FilePro has been part of Australian legal practices for more than 30 years. For plenty of firms, it isn't just another piece of software. It sits underneath matters, documents, time recording, workflows and accounting, often with processes that have been built up over many years.
So changing from FilePro isn't exactly the same as changing your email provider. Actionstep acquired FilePro in 2023, and several legal technology advisers have reported that FilePro customers have been advised of an end-of-life date of 31 December 2026. If your firm has received that notice, you now have a fairly important decision to make.
The temptation is to look for the closest possible replacement and recreate what you already have somewhere else. We wouldn't approach it that way. Changing practice management systems is painful enough that you probably don't want to do it twice, so this is a chance to look at how your firm actually works today, where administration is chewing up time, which processes are unnecessarily manual and what you want your technology stack to look like five or ten years from now.
For many small and mid-sized Australian law firms, Smokeball should be high on that shortlist. It combines matter management, document automation, billing, trust accounting, automatic time tracking, reporting and embedded legal AI in one platform, while still working closely with the Microsoft Word and Outlook environment most law firms live in every day.
“In running a business, you want to be using one core piece of software, and Smokeball is a one-stop shop.”
— Sach Fernando, Principal Lawyer, Maxiom Injury Lawyers
What is the best FilePro alternative in Australia?
There isn't one answer for every firm. The right FilePro alternative depends on how your team works, how much configuration you want to manage, and how well the platform fits with your existing technology stack.
For firms looking for an all-in-one legal practice management platform with document automation, automatic time tracking, Australian-based support and legal AI built into the matter, Smokeball is a strong alternative to FilePro.
A key advantage is that Smokeball comes with practice-area workflows and automation already built in, helping firms get up and running faster without needing to heavily configure and maintain the system themselves.
Smokeball also has a broad ecosystem of integrations across accounting, telephony, e-conveyancing, AI and specialist legal tools, with partners including Xero, MYOB and InfoTrack, as well as AI and automation tools such as AI Legal Assistant and Habeas. Firms can also use Smokeball’s API for more customised connections.
Look at the way the whole system fits your firm rather than simply counting which product has the longest feature list.
FilePro vs Actionstep vs Smokeball
The following comparison reflects publicly available product information and reviews as of September 2026.
Why FilePro firms should consider Smokeball
1. Get award-winning Australian-based support and service.
The biggest concern for most FilePro firms will not be the software demonstration. It will be the migration support and service.
Smokeball provides data migration options for firms moving from another practice management platform. The appropriate migration approach depends on the source system, the types of data involved and the complexity of the firm’s records. Smokeball also offers free and unlimited live training, guided resources and access to its training platform, with local support available to Australian customers.
That local support is also independently recognised. In 2024, Smokeball won Customer Service Team of the Year (Medium) and Customer Service Project of the Year at the CSIA Australian Service Excellence Awards.
Before signing an agreement, a FilePro firm should obtain a clear migration scope that identifies exactly what will be transferred. That scope should address contacts, active and closed matters, documents, templates, time entries, invoices, trust records, matter balances and historical reporting requirements.
“Data migration included” is not specific enough. The firm should understand what will be migrated, what will be archived, how the data will be validated and who is responsible for signing off on the result.
Additionally, if FilePro firms decide to transition to Actionstep, they should be ask the Actionstep salesperson if their customer support is based in Australia and the quality of their team.
2. Stop relying entirely on lawyers to remember their time
Manual time recording has an obvious weakness because it relies on humans remembering everything they have done. Even lawyers who are disciplined about entering time can forget the five-minute phone call, the email answered between meetings or the document quickly reviewed at the end of the day.
Smokeball's AutoTime is designed to capture that activity automatically while someone works across Smokeball, Microsoft Word and Outlook, then associate it with the appropriate matter. For firms billing hourly, the benefit is fairly obvious because more complete time records can mean more billable work actually reaches an invoice.
The less obvious benefit is for fixed-fee firms. You might know that you charged $3,000 for a matter, but that doesn't necessarily mean you know whether your team spent three hours or thirteen hours completing it. Capturing activity automatically gives principals a much better view of what different types of matters actually cost the firm to deliver.
