Trust accounting

Client money,
connected to the matter.

MatterFirst includes per-matter trust ledgers, receipts, withdrawals, reconciliation and disbursement records. The trust compliance review workflow covers New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia. Jurisdiction-specific external legal or compliance sign-off is recorded separately; workflow coverage is not regulatory certification.

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Encrypted in transit Documents and AI in Australia No lock-in contracts Guided setup available Your data exportable on request

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What trust accounting does MatterFirst provide?

MatterFirst includes per-matter trust ledgers, receipts, withdrawals, reconciliation and disbursement records. The trust compliance review workflow covers New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia. Jurisdiction-specific external legal or compliance sign-off is recorded separately; workflow coverage is not regulatory certification.

Current jurisdiction review coverage

Review workflow coverage, separate from external sign-off and certification
Jurisdiction Review workflow External sign-off
New South Wales (NSW) Included Recorded separately for your jurisdiction
Victoria (VIC) Included Recorded separately for your jurisdiction
Queensland (QLD) Included Recorded separately for your jurisdiction
Western Australia (WA) Included Recorded separately for your jurisdiction

SA, TAS, ACT and NT are outside the current trust review workflow. Matter jurisdiction options are separate from trust review coverage.

Billing and finance · Included migration and reconciliation · Security architecture

Matter ledger

Keep trust transactions against their matter

Record receipts, withdrawals and disbursements against the relevant trust account and matter.

  • Per-matter ledgers
  • Receipts and withdrawals
  • Matter statements

Capability 1 of 3

The transaction and its matter together.

Reconciliation

Review balances and keep the record

Use the reconciliation workflow and retain the evidence required by your firm's review process.

  • Trust account reconciliation
  • Jurisdiction review checklist
  • Separate external sign-off record

Capability 2 of 3

Reconciliation with a recorded review.

Migration

Agree history and opening balances before go-live

Historical trust transactions can be imported within the agreed migration scope, with a reconciliation report. Reconcile opening balances and records before go-live.

  • Written migration scope
  • Opening-balance reconciliation
  • Agreed responsibilities and retained history

Capability 3 of 3

A planned, reconciled transition.

MatterFirst is an AI-native legal practice management platform for Australian law firms, focused on boutique firms of approximately 1–20 users, built by NorthCape Technology, covering matters, documents, workflows, built-in signing, trust accounting, billing and a client portal, with firm and matter visibility of MatterFirst AI usage charges.

For Australian boutique firms evaluating matter-linked trust ledgers and reconciliation. Match the review jurisdiction and external sign-off to your firm's requirements before go-live.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Which jurisdictions does the trust review workflow cover?
MatterFirst includes per-matter trust ledgers, receipts, withdrawals, reconciliation and disbursement records. The trust compliance review workflow covers New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia. Jurisdiction-specific external legal or compliance sign-off is recorded separately; workflow coverage is not regulatory certification.
Does this mean MatterFirst is certified for trust accounting?
The review workflow and recorded external sign-off are separate from regulatory certification. Your firm must obtain the external legal or compliance sign-off required for its jurisdiction before relying on production compliance claims.
Can we use the review workflow for SA, Tasmania, ACT or NT?
The current review workflow covers NSW, VIC, QLD and WA. Recording matters in all eight Australian jurisdictions does not extend that review coverage. Discuss your jurisdiction and examiner requirements during evaluation.
Can we bring across historical trust transactions?
Historical trust transactions can be imported within the agreed migration scope, with a reconciliation report. Reconcile opening balances and records before go-live.
Is trust accounting accessible through the API?
Trust-accounting endpoints are not exposed through the public REST API. Use the trust ledger and reconciliation workflows in MatterFirst.
Where is my data stored?
The application runs on Fly.io in Sydney, and documents are stored in Amazon Web Services S3 in Sydney. Document extraction and matter questions run on Amazon Web Services Bedrock in Australia, and reading a scanned document runs in Microsoft Azure's Australia East region. These locations describe the application, document storage and document AI services. The trust evidence page at /trust records the scope and dated evidence for each published control.
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, with trust accounting and Xero as first-class capabilities. PEXA and InfoTrack are available through coordinated manual setup with MatterFirst and the provider, rather than self-serve.
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.

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