{"id":10142,"date":"2023-08-11T08:34:27","date_gmt":"2023-08-11T07:34:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clio.com\/uk\/?p=10142"},"modified":"2026-02-27T23:23:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T23:23:16","slug":"billing-procedures-law-firms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marketing.dev.clio.systems\/uk\/blog\/billing-procedures-law-firms\/","title":{"rendered":"Billing Procedures for Law Firms: Clean Up Your Policies"},"content":{"rendered":"

While billing procedures for law firms might not be the most exciting topic, it\u2019s essential. After all, at the end of the day, law firms need to be paid for their work!<\/span><\/p>\n

Not only can efficient billing procedures help lawyers get paid, but they can even help grow a law firm\u2019s business over time. For example, research from Clio\u2019s <\/span>2021 Legal Trends Report<\/span><\/a><\/em> indicated that the most successful firms in the study (those who increased their revenue by 20% or more over a five-year period) were more likely to adopt new technologies, such as <\/span>online billing platforms<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this blog post, we\u2019ll cover best practices for billing procedures for law firms so you can rest assured that you\u2019re covered for everything from invoicing to chargebacks.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

mixture of pen, pounds and statement<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\n

A bird\u2019s eye view of billing procedures for law firms<\/b><\/h2>\n

In many cases, the law firm billing process looks something like this:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The firm brings on a new client and opens a case.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Billable time and disbursement fees and expenses are logged throughout the case.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. At the end of each month (or at the end of the case, if it\u2019s a shorter or contingency case), bills and expenses for each client and case are put into a draft bill.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Solicitors add notes and adjust costs as needed and approve the bill.<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. A final version of the bill is created and sent to clients for payment.<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. Clients pay via whatever payment methods are accepted at the firm.<\/span><\/li>\n
  7. The accounting team sends follow-up reminders regarding late payments.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    While it seems pretty straightforward, there\u2019s plenty of room for bottlenecks and wasted costs. For example, solicitors or partners taking too long to approve bills or adding too many edits can cause a delay in bills getting sent out. Or, the accounting team may have to spend hours upon hours chasing clients for payment.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Managing expenses is a challenge in its own right. From the costs to bring in new clients, to non-reimbursable firm expenses (rent, salaries, technology, association fees, etc.). You need to ensure you have an efficient billing process to ensure cash keeps coming into the firm.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    How can I improve my billing process?<\/h3>\n

    To save your law firm valuable time and money, having a clear, standardised law firm billing policy in place is essential. It gives lawyers and staff something to refer to and keeps everyone in sync.<\/span><\/p>\n

    If you\u2019re writing a policy for the first time, you\u2019ll want to consider:<\/span><\/p>\n