Contact Info
United States
Where does ERP fit in a US law, CPA or consulting firm?
For US law firms, CPA practices, architecture and engineering firms, agencies and consultancies, I design the system that carries a client from intake and conflict checks through the engagement letter, time capture, pre-bill review, invoicing and collection. The aim is that partners see WIP, realization and lock-up from one source, while trust accounting and specialist practice tools stay where they belong.
Last reviewed by Vikas Saroj
I work remotely with American firms whose product is professional judgment: law firms, CPA practices, architecture and engineering firms, marketing agencies and management consultancies. Most run a CRM for business development, a practice or timekeeping tool, QuickBooks or another ledger, and a stack of partner spreadsheets that reconcile the three every month.
The questions that matter at a US partner meeting are rarely about software. How much of last quarter's recorded time became cash? Which clients sit on old unbilled work? Who originated the matters that carry the firm, and who actually worked them? I start by agreeing how your firm answers those questions, then design the systems around the answers.
What I Do
US firms usually call me when partner reports take a week to assemble, a merger brings in a second practice system, or the managing partner no longer trusts the WIP number.
I map how a prospective client becomes an approved client: who runs the conflict search, what the new business committee reviews, and which data must exist before anyone can record a billable hour.
I document each fee arrangement your firm signs, the rate hierarchy behind it, and how origination, responsible and working credit are split, so compensation reports come from the system instead of a side workbook.
Partners review draft bills, adjust narratives and write time up or down. I design that review so every adjustment is recorded with a reason, and realization can be analyzed by client, partner and practice.
I test shortlisted platforms with your own matters and engagements, including a contingency or fixed-fee case and a client billed through an e-billing portal, rather than a vendor's prepared demo.
Document management, e-signature, calendars, payroll, and any trust accounting or legal practice tool each get an owner and a defined data flow, so nothing is synced twice or typed in again.
I sit beside your implementer to keep the build on the agreed design, write test scripts around real engagements and support the first billing cycle after go-live.
What to Measure
An ERP for professional services should make these numbers available without a spreadsheet. I design the data model and reports around them from the start.
Platform Fit
How I Work
How the firm earns and collects
Intake and conflicts walkthrough
Fee arrangements catalogued
Credit rules written down
Current partner reports reviewed
Requirements, shape and platform
ERP or practice tool decision
Requirements signed by partners
Scripted platform demos
Fit-gap with owners
Build, test and first bills
Implementer coordination
Open WIP and AR migrated
UAT on awkward engagements
First month-end review
Whether the firm is a litigation boutique, a regional CPA practice or a structural engineering firm, the backbone I map in American firms looks similar: inquiry, intake form, conflict or independence check, new business approval, engagement letter, matter or project opened, staffing, time and expense entry, pre-bill review, invoice, collection and a profitability review when the work closes.
The US version has a few features worth naming early. Many firms are partnerships, LLCs or professional corporations, so partner compensation depends on credit rules that the system must record from the day a matter opens. Larger corporate clients often require invoices through e-billing portals with task and activity codes, which changes how time must be captured. Accounting and audit practices have independence obligations that shape intake as much as conflicts shape it for lawyers.
I capture these in process maps for each practice area, because a tax compliance engagement and a commercial lease negotiation do not travel the same path. The maps then drive requirements and every vendor conversation that follows.
In most US firms I work with, each partner has a slightly different definition of realization. Some measure billed against standard rates, others collected against recorded time, and a few exclude write-offs they consider the client's fault. Before any configuration starts, I get one written definition for each measure the partners use, agreed by the managing partner and the finance lead.
The measures I usually define are:
Once definitions are fixed, the system design follows: rate tables, write-down reason codes, aged WIP reports and a partner dashboard that shows the same numbers to everyone. For the costing side in more depth, see ERP for project costing.
US law firms that hold client funds in trust or retainer accounts operate under rules set by their state bar, and those rules are specific about record keeping and reconciliation. I do not try to move that ledger into a general ERP. In most firms the right answer is that dedicated legal practice or trust accounting software keeps the client trust ledger, and the ERP receives only the transfers of earned fees into the operating account.
What I do design is the boundary: which system holds the retainer balance a partner sees, how an invoice paid from trust is marked in receivables, who approves the transfer, and how both systems reconcile at month end. Your bar's guidance and your accountant decide the rules; my part is making sure the systems respect them without duplicate entry.
Other firms have their own version of this. Accounting practices may hold client tax payments in transit, and agencies often manage media spend on behalf of clients. In each case I separate client money from firm revenue in the requirements before any platform is chosen.
Whether a professional service is taxable depends on the state, and sometimes on the specific service. Many states do not tax legal or accounting work, while some tax certain consulting, design or digital services. Firms with clients across several states, or with remote staff living in different states, need their tax advisor to set the rules and a system able to apply them per client and per service line.
Multi-state staffing also affects payroll and how cost rates are calculated, so I agree early whether payroll stays with a provider and how fully loaded cost per person reaches the profitability reports.
Growing firms often add entities: a separate LLC for a consulting arm, an acquired practice that keeps its own name, or a captive services company that employs staff and charges the partnership. The ERP needs intercompany billing and consolidated reporting that partners can read without a spreadsheet. Entity design for other sectors is covered on my US ERP consultant page, and the general professional services ERP page describes the module set.
US firms hear strong opinions from software sellers: one says a legal practice suite should run everything, another says an ERP with a projects module will replace all of it. Both can be true for a particular firm and wrong for the next. I write the requirements first, then score options against your real engagements, including an hourly matter with an e-billing client, a fixed-fee audit and a retainer that rolls over.
For firms whose work is mostly engagement based, such as consultancies and agencies, a single platform covering CRM, projects, time and invoicing often works well. If you run a consulting practice specifically, the consulting ERP page goes deeper on bench and retainer drawdown. Product-level detail on project tools lives on my pages for Zoho Projects in the US and Odoo Projects in the US.
I deliver all of this remotely, with live workshops scheduled in the hours your main office shares with me and recorded walkthroughs for partners in other time zones. See the USA overview for how that works.
Tell me about your business and current systems. I’ll suggest the most sensible first step.
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Not sure which ERP you need?
Share your business requirements with me and I will help you understand the right process, architecture and platform before implementation.
FAQ
Usually not entirely. Legal practice tools handle matters, court calendars and trust ledgers in ways a general ERP does not. An ERP becomes useful when the firm needs stronger financial reporting, several entities or a shared back office. I help you decide where the boundary sits and which system owns each record before anything is replaced.
Yes, if credit rules are agreed and captured when the matter opens. Most platforms can store an originating, responsible and working timekeeper per matter, but split credits and changes over time need explicit design. I document your rules with the compensation committee so reports match how partners are actually paid.
It depends on the state and on the service. Many states exempt legal and accounting services, while some tax certain consulting, design or digital work. Your tax advisor should confirm your obligations. I make sure the system can apply the agreed treatment per client location and service line, and that invoices show it correctly.
It depends on the number of practice areas, entities and integrations, and on how quickly partners agree on fee and credit rules. I describe the work in phases rather than promising a week count: diagnosis, requirements and selection, then build, testing and the first billing cycle. Each phase has a clear decision at its end.
I work remotely. Partners and practice leaders join short online sessions booked inside your main office's working hours where they overlap with mine, and recorded walkthroughs let fee earners in other time zones review designs between client meetings. Where a visit would add real value, we can agree it by arrangement, though few firms need one.
Every business is different. Share where you are today and what you want to fix, and I’ll tell you honestly whether and how I can help.
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