• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Books Onsite

Bookkeeping Services with BooksOnSite Book Keeping in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane

  • Services
    • Onsite Bookkeeping
    • Legal Bookkeeping
    • Real Estate Bookkeeping
    • Request a Quote
  • Contact
  • Client Stories
    • Submit Testimonial
  • About Us
    • Clients
  • Locations
    • Melbourne Bookkeeping
    • Sydney Bookkeeping
    • Brisbane Bookkeeping
    • Sunshine Coast Bookkeeping
    • Perth Bookkeeping
    • Regional Bookkeeping
  • Careers
  • Press
    • Nichework BRW Fast Starters 2009
    • Smart Company
    • Peter Switzer – The Australian
    • BRW Fast Starters 2010
    • BRW The Quiet Upheaval
  • Articles
  • 1300 226 657
You are here: Home / Archives for LEAP Legal

Comparing LEAP vs Actionstep- Xero Integration

September 13, 2018 by Tim Johnston

Let’s face it- most lawyers aren’t really that interested in the way Actionstep and LEAP integrate with Xero. As long as their trust account is all taken care of, they are not really worried about how the information is transferred to their Practice Accounts- that’s for the bookkeeper to worry about!

That’s fine if the firm has a strong Legal Bookkeeper but if not then the Practice Manager or Principal should understand the integration to ensure they are producing accurate management and BAS reports.

The way both LEAP and Actionstep “talks” to Xero is quite different and both have their advantages and disadvantages as outlined below:

Nature of Integration

LEAP- You need to select your method of integration based on your GST registration of either cash or accrual. You can also integrate on a “Hybrid” basis which allows you to run management reports on an accrual basis while still lodging your BAS on a cash basis. Changing between the accounting basis is problematic and requires the engagement of LEAP Consultant.

The integration works using General Journals which creates a messy ledger which can make reconciliations difficult if it gets out of balance. The hybrid integration actually creates a separate GST code that does not get picked up on the BAS reports until the invoice is paid where it reverses the original transaction and re-posts the journal with the correct GST codes.

Actionstep- The invoices and payments for both sales and purchases are replicated in Xero so there is no need for journals. This creates a much cleaner integration and allows you to run cash or accrual management or BAS reports at any time.

Xero has a brilliant bank feed function, however it can sometimes be too clever for its own good. As the invoices have been exported from Actionstep to Xero, when Xero picks up a receipt for the same amount as an outstanding invoice it tries to match it automatically to the outstanding invoice in Xero. If this is matched in the Xero bank rec before it is entered in Actionstep it will not allow you to enter the receipt in Actionstep as it will think that invoice has already been paid. This can be difficult to identify for inexperienced Xero users.

Winner- Actionstep

Credit Notes

LEAP- Credit notes export to Xero as a journal. This works quite seamlessly although their is an ongoing issue with the GST coding on credit notes so the journal needs to be manually adjusted either prior to export or in Xero.

Actionstep- Credit notes in Actionstep are applied to invoices via a payment of $0 so that the credit note can be matched up to the correct invoice. Xero can’t handle a $0 payment so it creates credit note and a payment for the value of the credit note. The payment needs to be deleted via “remove & redo” and the credit note need to be applied against the invoice in Xero.

Winner- both problematic but the LEAP solution is probably easier to handle in Xero

Debtors and Creditors Reports

LEAP- all debtors and creditors reports need to be rune from LEAP as they are only sent ot Xero in journals

Actionstep- all debtors and creditors reports can be run from either Actionstep or Xero

Winner- Actionstep

Summary

Both LEAP and Actionstep work on a one-way integration, meaning that any changes to Debtors or Income in Xero will not flow back to the Practice Management system. This means that your Legal bookkeeper should have a high level of accounting knowledge to ensure the integrity of the 2 systems.

Overall Winner– you would have to say that Actionstep has the more comprehensive and versatile integration but you need to have a better understanding of Xero if things go pear-shaped.

Our Reader Score
[Total: 1 Average: 5]

Filed Under: Actionstep, Bookkeeping Tips, Guides, LEAP Legal, Xero Tagged With: Legal Bookkeeping

LEAP Cloud Legal Accounting- New Feature Release 1.7.70.0 (26 April 2016)

May 18, 2016 by Tim Johnston

Our Reader Score
[Total: 4 Average: 3.5]

Filed Under: Bookkeeping Tips, LEAP Legal, MYOB, Xero

Is your Trust Account Bookkeeping Compliant?

October 23, 2015 by Tim Johnston

Industries where client funds are required to be held on behalf of the client are required to operate a Trust Account that is registered with the relevant State Authority. Examples of this are:

Law Firms

  • Upfront payments on account of future Fees or disbursements to be billed
  • Settlement money involved in a property sale where the money has to be distributed to the Mortgagor for the balance of the loan, the Agent for their commission and the balance paid to the seller.
  • Estate money- where a deceased estate is in dispute the estate funds may be held in trust until the dispute is resolved.

