Matters, fees and trust money — kept the way the rules require
Check every new person for conflicts before you hear their story, open matters with fee estimates and mandates, diarise court and prescription dates, bill your time — and keep the trust account per client and matter, with requisitions checked, a signed three-way reconciliation each month and the pack your trust auditor reads.
Achekam for Law Firms: Run a law practice on one system: consultations checked for conflicts, matters, fee estimates and court dates — and trust accounting that refuses what the rules forbid, ready for the trust audit. For Attorneys, conveyancers and law practices.
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The problems it solves
- Conflicts found too late. The names a consultation gives — the person and the other side — are checked for conflicts before anyone hears the story.
- A client’s trust balance overdrawn. A requisition is checked against the client’s balance less every requisition still waiting, when asked and again when released.
- Fees taken from trust before they were billed. A fee transfer needs an issued invoice of the same client, up to its open balance.
- A reconciliation nobody signed. Bank, cash book and trust creditors reconciled each month; one out of balance cannot be signed and shows the shortfall.
- Court dates in someone’s head. Court and prescription dates diarised and reminded; a court day prepared, attended, reported and its time logged.
- A trust audit that starts from scratch. The year’s assurance pack — balances, flows, reconciliations, missing months, segregation and reversals — for the auditor you appoint.
What it includes
Consultations and matters
- Consultations in the attorney’s diary — A busy slot is refused; the fee tapped on tiles and taken at the desk or invoiced.
- Conflict checks first — The person and the other side checked for conflicts before the consultation.
- Matters and intake — Screening, FICA documents, the conflict check a partner clears, the fee estimate, the mandate and the file opened.
- Fee estimates from tiles — Hours, standard work, court attendances, disbursements and a retainer picked onto a draft fee estimate.
- Court and prescription dates — Diarised and reminded; a court day prepared, attended, reported and its time logged.
Trust accounting
- A trust ledger per client and matter — Every receipt names a matter and its client; balances per client per trust account.
- Requisitions that cannot overdraw — Checked against the balance less every requisition still waiting, and released by someone other than the person who asked.
- Fees only once billed — A fee transfer needs an issued invoice of the same client, up to its open balance.
- Three-way reconciliation — Bank, cash book and trust creditors each month, signed by a practitioner.
- Investments and interest — Client investments on written instruction; interest split as the jurisdiction says.
Billing and the practice’s books
- Time and fees billed — Accepted fee estimates invoiced; time logged against the matter.
- Recurring fees, online payments and credit control — For the fees you chase.
- Ledger, banking and VAT — The practice’s own ledger, bank reconciliation and VAT — apart from the trust money.
- Bank statements read for you — Financial Intake reads statements and slips; nothing posts until a person accepts it.
- Payroll and other currencies — Payroll and multi-currency books on the largest plan.
The trust audit and the statements
- The assurance pack — Balances, flows, reconciliations (missing months listed), segregation, reversals and trust creditors at year end.
- Request the trust audit — Ask an auditor or accounting firm for the audit or certificate from your workspace.
- The trust note in the statements — Your appointed accounting firm syncs the trust register into a “Trust money held for clients” note — not an asset or a liability of the practice.
How it works
- Sign up as a law practice. The Legal services pack is on from your first screen.
- Record your trust account. The trust bank account and the notice to the bank.
- Open matters. Conflict-checked, with fee estimates and mandates.
- Receipt, requisition, reconcile. Trust money in and out under the rules — signed off each month.
Key capabilities
- Consultations, conflicts and matters — Conflict-checked consultations, matters with fee estimates, mandates and court dates.
- Trust accounting — A trust ledger per client and matter that refuses what the rules forbid.
- The trust audit and the statements — The assurance pack for your trust auditor, and the trust note in your financial statements.
- Billing and the practice’s books — Fees billed, the practice’s own books, VAT and bank reconciliation.
The platform foundation
Law Firms runs on the shared foundation: the same sign-in and two-factor authentication, roles that decide who asks for and who releases trust money, the document store with malware scanning, governed AI that only suggests for a person to accept, and every practice’s data held apart by row-level security in the database. Trust entries are append-only: the database refuses changes and deletes.
Plans
| Plan | For | Monthly | Annual | Trial | Includes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Law Firm Starter | Businesses | R 1 499 a month | R 14 988 a year | 14-day free trial | 3 users, 20 GB storage. AI assistant; Request a review or audit; Automation centre; Invoicing; Industry CRM; Leads and pipeline |
| Law Firm Professional | Businesses | R 2 999 a month | R 29 988 a year | 14-day free trial | 10 users, 50 GB storage. AI assistant; Request a review or audit; Automation centre; Credit control; Invoicing; Online payments |
| Law Firm Practice | Businesses | R 4 999 a month | R 49 980 a year | 14-day free trial | 25 users, 50 GB storage. AI assistant; Request a review or audit; Automation centre; Credit control; Invoicing; Online payments |
Prices as published today; VAT and billing terms as shown when you sign up.
Questions
- Which countries’ trust rules does it apply?
- South Africa (Legal Practice Act section 86 and the LPC rules), Kenya (the Advocates (Accounts) Rules) and Nigeria (the Legal Practitioners’ Accounts Rules and the RPC 2023), as recorded on 4 November 2026. Every refusal shows the rule behind it. Rules change: your trust account practitioner confirms the current text and remains responsible for compliance.
- Can a client’s trust balance go into debit?
- No. A requisition is checked against the client’s balance less every requisition still waiting, when it is asked for and again when it is released, and a reversal that would overdraw is refused.
- Who releases trust money?
- A partner, an administrator or the named practitioner who did not ask for it — and a second practitioner above the threshold your practice sets. Payments go by EFT or cheque to a named payee.
- Can entries be changed?
- No. Trust entries are append-only: the database refuses changes and deletes, and a correction is a reversing entry.
- How does the trust audit work?
- The year’s assurance pack lists balances, flows, the monthly reconciliations (and any missing months), segregation of duties, reversals and trust creditors at year end, for the auditor’s report (South Africa), the accountant’s certificate (Kenya) or an inspection (Nigeria). Your appointed accounting firm also brings the trust note into your annual financial statements.
- What does it not do yet?
- The trust reconciliation takes the bank statement balance and items in transit as entered (no statement import yet); trust receipts and client trust statements export as CSV, not PDF; the monthly Fund transfers run at the bank and are recorded here; and only South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria are covered.
