Timeslips is a legacy desktop billing application built for general professional services — not Ontario law firms. Atticus is purpose-built for Ontario with LSO By-Law 9 trust accounting, AI, and matter management from day one.
Start Free TrialTimeslips (owned by Sage) is one of the oldest legal and professional billing applications on the market, originally released in the 1980s as a desktop product. It tracks time, generates invoices, and manages accounts receivable for professional services firms including law, accounting, and consulting.
Sage Timeslips Online (the cloud version) modernizes the interface but retains the same billing-centric architecture: there is no trust accounting, no matter management, no document storage, and no AI. The product was built for general professional services billing, not specifically for law firms and certainly not for Ontario's Law Society regulatory requirements.
For Ontario law firms, Timeslips is an incomplete solution — it handles one slice of practice management (billing) while leaving trust accounting, matter management, document analysis, and deadline tracking entirely unaddressed.
| Feature | Timeslips | Atticus |
|---|---|---|
| LSO By-Law 9 Trust Accounting | No — billing/AR only, no trust ledger | Native — receipt, disbursement, reconciliation |
| Matter Management | No — time and billing only | Full matter records with documents and notes |
| AI Document Analysis | No | Every document summarized and entity-extracted |
| Deployment | Legacy desktop + optional cloud (Sage Timeslips Online) | Modern cloud-native, browser-based |
| Canadian Data Residency | No — US servers | Yes — Canadian data residency, PIPEDA compliant |
| Ontario Limitation Period Tracking | No | Automated deadline tracking with overdue alerts |
| Time Tracking | Yes — core billing feature | Yes — built-in with AI chat logging |
| Pricing | $499+ USD/year desktop or $40+ USD/user/month cloud | $149 CAD/month — per lawyer |
| Target Market | General professional services billing | Ontario solo and small law firms exclusively |
Timeslips has no trust accounting at all. Atticus includes LSO By-Law 9 compliant trust receipt, disbursement, and reconciliation natively — no separate software, no integration, no patchwork.
Timeslips only handles time tracking and invoicing. Atticus adds matter management, document storage, AI document analysis, deadline tracking, and client notes — everything a firm needs in one product.
Atticus automatically processes every document you upload — extracting parties, deadlines, dollar amounts, and action items. Ask "What did the Smith retainer say about scope?" and get an instant answer. Timeslips has zero AI capabilities.
Timeslips runs on US servers. Atticus stores all client data in Canadian data centres with PIPEDA-compliant practices — important for Ontario firms handling sensitive client files.
Timeslips charges $499+ USD/year for desktop or $40+ USD/user/month for cloud — costs that scale steeply for multi-lawyer firms. Atticus is $149 CAD/month per lawyer per month regardless of headcount.
Legacy billing software
Complete Ontario practice management
Per lawyer per month
Switch to a platform that includes trust accounting, AI, matter management, and billing — all built for Ontario.
Start Free TrialNo credit card required · $149 CAD/month after trial