Finding the right legal practice management software can be an overwhelming task with so many options to consider.
In this post, we'll provide a comprehensive review of Clio Manage to help you determine if it's the right solution for your law firm's needs.
We'll overview Clio's core features for matter management, accounting, billing and more. We'll also evaluate its best fit by firm size, required tech skills, and pricing to help you decide if Clio Manage is a good match.
Introduction to Clio Manage
Clio Manage is a comprehensive legal practice management and accounting software designed to help law firms streamline operations and workflows.
Overview of Core Capabilities
Clio Manage covers key areas including:
- Case and matter management - centralize client and matter information
- Document automation - create reusable templates
- Time tracking - track billable and non-billable time
- Billing and invoicing - simplify billing workflows
- Payments - accept credit cards and eChecks
- Accounting - automate processes like trust accounting
- Reporting - gain insights with custom reports
Key Benefits for Law Firms
Using Clio Manage offers law firms several advantages:
- Increased efficiency - reduce administrative tasks with automation
- Better collaboration - built-in communication tools
- Improved client services - deliver excellent customer experiences
- Simplified billing and payments - get paid faster
- Robust accounting - simplify essential financial processes
- Powerful insights - make data-driven decisions
Pricing Plans
Clio Manage offers three pricing tiers based on number of active matters:
- Standard - best for solos or small firms
- Plus - adds features like SMS messaging
- Premium - includes client portals
Extra fees apply for add-ons like payroll integration.
Ideal User Base
Clio Manage is best suited for small to medium-sized law firms looking to modernize legal operations and streamline workflows. The software scales to support evolving needs.
Core Features and Tools
Clio Manage provides robust tools for legal practices to streamline operations and accounting. Key capabilities include:
Matter and Case Management
Clio Manage centralizes matter details, deadlines, tasks, events, and communications on an easy-to-use dashboard. Lawyers can collaborate with team members, track matter progress, and maintain organization.
Document Automation
Quickly generate custom documents, contracts, forms leveraging merge fields, clauses libraries, and templates. This saves time while ensuring consistency and accuracy.
Time Tracking
Automatic and manual tracking options log billable and non-billable time accurately. Tools provide transparency into activities to inform billing and productivity.
Billing and Invoices
Flexible invoice creation with customizable rules for totals, taxes, discounts, payments, and more. Send invoices and easily track payments.
Payments and Retainers
Clients can securely pay online via credit card or ACH. Tools reconcile retainers and trust accounts. Lawyers gain financial oversight and reconciliation control.
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Accounting and Financial Management
Clio Manage provides robust accounting, reporting, and financial insights for law firms to efficiently track finances and gain actionable insights.
General Ledger
The general ledger seamlessly integrates with Clio Manage's billing platform to provide a comprehensive view of law firm finances. Key features include:
- Real-time tracking of income, expenses, account balances, and financial transactions
- Customizable chart of accounts tailored to legal practices
- Automated journal entries and balancing tied to trust accounting
- Integration with bank accounts for simplified reconciliation
- Reporting on profit and loss, balance sheets, aged receivables, and more
Billable Hours Analysis
Gain visibility into billable and non-billable time entries across all staff levels. Useful for analyzing utilization rates and ensuring accurate client billing.
- Reporting dashboard breaks down hours by timekeeper, client, matter, activity type
- Compare target hours to actuals for budgeting
- Filter unbilled time entries and export for invoicing
- Configure rules to automatically tag billable vs. non-billable time
Budgeting and Forecasts
Set budgets by timekeeper, client, or matter and track performance against financial goals. The system can also generate forecast reports to predict future cash flow.
- Flexible budget tracking with custom categories
- Scheduled forecast reports factoring in receivables, work-in-progress, expenses
- Drill-down analytics to identify budget overages
- Robust reporting exports for additional analysis
Trust Accounting
Specialized tools for legal trust accounting requirements including ledgers, 3-way reconciliations, and audits.
- Separate IOLTA trust ledgers with integrated billing
- Automated trust reconciliations compliant with ABA guidelines
- Built-in auditing tools to simplify trust account compliance
- Secure permissions to restrict trust account access
With robust accounting, analysis, and compliance tools tailored to law firms, Clio Manage simplifies financial management so firms can focus on serving clients.
Is Clio Right For Your Firm?
In determining whether Clio Manage meets your needs, key factors include firm size, tech expertise, and budget.
Best Fit By Firm Size
Clio Manage is designed to be scalable for firms of varying sizes. Specifically:
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Solo practitioners and small firms of up to 5 users will benefit from Clio's streamlined features and intuitive interface. Easy to get started for smaller teams.
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Mid-sized firms of up to 50 users will appreciate Clio's robust feature set for time tracking, billing, accounting, and more. Custom workflows can be configured.
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Larger enterprises may find Clio lacking in some advanced customization and integration capabilities offered by other top-tier solutions. But it still works for many big firms.
So in summary, Clio best serves solos up through mid-sized firms, but can still meet the needs of larger teams in many cases.
Required Tech Skill Level
Clio Manage is designed for simplicity and ease-of-use. The platform is intuitive with little training required for most users to get started.
However, setting up advanced workflows, custom fields, templates, and reporting does require more moderate technical skills. Power users will want to have basic skills with:
- Creating workflows and business logic
- Data analysis and reporting
- Automating tasks
- Customizations via Clio's API
Firms less focused on advanced workflows can easily leverage Clio out-of-the-box with no technical background required. But unlocking the platform's full potential requires at least a basic comfort level with common SaaS customizations.
Pricing and Budgetary Needs
Clio pricing is based on a per-active-matter model, scaling up and down with your actual usage, rather than contracts or licenses for unlimited use.
The key factors determining cost are:
- Number of active client matters
- Features needed (time tracking, billing, payments, books, calendar, etc.)
- Number of users
Entry-level plans start as low as $25/month. Mid-tier plans for small to medium firms run $150-$200/month. And costs scale up from there with usage.
So Clio can accommodate a wide range of budgets. But actual costs will vary greatly based on your firm's specific needs.
Conclusion and Next Steps
Clio Manage provides robust functionality for legal case, document, and financial management. With its intuitive interface and tailored pricing, most law firms should find it relatively easy to adopt Clio Manage into their practice.
Key Takeaways
- Clio Manage centralizes case, contact, document, and financial data to streamline legal practice management.
- Key features like time tracking, billing, accounting integrations, and reporting analytics help lawyers monitor the health of their firm.
- The software is designed specifically for the legal industry, with tailored plans based on law firm size and needs.
Getting Started
Visit Clio's website to request a custom demo showcasing features that align with your firm's size and requirements. Their team can provide pricing details based on your firm's needs. Consider discussing any specialized features you require or pain points you aim to resolve through adopting Clio Manage.
