Finance and reporting

Track time. Invoice clients. Get paid.
See everything.

The MatterFirst billing dashboard with outstanding, overdue, paid and draft totals across the firm's invoices

MatterFirst handles the full financial cycle: time capture, invoice generation, trust, payment collection and live dashboards. No separate billing system, and no rekeying between two of them.

Book a demo See all features
Encrypted at rest and in transit Australian data residency Hosted on AWS No lock-in contracts Guided setup available Your data exportable on request

Last reviewed

What should law firm billing software do for an Australian firm?

Capture time against the matter, turn it into an invoice with GST calculated correctly, run the trust ledger to Australian rules, take payment, and reconcile with the firm's accounting system. MatterFirst does all of that in the same place as the matters, and syncs invoices and payments both ways with Xero.

An invoice in MatterFirst with time entries, disbursements and GST calculated on the taxable subtotal
An invoice built from the matter's own time and disbursements, with GST calculated on the taxable lines.

Time tracking

Track time where the work happens

Start timers from tasks, matters, or the global bar. Log entries manually or let MatterFirst suggest entries from your activity. Every minute is captured and billable.

  • One-click timer start from a matter
  • Manual time entry with matter, task and activity linking
  • Activity-based time suggestions from matter events
  • Draft, approved, invoiced and written off states on every entry

Capability 1 of 4

Every minute captured where the work happens.

Invoicing

Generate invoices in seconds, not hours

Select time entries and disbursements, choose a template, and generate a professional invoice. Send it to the client portal or email. Payment links included automatically.

  • Batch invoice generation across multiple matters
  • Customisable invoice templates, reviewed and approved before one goes live
  • Automatic line items from time entries and disbursements
  • Trust account deductions applied against the invoice

Capability 2 of 4

From tracked time to sent invoice in seconds.

Payment collection

Clients pay online. You get paid faster.

Bank transfer by default, with your remittance details on every invoice. Firms that want it can switch on Stripe card payment from the client portal, and payments recorded either way mark the invoice paid.

  • Bank details on every invoice, no integration required
  • Optional card payment via Stripe, off by default
  • Payment links embedded in invoice emails when card is enabled
  • Overdue payment reminders sent automatically

Capability 3 of 4

Paid the way your firm already gets paid.

Dashboards

Real-time financial visibility, for every role

Partners see firm-wide revenue. Managers see team utilisation. Fee earners see their own recorded and billed time. Every role gets the financial view they need.

  • Revenue and unbilled WIP dashboards, by period
  • Team utilisation per fee earner, billable against recorded
  • Matter type distribution and staff workload
  • Aged debtors in 30, 60, 90 and 90-plus day buckets, and payment trends

Capability 4 of 4

The financial view each role needs, in real time.

MatterFirst is a legal practice management platform for Australian law firms, built by NorthCape Technology, covering matters, documents, trust accounting, billing and a client portal, with data hosted in the AWS region the firm chooses.

This suits firms billing time and disbursements across repeatable matters, and firms currently rekeying between a practice system and a separate billing package. It will not satisfy a firm that needs deep, configurable financial reporting of the kind a larger practice expects, which is a fair reason to look at a platform built for that.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Does MatterFirst handle Australian trust accounting?
Yes. Per-matter trust ledgers, receipting, withdrawals against invoices, reconciliation, and a compliance review workflow covering New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia. Obtaining external sign-off for your jurisdiction remains your firm's responsibility, and the system records it against the jurisdiction when you have it.
Can we bring our trust ledger history across when we switch?
The importer handles contacts, matters, documents, time entries, invoices, billing codes and leads. Trust ledger history imports at transaction level, with a reconciliation report you can hand an external examiner. You need to keep trust records for seven years under s147 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law regardless of where you move, so plan for the old system staying readable for the retention period either way.
How is GST handled?
Line amounts are GST-exclusive and GST is calculated on the subtotal of the taxable lines at your organisation's rate, which is standard Australian practice. Disbursements can be marked non-taxable individually.
Does it work with Xero?
Yes. Invoices push to Xero, the contact goes with the invoice, and Xero tells us back when one is paid, so the ledger and the matter agree without anyone rekeying. It is not a standalone contact sync: contacts travel on invoices rather than being reconciled both ways on their own.
Where is my data stored?
In the AWS region your firm chooses. Sydney (ap-southeast-2) is the default for Australian firms. Matter data, documents, extraction and matter questions all stay in that region. The one exception is the first step of Document AI, reading the document itself, which runs on Azure AI Document Intelligence in Azure's Australia East region. Both regions are in Australia.
How much does MatterFirst cost?
Pricing is per workspace rather than per seat, starting at $199 per month for Solo. Each plan includes a set number of users, a monthly AI balance in Australian dollars, the client portal and automations. Extra users are billed only past the included seats. Full plan inclusions are on the pricing page.
Can I get my data out if I leave?
Yes. Your matters, contacts, documents and time records are exportable on request, and there is no lock-in contract. We would rather you were able to leave and chose not to.
Is there a free trial?
Yes, a 14 day guided trial on Solo, Practice or Firm. It is guided rather than self-serve because a practice management system tells you very little until it has your real matters in it, and we would rather help you load them than leave you looking at an empty workspace.
Who builds MatterFirst?
NorthCape Technology, a Melbourne-based software company. MatterFirst is built in Australia for Australian legal practice, which is why trust accounting and Xero are first-class rather than regional add-ons, and why PEXA and InfoTrack are on the roadmap rather than absent from it.
Is MatterFirst suitable for a firm of my size?
It is designed for solo practitioners up to firms of roughly twenty seats. Below that, Solo carries the full platform for one user. Above it, the platform works but you should expect to talk to us about migration and rollout rather than signing up online.

Reviewed by Nick Hallam

Co-founder and Operations Director, NorthCape Technology

Aerospace engineer by background, and the one who talks to firms about how they actually run. Reviews the pages that describe how a practice works day to day.

Last reviewed

Ready to take control of your finances?

Book a demo and we will walk through time capture, invoicing and the dashboards against your own rates and matter types.

Book a demo Talk to us