Law firms and advocates
Billing and accounting software for law firms and advocates
Raise fee notes with the right SAC code and tax treatment, hold client advances on account, recover court fees at cost, and pay your clerks and associates from the same books.
In short
SimpleERP is billing and accounting software for law firms and advocates in India. Fee notes carry SAC 9982 codes and an exempt or reverse charge treatment, advances wait on account, and expenses, payroll and the ledger stay in one place.
Illustration of GST tax invoice INV-2026-27-0213 to Ravi Stores with CGST 9% and SGST 9%, round off, a UPI QR code and the amount in words.
A day in a law firm
A chamber sells advice, drafting and appearances, so the money side is a steady stream of fee notes, advances and small costs paid for clients.
At Rangan and Iyer Advocates in Chennai, the morning starts with the senior clerk listing what was spent yesterday: a court fee on a fresh suit, stamp paper for a lease deed, a notary charge and an auto fare to the High Court. Each belongs to a client and must come back on the next fee note, yet today they sit on scraps of paper.
In the afternoon a textile company in Tiruppur asks for its fee note for a legal opinion. It is a business, so the GST on the fee is paid by the client under reverse charge, and the fee note must say so instead of charging tax. A retired teacher's property dispute is exempt, so her bill carries no tax either. Then a cheque arrives with 10 percent deducted as TDS under section 194J, and nobody is sure where to put the difference.
SimpleERP gives that chamber one ledger. Each client has a tax treatment, each fee note carries its SAC code and a note on who pays the tax, an advance stays on account until a bill takes it, and the clerk's out-of-pocket spends are recorded against the books the firm's CA reads.
GST billing
Fee notes that state who pays the GST
Legal services sit under SAC 9982, and the tax on them usually falls on the client, not the advocate. SimpleERP lets you mark a client as exempt so the print says so, leave the rate off fee lines for a business client, and write the reverse charge wording in the invoice notes.
- SAC code on every service: advisory, drafting, appearance and arbitration as separate saved services.
- Client tax treatment set once per client; an exempt client's bill prints "Tax: exempt" with no tax rows.
- Notes and terms on the fee note for the reverse charge line and your bank details.
| Service | SAC | Client | Who pays the GST |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal opinion or advisory, civil and commercial | 998212 | Company or firm | The client, under reverse charge |
| Appearance and representation, criminal law | 998211 | Individual, not for business | Exempt; no GST |
| Drafting and certification of deeds and agreements | 998214 | Company or firm | The client, under reverse charge |
| Arbitration and conciliation | 998215 | Business below the notified turnover | Exempt; no GST |
Payments
Advances and part payments that settle themselves
Clients pay before the work and again in instalments, so receipts rarely match a single bill. In SimpleERP an advance is recorded as a receipt that stays on account, and when the fee note is raised it is applied, leaving the true balance on the client's statement.
- Receipts by UPI, cheque or bank transfer, with the UTR or cheque number kept.
- Money on account shows on the client until you allocate it to a fee note.
- Bounced cheque is cancelled with a reason, and the bills it paid re-open.
- Receivables ageing by client, so a slow payer is visible before the next hearing.
Illustration of receivables ageing: ₹2,14,800 to collect across 5 buckets, with customer totals.
Expenses
Court fees and small costs, billed back at cost
The clerk pays court fees, stamp paper, notary charges, certified copies and travel on the client's behalf. Each one is recorded with a photo of the receipt, and the same amount goes on the client's next fee note as a line without tax, so nothing paid out is forgotten.
- Expense from a phone with the receipt photo attached and a category such as court fees.
- Staff claims for the clerk's own cash, approved by a partner and reimbursed.
- Free-text lines on the fee note for each cost recovered at cost.
Illustration of an expense claim on a phone with a receipt photo and Approve and Reject buttons.
People and payroll
Pay clerks and salaried associates on one run
A chamber of eight usually has a senior clerk, a typist and a few associates on a fixed monthly amount. The payroll run reads paid days from attendance and leave, and each payslip posts its salary, PF, PT and TDS lines to the books on approval.
- Salary structures with Basic, HRA and allowances, set per person.
- Salary advances to a clerk, recovered from later payslips until settled.
- Self-service on the phone for attendance, leave and payslips.
- Associates on retainership who send their own bills are paid as suppliers instead.
Illustration of a payslip with Basic, HRA, provident fund and professional tax lines and net pay of ₹27,660.
