Built for Australian Law Firms
Run the practice. Bill the hour.
Matter management, time-billed invoicing, engagement quotes and a client CRM — all in one place. Built for sole practitioners and small firms who want modern tools without the legacy practice-management price tag.
Free Tools & Resources
Reference material for principals and practitioners
Start a Law Firm
8-step founder guide — admission, ILP/incorporation, PII, trust account, software stack, first matters.
Open →ReferenceLegal Profession Admission by State
NSW LPAB, VIC VLAB, QLD LPAB, supervised practice rules, practising certificates by jurisdiction.
Open →ComplianceTrust Account Rules for Lawyers
Trust money handling under the Uniform Law / state Legal Profession Acts, audit cycle, trust statements.
Open →Operator GuideCPD Requirements by State
10 units/year minimum, mandatory categories (ethics, practice management, substantive law, skills).
Open →InteractiveMatter Budget & Hourly Billing Calculator
Interactive — partner/senior/junior splits, target hours, write-down, budget vs actual recovery.
Open →Key takeaways
5- OneBookPlus is general practice-management software for Australian solicitors, barristers and small firms — matter management, time billing, engagement quotes, invoicing, CRM and online bookings. Pricing is $0/mo (Free), $29/mo (Starter) or $69/mo (Growth, AUD), versus LEAP/Smokeball/FilePro at $89–$200+/user/month.
- Practising-certificate (PC) currency is the legal prerequisite to charge for legal services — issued and renewed annually by the law society of each state and territory (Law Society of NSW, LIV, QLS, Law Society of WA, Law Society of SA, Law Society of Tasmania, Law Society of the ACT, Law Society NT). OneBookPlus stores PC numbers and expiry alongside team profiles.
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- Section 174-style cost disclosure (Legal Profession Uniform Law in NSW & VIC; equivalents in other states) requires a written cost agreement and disclosure of estimated total costs before substantial legal work begins — OneBookPlus engagement quotes are designed as a cost agreement template you can adapt rather than a substitute for legal review of your disclosure regime.
- Honest gap: dedicated trust accounting compliance (three-way reconciliation, statutory deposit, monthly Law Society audit, section 254-style segregation under the LPUL) is not yet built. Firms running statutory trust accounts should keep their existing trust accounting product for that, and use OneBookPlus for everything else (matter management, time, invoicing, CRM, bookings).
- Time-tracking with billable-hour conversion to invoices is the core workflow — start a timer per activity, log to a matter and a timekeeper (with billable rate), then convert WIP to a GST-compliant invoice with disbursements in one click.
Everything for the practice
Built for how lawyers actually work
Matter files, time billing, engagement quotes, invoicing and CRM — without the cost or complexity of legacy practice-management suites. Honest about trust accounting: not included today, and we say so up front.
Matter Files
Engagement letter, court orders, statements, file notes, billable time, invoices, outstanding balance — every artefact for every matter on one timeline. Open the client, see everything.
Time-Billed Invoicing
Start a timer per matter, log activity entries, then convert tracked hours to a GST-compliant invoice with line items and disbursements. Stripe Pay Now link goes out with the PDF.
Engagement Quotes
Send a fixed-fee or scope-of-work quote with terms, retainer amount and engagement letter attached. Client signs electronically. The matter file opens automatically when they accept.
Client & Contact CRM
Every client, every related party, every conflict-check note — searchable from one screen. When the phone rings, you've got the matter, the last engagement and what's outstanding before you say hello.
Online Booking
Drop your booking link in your email signature and clients pick an initial consultation slot themselves. The system checks your calendar before offering anything — no email tennis to find a Tuesday.
Outstanding & Aged Debtors
See what's owed, by whom, how old, with one click to a reminder email. Conversion-rate and average-days-to-pay sit on the dashboard so collections don't drift to the bottom of the to-do list.
See it in action
The screens you'll actually use.
Not mockups — these are the real product screens for your day-to-day.
