What the firm is owed, and where your accounts package takes over.
The VAT return as a report rather than a reconstruction, tax and currency held on the client so an invoice is right by construction, and one position across the whole book — with the bookkeeping proper left to the package built for it.
The practice management system knows what was done. The accounts package knows what was billed. Neither knows what was agreed.
So the month ends with somebody reconciling three exports to answer questions that should be trivial: what is unbilled, what is overdue, what has this client actually paid, and does the total we invoiced match the fee agreement anybody signed.
The position, not the paperwork behind it.
- 01
Tax sits on the client, so the invoice is right by construction
Tax registration number, tax treatment and the currency you invoice them in are fields on the client record rather than a convention somebody remembers. A zero-rated export client and a standard-rated local one sit in the same ledger without an override on every line.
- 02
VAT is captured when the money moves
The rate and the amount go onto the expense record at the point of spend, with the transaction reference beside them. Nothing is reconstructed from a folder of receipts in the week before a return is due.
- 03
The return is a report, not a rebuild
Input VAT from expenses, output VAT from invoices, and the difference — the amount to be paid — for whatever period you ask for. When the difference comes out negative the position is refundable, and the report says so rather than leaving somebody to notice. Bilingual A4 PDF, or a multi-sheet Excel to hand the accountant.
- 04
Money held on account is a ledger, not a memory
An advance sits in that client's own credit ledger with its own history, and can be applied against what falls due or refunded. A client in credit reads as in credit, rather than appearing in arrears because the payment was recorded somewhere else.
- 05
A settlement fee shows its arithmetic
A settlement can be a fixed amount or a percentage of the claim. The percentage is computed against the claim value and carried as the working itself — fifteen per cent of two million, not a number somebody typed — so the agreement and the file cannot quietly disagree.
- 06
The position across the whole book
Work in progress not yet billed, what is outstanding, receivables ageing, realisation and collection rates — computed from the same records the work is recorded on, rather than assembled from three exports at month end.
- 07
Where your accounts package takes over
This is the legal side of the ledger, not a general ledger. It holds what was agreed, what fell due, what was invoiced and what was received against each matter and client, then hands the bookkeeping proper to QuickBooks or Zoho Books.
The same thing, on screen.
An expense recorded with its receipt and its VAT at the moment it is spent, not reconstructed at return time.
What changes for the firm.
- The VAT return is produced for a period rather than rebuilt from receipts.
- A refundable VAT position is stated, not discovered.
- An invoice is correct because of what is stored on the client.
- A client in advance is not chased as though they were in arrears.
- A percentage fee carries the arithmetic that produced it.
- What is unbilled, owed and ageing is one screen, not three exports.
- The bookkeeping stays in the package built for bookkeeping.
Everything included, in one place.
The VAT return, as a report
Input VAT from expenses, output VAT from invoices and the amount to be paid, for any period, in PDF or Excel and in Arabic or English. A negative figure is reported as a refundable position rather than left to be spotted.
Tax and currency on the client
Tax registration number, tax treatment and invoicing currency are fields on the client record, which is what lets an invoice be correct without somebody remembering the arrangement. Tax is a slab per client rather than one rate for the firm.
Money held on account
Payments are recorded against the invoice they settle, by transfer, cheque or other mode. Money placed with the firm ahead of that sits in the client's own credit ledger with its own history, and can be applied to an invoice or refunded — so an advance is tracked rather than remembered.
Settlement and contingency fees
A settlement term can be a fixed amount or a percentage of the claim, computed against the claim value and carried with the working attached, so the figure on the agreement and the figure in the file cannot disagree.
The position across the book
Work in progress not yet billed, outstanding amounts, receivables ageing, realisation and collection rates — all computed from the records the work already sits on.
The line where bookkeeping begins
The legal side of the ledger, connected to QuickBooks and Zoho Books for the general ledger, payroll and statutory accounts. Knowing where the boundary falls is worth more than pretending there isn't one.
Billing and invoicing
How an invoice is built, and why the same thing cannot be billed twice.
Read ›Payment scheduling and collection
When instalments fall due, and the reminders that chase them.
Read ›Expenses and disbursements
Court fees and disbursements from the point of spend to the client invoice.
Read ›Time to money
Recorded time priced and carried through to the invoice line.
Read ›Common questions about this feature.
It is the legal side of the ledger, not a general ledger. It holds what was agreed, what fell due, what was invoiced and what was received against each matter and client — the questions a practice management system should answer and an accounts package cannot, because it never saw the fee agreement. It connects to QuickBooks and Zoho Books for the bookkeeping proper.
VAT is captured on the expense record at the point of spend, alongside the amount and the transaction reference, and each client carries their own tax registration number and treatment. The VAT report then gives input VAT from expenses, output VAT from invoices and the amount to be paid for any period, in PDF or Excel and in either language — and where the figure is negative it is reported as a refundable position. Reconstructing that from receipts months later is exactly what this is designed to avoid.
Yes. A settlement fee can be a fixed amount or a percentage of the claim, calculated against the claim value with the arithmetic shown, so the figure on the agreement and the figure in the file cannot disagree.
Yes. The currency an invoice is raised in is a field on the client, and the currencies on offer are the firm's base currency plus any that carry a conversion rate — so a client billed in dollars and one billed in dirhams sit in the same book without a manual conversion on every invoice.
Yes. Money placed with the firm sits in that client's credit ledger with its own history and can be applied against what falls due or refunded — so a client in credit is visible as such rather than appearing in arrears because the payment was recorded somewhere else.
Works with the rest of the platform.
Conflict checks & KYC
Screen every new matter against your whole book of business, and run client due diligence with a documented approve or reject trail.
Read ›AI case workspace
One workspace over a case's documents, with three ways into it: a dated chronology, a map of every party, and answers cited to the page they came from.
Read ›Client portal
Their cases, their updates, the documents you chose to share, and the paperwork you need back from them — in one place, scoped to them and nothing else.
Read ›Obligations & renewals
Every dated commitment — trade licence renewals, regulatory filings, powers of attorney, document expiries — attached to the client, case or project it belongs to, with a named owner and a reminder before it falls due.
Read ›Hearings & calendar
The daily hearing roll the way Gulf practice actually runs it — banded by instance, filtered by emirate and hearing type, in Arabic or English, on Hijri or Gregorian dates.
Read ›Matter & case management
Every matter in one record — parties, documents, hearings, minutes and deadlines, from registration through to an appeal window that counts itself down.
Read ›See it on your own matters
A short walkthrough with our team, using the kind of work your team handles day to day.