Accounting
Books your CA can close without calling the clerk
Every fee note, receipt, expense and payslip writes its own journal, so the trial balance and P&L are ready on any date. The few entries no document covers, such as TDS deducted by clients or a partner's drawings, go in as journals the database refuses to save unbalanced.
- Bank register reconciled by ticking cleared lines against the statement.
- Law library and furniture kept as fixed assets with monthly depreciation.
- Accountant role for your CA, with reports exported to CSV.
By job
Law firms and advocates by job
GST billing for advocates
Fee notes with SAC 9982 codes, a reverse charge or exempt note, and court fees recovered at cost.
Read moreInventory for law offices
Most chambers skip stock; those that track stationery, stamp papers or file covers can, and the library is an asset.
Read moreAccounting for law firms
Fee income, client advances on account, TDS deducted by clients, chamber expenses and a month-end your CA can close.
Read morePayroll for law firms
Monthly salaries for clerks, typists and salaried associates, with PF, PT, advances and payslips on the phone.
Read more
One system
The modules that do this work
A fee note posts the receivable and the income, a receipt settles it, and the clerk's expenses and the monthly payroll land in the same ledger.
GST billing
Tax invoices with CGST, SGST or IGST by place of supply, HSN on every line and a UPI QR on the print.
See howPayments & receivables
Receipts and payments allocated oldest first, receivables and payables ageing, and statements.
See howExpenses
Business expenses with receipts, and staff claims from submit to approve to reimburse.
See howAccounting
A double-entry ledger with journals, bank registers, statements and a lock date.
See howPayroll
Salary structures, monthly runs and payslips with PF, PT and TDS, posted to the books.
See howFixed assets
An asset register with monthly depreciation, custodians, maintenance and disposal.
See how
Honest limits
What SimpleERP does not do for law firms yet
Chambers ask about these, and the honest answer is no for now.
- Matter or case management, and a court diary or hearing calendar.
- Client trust or escrow accounting: a client advance is an ordinary receipt held on account.
- A reverse charge flag on the invoice; the wording goes in the invoice notes.
- TDS computation on fees received; post what clients deduct with a journal.
- Timesheets or billing by the hour from tracked time.
Getting started
Start with your first invoice
Sign up with your phone
Name, phone number and a password. No card for the seven-day trial, and email is optional.
Tell us about the business
Type your GSTIN and the state fills itself. Accounts, GST rates, units, roles and numbering are seeded for you.
Add what you sell
Add your services, such as legal opinion, drafting and appearance, with their SAC codes. Mark individual clients as exempt when you add them.
Post your first GST invoice
Pick the customer, add lines and save. Your first GST invoice can be out within 10 minutes of signing up.
FAQ
Questions, answered
Do advocates charge GST on their invoices?
Usually not. Legal services by an advocate or a firm of advocates to a business entity fall under reverse charge, so the client pays the GST, and services to an individual are exempt, as notified; check your own case. In SimpleERP an exempt client's bill prints "Tax: exempt", and for a business client you leave the rate off and add the reverse charge note. Rates change, so confirm the rate for your goods with your CA or the GST portal before you rely on it.
Can SimpleERP keep track of my cases and hearing dates?
No. There is no matter management or court diary. Many chambers name the matter in the invoice reference and notes so the fee notes for one case are easy to find, and keep the hearing calendar where it is today.
How do I record an advance a client pays before the work starts?
Record it as a receipt from that client. It stays on account and shows on the client's statement until you allocate it to the fee note it covers. It is not a separate trust account.
My corporate clients deduct TDS under 194J. How is that recorded?
Record the amount that actually reached your bank as the receipt, then post the TDS part with a manual journal to TDS receivable, which settles the fee note in full. SimpleERP does not compute TDS on fees received, so match it with Form 26AS together with your CA.
We keep our accounts in Tally or Excel. How do we move?
Start from a date such as 1 April: add your clients on screen, import your services from a CSV, and enter opening balances with a journal. Old fee notes stay in your old books.
Related
Keep reading
Professional services
SAC-coded invoices with place of supply, quotations, a CRM pipeline, expense claims and payroll.
Read morePayments & receivables
Receipts and payments allocated oldest first, receivables and payables ageing, and statements.
Read moreExpenses
Business expenses with receipts, and staff claims from submit to approve to reimburse.
Read moreSAC for legal services
SAC 998212 for legal services, reverse charge for business clients and the exemption for individuals.
Read more
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