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Nota Review: Trust Account Mangement for Lawyers

Nota, by M&T Bank Logo

Lawyerist Rating for Nota

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Rating Breakdown

Our Rating: 4.7/5

Our rating is based on our subjective judgment. Use our resources—including our rating and community ratings and reviews—to find the best fit for your firm.

4.7/5

Overview
Featured Rating

What is Nota?

Nota, which began as a service for attorney IOLTA/IOLA accounts, has more recently expanded into a full-service, law firm-focused banking solution for M&T Banking customers with a business checking or IOLTA/IOLA account. Nota works exclusively with solos and small firms, for both trust accounts and operating accounts held at M&T Bank. While Nota began by servicing IOLTA/IOLA accounts exclusively, a trust account is no longer required to use it. 

Starting Cost: Gratis with M&T Bank IOLTA account

Pros
  • Price
  • Advanced Trust Accounting
  • 3-way Reconciliation
Cons
  • Lack of Integrations
  • Add-on Product
  • Only for M&T Customers
Overview
Featured Ratings

Nota Review: Trust Account Mangement for Lawyers Features

Customer Experience & Support

/5

Price & Value

/5

Security

/5

Innovation & Future-Proofing

/5

Overview
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Nota Review: Trust Account Mangement for Lawyers Video

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Product Details

Apps
  • Web

Core Features

For Accounting & Bookkeeping, the following are essential features, and you should therefore expect to see a check in every box in this section.

Yes
No

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Basic Bookkeeping

This means simple double-entry bookkeeping.

Connect Bank Accounts

Link your bank accounts for up-to-date transaction information with little or no manual data entry.

Billing/Invoicing

Online Payments

This means the ability to accept credit card or echeck payments within your accounting software, either through its own payment portal or via a third-party integration like PayPal or Square. Most online payments involve a separate processing fee.

Timekeeping

Mileage Tracking

Keep track of miles traveled visiting clients or heading to the courthouse, making it easier to tally for taxes or billing purposes or add to your expense reports.

Bill Payment

Pay your firm's bills without leaving your accounting software.

Statement Reconciliation

Helps with the complex task of balancing your business accounts. Does not necessarily include more advanced reconciliation features like three-way trust account reconciliation.

Payroll

Payroll includes automatically calculating employee taxes, printing checks, and paying by direct deposit.

Tax Preparation

Some accounting software can also be used to prepare taxes for your firm so you can review, approve, and even pay your taxes all in one place.

Reporting

Businesses need reports to help assess key business performance indicators like profit and accounts receivable. Some products have more robust reporting features than others.

Foreign Currencies

Check Printing

Contact Management

Store contacts for invoicing or billing purposes.

User Management

User Management means the software allows your firm to differentiate between persons who have access to the information and adjust their levels of access based on their relevant users statuses.

Split Origination Reporting

This means that the product allows your firm not only to track where a file came from but also to allocate a percentage of the origination to individual users.

Recurring Payments

Some providers will allow you to set up recurring payments for your clients that will be automatically debited based on selections your clients make.

Trust Account Management

This means the product allows you to differentiate between client trust accounts and track them individually. It also means that the product helps you manage your three-way reconciliation.

Additional Details about Nota

M&T Bank staffs Nota with folks trained specifically in the needs of solo and small law firms 

It integrates directly with several legal tech software programs, including Clio, QuickBooks, and LawPay. While integrations provide flexibility, some of the real power comes from not needing them with Nota. Users can write checks directly from the application, and individual client trust account balances are tracked within the system. 

Business checking management features includes: 

  1. Category tagging for transactions; 
  2. Category reporting for transactions; 
  3. Digital check registers; and 
  4. Fee-free outbound wire transfers. 

Trust account management features include: 

  1. Sub-accounts to track per-matter trust activity; 
  2. Check printing services; 
  3. Customizable alerts for transactions and cleared checks; 
  4. Fee-free outbound wire transfers; 
  5. 3-way reconciliation reporting; and 
  6. A 7-year digital paper trail. 

Nota does not have a mobile application, but users can view accounts through the standard M&T Mobile Application. Any changes, transfers, etc. must be made through a web browser on a laptop or desktop. 

Who Nota is For

Specialized bankers familiar with the unique requirements of legal practice, like Nota, would be good for any practice. But attorneys with high volume transactions, like real estate attorneys, will likely benefit the most. Quite simply, this marriage of services saves time on a per-transaction level. The more transactions, the more time (and money) saved. 

Alternatively, those who rely mainly on flat-fees, or who simply don’t have a lot of account transactions, likely won’t see a benefit. 

Not sure where to begin? Download our Field Guide

Take the guesswork out of researching, purchasing, and implementing the right legal tech products and services for your law firm. Our Field Guide answers your essential questions and breaks down the features most important to your business, so you can buy with confidence.

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  • Caroline F. says:
    September 26, 2023 at 11:16 am
    Absolutely love this platform. Thank GOD someone finally made something easy to use when doing IOLTA management! I basically bow down to them every single time I open this site, because I LOATHED my system before. THANK YOU, Nota!!

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