We are asked this question often, usually by a firm that has run PCLaw for fifteen years and is wondering whether it is time to move. We earn our living supporting PCLaw, and we also move firms off it, so we have no reason to push you either way. Here is how the two compare.
The short answer
- Stay on PCLaw if accounting is the centre of your practice management, your bookkeeper knows it well, and your reporting or compensation depends on its general ledger.
- Move to Clio if you want to work from anywhere without running a server, you want client-facing features such as online intake and payments, and you are comfortable with accounting handled differently from how PCLaw does it.
The rest of this article explains why.
What each product is
PCLaw is installed software that runs on your own server or a hosted desktop. It is first an accounting system: time, billing, trust accounting, general ledger, payables and bank reconciliation all live in one database.
Clio is cloud software you reach through a web browser or phone. It is first a practice management system: matters, documents, calendar, tasks, client communication, time and billing.
That difference in starting point explains nearly everything below.
Accounting
This is PCLaw's strongest ground. It has a full general ledger built in, so a cheque written to a supplier, a bill sent to a client and a transfer from trust all land in the same set of books. Financial statements come straight out of the system your staff already work in.
Clio handles time, billing and trust accounting, and has historically relied on a link to separate accounting software such as QuickBooks or Xero for the general ledger. It has been adding accounting features of its own, and availability varies by country, so check what is offered where you practise before deciding.
Ask your bookkeeper and your accountant what they need. If the answer is "one system, one set of books", that is a point for PCLaw.
Working remotely
Clio works anywhere with an internet connection, on any device, with nothing to install.
PCLaw can be used remotely, but only through remote desktop or a hosted environment. Running it directly over a VPN or Wi-Fi link to the office server is slow and puts the data at risk. Done properly it works well. It does need to be set up by someone who knows how.
Cost
Do not compare the monthly price alone. Compare five years of total cost.
- PCLaw: annual licence or maintenance plan per user, plus a server or hosting, plus backups, plus IT time, plus upgrades.
- Clio: monthly subscription per user, plus any accounting software subscription, plus add-ons, plus the one-time cost of migrating.
For a small firm without an existing server, Clio is often cheaper. For a firm with a working server and many users, PCLaw is often cheaper. Work out your own numbers.
Your data
With PCLaw the database sits on your server. You control it, and you are responsible for protecting it: backups, security and recovery are yours to arrange.
With Clio the vendor hosts your data and handles backups and security. You depend on the vendor and your internet connection. Check where the data is stored if your law society or clients have residency requirements.
Moving from PCLaw to Clio
This is where firms underestimate the work. A migration can usually carry across:
- Clients, contacts and matters
- Open work in progress and unpaid bills
- Trust balances by matter
- Notes and calendar entries, depending on the tools used
What usually does not carry across cleanly is the full transaction history in the general ledger. Most firms bring opening balances into the new system and keep PCLaw available, read-only, for looking up history. You are generally required to retain those records for years, so plan for how you will keep an old PCLaw database readable.
Timing matters too. Switch at a month-end, ideally a fiscal year-end, with trust fully reconciled, so that there is a clean line between the two systems.
If you decide to move, our PCLaw to Clio migration service covers the whole job: cleaning the data in PCLaw first, moving clients, matters, work in progress, unpaid bills and trust balances, and checking the totals in Clio against PCLaw before you go live.
Who each one suits
PCLaw tends to suit:
- Firms with a bookkeeper or accounting department
- Practices with heavy trust activity, such as real estate
- Firms whose partner compensation relies on detailed financial reports
- Firms that already have a reliable server and IT support
Clio tends to suit:
- Solo lawyers and small firms without IT staff
- Firms with lawyers working from several locations
- Practices that want online intake, client portals and card payments built in
- New firms starting without any history to bring across
A third option
If you want cloud software and built-in legal accounting, it is worth looking beyond these two. Products such as Soluno and Leap are cloud-based and include full accounting.
Before you decide
- List the reports your partners and accountant cannot work without.
- Ask each vendor to show those reports, not a general demonstration.
- Get a written scope for the migration, stating exactly what history will and will not be moved.
- Work out five years of total cost for both options.
We give independent advice on this decision as part of our legal technology consulting, and we carry out the migration whichever way you go. Talk to us before you sign anything.