CosmoLex Erfahrungen

Practice Management and Accounting in One

Kommentare: One of the biggest things Cosmolex has done for us is allow us to bring out bookkeeping in-house. We went through 3 bookkeeping firms in 2 years and spent huge sums of money for our accountants to undo the mess they made. Our first year end with Cosmolex and in-house bookkeeping was a little rough but that was mostly cleaning up past mistakes.

Vorteile:

The product is generally pretty simple to use. Sometimes you will encounter a quirk that makes you wonder "why did they do it like this?" but once you understand the logic behind it you pick up quickly. The software is updated quite regularly.

Nachteile:

They were purchased by Tabs3 about a year ago and the fact that they are not independent is a little concerning.

Outstanding Practice Management Software

Kommentare: The greatest benefit is the inclusion of accounting functions such that the we can readily prepare the necessary reports for our CPA.

Vorteile:

The software is intuitive and straightforward. All necessary options are readily accessible from a simple menu structure, and the inclusion of detailed accounting functions is truly unparalleled.

Nachteile:

The only difficulty our firm has had has been in discerning how to remove or amend charges to clients once they have been billed and once payment has been received. However, via help and reading on the forums, we now understand this process and it is not difficult.

Time to Switch to a New Service

Kommentare: I regret everyday not simply using Quickbooks and Clio like a lot of other law firms do. We are going to try a demo with a few other products, Abacus and CaseManager, but I really don't think you can go wrong with Quickbooks especially if you want the payroll integrations. We're basically paying twice the price of Clio and other time-management options for accounting software that does not work.

Vorteile:

We liked that it appeared to have a bunch of services wrapped up into one--time-keeping for billing, accounting software similar to Quickbooks with an automatic feed into our accounts, and email archiving/practice management. The time-keeping component works well although you would think it would be easier to do mixed-fee or alternative fee arrangements given that these are the fastest growing in the legal industry.

Nachteile:

The accounting system is a joke. The bank-feed regularly just stops syncing with no notification. We have spent so much time reconciling our books this year as a result of issues that Cosmolex refuses to address claiming its the result of their third-party vendor. We recently needed to transfer a file, and in going to export the emails, we learned that we would need to go into each email, print to PDF, and manually save! When I asked why this wasn't explained in the marketing materials as we would never have used Cosmolex for email storage if we knew that it would require this much work to actually use or access the emails, I was given instructions for how to download the emails from my Outlook account directly. Then why am I paying to use Cosmolex? Lastly, the customer service has been consistently terrible. The chat function used to be helpful--but it appears they outsource it now, and it's no longer a benefit as the users can only refer you to articles. Additionally, we are constantly being told that they will make changes in response to our feedback (and presumably the feedback of others) but the only changes that have been made in the past few years have made the program less helpful. Where were the increased integrations we were promised? Why can't they figure out the syncing with their vendor?

Impressed by Customer Service

Kommentare: Much more intuitive than our previous program.

Vorteile:

I like how easy it is to get help (by phone, email, live chat, or leaving a ticket). I am still in the "learning" phase of using the software, but the customer service team has walked me through each stumbling block and taken time to show me in detail how all the features work. I'm most impressed by how they seem to anticipate my future questions and address those as well as whatever concern I originally contacted them about.

Nachteile:

Nothing yet as far as functionality. Wish the data migration services were more affordable.

Integrated law firm software

Kommentare: This is a great replacement for PCLaw, with none of the installation issues.

Vorteile:

Cloud-based, good interface. The program integrates with OneDrive and other vendors' products

Nachteile:

Client disbursements don't allow for entering an item list - you have to write it out in one paragraph in the comments box.

Save yourself a headache

Kommentare: I regret migrating to this software. not happy with the product, there's a lot of limitations.

Vorteile:

easy to use. but i do not recommend it, there's a lot of limitations.

Nachteile:

-Does not proportionally apply payments to fees, taxes, disbursements which is a serious problem. Cosmolex priorities the taxes and hard cost. So if invoice balance are written off, taxes are overpaid which is not compliant to Canadian tax act and lawyers are underpaid. -The system doesn’t have a report for client introducing lawyer, which is common as most firms pay out referral fees. -Payments for multiple clients is also limited -Users who have timekeeper restrictions are unable to access reports. PC Law is an old system but had this feature. Cosmolex is supposed to be a more sophisticated software. So, 1 person is responsible for generating reports to lawyers. -Having reports downloaded as documents is inefficient. Instead of double-clicking the numbers on the report and the transaction and the transaction opens up, you’ll need to do more steps and find the transaction itself if editing is required. QuickBooks is cloud base and it has this feature.

Overall, I enjoy using Cosmolex.

