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Archiving and Closing Matters in LeanLaw

How to archive, close, and reactivate matters in LeanLaw — including what archiving does to billing access, reporting, and QuickBooks data.

When work on a matter is complete, you can archive it to remove it from active views without deleting any historical data. Archived matters preserve all time entries, expenses, invoices, and payments — they are simply hidden from standard billing and time-entry views.

 

What Archiving Does

When a matter is archived...

This happens

Active matter lists

The matter no longer appears in the default matter list or billing queue.

Time entry (new)

Time entries cannot be created against an archived matter.

Invoices (new)

New invoices cannot be generated for an archived matter.

Historical data

All past entries, invoices, and payments are preserved and still visible in reports.

Reports

Archived matters still appear in historical reports when the date range includes their active period and Include Archived is selected.

QuickBooks

The corresponding QuickBooks Online customer/matter record is not affected. Historical synced data remains in QuickBooks Online.

 

💡 Archive vs. Delete: LeanLaw does not permanently delete matters with activity. Archiving is always reversible. If a client returns or a matter re-opens, you can reactivate it at any time — all historical data is intact.

 

How to Archive a Matter

  1. Click Matters in the top navigation.
  2. Find and open the matter you want to archive.
  3. Click on Archive on the Info tab.
  4. Save the matter.

⚠️ Outstanding balance check: Before archiving, verify that all invoices on the matter have been sent and any outstanding balances have been addressed. Archived matters cannot receive new invoices. If a balance remains, record a write-off or final payment before archiving.

 

Viewing Archived Matters

  1. Go to the Matters tab.
  2. Look for the 'Show Archived' filter toggle.
  3. Enable the filter to display archived matters.

 

Reactivating an Archived Matter

  1. Find the archived matter using the Archived filter.
  2. Open the matter.
  3. Click Activate on the Info tab.
  4. The matter returns to all active views and billing queues.

 

Archiving Clients

Clients with all matters archived can also be archived to remove them from the active client list. Client archiving follows the same principles: historical data is preserved, and clients can be reactivated.

  1. Go to the Clients tab.
  2. Open the client record.
  3. Archive each Matter.
  4. The Client will Automatically be archived.

📋 Note: A client cannot be archived if they have active (non-archived) matters. Archive all associated matters first.