Bill4Time Trust Accounting Reconciliation (Compliance)

Bill4Time Trust Accounting Reconciliation (Compliance)

1. 01

   Confirm the client firm is on Legal Pro or Legal Enterprise before enabling trust features

   Trust accounting, IOLTA compliance, and LEDES export only exist on the Legal Pro ($69 monthly, $59 annual per user) and Legal Enterprise ($89 annual per user) tiers. Time & Billing at $49 monthly ($39 annual) has no trust ledger, so an agency that scopes a trust reconciliation on the base plan has sold a feature the client does not own.

2. 02

   Open the trust accounting module and map each client ledger to its matter record

   Every retainer deposit must land against a specific matter, not a firm-level pool. Walk the client's existing trust ledger line by line and create the matching matter entries before importing balances, otherwise reconciliation reports will not tie back to the case management records.

3. 03

   Set up the three-way ledger split: client trust, operating, and firm fees

   Bill4Time separates trust funds from operating funds by design. Verify that earned fees transfer out of trust only after an invoice is generated and applied, and that expense reimbursements route to the correct ledger. A single misrouted deposit breaks the IOLTA audit trail.

4. 04

   Configure invoice templates so trust draws reference the originating retainer

   Customize the invoice template to show the trust balance before and after each draw. Law firm clients need this paper trail for bar compliance, and it removes the manual cross-referencing that eats agency delivery hours every billing cycle.

5. 05

   Run the trust reconciliation report against the client's bank statement monthly

   Pull the trust accounting report and match it to the actual IOLTA bank statement, not to the prior month's software balance. Discrepancies compound; a $50 gap in month one becomes an audit finding in month six. Document the reconciliation date and the person who signed off.

6. 06

   Enable conflict checking before onboarding any new matter into the workspace

   Conflict checking is bundled with the legal tiers. Run it at matter creation, not at first invoice, so the firm catches a conflict before work begins. Agencies managing multiple legal clients should run the check across the full client list, not just the single firm.

7. 07

   Export LEDES files for any client that requires outside counsel billing formats

   LEDES export is the reason legal-vertical agencies can hold these retainers. Test one export against the client's required format before the first billing cycle closes, and keep a sample file on hand so a format rejection does not delay payment.

8. 08

   Hand off the reconciliation log to the client's bookkeeper with QuickBooks sync verified

   Bill4Time syncs natively with QuickBooks. Confirm the trust and operating entries post to the correct accounts in the client's books, then deliver the monthly reconciliation log. The agency's retainer covers the setup and the monthly check; the firm's accountant owns the filing.