Real Estate Firms

  • Deposits for sale of land or buildings
  • Fees received in advance for advertising

Trust Account Regulations

There are strict requirements around the operation of and administration of your Trust Account. Just like railway lines in the 19th century, the regulations are slightly different in each state but some things to watch out for are:

  • Trust receipts- these need to be consecutively numbered and issued within a couple of days of receiving the money
  • Trust payments to the Firm General Account to cover Fees must be explained in a Cost Agreement and the client must be given 7 days notification before funds are transferred to the General Account
  • If the Firm transfers funds to the General Account to cover disbursements then these disbursements need to have actually been paid, not sitting in Trade Creditors
  • Each clients individual Trust Ledger Balance must be kept at all times.
  • The Trust Account Reconciliation must be performed and signed by the Principal within 15 days after each month end.

Trust Accounting Systems

When you are starting out and only have the occasional trust transaction you may be able to keep a manual Trust Account. The problem is that when you start to grow is usually the worst time to be implementing new systems. We have many new clients coming to us from manual Trust Accounting systems where the only option is to start the system from back when they started because they can’t provide us with a clean opening Trust Balance.

Some Trust Accounting systems such as LEAP Legal have rigorous controls and procedures built in to ensure you are complying with Trust Regulations. These include the ability to run Reconciliation, Trial Balance and Overdraw Reports a any stage of the month and tight controls around limiting the ability to change prior period reports. These controls mean that if you are audited by the Law Society or a Trust Account auditor and provided your Trust Account Bookkeeper has kept things up to date, then that process runs a lot smoother as the auditor can rely on your systems that have built in internal controls.

Books Onsite is a registered Law Practice and Estate Agent Trust Account Auditor in QLD, NSW and Victoria. Please feel free to contact us if you have any queries about how your Trust Account Bookkeeping is being managed.

Our Reader Score
[Total: 5 Average: 2.8]

Filed Under: Bookkeeping Tips, LEAP Legal, Trust Account Tagged With: Audit, Bookkeeper, LEAP Legal, Trust Account

LEAP Office V10 vs LEAP

March 16, 2012 by Tim Johnston

Leap Legal Bookkeeping- LEAP Office V10 vs LEAP

As LEAP Certified Consultants we support both LEAP V10 and LEAP Cloud. We provide a Fixed Fee Service to look after your Trust and Office Bookkeeping and also your Annual External Examination. Call us on 1300 226657 or click on the link below to request a Fixed Fee quote for our Bookkeeping Service.

If you are looking at upgrading from LEAP V10 to the Cloud, here’s a list of some of the main feature differences:

 LEAP 2003/ LEAP V10 LEAP Cloud
 Technical
 PortableNoYes
Hosted Data StorageNoYes
 Automatic BackupNoYes
Automatic Version UpdatesNoYes
Integrates with XeroNoYes
Named User LicensingNoYes
 Concurrent User LicensingYes No
Forms & Precedents
 Automatically Updated No Yes
 Ability to remove Container Yes No
 Outlook and Excel Precedents No Yes
Create your own Matter types Yes No
 Communication
 Faxing Yes No
 iPhone App No Yes
 Accounting
Reminder Letters Yes No
 Budgets Yes No
 Supplier Module Yes No
 Extensive Suite of Reports No Yes
Our Reader Score
[Total: 0 Average: 0]

Filed Under: Guides, LEAP Legal, Software Tagged With: LEAP

Socialise with Booksonsite

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Popular Tagged Posts

ABN Accounting Accounts Accrual ATO Audit Bank Fees BAS Bas Services Bookkeeper budget Business Plan Cash Cashflow Compensation Direct Debit Employment EOFY Finance Government Fees Growth GST Invoice LEAP LEAP Legal Legal Bookkeeping MYOB MYOB AccountRight Live Payroll Procedures Quickbooks Recruitment Saasu Salary Service Sick Leave SME Sole traders Tax Trust Account Xero Year End

Categories

  • A Bookkeepers Diary
  • accounting methods
  • accounts
  • Actionstep
  • bookkeeper
  • bookkeeping
  • Bookkeeping Basics
  • bookkeeping services
  • Bookkeeping Tips
  • Guides
  • LEAP Legal
  • MYOB
  • Press
  • Software
  • Trust Account
  • Xero

BooksOnSite

The Australian onsite bookkeeping Specialists.

  • REMOTE EMAIL
  • DISCUSSION FORUM
  • Onsite Bookkeeping

    To discuss your onsite bookkeeping needs, call us on 1300 2BOOKS or Contact Us Today!

    Recent Comments

    • aj on Quickbooks v MYOB
    • Mary Ann Pohl on Bookkeeping on the Cloud – MYOB AccountRight Live, QuickBooks Hosted, Xero and Saasu Comparison
    • Payroll Tax Comparison between Sydney, Brisbane & Melbourne | Books Onsite on The Hidden Costs of Employment
    • Peter Switzer - The Australian | Books Onsite on Press

    To discuss your onsite bookkeeping needs, call us on 1300 2BOOKS Sydney ::: Melbourne ::: Brisbane ::: Perth Contact Us Today.