Migrate from Aderant Expert to Zoho CRM

Aderant Client records represent both organizations and individual contacts. We split them: organization-level records map to Zoho Accounts (firm name, address, billing address), and individual contacts map to Zoho Contacts with AccountId linking. Where a Client is an individual attorney or client without an associated firm, we map to Contact with a placeholder AccountId.

Aderant Matters are the core legal work unit with practice area, responsible attorney, client link, and billing rate. We map them to Zoho Deals and attach a Practice_Area__c custom pick-list field with values drawn from Aderant's matter type. The original Matter ID is stored as an External_Matter_ID__c field for delta-run de-duplication. Matter name becomes Deal Name; responsible attorney email resolves to Zoho user via owner lookup.

Time entries are billable work records with date, hours, rate, and matter link. We map them to Zoho Tasks with Task_Type__c = 'Billable Time', Hours__c (custom number field), Billing_Rate__c (custom currency), and the related Matter's Zoho Deal ID preserved in WhatId. Original Aderant time-entry IDs are stored as Source_Time_Entry_ID__c. Non-billable entries map with Task_Type__c = 'Non-Billable'.

Aderant bill records carry invoice number, total amount, outstanding balance, status, and line items. Zoho CRM has no native invoice object at the CRM tier, so we create a Bills__c custom module mapping Bill_Number__c, Bill_Amount__c, Balance_Due__c, Bill_Status__c (paid/partial/overdue), and Bill_Date__c. Line items map to a Bill_Line_Items__c custom module linked via lookup to Bills__c.

Aderant's trust accounting module tracks client trust accounts with IOLTA designation, balance, and status. Zoho CRM has no native trust accounting engine. We create a Trust_Accounts__c custom module with Trust_Account_Number__c, IOLTA__c (checkbox), Current_Balance__c, Status__c, and a lookup to the Account representing the client. This preserves the trust ledger for reference post-migration.

Aderant enforces client-matters (1:N) — each matter has one responsible client. In Zoho CRM we link the Deal to the Account (the firm/client) via AccountId and optionally to the primary Contact via a custom Contact_Role__c field. N:N associations between multiple clients and one matter in Aderant are surfaced as additional Account-Deal links.

Aderant eBilling validates invoices against client-specific billing guidelines (rate caps, expense rules, narrative requirements). Zoho has no native eBilling engine. We preserve guideline metadata as a multi-select pick-list on the Account record (eBilling_Guidelines__c) and export a guideline matrix CSV as a rebuild reference for Zoho Blueprint workflows or a third-party eBilling integration.

Aderant activities logged against matters map directly to Zoho CRM records. Calls and email logs become Tasks with Type = 'Call' or 'Email'. Meetings become Events with original start/end times and subject. All activities carry the WhatId linking to the related Zoho Deal representing the matter.

Aderant Vendors (associated with matters for expense entries) map 1:1 to Zoho Vendors. Vendor name, contact info, and category map directly. Where a vendor is also a client in Aderant, we flag the record for a Zoho admin to review before creating the vendor.

Any Aderant custom fields defined by the firm (beyond the standard Client, Matter, and Bill fields) are mapped to Zoho custom fields on the corresponding module. Data type is matched: text to text, pick-list to pick-list, currency to currency. Multi-select fields use Zoho's multi-select pick-list type. The field API names are normalized (spaces removed, underscores added) per Zoho's naming convention.