When working with LeanLaw and QuickBooks Online, it's important to understand a key distinction that can affect how your financial data syncs and appears: Customer accounts are not the same as liability accounts.
🔍 The Key Difference
Customer accounts in QuickBooks Online represent the people or businesses you invoice. These are the clients who receive your services and to whom you send bills.
Liability accounts, on the other hand, are part of your chart of accounts. They track amounts your firm owes—such as client trust funds, retainers, or unearned income. In LeanLaw, liability accounts are especially critical for properly handling trust transactions.
✅ Customer Account Active ≠ Liability Account Active
Just because a customer account is active in QuickBooks Online doesn't mean the associated liability account is also active—or even correctly mapped.
This is the #1 reason we see errors in:
Trust ledger balances not matching
Funds not appearing as expected in LeanLaw
Issues when trying to allocate or transfer trust funds
The two must be managed separately.
🔄 What You Should Check
If you’re running into problems, here’s what to verify in QuickBooks Online and LeanLaw:
Is your customer listed and active in QuickBooks Online?
Go to Sales > Customers and make sure the client appears and isn’t marked inactive.
Is your liability account correctly configured and active?
Go to Accounting > Chart of Accounts
Look for your Trust Liability or Client Trust Funds account
Make sure it's marked as Active and has the correct account type and detail type.
Is the matter mapped to the correct liability account in LeanLaw?
In LeanLaw, go to the Matters tab
Find the specific matter and open its details
Ensure the Trust Account field is correctly assigned to the right QuickBooks Online liability account
If not, update it to match your firm’s trust account setup
Is LeanLaw properly synced with both QuickBooks Online accounts?
In LeanLaw, go to Settings > QuickBooks Integration
Confirm the correct mapping of your trust liability account
💡 Pro Tip
If your trust transactions aren't syncing or balances look off in LeanLaw, start by checking the liability account in QuickBooks Online—not just the customer record. This one step can save you time and avoid unnecessary troubleshooting.
Need Help?
We’re here to assist! If you’re still not sure where things went wrong, contact LeanLaw support.