Every firm starts on a spreadsheet, and for a solo with a handful of matters it works. The trouble is quiet: a trust ledger that reconciles when someone remembers, a conflicts check that is a name search, deadlines living in one person's tabs. This page is honest about both halves.
A disciplined workbook is fine for a solo with few matters, one bank account and no client money. It stops being fine the day you hold trust funds or add a second fee-earner.
- Choose LawAOS when
- You hold client money, more than one person edits the records, or a deadline missed in a tab would cost the firm.
- Choose spreadsheets when
- You run a handful of matters, hold no trust funds, and one careful person keeps the books. Bookmark this page for later.
A spreadsheet has no client side and no reconciliation. These are the two screens firms usually move for.
Every panel below is rendered from the product’s own components with fictional records for Okafor & Byrne LLP.
A workbook has no client side
Clients cannot follow a spreadsheet. The portal shows each client only what the firm has shared: documents, messages, invoices and matter status, switch by switch.
Three-way reconciliation, not a tab
Client money is kept per client ledger and reconciled against the statement balance and the book. The workbook version of this is the one that drifts.
Every LawAOS cell names a shipped module. The spreadsheet column is the usual manual setup, described plainly.
| LawAOSShipped modules | SpreadsheetsThe usual manual setup | |
|---|---|---|
| Practice management | ||
| Matter management | All plans | Manual: one tab per matter |
| One workspace per matter | Overview, files, conversations, workstreams, invoices and proposals on one record | Manual links across files |
| Workstreams inside a matter and across the firm | Inside a matter, or on their own across the firm | Manual status columns |
| Boards, tasks, child tasks and saved views | Board and list views, child tasks, owners and saved views | Manual rows and checkboxes |
| Documents with versions | Upload, create, edit, version and share from the matter | Links to separate file storage |
| Matter and client conversations | Internal and client threads stay on the record | Separate email or chat |
| Docket, deadlines and calendar | Court dates, filings and firm deadlines on one calendar | Manual dates and reminders |
| Time tracking and billing | All plans | Manual entry |
| Proposals with priced fee items | Draft, send, accept and convert | Separate template files |
| Money and firm operations | ||
| Expenses, journals, budgets and reports | Expenses, journals, budgets and reports | Manual ledgers and reports |
| Trust-account reconciliation | Three-way: statement, book and client ledgers. No bank feed yet. | Manual reconciliation |
| People, roles and leave | Members, roles, departments and leave requests | Manual people registers |
| Payroll and payslips | Pay components, payroll records and payslips | Manual calculations or a separate tool |
| Documents and clients | ||
| Native e-signatures | All plans | Not offered |
| Client portal | All plans. Branded with the one-time white-label add-on on any plan; custom domain from Firm or with that add-on. | Not offered |
| Risk and compliance | ||
| Conflicts checking | All plans | Manual name search |
| AML and KYC screening | All plans | Manual |
| Ethical walls | All plans; applied by an authorized administrator | Share permissions only |
| Knowledge and AI | ||
| Knowledge base and CLE tracking | All plans | Manual tracking |
| Built-in AI assistant | Agents file tasks, documents and calendar events in the matter | Generic office AI, not matter-aware |
| AI on every paid plan | Fair-use and rate controls apply | Not offered |
| Pricing | ||
| Published per-seat pricing | $29-$119/user/monthEnterprise quoted | Low direct costOften bundled with an office suite |
- Included: shipped in the product
- Offered in some form: depends on the plan, a separate product or an integration
- Not confirmed: not found in public documentation at the snapshot date
- Not offered: a well-known absence
The spreadsheet column describes the common manual setup (a shared workbook or office-suite sheets) as of August 2026: capable in careful hands, unmanaged by design. Think we have understated what your sheet does? Tell us.
- Spreadsheets
When a spreadsheet is genuinely fine
A solo practice with a few active matters, one bank account and no trust funds can run cleanly on a disciplined workbook. If that is you today, we will say it plainly: you may not need us yet.
- Both sides
What breaks first
Growth breaks spreadsheets in a specific order. Trust reconciliation drifts. A conflicts check misses a spelling variant. A deadline lives in a tab nobody opened. Two people edit the same cell. None of these announce themselves.
- LawAOS
What replaces the workbook
One system where matters, time, invoices, trust ledgers, reconciliation, conflicts, deadlines and the client portal share a single data layer. Your spreadsheet's job does not disappear; it stops being done by hand.
The questions a managing partner asks before moving a live caseload onto a new system, answered plainly. Anything the list leaves open, our team answers directly.