Means Test Mastery
Every lawful path to Chapter 7, checked on every case.
Since BAPCPA took effect in October 2005, the means test has made Chapter 7 harder to understand and harder to file, and clients it stops are pushed into Chapter 13. BKSync reads your clients' pay stubs, bank statements, tax returns and loan statements, fills in the schedules and means test, and searches every lawful route to a Chapter 7 discharge before anyone is steered into a plan.
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24/7 support from a real person · Works alongside your filing software · Attorney review on every petition
Means Test Mastery · Chapter 7 Pathway
The means test is a gatekeeper. BKSync finds the way through.
BAPCPA turned Chapter 7 from a straightforward review into a maze of lookback periods, median-income tables, and IRS standards. Many attorneys stepped away from consumer bankruptcy because of it. BKSync makes the means test the first thing reviewed on every case, not the last.
Since 2005, the means test has stood between your clients and a Chapter 7 discharge. Clients it stops are pushed into Chapter 13 — three to five years of plan payments that are costly, burdensome, and more often than not end without a discharge1. On every case, BKSync checks every lawful route past the gate before your client is pushed into a plan.
59%
of Chapter 13 cases filed from 2008 to 2010 never reached a Chapter 13 discharge.1
73%
of Chapter 13 debtors had incomes below their state median, the group the means test lets into Chapter 7, in a study of filings by Best Case Solutions.2
Most Chapter 13 plans end without a discharge. BKSync checks every case for a lawful path to Chapter 7 before anyone is steered into a plan.
Routes around the test
Flags clients the means test doesn't apply to: mostly business or tax debt, disabled veterans, reservists and National Guard.
Income that shouldn't count
Keeps Social Security and VA disability benefits out of current monthly income, as the Bankruptcy Code requires.
The right filing date
Shows the result for filing this month and each of the next three, so a bonus or overtime month can drop out of the six-month lookback.
Household size
Shows how many more household members would bring income under the state median.
Every deduction claimed
Lists each Form 122A-2 deduction not yet claimed, and exactly how much more it takes to clear the presumption of abuse.
Chapter 13 cases, re-checked
Runs every Chapter 13 case through the Chapter 7 means test, to catch clients who never needed a plan.
Every figure comes from your client's documents and the official U.S. Trustee and IRS tables. Your attorney decides which routes to take.
Passing the means test doesn't end the analysis: a case can still be reviewed under the totality of the circumstances (11 U.S.C. § 707(b)(3)). BKSync flags what the attorney needs to see; the attorney makes the call.
Sources
1ProPublica, analysis of Chapter 13 cases filed 2008–2010: about 41% received a Chapter 13 discharge and about 10% converted to Chapter 7 and received a discharge there. See also an ABI-funded study finding two-thirds of Chapter 13 debtors did not complete their plans.
2Best Case Solutions study of bankruptcy filings, 2005, before the means test took effect. Below-median income doesn't by itself mean a debtor could have filed Chapter 7; many choose Chapter 13 to protect a home or other property.
Free eBook: The 5-Minute Means Test: Avoid Chapter 13. Every lawful path through the means test, with worked examples and a one-page checklist.
Get the free eBookThe problem
Every petition starts with hours of retyping.
Your paralegals copy figures from pay stubs, bank statements and tax returns into the schedules by hand, one line at a time. It's slow, and it's where mistakes creep in.
A transposed digit in monthly income can change the means test result. A missed account can draw a trustee's question at the 341 meeting. Each error costs time to fix, and some put the case at risk.
The work isn't hard. It's just long, repetitive, and unforgiving.
How it works
Documents in. Schedules out.
- 1
Upload client documents.
Scans, PDFs or phone photos of the paperwork your clients already bring in.
- 2
BKSync reads and checks them.
AI extracts every figure, places it in the right schedule, and cross-checks it against the client's other documents. Anything uncertain is flagged for review.
- 3
Review and file.
Your attorney confirms the flagged items, then uses the completed, source-checked schedules alongside your filing software and files as usual.
Accuracy
Faster petitions. Fewer errors.
Speed only matters if the numbers are right. BKSync is designed so fewer mistakes reach the petition, and the ones that could are caught before filing.
No retyping, no typos.
Figures come straight from the source document, so transposed digits and skipped lines don't happen in the first place.
Cross-checked across documents.
Income on pay stubs is compared with deposits on bank statements and figures on tax returns. Mismatches are flagged instead of slipping through.
Uncertain fields go to a person.
When a scan is blurry or a figure is unclear, BKSync doesn't guess. It sends the field to your attorney's review queue.
Every number traces to its source.
Click any figure in the schedules to see the document and line it came from. That makes review fast and gives you an answer ready for any trustee question.
Your attorney stays in control. BKSync does the data entry and the double-checking; your team makes the final call.
Hours back on every case.
Instead of transcribing figures, your paralegals spend their time reviewing flagged items and talking with clients. Time saved will vary by case and document quality.
Keep the software you already use.
BKSync works alongside your existing filing software. No migration, no retraining your whole team on a new platform.
See it on your own cases.
Try BKSync free for 7 days on your real cases, or join Early Access and we'll set it up with your team, on site if you're nearby.
Why not an all-in-one platform?
Automation without the takeover.
Some platforms automate petitions only if you replace all of your firm's software, pay a large onboarding fee, and pay a premium on every petition you file, indefinitely. BKSync takes the opposite approach.
| All-in-one platforms | BKSync | |
|---|---|---|
| Your current software | Replaced | Kept, BKSync works alongside it |
| Onboarding fee | Substantial | No migration project |
| Per-petition cost | A premium on every petition, indefinitely | No per-petition premium |
| Who it's built for | The highest-volume firms | Solos, small and mid-size firms, and high-volume firms |
| Time to start | Weeks of migration and retraining | Upload your first case the same week |
| Support | Ticket queues | 24/7 from a real person |
Get the accuracy and time savings of automation without rebuilding your practice around someone else's software.
Spend your team's time on clients, not data entry.
Start a 7-day free trial today. Free training: the full ESQLTD.com bankruptcy training library (videos, PDF guide, forms) is free for any attorney or staff member — just create a free account. Plus 24/7 support from day one.
Start your 7-day free trialPrefer to talk first? Call (855) 572-5796 or book a demo.