Choosing practice management software: a buyer’s checklist for RMAs

Define the problem before booking a demo

Write three outcomes the system must improve: for example, give every enquiry an owner, make outstanding document reviews visible, and let another team member cover an absence without reconstructing the matter from email.

Measure the existing problem where possible. How many places hold the record? How much re-entry is required? Which tasks become invisible when someone is away? Use those observations to set requirements; a longer feature list is not a decision method.

A single platform may reduce handovers, while a smaller set of connected tools may fit your practice better. Compare both against the same work. The important question is which arrangement produces a dependable record with manageable administration.

Choose three workflows to test

Give every vendor the same fictional enquiry, documents, and expected results. Ask to operate the system yourself after the demonstration.

1. Enquiry to consultation: record the source, assign an owner, flag a stated deadline, arrange a booking, and find the next action.
2. Matter work: create a matter, request a document, receive and review it, record a call, assign a task, and identify everything outstanding.
3. Absence and exit: let another permitted user take over, remove a departing user’s access, and export the complete matter into a form you can inspect.

Add exceptions. Submit a duplicate enquiry, miss a task, upload a document to the wrong matter, and simulate an integration failing. Establish how staff discover the problem and correct the record. A demonstration of the normal path alone cannot answer those questions.

Set requirements that can pass or fail

Mark a requirement essential when failure would prevent the practice from operating acceptably. Then apply a documented test:

For useful but nonessential features, score 0 for not demonstrated, 1 for partial fit, and 2 for demonstrated fit. Record the reason. Do not let attractive reporting compensate for a failed essential access or export requirement.

Inspect the exported matter

“Your data belongs to you” does not explain how you recover it. Open an export before signing. Check whether notes retain their dates and authors, documents keep usable names, relationships between people and matters survive, and attached files are included rather than represented by broken links.

Ask what happens at cancellation: export charges, notice periods, read-only access, deletion timing, and support. Establish whether you can retrieve records during a dispute or an account lockout.

The Code, section 56(5), requires reasonable steps to keep client files for seven years after the last action for the relevant client. Plan ongoing access accordingly; a subscription ending is not a retention strategy.

Verify the cloud responsibilities

Ask the provider to identify responsibility for backup coverage, restoration, access controls, support access, incident notification, and service continuity. ASD’s cloud responsibility guidance explains why the customer still has work to do.

Check storage locations and where support staff or subcontractors may access information. Australian storage alone does not describe every access path. For practices covered by the Privacy Act, the OAIC’s overseas disclosure guidance helps assess the arrangement. Avoid assuming either that every overseas service is prohibited or that a vendor’s “compliant” label settles your responsibilities.

Confirm the scope of financial features separately. Invoicing, accounting, and handling client money are different functions; a basic invoice screen does not establish suitability for all three.

Price implementation and the exit

Compare the same period, user count, storage, integrations, and support level. Include setup, data cleanup, migration, training time, and the cost of operating two systems during transition.

A fictional first-year estimate illustrates the difference: $180 per month is $2,160 annually. Add $600 setup, $900 migration, and 12 hours of internal training valued at $60 per hour: the first-year estimate becomes $4,380, before any other charges. These are arithmetic examples, not market prices.

Ask which assumptions change with more users or matters. Record the cost of exporting and retaining information after leaving, as well as the cost of joining.

Migrate against a reconciliation plan

Choose a representative sample before a full transfer. Include an active matter, a closed matter, multiple related people, and records with attachments and long notes.

Compare record counts, original files, dates, notes, ownership, permissions, and outstanding tasks. Reconcile active dates separately. Agree who resolves differences and what would stop the migration. Keep a recoverable source copy and identify the system of record at every stage.

Finish the selection with a short decision record: outcomes demonstrated, essential requirements passed, unresolved limitations, total cost assumptions, and the implementation owner. Use the security and recovery guide to check how the chosen arrangement behaves when an account or service fails.