-1500 | Matter disbursements not yet billed | Asset | Search fees, court filing fees, counsel's fees and other matter costs the firm has paid from its own account and is still to bill to the client |
| 1-1510 | Unbilled time on open matters | Asset | Time lawyers have recorded on open matters that has not yet been billed to the client |
| 5-1100 | Locum and contract lawyer fees | Expense | Invoices from locum solicitors, contract lawyers and freelance paralegals who work on the firm's matters |
| 6-2100 | Practising certificates and law society fees | Expense | Practising certificate fees and law society memberships the firm pays for its lawyers |
| 6-2110 | Continuing legal education | Expense | Seminar, course and conference fees for the continuing professional development of the firm's lawyers |
| 6-2120 | Law reports and research services | Expense | Subscriptions to law reports, legislation services and legal research databases |
| 6-2130 | File storage and archiving | Expense | Fees for storing closed matter files, wills and deeds with a records storage service |
Illustrative example only: these rows show the method and are not sourced data.
What goes in each column
- Code: A number that sorts the account into its group: 1 for assets, 2 for liabilities, 3 for equity, 4 for income, and 5 and 6 for expenses.
- Account name: The name that appears in your books and reports.
- Type: Asset, Liability, Equity, Income or Expense, which decides whether the account appears on the balance sheet or the profit and loss statement.
- What goes in it: The transactions to record against the account.
How to use it
- Use the matter number from your practice management software when you code a disbursement or a contract lawyer's invoice, so each cost can be traced to its matter.
- When the firm's own account pays a disbursement, code it to Matter disbursements not yet billed and clear it when it appears on the client's bill.
- Before posting to Unbilled time on open matters, ask your accountant how the figure should be worked out and how often to update it.
- Fee income goes in the general Sales account. To see which practice groups or lawyers bring in the fees, tag each invoice with a tracking category rather than adding income accounts.
- These accounts are for the firm's own money. Money clients pay the firm to hold on their behalf stays out of them.
The chart is a CSV file, which opens in a spreadsheet program. It is not set up for importing directly into any particular accounting software, so check the format your software expects before you load the accounts into it.
Related pages
Related terms
Sources
- Key financial terms
business.gov.au, Australian Government. Current at 15 October 2026, released 9 July 2024. Checked 15 October 2026.
© Commonwealth of Australia 2020, licensed under CC BY 3.0 AU. Licence: CC BY 3.0 AU.
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