Yao

What Yao does

Yao Technology (legal entity Twenty20 Software Limited) operates a cloud-native legal practice management platform branded as Yao Mind, which unifies matter management, legal accounting, document automation, no-code workflows, compliance management, enquiry pipelines, and a client portal into a single subscription product. The platform is built on AWS with a serverless, API-first architecture delivered through 2-week development sprints, with native integrations including a deep Xero partnership for financial reporting and Microsoft SSO for identity. Compliance is a first-class design constraint, with SRA Accounts Rules, UK SRA Transparency Rules, and Australian Law Society Trust Accounting standards embedded into workflows, AML/KYC checks, conflict monitoring, and reporting rather than treated as add-ons.

Yao sells per-seat SaaS subscriptions at £75/user/month (UK) or A$140/user/month (Australia) on a 36-month contract with a 5-year price guarantee, supplemented by tiered migration services (Small to Large) and Foundation/Advanced/Comprehensive training packages. The go-to-market is direct enterprise sales targeting mid-market UK and Australian law firms of roughly 20-200+ users, with a community-led, practitioner-to-practitioner trust model in which the founders' identity as practising solicitors is the primary credibility asset. The company is 100% independent and founder-owned, with only 7 employees disclosed, offices in Horsham (UK) and Sydney (Australia), and no external funding rounds reported.

Name

Yao

Legal name

Twenty20 Software Limited

Website

https://yaotechnology.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Yao Technology operates Yao Mind, a cloud-native legal practice management platform uniting matter management, legal accounting, workflows, document automation, and compliance for mid-market law firms in the UK and Australia on a per-seat subscription with a 5-year price guarantee.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legal Practice Management Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Business Rules & Decision Management Platforms (BRMS/DMN) (HDAEAKAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Cloud Compliance, Audit & Continuous Controls Monitoring (CCM/GRC) (HDABAHAI)

Keywords

• Legal practice management
• Matter management software
• Trust accounting software
• Law firm compliance
• Document automation

Headquarters

HQ city

Horsham

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. SaaS Subscription - Annual: Per-user subscription model billed annually at £75/user/month (UK) or $140 AUD/user/month (Australia). Includes full platform access, native trust accounting, no-code workflows, standard integrations, and all support. 5-year price guarantee with contractually capped increases at lower of CPI or 5% after year 5.
2. SaaS Subscription - Monthly: Flexible monthly billing at £90/user/month (UK) or $180 AUD/user/month (Australia) with direct debit. Requires 3-month deposit upfront.
3. Migration Services: Data migration from legacy PMS systems with tiered pricing based on firm size, data depth requirements, and complexity. Four service tiers: Small, Standard, Standard Plus, and Large.
4. Training Services: Training packages (Foundation 21 hours, Advanced 31 hours, Comprehensive 41 hours) and floorwalking support (remote or on-site) at day rate for implementation and adoption.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Yao sells a cloud-native legal practice management SaaS platform (Yao Mind) for mid-market law firms in the UK and Australia. The unified platform combines matter management, SRA-compliant legal accounting and trust accounting, no-code intelligent workflows, document automation, a compliance engine (AML/KYC, conflict checks, regulatory reporting), enquiry management, and a client portal. The offering includes native Xero integration and is sold on a per-seat subscription with optional migration and training services.

