MyCase review: features, accounting, LawPay and who it suits

MyCase is a cloud practice management system for US law firms: cases, calendars, documents, time tracking, invoicing and trust ledgers in one subscription, with card and eCheck payments through LawPay [1]. Every plan price is published, but the general ledger, bank reconciliation and three-way trust reconciliation sit in a paid add-on called MyCase Accounting [2].

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

What MyCase is and who it is for

MyCase is made by 8am, the company formerly called AffiniPay, which also owns LawPay [3]. MyCase says it serves solo lawyers, small firms and growing mid-sized firms [4].

There are three plans, Basic, Pro and Advanced, each priced per user. A firm cannot mix them: everyone in the firm is on the same plan [5]. Most billing and integration features start on Pro [1].

MyCase pricing in brief

MyCase Basic costs $50 per user per month, billed annually [1, 6, 7], Pro costs $100 per user per month, billed annually [1, 6, 8] and Advanced costs $130 per user per month, billed annually [1, 5, 6]. MyCase Accounting costs from $39 per user per month, for each user given an accounting license, billing term not stated [1, 2, 9–12]. Pro comes to $6,000 a year for 5 users [1, 6, 8], before any accounting licenses.

MyCase charges no setup fee and asks for no long-term contract [1]. Monthly-billing prices, cost at three team sizes, LawPay rates and the fees outside the price list are set out in MyCase pricing, plan by plan.

MyCase accounting: the plans and the add-on

Every plan includes a trust ledger with trust reconciliation, a trust balance for each case, and more than one trust and operating bank account [1]. That covers the client trust records. It does not keep the firm’s own books.

The books come with MyCase Accounting, sold only alongside Pro or Advanced [1]. It brings a general ledger with financial statements on a cash or accrual basis [13], Plaid bank feeds that match transactions automatically [2], and vendor records and check writing for firm expenses [14]. A firm licenses only the people who keep the books [9], and an outside accountant gets a free license [10].

Three-way reconciliation

MyCase places three-way trust reconciliation in MyCase Accounting [2]. The trust reconciliation in the base plans is not described as three-way [1].

Illinois names the report: it requires three-way reconciliation reports for every client trust account at least once a quarter Ill. RPC 1.15A(b)(7) [15]. The ABA’s model records rules treat quarterly reconciliation as the minimum and monthly as better practice ABA Model Trust Account Records Rule 1, Comment (Rule 1(i) paragraph) [16]. What applies to a firm depends on its state.

Keeping the books in QuickBooks Online instead

Pro and Advanced sync with QuickBooks Online Simple Start, Essentials, Plus or Advanced, sending invoices, payments, and trust and credit deposits and withdrawals [17]. MyCase no longer takes new QuickBooks Desktop connections [18], and Xero is not in its integrations directory [19]. For what QuickBooks covers and misses for a law firm, see QuickBooks for law firms.

MyCase time tracking and billing

Time and expense tracking and invoicing come with every plan [1]. Pro adds Smart Time Finder, LEDES billing, batch billing, payment plans, subscription billing and account statements. Advanced adds split billing and rate plans [1].

Basic has none of the Pro billing features, so a firm that needs LEDES invoices or batch billing starts on Pro [7]. Other billing tools are compared in legal billing software prices compared.

MyCase and LawPay

LawPay processes payments inside MyCase on all three plans. Clients pay by card or eCheck, or finance a bill with Pay Later [1]. MyCase customers owe LawPay processing fees but no monthly charge [20].

Two details matter for trust money. The operating account bears every processing fee, payments into trust included [21]. The Pay Later fee falls on the firm and cannot be passed to the client as a surcharge [22].

LawPay’s card, eCheck and Pay Later rates are in LawPay fees and pricing, and other processors are compared in law firm payment processing fees.

MyCase integrations

Integrations start on Pro; Basic has none [7]. MyCase names Google, Outlook, QuickBooks, Smith.ai, CalendarRules, MailChimp and Dropbox among them [7]. Court rules calendaring is part of Pro and Advanced but needs its own subscription, and MyCase does not say what that costs [1].

MyCase review: pros and cons

Pros

• Every plan has a published price, for annual and monthly billing [1].
• LawPay is built into every plan, with no LawPay monthly fee [20].
• Card and eCheck fees never come out of the trust account [21] [22].
• A trust ledger and trust reconciliation are on every plan, Basic included [1].
• No setup fee, no long-term contract, and a 10-day trial without a credit card [1].
• Data migration is included on Pro and Advanced [1].
• An outside accountant gets a free MyCase Accounting license [10].

Cons

• A general ledger, bank feeds and three-way reconciliation cost extra, and only on Pro or Advanced [1] [2].
• Basic has no integrations, no mobile app, no LEDES and no batch billing [7].
• One plan for the whole firm, so occasional users cannot sit on a cheaper tier [5].
• No new QuickBooks Desktop connections [18], and no Xero integration listed [19].
• Money already paid is not returned on cancellation, downgrade or when users are removed [23].
• The firm pays the Pay Later fee itself [22].

MyCase compared with Clio and PracticePanther

MyCase is set beside Clio and PracticePanther, two other suites that combine case management, billing, trust accounting and built-in payments.

MyCase, Clio, PracticePanther: what each includes

MyCase, Clio, PracticePanther: what each includes

Feature	MyCase	Clio	PracticePanther
Practice management	Yes [1]	Yes [24]	Yes [25]
Time tracking	Yes [1]	Yes [24, 26]	Yes [25]
Billing	Yes [1]	Yes [26]	Yes [25]
LEDES billing	Yes: MyCase Pro, MyCase Advanced [1]	Yes [24, 26]	Yes: Business, Business Pro [25]
Trust accounting	Yes [1]	Yes [26, 27]	Yes [25, 28]
Three-way reconciliation	Extra cost [1, 2]	Yes [26, 29, 30]	Yes [25, 31, 32]
General ledger	Extra cost [2, 13]	Yes [26, 33]	Yes: Business Pro [25, 34]
Built-in payment processing	Yes [1]	Yes [35]	Yes [25, 36, 37]
QuickBooks Online integration	Yes: MyCase Pro, MyCase Advanced [1, 17]	Yes: Core, Signature, Elite [26, 38, 39]	Yes [25, 40, 41]
Client portal	Yes [1]	Yes: Core, Signature, Elite [26, 42]	Yes [25]
Mobile app	Yes: MyCase Pro, MyCase Advanced [1, 7]	Yes [26, 43]	Yes [25]
Free trial	Yes [1]	Yes [26, 44]	Yes [25, 45]

Price is what the grid leaves out. MyCase and PracticePanther publish a price for every plan [1] [25]. Clio publishes one, for Starter [26]. The two-way detail is in Clio vs MyCase side by side, and each suite’s yearly cost is ranked in practice management software with accounting.

Who MyCase suits

MyCase fits a firm that wants case management, billing, trust ledgers and payments under one subscription, and wants to see every price before talking to sales [1]. It suits a firm already on LawPay, since MyCase waives LawPay’s monthly fee [20]. It also suits a firm that keeps its books in QuickBooks Online and wants billing and trust activity sent there, from Pro upward [17].

MyCase suits less well:

• a firm that does not want to pay extra for a general ledger [1];
• a firm on Xero [19] or QuickBooks Desktop [18];
• a firm that wants the mobile app or LEDES on the cheapest plan [7];
• a firm that wants different plans for different staff [5].

Who owns MyCase