CosmoLex review: accounting, payments and who it suits

CosmoLex is cloud practice management software for law firms in the US and Canada, with billing, trust accounting and business accounting in one system [1] [2]. All three plans on its pricing page have a published price, but only the top plan, Pro, keeps a full general ledger, and the rates for its payment service, CosmoLex Pay, are not published [3].

This CosmoLex review is based on CosmoLex’s published prices, plan pages and help documentation.

What CosmoLex is and who it is for

CosmoLex is sold by CosmoLex Cloud, LLC [4], which is part of ProfitSolv [3]. ProfitSolv also owns TimeSolv [5].

It is built for firms that want client trust records and the firm’s books kept alongside billing, with no separate QuickBooks file [1]. It sells three plans on its pricing page (Launch, Core, Pro), each priced per user and billed yearly or monthly [3].

CosmoLex in Canada

Firms in Canada are billed in US dollars at the US prices [2]. Most Canadian law society compliance reports come with every plan; the bank and trust bank-client reconciliation reports need Core or Pro [6]. The QuickBooks Online sync works only for US firms [1].

CosmoLex pricing in brief

Launch costs $49 per user per month, billed annually [3, 6], Core costs $99 per user per month, billed annually [3, 6] and Pro costs $129 per user per month, billed annually [3, 6]. Pro, the plan with the general ledger, comes to $7,740 a year for 5 users [3, 6]. Members of partner bar associations, such as the Florida Bar, are offered a lifetime discount [7].

Monthly-billing prices, cost at three team sizes, add-ons and contract terms are set out in CosmoLex pricing, plan by plan.

CosmoLex accounting and trust accounting

Each plan adds a layer of accounting:

• Launch covers trust accounting and a ledger for each client, but not bank reconciliation [3].
• Core adds bank reconciliation and a three-way report [6]. After a trust reconciliation, the report checks the bank statement balance against the book balance and the sum of client ledgers [8].
• Pro makes CosmoLex the firm’s full accounting system. It adds journal entries against a chart of accounts, payables, bank feeds, check printing, and a trial balance, balance sheet and profit and loss report [6]. Reports run on a cash or accrual basis [9].

Payables track what the firm owes and mark bills as paid; the payment itself happens outside CosmoLex [10]. CosmoLex describes no payroll feature. On Pro, payroll can be recorded as a journal entry [11], and CosmoLex points firms to outside bookkeeping and payroll providers [12]. CosmoLex gives an outside bookkeeper or accountant free partner access to the firm’s account [13].

Three-way reconciliation and state rules

Some states set how often the three-way check is done. New Jersey’s Office of Attorney Ethics says a three-way reconciliation is required monthly New Jersey, OAE outline Part III.B 'Three-Way Reconciliation', p. 12 (PDF p. 15) [14]. Illinois requires three-way reconciliation reports at least quarterly Ill. RPC 1.15A(b)(7) [15]. On CosmoLex, that report needs Core or Pro. More products with trust tools are in trust accounting software compared.

CosmoLex billing and CosmoLex Pay

Time tracking, invoicing, retainers including evergreen retainers, and recurring payments are on every plan [3] [6]. LEDES and split billing start on Core [3].

CosmoLex Pay is the built-in processor, on every plan [6]. Clients can pay by card, debit card, ACH, Apple Pay or Google Pay [16]. They can also spread a bill with Affirm, while the firm gets the whole amount at once [17]. Fees come out of operating funds, whichever account the client’s payment lands in [18]. A credit card surcharge can pass card fees to the client; debit and ACH fees stay with the firm [17].

CosmoLex shows its processing rates only inside the merchant application [18]. A firm that prefers LawPay can connect it on any plan [6]; LawPay’s published rates are in LawPay fees and pricing.

CosmoLex integrations

CosmoLex’s pricing page names Microsoft 365, QuickBooks Online, Dropbox and Zapier among the integrations built into every plan [3]. CosmoLex’s integrations page groups the rest by type: productivity, storage, e-signature, file sharing and bank verification [19]. Pro adds an open API [3].