3. Legal AI is more useful when it already understands the matter
There is no shortage of AI tools promising to make lawyers more productive. The frustrating part is often everything that happens around the AI. You find the document, upload it, explain the matter, ask the question, check the answer and then copy the useful part back into whichever system you were working in.
Archie AI is built into Smokeball and can work with information already stored in a matter. Lawyers can use it to summarise documents and matters, draft correspondence, review material, identify inconsistencies and answer questions using matter context. Archie also works inside Microsoft Word and Outlook, which means lawyers can use it in the applications where much of their day already happens.
Archie also gives users more control over how they use legal AI by allowing them to choose the model that best suits the task. A faster model may be appropriate for drafting a quick client email, while a more advanced reasoning model can be used for complex work such as reviewing multiple documents or analysing detailed matter information. This gives lawyers the flexibility to match the AI capability to the type of work they are doing, rather than relying on a single model for every task.
That difference matters. The useful question for firms replacing FilePro isn't simply, “Does this software have AI?” Almost every legal technology vendor will eventually be able to answer yes to that. A better question is whether the AI can actually work where your lawyers already work, using the information they already have, while giving them the flexibility to choose the right AI capability for the job.
As Loukas Law's Maria Loukas put it: “When Archie is there, it's like having a companion or assistant at your fingertips.”
For a firm choosing its next practice management platform, AI should be treated as part of the workflow rather than another tab to keep open.
4. Your matter should be the centre of the work
One thing FilePro got right was the idea that legal work should revolve around the matter, and that principle still makes sense. What has changed is the sheer number of places lawyers now work. Documents are in Word, emails are in Outlook, PDFs are everywhere, tasks can live in people's heads and client communications arrive through multiple channels.
Smokeball pulls those activities back around the matter. Documents created or edited in Word, Excel and Adobe can be stored against the matter, while users can search document contents, including scanned PDFs and images using OCR, view version history and restore earlier versions.
Emails and attachments can also be filed from Outlook. Users can create tasks from emails, while Archie can help summarise threads or prepare matter-aware responses. None of those features sound revolutionary on their own, but the benefit comes from not having to wonder where something went.
5. Look beyond matter management
A modern practice management system shouldn't only start being useful after you've opened a matter. Depending on the plan selected, Smokeball can help firms manage the client journey from the initial enquiry through to payment, including lead management, intake forms, matter creation, client communication, document management, tasks, billing, trust accounting and online payments.
For FilePro firms currently surrounding their practice management software with several separate systems, switching platforms can therefore become an opportunity to simplify the broader technology stack. That doesn't mean replacing every piece of software for the sake of it. It simply means taking the opportunity to ask whether you still need all of it.
6. Understand the accounting difference before you move
When moving from FilePro, it is worth looking closely at how your accounting workflow will work in the new system.
Smokeball manages legal billing and trust accounting within the platform, while integrating with Xero and MYOB for general accounting. This allows firms to keep legal and financial workflows connected while using dedicated accounting tools for broader business finances, helping reduce duplicate data entry between systems.
For firms already using Xero or MYOB, this can make Smokeball easier to fit into their existing technology stack rather than requiring them to replace the accounting tools their finance team already knows.
7. Find out which work actually makes money
Most law firms know how much they bill, but fewer know exactly how much time their team spends producing that revenue. That becomes especially important with fixed-fee work because a matter can look profitable from the invoice alone while telling a very different story once you factor in the hours spent completing it.
Smokeball's Firm Insights combines billing information with activity captured through AutoTime, helping principals compare matters, practice areas and fee earners and better understand team capacity.
A matter type that looks profitable based on revenue alone might look very different once you realise how many hours the team is spending on it. That information can help inform pricing, hiring, resourcing and even which types of matters the firm wants more of.
Who is Smokeball best suited to?
Smokeball is particularly worth considering for Australian law firms that want Australian-based onboarding and customer support, use Microsoft Word and Outlook heavily, want to reduce reliance on manual time recording and are interested in legal AI that sits inside their practice management workflow.
It is also a strong option for firms that need integrated billing and trust accounting, want better document and email automation, need greater visibility into matter profitability or are trying to consolidate some of the software sitting around their existing practice management system. Firms should, however, be comfortable using Xero or MYOB for general accounting rather than having the general ledger built directly into the legal practice management platform.