Kommentare: Superb. I definitely have and will continue to recommend cosmolex to my colleagues.

Vorteile:

On a lighter note, aside from the very important features. I like the soft display interface. It is easy on the eyes, the monthly graph and pie chart is very great for keeping track of income.

Nachteile:

Accounting, but that was an issue with my personal knowledge rather than the software itself. Cosmolex care assisted.

The best legal accounting software I've ever used

Kommentare: Been working with Cosmolex for 2 years now. It is great and easy to use. I wouldn't ever go back to PCLaw.

Vorteile:

It is great and easy to use. It's simple to navigate.

Nachteile:

There is nothing about the software that I don't like.

Best product

Kommentare: CosmoLex has been a great product for Bing Law. Customer service is beyond helpful.

Vorteile:

Bing Law loves this program. User friendly and easy to navigate through. Beyond helpful for accounting.

Nachteile:

Bing Law would like to see more options in the pull down menus for billing matters and for the case matters.

Still new to the software but really happy with it!

Vorteile:

I like how easy it was to integrate into my business. I was using a different software before and it was very easy to make the switch.

Nachteile:

I currently have not come across anything that I wish were different.

2 Years Wasted

Kommentare: Cosmolex ended up being a major disappointment. Too many of the supposedly great features turned out to be practically useless. Clients can only upload one document at a time and then only if the name is 64 or less characters. Clients can only download one document at a time. The API is closed so automation is much more difficult and expensive. Email communications cannot be shared through the portal. The platform whereby custom invoices are created/modified is archaic and difficult to use.

Vorteile:

Document Integration with OneDrive and integrated billing

Nachteile:

The most important components of the software were rendered useless due to lack of most obvious features.

Great for small firms, not so great if scaling up

Kommentare: We've been using CosmoLex for 2+ years so they haven't scared us away...yet.

Vorteile:

Client portal is a terrific feature (when working), the ease of time entries is terrific. Very simplistic interface for invoicing and collecting fees. Integration with LawPay is cool.

Nachteile:

There's lots of bugs and seemingly easy fixes that get overlooked and/or ignored. The portal will shut down unexpectedly and/or clients cannot access multiple matters without additional email addresses. There is no function for recurring billing (i.e., ongoing or payment plan clients). Customer service is a nightmare to deal with and takes weeks to complete simple tasks.

Overall Review of Product- Our THoughts

Kommentare: Pros: One program for almost everything. Cons: No document assembly; you can only link one person to the client portal; glitches in program- the program emailed an invoice to the wrong person; can not email through program; glitch- I had to give access to everyone for everything because the limited access features did not work; customer service is not the best; calandar portion has glitches when it interfaces with gmail and office 365.

Vorteile:

It is a comprehensive software. Its like having Quickbooks and a practice management program in one. This is the best feature.

Nachteile:

Lots of glitches: (a) it emailed an invoice to the wrong person; (b) user restrictions do not work in my office; (c) calendar is not on the main page- usability is difficult for some tasks; (d) you can only have one person assigned to the client portal. Does not have email capabilities Does not have document assembly Does not have automatic assignment of matter numbers. Limited reporting features- you can not tailor reports (financial)- very limited.

It is easy to get around the program

Vorteile:

I like that it is easy to get around the program and many things are self-explanatory. I also appreciate the tutorials that are available.

Nachteile:

1. I sat down with our accountant and went through the chart of accounts - we wanted to erase some of the accounts that we wouldn't be using, but the system prevents it. There are so many similarly named accounts, that I am concerned about how I will make sure I am using the ones that my accountant prefers (as an example, there are at least 3 or 4 options for accounts related to payroll). 2. I don't like that I can't select the option to not allow duplicate checks for our business checking account 3. I don't like that when I click "save and next" when entering checks that the program does not automatically bring up the next check number. I have to hit "save" and then go back in and "add" another transaction in order for that to happen

They are always innovating

Vorteile:

I wanted something that combined both the accounting and matter management in one place. What I like the most is the Customer Support. If I'm having a problem with taking a payment from a client, I can get on the phone and have them resolve the issue without delaying the client. I also like that they constantly ask us what other new functions we'd like to see. They are always innovating, and don't "drop" you once they've got your payment.

Nachteile:

I wish it would remember matter names and auto-populate that when adding a new client--then i'd like to be able to run reports based on the kinds of matters. I'd also like to be able to bulk mail using our clients' mailing addresses. Finally, I'd like to be able to add in court dates to the matters so that when I run reports, I can filter and organize them according to court dates, rather than client name. I like Cosmolex, but it's clearly set up for civil or other slow-moving firms, and not for traffic, which adds up to 10 clients a day and has many matter subject options.

Cosmolex has reduced the time for billing clients...

