Centerbase

What Is Centerbase?

Centerbase is a cloud-based legal practice management platform. It includes matter management, timekeeping, billing, accounting, document management, calendaring, payments, and reporting. The platform supports workflows from client intake and case management through invoicing, collections, and financial reporting, giving firms a centralized view of legal and business operations.

What Is Centerbase Best For?

Centerbase is best for automating repetitive legal workflows that would otherwise require manual follow-up. Its Automated Workflows can intake clients, run conflict checks, open or update matters, set appointments, generate documents, route pre-bills for approval, send overdue bill reminders, and trigger client emails based on predefined conditions. This can help reduce administrative work and give staff more time for billable and higher-value tasks.

How Much Does Centerbase Cost?

Disclaimer: Pricing references are based on publicly available third-party information and industry benchmarks. Actual costs may vary.

Centerbase Integrations

Centerbase integrates with the following third-party tools:    

• LawToolBox
• Plaid
• NetDocuments
• QuickBooks Online
• Office365  
• iManage  

How Does Centerbase Work?

Here's how you can access Centerbase and move through a typical workflow:

• Capture prospective client information through an intake form, which creates a Potential New Client record in Centerbase
• Run a firm-wide conflict check across contacts, matters, and notes before opening the case
• Convert the approved client into an active matter and use Automated Workflows to assign tasks, schedule appointments, send emails, and update matter information
• Manage related documents, deadlines, tasks, and client activity from the matter record
• Record billable activity through manual or automated time capture, then move pre-bills through review and approval
• Generate invoices, collect payments, track outstanding balances, and review WIP, AR, profitability, and other firm performance data

Who Is Centerbase For?

The software is designed for midsize law firms and legal professionals managing both casework and firm operations, including:

• Managing partners
• Attorneys
• Firm administrators
• Finance and accounting teams
• Billing professionals
• Legal operations staff

Centerbase Use Cases

Based on our analysis of user feedback and Centerbase features, we have identified key scenarios where the software is a good fit:

Firms Scaling Client Intake Without Adding Manual Steps

A growing intake pipeline can create duplicate data entry between inquiry forms, conflict checks, scheduling, and matter setup. Centerbase carries prospect information into the wider practice management workflow, where teams can run conflict checks, open matters, assign tasks, schedule appointments, and send follow-up communications. This can help firms increase intake volume without adding the same level of administrative work.

Litigation Practices Managing Changing Court Deadlines

Court-driven work often involves deadlines that shift when hearings, filings, or trigger dates change. Centerbase links calendars and matter activity, while its LawToolBox integration can calculate jurisdiction-based deadlines and update related dates when schedules move. This can help litigation practices keep changing court deadlines and dependent dates aligned across active matters.

Finance Teams Handling Trust Funds And Outstanding Balances

Trust-heavy practices need to keep client funds, invoices, and reconciliation activity closely connected. Within Centerbase, finance teams can monitor IOLTA balances, set replenishment thresholds, perform three-way reconciliations, and identify available funds that may be applied to receivables. This gives finance teams a more connected way to manage trust funds alongside outstanding client balances.

Firm Leaders Investigating Performance Without Building Reports

A partner trying to understand why collections slowed or which matters are becoming stale may need more than a static dashboard. Centerbase IQ allows questions to be asked in plain English against live matter, billing, timekeeping, and AR data, returning charts, tables, and links to the underlying records. This can help firm leaders investigate performance questions without creating a separate report for each issue.

Is Centerbase Right For You?

If your mid-sized law firm is looking for a platform that connects practice management, billing, and legal accounting, Centerbase may be a good fit. It is particularly suited to firms that have outgrown entry-level tools but do not need the overhead of an enterprise system. Law firms such as Elias Law Group and Hudson Cook LLP use Centerbase to support their operations.

Centerbase also provides role-, group-, and record-level permissions, change and deletion logs, encrypted backups, and 256-bit AES encryption. The platform has completed a SOC 2 Type II examination, with controls independently audited each year. Its Microsoft 365 integration may also suit firms that already rely heavily on Outlook, Word, and SharePoint.

However, its focus on mid-sized firms and integrated financial operations may provide more functionality than smaller practices with relatively simple matter management and billing needs require.

Still not sure if Centerbase is right for you? Get in touch with us at (661) 384-7070, and our experts can help you make an informed decision.