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Importing Expenses from Equitrac into LeanLaw

How to import cost recovery data from Equitrac into LeanLaw — including exporting your matter list for Equitrac setup, preparing the CSV file, and importing print/copy expenses.

Equitrac is cost-recovery software used by many law firms to track printing, copying, and other document-related expenses at printers and copiers. LeanLaw's Equitrac integration lets you import those tracked costs directly as expenses, eliminating manual re-entry.

📋 Who uses this: This feature is primarily used by firms with physical office equipment connected to an Equitrac system. If your firm doesn't use Equitrac, this article does not apply — use the standard expense creation flow instead.

 

How the Equitrac Integration Works

The integration is a two-way process:

  1. Export your LeanLaw matter list to Equitrac so it knows which matters to track costs against.
  2. Periodically import the Equitrac data back into LeanLaw as expenses, which then appear in your billing queue ready to be invoiced.

The Equitrac Workflow at a Glance

Step

Action

1 — Export matters

Export your LeanLaw matter list to a CSV and load it into Equitrac.

2 — Track costs

Equitrac tracks printing/copying activity and assigns it to matters.

3 — Export from Equitrac

Periodically export expense data from Equitrac as a CSV.

4 — Import to LeanLaw

Import the Equitrac CSV into LeanLaw as billable expenses.

 

Step 1: Export Your Matter List to Equitrac

Before Equitrac can attribute print/copy costs to specific matters, it needs your current matter list from LeanLaw.

  1. Click Expenses in the top navigation to go to the Expenses page.
  2. In the filter panel on the left side, scroll to the bottom and click the Equitrac Import button. This opens the Equitrac Import/Export page.
  3. Click Export Matters. LeanLaw generates and downloads a CSV file containing all your matters and their matter IDs.
  4. Load this CSV file into your Equitrac system so it can assign print/copy jobs to the correct matters.

📋 Note: Re-export your matter list to Equitrac periodically — especially after creating new matters — to keep Equitrac's matter list in sync with LeanLaw.

 

Step 2: Import Equitrac Data into LeanLaw

After your Equitrac system has tracked costs against matters, export the data from Equitrac as an Equitrac-compatible CSV file, then import it into LeanLaw:

  1. Go to the Expenses page and click the Equitrac Import button in the filter panel (bottom left).
  2. On the Equitrac Import page, click Choose File in the left sidebar.
  3. In the file explorer, locate the Equitrac CSV file and click Open to select it.
  4. Click Prepare for Import. LeanLaw uploads the file and validates it for compatibility.
  5. An overview of the data from your CSV file appears on the page. Review it before committing.
  6. If LeanLaw flags any incompatibilities (highlighted in red), edit the CSV file to fix them before proceeding.
  7. When the data looks correct, confirm the import. The costs are created as expenses in LeanLaw and appear in your billing queue.

 

Fixing CSV Compatibility Issues

LeanLaw will flag rows in the CSV that are incompatible — typically due to:

  • Unrecognized matter IDs: The matter ID in the CSV doesn't match any matter in LeanLaw. This happens when new matters were created after the last matter list export. Re-export your matter list and re-run the Equitrac job, or manually correct the matter ID in the CSV.
  • Missing required fields: The CSV is missing a required column (e.g., date, amount, or matter ID). Check the CSV structure against LeanLaw's expected format.
  • Invalid date format: Equitrac and LeanLaw may use different date formats. Ensure dates in the CSV are in the format LeanLaw expects (verify in the product).

💡 Tip: Keep a regular export cadence — weekly or monthly — so Equitrac's matter list stays current and imports go through cleanly without large batches of unmatched matter IDs.