Kommentare: Cosmolex has reduced the time for billing clients down from 2-3 days to 2-3 hours.

Vorteile:

The ability to add charges on the go is a huge plus for the attorney. He can bill his time while in court.

Nachteile:

Old client invoices, there needs to be a way to unlock invoices to allow payment on outstanding debt. I've contacted customer service and we had a backdoor way of doing it but the newest update to CL has erased that ability. So now old clients who have no active charges are inconvenienced and must come into the office to pay. Would love to see more functions for old accounts!

Love it!

Kommentare: Very well. Customer service is excellent. Very user -friendly.

Vorteile:

We swapped from Abacus to Cosmolex a few years ago and its a MAJOR improvement. I love how it is continuously updated to better the program. It is very user-friendly and I love how customizable it is. I also LOVE the upgrade with the new spell check!

Nachteile:

Nothing right now. We are loving the latest updates!

The accounting is very easy to use which saves time.

Kommentare: It helps all of our staff stay on the same page and everyone knows what is happening in each case.

Vorteile:

I like that the program has both accounting features and has the ability to hold all of our client's information in one. The accounting features are very easy to use. The support videos are very easy to use and if I need to speak to anyone they usually call the very same day.

Nachteile:

I would like the calendar to be able to send emails to all of the attorney's as right now when I calendar an event in one attorney's calendar it will not let me send him/her a reminder unless you put the event on another person's calendar. The point of putting stuff on the calendar is so they see the event and they have reminders

Accounting is more precise and up to date.

Vorteile:

I chose CosmoLex primarily because it is both a client management system and accounting system in one solution. Additionally, CosmoLex pays my monthly LawPay access fee. All of this really helped my small, but growing practice save some money, while getting all the tools I need.

Nachteile:

I had to take down my website credit card payment link, but CosmoLex "prefers," and everything is recorded easier when, you process credit card transactions through their portal. There should be a way for me to accept credit cards on my website, like through native LawPay, or on the app.

2 year Cosmolex User

Kommentare: Having a cloud based system during Covid and into the future allows our firm to be flexible and current. Although pricey, the value is still there and we enjoy using this software.

Vorteile:

Cosmolex integrates the accounting software and features we needed with the management of our law practice. Support takes care of any issues that arise quickly and efficiently.

Nachteile:

Some parts of customization are not intuitive and assistance from customer support is sometimes required. Luckily, customer support is quick and easy to access.

Excellent Law Practice Management App

Kommentare: have been using Cosmolex since its introduction and am very happy with the application. I started using the software just for trust accounting, but found its easy-to-navigate interface so easy to use that I started keeping time and expenses and using the billing function as well. Then Cosmolex added full back-end accounting functionality and I ditched my QuickBooks app altogether. Cosmolex continues to add functionality and compatibility. It's a great app for managing your law practice.

Vorteile:

Easy-to-use interface Accurate trust accounting Broadening functionality Complete integration of functions Growing compatibility with other class-leading applications

Nachteile:

The only thing I am wishing for is the ability to generate documents from the Cosmolex database, but this is coming I am told!

Very great Practice Management software

Kommentare: It has been very easy for me to create a matter, do my billing and invoicing, and the client portal is a nice touch that makes my clients believe that our office is sophisticated.

Vorteile:

I love the instant live support chat function. It helps a lot when i have absolutely no idea how to navigate

Nachteile:

The pricing is very high compared to the Canadian counterparts

Switched from PC Law in December of 2019 and never looked back.

Vorteile:

Integration with other software is key to its value.

Nachteile:

As they roll out new features, I sometimes encounter bugs. They've got a great response time and great customer service though when that happens.

The ideal system for my purposes

Vorteile:

Cosmolex is a web based system that gives me full flexibility of where I work and on what device I access my data. Moreover, the fact that Cosmolex is a fully integrated billing, accounting and trust accounting system makes it the ideal system form my purposes

Nachteile:

I would like to see a more robust program for the migration of all of my prior accounting data - at least for the current C/Y of conversion so that I will have a full. accurate and consistently organized set of reports to submit to may accountant at year end. I would also like the migration to cover all of the detail for all of my Trust Accounts from day one forward to date of conversion to Cosmolex. This will facilitate any and all client or other audits of each Trust Account

Essential

Kommentare: Again, it's essential to my practice, and the built-in accounting is fantastic.

Vorteile:

I was reluctant to subscribe to a practice management solution, but now can't envision getting along without it. It has everything I need from time tracking to accounting right at my fingertips.

Nachteile:

I occasionally run into accounting difficulties in terms of writing off charges or editing past transactions, but I'm not sure that's a drawback of CosmoLex as much as it is my ignorance of accounting best practices.