Matter file with every doc
Engagement letters, court orders, statements, file notes — one timeline per matter. Open the client, see everything: meetings, billable time, invoices, outstanding balance.
Time-billed invoice with disbursements
Convert tracked hours to a GST-compliant invoice with line items, disbursements (search fees, transcripts, agent costs) and a Pay Now link — all on one branded PDF.
Engagement quote, signed online
Fixed-fee or scope-of-work quote with terms, retainer amount and engagement letter attached. Client signs electronically, the matter file opens automatically.
Practice dashboard built for PS firms
Top clients with concentration-risk callout, avg days-to-pay coloured against the 30-day AR target, quote-to-engagement conversion, and an oldest-overdue marker that escalates at 90 days. Designed for sole practitioners watching the WIP, not generic ledger metrics.
From consult to paid
How OneBookPlus works for a law practice
Four steps from the first consult to the final invoice — designed around how a modern sole practitioner or small firm actually delivers legal work.
Client books an initial consult
Prospect picks a slot on your booking page. Intake fields capture matter type, conflict-check details and urgency before the call.
You scope and quote
Send an engagement quote with fixed fee or hourly rate, terms and retainer. Client signs online, the matter file opens automatically.
Track time as you work
Start a timer per activity. File notes, attendances, drafting, court time — all logged against the matter, ready to invoice.
Invoice and get paid
Convert tracked time into a GST-compliant invoice with disbursements. PDF includes Pay Now link; automated reminders chase overdue amounts.
Trusted by AU sole practitioners and small firms
100%
GST-compliant invoicing with your ABN
3x
Faster matter onboarding than spreadsheets
1
Platform for matters, time, invoicing & bookings
$0
Free plan to start — no card required
Australian Owned
Built in Melbourne, AU
GST Compliant
ATO-ready from day one
Bank-Grade Security
256-bit encryption
Free Plan Available
No credit card needed
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about practice management software for AU lawyers.
Does OneBookPlus handle trust accounting compliance?
Honest answer: not yet. OneBookPlus is general practice management — matter files, time billing, engagement quotes, invoicing, CRM. State-regulated trust accounts (with their three-way reconciliation, monthly Law Society audit requirements, and section 254-style segregation under the Legal Profession Uniform Law) need a dedicated trust ledger we haven't shipped. Most sole practitioners and small firms use OneBookPlus for everything except trust money, and a separate dedicated trust accounting product for that. If trust accounting is essential to your file mix, look at LEAP, Smokeball or FilePro alongside us.
How does OneBookPlus compare to LEAP, Smokeball and FilePro?
LEAP/Smokeball/FilePro are full-stack legal suites with trust accounting, court forms libraries and matter-type templates — and they're priced accordingly ($89–$200+/user/month). OneBookPlus is the cleaner, modern alternative for practice management without the legacy weight: matter files, time billing, engagement quotes, invoicing, CRM, bookings. If you don't need automated court-form drafting or trust ledger, you can run the practice on OneBookPlus from $0–$69/month.
Is the time tracking accurate enough for hourly billing?
Yes. Timers start and stop per activity, log to the matter and the timekeeper, and convert directly to invoice line items with description, duration and rate. Activities can be billable or non-billable. Each team member carries their own billable rate (partner, senior associate, paralegal — set per timekeeper) and the matter rate is used as a fallback when an individual rate isn't set. WIP per matter shows unbilled time so nothing slips through to month-end.
Can clients see their matter status without ringing me?
Yes. Each client has a portal showing their outstanding invoices, recent activity and any documents you've shared. They can pay online via Stripe, leaving you free to do the legal work instead of fielding 'where are we up to' calls.
Will it work for a sole practitioner running from a home office?
Absolutely. The free plan supports up to 5 active clients with unlimited invoices — ideal for testing on real engagements. Most sole practitioners run on the Starter ($29/month) or Growth ($69/month) plan for unlimited matters and team access. No on-premise install, runs in the browser.
