Zola Suite Review: Features, Pricing & Alternatives 2023

Zola Suite has two types of dashboards: default view and admin dashboard. From the default view, you’ll see the most commonly used features, including the calendar and email. Meanwhile, the admin dashboard displays essential metrics about your information, such as income and expense trends for a certain period, open invoices, and overdue receivables.

One thing we like about Zola Suite’s dashboard is that you can customize it based on your preference. You can control what it looks like and what menus or features it shows.

Zola Suite’s dashboard

To customize your dashboard, click the Customize button on your main dashboard, and the Customize Dashboard screen will show up. From here, you can drag a menu on the left-hand section to the window and choose which part of the dashboard it appears in.

Customizing your Zola Suite dashboard

With Zola Suite, you can track how much you work on a matter and client by using the built-in timer or by manually recording your work hours. To start a timer, click on the arrow on the left side of your dashboard to open the collapsible screen. Click the Add New Timer button, select the matter you want to work on, and click the play button. The timer will continue running until you pause it. Click on the checkmark to save or select the X button if you wish to cancel.

Starting a new timer in Zola Suite

When you click Save, Zola Suite will take you to the New Time Entry screen, where you can record the details about your time recording, including work type, rate, and description.

New Time Entry screen in Zola Suite

You can set up multiple timers if needed, enter time entries for various work types, assign rate cards with custom user rates to any matter, and convert activity log entries to time entries. You can also record expenses on each matter, use LEDES billing, and apply custom allocations, so you can assign specific amounts easily to timekeepers and expenses.

There are two ways to create and send invoices in Zola Suite. You can send an invoice straight from your unbilled activities or create a new one from scratch.

To bill clients directly from your unbilled time entries, click on the + sign on the Open Bill screen from the Accounting menu and select the Invoiced Unbilled Activities drop-down. The Unbilled Activities window opens up, showing a list of all your invoices. It’s easy to find the time entry you wish to bill, as there are plenty of filter options to use.

Mark the checkbox next to the time entry you wish to bill, and click Generate Invoice.

Converting time entries into invoices

We are not impressed with Zola Suite’s invoicing feature as it requires several steps to create an invoice from scratch. You need to open and field out several forms in order to complete a new invoice. Other accounting software like QuickBooks Online have a single invoicing window, where you can also provide all the details needed to create an invoice.

Additionally, the invoices are not that customizable. While you can add a logo and change font styles and sizes, you can’t change the color. Below is a sample invoice created in Zola Suite.

Sample invoice in Zola Suite

Zola Suite includes a Smart Account Reconciliation module that allows you to reconcile your trust accounts manually. You can generate a complete record of all your legal accounting transactions, including profit and loss (P&L), asset statements, and liabilities. It has a flexible billing management module that lets you filter unbilled activities using various metrics, select entries individually or bill them in bulk, write trust checks for vendors, bill multiple clients on a single matter, and more.

If you don’t want to miss deadlines and want detailed tracking for a particular matter, the matter management module comes in handy. All matter-related information is stored in a single dashboard that you, your team, and your clients can access.

Using the module, you can create user groups, assign matter-related contacts and roles, set permissions on a matter level, create and review notes and share them with other users or clients, and view critical financial information through the admin dashboard.

We like the module because it allows you to track all your matters easily. You’ll instantly know if there’s a pending project and who among your lawyers is responsible for that matter. Also, there’s a visual chart that shows you progress without checking the list.

Matter management module in Zola Suite

Zola Suite’s built-in CRM tool provides a single platform where you can create and manage tasks, notes, and emails pertinent to your prospects. You can create intake forms to share with your leads, manage lead information submitted through these forms, and convert new lead information into a matter. This is a notable feature, especially for law firms looking for a little help with their marketing needs.

To add a new lead, click on the + button on the Leads window from the CRM menu and complete the required information.

Adding a new lead in Zola Suite

Zola Suite allows you to build and customize client intake forms based on your practice area. Intake forms can be accessed from your Firm settings menu. When creating a new intake form, you need to provide a form name, select a practice area, and customize the fields. Fields can be customized with different elements, like texts, paragraphs, multiple choice, and drop-down.

Creating a client intake form in Zola Suite

This module is useful if you’re working with many contacts, whether they’re prospects, clients, witnesses, or opposing counsel. It lets you store and manage contact information, including name, phone number, and email address. You can add contacts by clicking the + button on the Contact window or by taking a photo of a business card using the mobile app.

Contact management module in Zola Suite

The integrated client portal called Caseway allows you to review and edit documents uploaded by your clients and then assign them to their designed matters. You can also use it to send invoices to your clients and accept payments with Zola Suite’s mobile scanning technology. Your client only needs to take a photo of the credit card they wish to use to pay off their invoice, and then the program automatically records the information from the card and processes the payment.

One of Zola Suite’s biggest strengths is its strong integration with third-party software. These include Google Drive, Gmail, Microsoft Outlook, LawPay, iManage, Microsoft OneDrive, QuickBooks Online, NetDocuments, and LawToolBox.

3.8

On App Store

4

On Google Play

The Zola Suite mobile application lets you manage appointments, contacts, matters, emails, and time entries on the go. It also includes a built-in business card scanner that enables you to snap a photo of a business card and upload it to the program. The app will automatically generate digital information from the uploaded image.

You can run standard or advanced reports depending on your subscription. Zola Suite generates a wide range of reports, including client reports, productivity reports, accounting reports, and trust reports. Accounting reports include P&L statements, balance sheets, vendor payments, general ledger, and trial balance. You can create legal-specific reports, such as billable hours by the user, originating attorney, and split origination.