Law firms · GuardenerAI Invoices and accounting

Invoicing and accounting for law firms.

Law firms use GuardenerAI Invoices and accounting to invoice clients from the same system that holds their matters, review invoices before they are issued, take card payments through a Stripe payment link on the Max plan, and see receivables and a double-entry ledger beside the client once accounting is switched on.

Work that is done but not billed is the most expensive problem in a small firm. When the invoice is raised in the same place as the client and the matter, nothing waits for someone to re-type it into another app.

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Invoices with a review step

Every invoice goes through Draft and In review before it is issued, so a partner can check it before the client sees it.

  • Bill to the client company or the client as a person.
  • Line items for fees, tax lines from rate-based tax products, and discounts.
  • Submit for Review, then Approve and Issue. Issued invoices cannot be quietly edited; void them and issue a credit note instead.
  • Each invoice shows Unpaid, Partially paid or Paid, worked out from the payments applied to it.

The matter as your reference, not a billing engine

The Matters object from the Professional Services template carries an Hourly Rate field. Use it as the reference when you write the invoice lines.

  • Hours are not turned into invoice lines automatically. You write each line yourself.
  • Task timers record time on tasks, which helps you see effort, but they do not feed invoices.
  • Invoices are raised to the client, not attached to an opportunity or a matter.

Getting paid faster

With accounting switched on and the Max plan, email a Stripe payment link for any issued invoice.

  • Card payments through the link are recorded against the invoice automatically.
  • Record cheque, ACH, wire or cash payments by hand, and apply one payment across several invoices.
  • AR aging shows what each client owes, current through 90 days and over.

The firm's books beside the clients

The same accounting module keeps a double-entry ledger that posts invoices and payments automatically.

  • A chart of accounts, journal entries and recurring journals.
  • Profit and Loss, Balance Sheet, Trial Balance and Tax Summary reports.
  • Bank reconciliation against statements you enter, with fiscal periods you can close.

How to set it up

  1. Ask us to switch on accounting for your workspace, and on the Max plan connect Stripe if you want card payments.
  2. Add tax products with their rates, and the products or fee lines you bill most often.
  3. Raise invoices to the client from Invoices, using the matter's hourly rate as your reference.
  4. Submit each invoice for review, then Approve and Issue it.
  5. Watch AR aging for anything overdue, and on the Max plan email a payment link.

Worth knowing

  • There is no time-billing automation: hours and rates are not turned into invoice lines for you.
  • There are no quotes or estimates, no recurring client invoices and no bank feeds. Bank statements are entered for reconciliation.
  • GuardenerAI does not provide trust or client account accounting rules; check your jurisdiction's requirements with your adviser.
FAQ

Fair questions.

Can GuardenerAI bill our time automatically?
No. There is no time-billing automation. Write invoice lines yourself, using the matter's Hourly Rate as a reference.
Can clients pay by card?
On the Max plan, yes, with accounting switched on and Stripe connected. On other plans you record payments by hand. Email a payment link for any issued invoice; card payments are recorded against it automatically.
Does it handle client trust accounts?
GuardenerAI keeps a general double-entry ledger. It does not apply trust or client account rules, so check your jurisdiction's requirements before relying on it for those funds.
Is accounting included?
Invoices are part of the core product. The accounting module, with payments, AR, the ledger and reports, is switched on for your workspace when you are ready.