Many South African firms have run their books on AJS for years, and the accounting heritage is real. Firms move when they want public pricing, a workspace the whole team lives in, and a trial instead of a demo. This page is the AttorneyOS side of that move: the exports to ask for, the CSV columns the importer takes, and how the trust ledger crosses over on one reconciled month-end.
This page describes the AttorneyOS side of the move only. Confirm anything about AJS itself, including how to export, with the vendor.
Five reports. Your bookkeeper has produced every one of them before.
Name, type, email, cellphone. Every practice system prints or exports this; ask your provider for a CSV if the screen only prints.
Your reference number, description, practice area and whether the file is open. Closed files can stay behind in the old system as a read-only archive.
The outstanding balance per client on the cutover date. Each becomes an opening fee note in AttorneyOS so statements and reminders continue.
The balance held per client on the cutover date, agreed to the reconciled trust bank balance. Each becomes an opening trust entry against the client's matter.
Court dates and deadlines for the next ninety days. Subscribe the AttorneyOS calendar feed and re-enter what is live; history stays behind.
Two CSV files, matched on the header row. Rename headings in a spreadsheet if yours differ; extra columns are ignored.
name,client_type,email,phone,notes
Mokoena Attorneys,Company,accounts@mokoena.co.za,012 345 6789,Referred by Dube
Thandi Nkosi,Individual,thandi@example.co.za,082 123 4567,matter_number,title,practice_area,status
MOK001,Mokoena v Santam,Litigation,Open
NKO014,Transfer of Erf 5 Monavoni,Conveyancing,OpenNot a file. Each debtor balance is captured as an opening fee note on the client, and each trust balance as an opening trust entry on the client's matter, dated the cutover date. The trust total must equal the reconciled bank balance before anything else is posted.
Open the trial, set up the firm, users and the trust and business bank accounts in Settings. Pick a cutover date at a month-end.
Import clients and matters by CSV. Run the old system as usual. New matters opened this week go into AttorneyOS only.
Reconcile the old system for the last time. Capture the debtors balances as opening fee notes and the trust balances as opening trust entries dated the cutover date. Reconcile AttorneyOS to the same bank balance.
Work in AttorneyOS. Keep the old system read-only for lookups. Bill from AttorneyOS; receipts post here; the trust bank import matches itself.
Nobody has opened the old system in a fortnight. Export a final archive from it, keep the archive for the retention period, and cancel.
Worried about month-end? Show your bookkeeper the bookkeepers page. Worried about the trust audit? See how the trust ledger and audit pack work.
No. It takes CSV exports of clients and matters, and opening balances are captured from your debtors and trust reports. That is deliberate: a reconciled cutover is safer than a database conversion nobody can audit.
No. Closed matters and old fee notes stay in the archive you export from the old system, and the retention rules apply to that archive as before. Open matters, current balances and live diary dates come across.
A clients CSV with name, client type, email, phone and notes, and a matters CSV with matter number, title, practice area and status. Column names are matched on the header row, so rename headings in a spreadsheet if yours differ. The importer is on Practice and above; a solo practice types its clients in a morning.
On a reconciled month-end. The balance per client becomes an opening trust entry against the client's matter, dated the cutover date, and the sum must equal the trust bank balance before you post anything else. Your auditor sees one reconciled cutover, not two half months.
Your bookkeeper or secretary can do the whole thing with the guide above; it is CSV files and opening entries. Firms on Firm / Enterprise get migration support included. Everyone can ask support from inside the workspace.
Your data exports from AttorneyOS as CSV at any time. There is no contract term beyond the month you have paid for.
Free for 7 days, no card, no sales call. If AttorneyOS does not earn the switch, your data exports back out.
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