Product overview

Yao Technology offers a single, fully integrated cloud-native legal practice management platform called Yao Mind, designed specifically for mid-market law firms in the UK and Australia. The platform combines matter management, financial accounting (Legal Accounting/Financial Engine), document automation, no-code workflow engine (Intelligent Workflows), compliance management (Compliance Engine), client engagement (Client Portal, Enquiry Management), and native Xero accounting integration into one unified system. The company also provides associated professional services including Data Migration Services (with tiered options from Small to Large based on data volume), Training & Adoption programmes (Foundation, Advanced, Comprehensive with 21-41 training hours), and built-in support infrastructure. All functionality is included in a single subscription with no feature gating or integration fees.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Yao Mind The primary cloud-native legal practice management SaaS platform for mid-market law firms in the UK and Australia. Provides matter management, billing, trust accounting, CRM, document management, workflows, forms, enquiry management, and native Xero integration in a unified system sold on a per-seat subscription with a 5-year price guarantee.
• Financial Engine (Legal Accounting Module) Compliance-first financial management module built by legal accountants and practising lawyers. Provides SRA-compliant ledgers, automated billing, native client trust accounting, three-way trust reconciliation, microsecond-speed transaction processing, zero-coding workflow configuration for billing and disbursement approval flows, and real-time financial reporting.
• Multi-Entity Accounting for Law Firms Capability that enables law firms operating multiple legal entity structures to maintain separate compliance and financial records within a single Yao instance, while retaining unified platform management and reporting.
• Data Migration Services Professional service transferring complete practice history from legacy practice management systems into Yao Mind, delivered in four phases: Discovery & Scoping, Trial Migration 1 (financials), Trial Migration 2 (full scope), and Go-Live & Hypercare. Four tiered options (Small active matters only; Standard 24-month history; Standard Plus 7-year history; Large complete legacy capture) based on firm size and data depth.
• Training & Adoption Services Train-the-trainer implementation and adoption service with three package tiers: Foundation (21 hours covering core functionality), Advanced (31 hours adding trust accounting and reporting), and Comprehensive (41 hours including Xero integration and advanced BI). Optional floorwalking support (remote or on-site) is charged at a day rate for post go-live adoption.

Quantifiable outcome

• Zero-latency performance: <1 second average response time across all operations
• +4 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• XerocoreTechnology or Integration · 13 March 2026Strategic integration partnership where Yao acts as the specialised Legal Sub-Ledger (Client/Trust Accounting) while Xero serves as the General Ledger for corporate financial mastery. Deep data integration flows every financial transaction with full metadata (fee earner, department, branch, matter references) to Xero, enabling granular P&L reporting, fee earner KPIs, and real-time analytics. The partnership creates a dual-layered financial ecosystem for modern law firms.
• AWS (Amazon Web Services)coreTechnology or IntegrationCloud infrastructure provider powering Yao's cloud-native, serverless architecture. AWS provides enterprise-grade performance, auto-scaling infrastructure, secure offsite backup storage (3x daily), and 99.9% uptime SLA across availability zones.
• MicrosoftsupportingTechnology or IntegrationMicrosoft SSO (Single Sign-On) and Entra security protocols for authentication. 2FA enforced for all staff logins using Microsoft identity platform. Client portal 2FA uses SMS authentication.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• CARET Legal: Cloud legal practice management SaaS for small to mid-size law firms. Comparable to Yao on subscription pricing model, core PMS feature set and target firm size.
• LawVu: Legal matter and contract management platform for in-house legal teams, increasingly expanding into workflow and compliance features. Comparable to Yao on workflow and matter-level capabilities, though primarily serving in-house teams rather than law firms.

Direct peers

• LEAP Legal Software: Legal practice management platform with strong UK and Australia presence, targeting solo and mid-market law firms. Directly comparable to Yao on geographies served, feature scope and mid-market positioning.
• PracticeEvolve: Legal practice management platform for mid-market law firms in the UK and Australia. Comparable to Yao on target market, feature scope (matter management, accounting, workflows) and geographic footprint.
• Clio: Leading cloud-based legal practice management SaaS serving small and mid-market law firms worldwide. Closely comparable to Yao on target customer, subscription model and core feature set (matter management, billing, time tracking, documents).
• MyCase: Cloud legal practice management SaaS for small and mid-market law firms (now part of Clio). Comparable to Yao on subscription model, target customer profile and core PMS capabilities.
• Filevine: Cloud-based legal practice management platform for mid-sized law firms and legal departments. Comparable to Yao on SaaS delivery model, workflow automation and target firm size.
• Smokeball: Australia-headquartered legal practice management SaaS serving UK and Australian mid-market firms with matter management, billing and automation. Comparable to Yao on geographies, feature set and target firm size.

Broad incumbents

• iManage: Document and email management platform serving large law firms and legal departments. Comparable to Yao only at the broad legal-tech-for-law-firms level, not as a direct PMS competitor; relevant for overlap on document automation and matter-centric workflows.
• NetDocuments: Cloud document management platform serving law firms and legal professionals. Comparable to Yao as a legal-tech incumbent overlapping on document automation and security/compliance posture, but not a direct practice management competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/yaotechnology

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Yao