Setting Up Your LeanLaw Account: Onboarding Wizard & Initial Configuration

Welcome to LeanLaw. This guide walks you through every step of your initial account setup — from your first login to a fully configured, team-ready system.

Before You Begin

Have the following ready before starting:

Admin access to LeanLaw
An active QuickBooks Online account (Plus or Advanced recommended)
Billing rates for each attorney or timekeeper at your firm
Email addresses for all team members you plan to invite

📋 Note: To perform firm-level setup steps, you must have access to the Firm Setup section of Settings. If you don't, ask a Firm Manager or Principal to carry out any steps that require access.

Step 1: Choose Your Sign-In Method

When you open your invitation email and log in for the first time, you'll be prompted to choose a sign-in method. This becomes your default going forward — choose the option that matches your firm's email platform.

Sign-In Option	Best For
Google	Firms using Google Workspace (Gmail). Logs in via Single Sign-On (SSO).
Office 365	Firms using Microsoft 365 (Outlook / Exchange). Logs in via SSO.
LeanLaw Password	Firms not using Google or Microsoft. Set a LeanLaw-specific password tied to your email address.

✅ Tip: You only choose your sign-in method once. If you're unsure, ask your IT admin which email platform your firm uses, or use the LeanLaw Password option for a standalone setup.

Step 2: Configure Firm Settings

Navigate to Settings via the gear icon ⚙️ in the top-right corner. For initial setup, focus on these areas:

Firm Setup — Core firm details and billing defaults
Trust Accounting — IOLTA trust account setup (if applicable)

(Optional) Snippets & Short Codes

Snippets and Short Codes let you create pre-made time entry descriptions that your entire team can select when logging time. This reduces manual typing and ensures consistency across the firm. Configure these under Team Settings.

(Optional) Fixed Fee Templates

If your firm uses fixed-fee billing, configure reusable Fixed Fee templates here. These templates are then available when creating new matters, making flat-fee setup fast and repeatable.

(Optional) Expense Templates

For expenses billed back to clients as soft costs — such as mileage, photocopies, or administrative fees — create Expense Templates in Team Settings. They appear in the dropdown when adding an expense to a matter.

⚠️ Important: Soft costs are recorded in LeanLaw. Hard costs (filing fees, expert witnesses, court reporters, etc.) are paid out of pocket and must be recorded in QuickBooks Online instead.

Step 3: Invite & Configure Your Team

Go to Settings → Users to manage everyone with access to your LeanLaw account.

How to Invite a New User

Click the gear icon ⚙️ and open Settings.
Select Users from the left-hand menu.
Click the green Invite User button to open the Invite User form.
Fill out all required fields (see table below).
Click Add User and Send Invite. The new user will receive an email to set up their account.

Field	What It Does
Email	Where the invite is sent; used for login
First / Last Name	Appears on time entries, fees, and expenses
Name / Initials for Invoicing	Displays on client invoices (optional)
Initials for LEDES	Used for LEDES billing format (if applicable)
Invoice Class	Set if your firm uses class tracking in QuickBooks
Distribution Category	Override the firm default if needed
Role	Controls what the user can see and do in LeanLaw
Access to Firm Setup	Grants admin-level Settings access
Include on all matters	Gives access to all matters — recommended for Principals, Operators, Accountants
Standard Rate	Default billing rate — ALWAYS set this. Blank defaults to $0.00

⚠️ Important: If the Standard Rate field is left blank, it defaults to $0.00. This can result in unbillable time entries or missing rates on invoices. Always enter each billable user's rate during setup.

Step 4: Connect QuickBooks Online

LeanLaw integrates directly with QuickBooks Online to sync invoices, expenses, clients, and trust activity. Complete this before creating clients or billing. See Article 2 in this document for the full QBO setup guide.

📋 Quick path: Settings ⚙️ → Integrations → QuickBooks → Connect to QuickBooks.

Step 5: Set Your Personal Homepage

Each user can choose a default tab to land on when they log in — useful if you always navigate to Billing, Reports, or another section first.

Go to Settings → My Info.
Find the Starting Tab option in the center of the page.
Select your preferred starting page.
Click Save Settings in the bottom right.