Does it integrate with the ATO for BAS or PAYG?
GST is calculated on every invoice and tracked across the practice. BAS-ready export is built in — you (or your accountant) lodge from the export. Direct ATO PLS lodgement is on the roadmap; today, OneBookPlus is one of the cleanest practice-side exports in the market.
How do I migrate from LEAP, Smokeball or FilePro?
Clients import from a CSV export of your existing system (every PM tool exports clients). Matter files come across as contact records with notes — historical matters land as archived contacts so the WIP report and conflict check still work. Active time-and-billing data we suggest leaving in the old system through the current billing cycle, cutting over fresh at the next billing date so there's a clean line between old WIP and new. Most sole practitioners are operational on OneBookPlus within a week of switching; small firms typically take 2–3 weeks of overlap. Document libraries don't auto-migrate — keep your existing storage (Dropbox, Google Drive, NetDocuments) and link from the matter file instead.
About the author
Bishal Shrestha
Founder & CEO, OneBookPlus
Bishal has over a decade of experience in digital marketing, web development, and small business consulting across Australia. He has worked extensively with Australian professional services firms — including sole practitioners and small legal practices — on practice management, time billing and client onboarding workflows.
How OneBookPlus works for a law practice
Lawyers earn fees by billing time accurately and being paid promptly — but most sole practitioners and small firms run their practices on an awkward stack: LEAP or Smokeball for matter management, a separate spreadsheet for the WIP report, Calendly for consultations, Outlook for everything else, and (often) the back of an envelope for tracking who owes what. OneBookPlus gives the practice a single platform for matter files, time billing, engagement quotes, invoicing, CRM and online bookings — without the legacy-suite price tag or the trust-accounting overhead you may not need.
The platform is designed around the matter lifecycle. You manage every client in one CRM — contact details, related parties, conflict-check notes, engagement history and communication timeline. New enquiries book through your branded booking page, which syncs with Google Calendar so consultations don't collide. When work is scoped, you send an engagement quote with terms, fixed-fee or hourly rate, and retainer amount — the client signs electronically and the matter file opens automatically. As you work, timers log activities against the matter and timekeeper. At month-end, WIP converts to GST-compliant invoices with disbursements in one click; payment links go out with the PDFs, and automated reminders chase overdue amounts so collections don't drift to the bottom of the to-do list.
The practice dashboard
The practice dashboard surfaces what a sole practitioner or small firm actually needs to glance at each morning: top clients by month-revenue with a concentration-risk callout when one matter-source crosses 40% of billings (or your top three exceed 75%), average days-to-pay coloured against a 30-day AR target, quote-to-engagement conversion over the last 90 days, and an oldest-overdue marker that escalates to red once anything ages past 90 days. The metrics that drive a healthy practice, not generic ledger figures.
The honest trust-accounting note
Dedicated statutory trust accounting — three-way reconciliation, monthly Law Society audit, section 254-style segregation under the Legal Profession Uniform Law — is not built into OneBookPlus today. Firms running statutory trust accounts typically keep their existing trust product for that money and use OneBookPlus for everything else. We'd rather say this up front than have a firm onboard and discover the gap mid-quarter. If trust accounting is essential to your file mix, look at LEAP, Smokeball or FilePro alongside OneBookPlus — many firms run both, and the saving on the rest of the stack still adds up.
Getting started
Sign up for free — no credit card. Add your practising-certificate details, team members, hourly rates and service types (family law, commercial, conveyancing, advisory, whatever the file mix is). Import your client list from a CSV or add clients as enquiries come in. Set up your online booking page and share the link in your email signature so clients self-schedule consultations. Most practices are operational within half an hour. The free plan supports up to five active clients with unlimited invoices — enough to test on real matters before committing.
Modern practice management. AU-priced.
Join Australian solicitors who run their practice on OneBookPlus. Free to start — upgrade when you're ready.
Get Started FreeLast reviewed and updated: by Bishal Shrestha
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