QuickBooks Online

Data flows only from CosmoLex to QuickBooks Online. Once the sync is on, CosmoLex’s built-in business accounting and matter budgets are unavailable [1]. So a firm uses either CosmoLex’s books or QuickBooks, not both. CosmoLex does not mention a Xero integration [19]. How QuickBooks fits a law firm is covered in QuickBooks for law firms.

CosmoLex CRM and other add-ons

CosmoLex CRM, for intake and marketing, can be added to any plan. It has no published price and is not part of the free trial [3]. CosmoLex Websites and LexShare and LexSign, for document sharing and e-signature, are also add-ons without a published price [3].

CosmoLex review: pros and cons

Pros

• All three plans on its pricing page have a published price, for yearly and monthly billing [3].
• On Pro, the general ledger, payables, bank feeds and financial statements sit in the same system as billing and trust [1] [6].
• A three-way reconciliation report comes with Core and Pro [8] [6].
• Every plan includes live onboarding and guided help moving data across [3].
• CosmoLex Pay fees are never taken from the trust account [18].
• An outside bookkeeper gets a free partner account [13].
• Firms in Canada pay the US prices [2].

Cons

• The general ledger is on Pro only, and Launch has no bank reconciliation [6] [3].
• CosmoLex Pay rates are not published [3].
• Add-ons such as the CRM and websites have no published price [3].
• The QuickBooks Online sync is one way and turns off CosmoLex’s own accounting [1].
• No Xero integration is mentioned [19].
• The mobile app is on Core and Pro only [6].
• Under the agreement’s usage-based services terms, phone support and coaching after go-live is up to 2 hours a month; more is billed at professional services rates [4].
• Prepaid fees are non-refundable, and renewal prices can go up [4].

CosmoLex compared with Clio and PracticePanther

Clio and PracticePanther also include a general ledger in a plan rather than selling it as an add-on [20] [21].

CosmoLex, Clio, PracticePanther: what each includes

CosmoLex, Clio, PracticePanther: what each includes

Feature	CosmoLex	Clio	PracticePanther
Trust accounting	Yes [3, 6]	Yes [20, 22]	Yes [21, 23]
Three-way reconciliation	Yes: Core, Pro [6, 8]	Yes [20, 24, 25]	Yes [21, 26, 27]
General ledger	Yes: Pro [3, 6, 9]	Yes [20, 28]	Yes: Business Pro [21, 29]
Bank feeds	Yes: Pro [1, 3, 30]	Yes [31]	Yes: Business Pro [32]
Accounts payable	Yes: Pro [6, 10]	Yes [20, 33]	Yes: Business Pro [21, 29]
QuickBooks Online integration	Yes [1, 3, 6, 34, 35]	Yes: Core, Signature, Elite [20, 36, 37]	Yes [21, 38, 39]
Xero integration	Not stated [19]	Yes: Core, Signature, Elite [20, 40]	No [41]
Built-in payment processing	Yes [6, 16]	Yes [42]	Yes [21, 43, 44]
LEDES billing	Yes: Core, Pro [3]	Yes [20, 45]	Yes: Business, Business Pro [21]
Client portal	Yes [3]	Yes: Core, Signature, Elite [20, 46]	Yes [21]
Mobile app	Yes: Core, Pro [6]	Yes [20, 47]	Yes [21]
Free trial	Yes [3, 48]	Yes [20, 49]	Yes [21, 50]

The grid does not show cost. CosmoLex and PracticePanther list a price for each plan on their pricing pages [3] [21], while Clio lists only its Starter plan [20]. Both rivals’ plans are set out in Clio pricing and PracticePanther pricing, and the whole field is ranked by yearly cost in the law firm accounting software comparison.

Who CosmoLex suits

The Pro plan fits a firm that wants billing, trust accounting and its own books in one system, without QuickBooks [1]. Core suits a firm that needs three-way trust reports but keeps its books elsewhere [6]. Firms in Canada are covered too: most law society compliance reports come with every plan, and the bank and trust bank-client reconciliation reports need Core or Pro [6].

CosmoLex suits less well:

• a firm on Launch that needs bank reconciliation [3];
• a firm that wants to compare card processing costs before signing up [3];
• a firm on Xero [19];
• a firm that wants QuickBooks Online and CosmoLex’s own accounting running together [1].

Who owns CosmoLex