Smokeball supports sole practitioners through to mid-sized firms, with different plans depending on the level of practice management, automation and reporting required. If your firm wants an extremely configurable system with complex workflows and built-in general accounting, Actionstep should also be part of the evaluation.
The point isn't to choose whichever product has the longest feature list. Choose the system that fits the way your firm wants to operate and that your lawyers will actually use.
Frequently asked questions
Is FilePro being discontinued?
Several legal technology and migration advisers report that FilePro customers have been advised of an end-of-life date of 31 December 2026. Actionstep publicly confirmed its acquisition of FilePro in 2023, but FilePro customers should check their own communications from FilePro or Actionstep to confirm the exact timeline and arrangements applying to their firm.
What is the best FilePro alternative in Australia?
For small and mid-sized Australian law firms, Smokeball is one of the strongest FilePro alternatives if the priorities are Australian-based support and onboarding, document automation, automatic time tracking, embedded legal AI, billing, trust accounting and practice profitability reporting.
Actionstep is another major alternative and may be better suited to firms prioritising highly configurable workflows and built-in general accounting.
Have FilePro customers moved to Smokeball?
Yes. FilePro customers have moved to Smokeball, including Loukas Law. Their experience is particularly useful for firms trying to understand what moving from a long-standing practice management system looks like in the real world.
Read the Loukas Law case study to see how Smokeball support their law firm growth.
Can Smokeball migrate data from FilePro?
Smokeball provides data migration options for firms moving from other practice management systems. The exact scope will depend on the data in your existing FilePro environment, so firms should request a written migration assessment covering contacts, matters, documents, financial information, trust information and historical records.
Does Smokeball have Australian-based customer support?
Yes, Smokeball has an award-winning Australian customer support team, as well as an Australian-based team supporting onboarding and implementation.
Read more about Smokeball's CSIA Customer Service Team of the Year award.
For firms moving away from a system they may have used for many years, it is worth comparing not only the software itself but also who will help your firm through the migration and who you will be dealing with once the system is live.
Is Smokeball Australian owned?
Yes. Smokeball is Australian owned.
For some firms this won't affect the decision, but others may place value on buying from a legal technology company with Australian roots, local staff and a long history of developing specifically for Australian law firms.
Does Smokeball include trust accounting?
Yes. Smokeball includes legal trust accounting, matter-level trust balances, reconciliation workflows and trust reporting for Australian law firms. General accounting is handled through integrations with Xero or MYOB.
Does Smokeball automatically track time?
Smokeball's AutoTime records activity completed in Smokeball, Microsoft Word and Outlook and associates it with the appropriate matter. This can help firms capture work that might otherwise be missed through manual time recording and better understand the true amount of time being spent on fixed-fee matters.
Does Smokeball have built-in legal AI?
Yes. Archie AI is built into Smokeball and can use matter context to help lawyers draft, summarise, review and answer questions. Archie also works inside Microsoft Word and Outlook.
Is Actionstep the automatic replacement for FilePro?
No. Actionstep's ownership of FilePro makes it an obvious platform to evaluate, but ownership doesn't mean it will automatically be the best fit for every FilePro customer.
Firms should independently compare migration, workflows, document management, accounting, local support, onboarding, automation, AI, usability, pricing and contract terms before deciding.
Don't just replace FilePro. Use the opportunity to rethink how your firm works.
Changing legal practice management software is disruptive, particularly if the existing system has been part of the firm for ten, fifteen or even twenty years. But firms don't change their core software very often, which makes this one of the few opportunities you get to question processes that may have remained unchanged for a long time.
Instead of only asking whether your next platform can recreate FilePro, look at whether it can remove some of the manual work your firm has become accustomed to. Can your lawyers find information faster, capture more of the work they already do and automate repetitive administration? Can your principals better understand which matters are profitable? Can the firm give clients a better experience without adding another three pieces of software?
For Australian firms that want automatic time tracking, embedded legal AI, matter-based document and email management, billing, trust accounting and Australian-based onboarding and customer support, Smokeball deserves to be high on the shortlist.
See how your FilePro matters, documents, workflows and financial records could work in Smokeball. Book a personalised demonstration and migration assessment.
