What are your options for card spend in PCLaw?
PCLaw is on-premise software with no public API, so nothing posts into it automatically. That leaves two routes for firm card activity: enter each charge by hand from statements at month end, or import a prepared file. Manual entry from statements is where firms lose money — a court filing fee or expert-witness charge that never gets recorded against its matter becomes an unrecovered client cost. A prepared file works, but only if someone builds it correctly every month.
How does the Vergo-to-PCLaw workflow run?
1. Spend happens on Vergo cards. Attorneys and staff each carry their own card, and every transaction is captured at the point of sale with a receipt prompt — no more statement archaeology.
2. Transactions are coded in Vergo. Each charge is assigned to the right general ledger account, and client costs are flagged to their matters while the context is fresh, with rules automating recurring spend.
3. Vergo generates the export. When your bookkeeper is ready to post, Vergo produces a custom-built CSV matched to the import format PCLaw expects — structured so the file lands cleanly the first time.
4. Your bookkeeper imports into PCLaw. The file comes into the on-premise system for review and posting. Data arrives already categorized, receipt-backed, and matter-aware.
Why does matter coding at the point of spend matter?
Because a month later, nobody remembers which client that courier charge belonged to. Coding at the point of spend means client costs are captured while the attorney still has the context — which is the difference between a recoverable cost and a write-off. The export then carries that coding into PCLaw instead of leaving it for the bookkeeper to reconstruct.
How often should the import run?
The export covers any date range, so it fits your firm's rhythm. Many firms import weekly so matter costs stay current for billing; others fold one import into month-end close. Either way, the bookkeeper's manual work is the import and review — the coding is already done.
What do you need before the first import?
Mirror your PCLaw chart of accounts in Vergo so coding rules assign spend where you actually book it, decide which spend categories should prompt for a matter, and run a short test export so your bookkeeper can confirm the file imports cleanly. After that the routine is fixed: spend, code, export, import, post. Vergo maintains the PCLaw-matched export template, so the format is not something the firm has to babysit.
Can card transactions sync into PCLaw automatically?
No. PCLaw publishes no public API, so there is no direct sync. Transactions come in by file import, and Vergo generates the import-ready CSV.
What file does Vergo produce for PCLaw?
A custom-built CSV matched to the import format PCLaw expects, with each transaction coded to accounts — and matters, where applicable — before export.
Does this help recover client costs?
Yes. Costs are flagged to matters at the point of spend in Vergo, so recoverable charges are recorded before they can slip through as write-offs.
Who runs the import?
Typically the firm's bookkeeper, on whatever schedule fits — weekly for current matter costs, or monthly at close. The import itself takes minutes.
