Free legal invoice generator
Bill time by matter and timekeeper, itemise disbursements, apply a trust credit, and produce an invoice a client can read without calling to ask what it means.
Build your legal invoice
Prefilled with a month of matter work. Replace the matter, timekeepers and rates, then download.
| Description | Qty | Rate | Amount |
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What is a legal invoice?
A legal invoice bills a client for work on a specific matter. It is the most closely read invoice in professional services, because clients scrutinise legal bills line by line and because the profession’s own rules require fees to be reasonable and clearly communicated.
The conventional structure is time-based: each entry names the date, the timekeeper, the task and the time in tenths of an hour, at that timekeeper’s rate. Flat-fee and contingency arrangements exist and are increasingly common, but even then the invoice should reference the engagement letter that set the fee.
Two other elements are standard. Disbursements — filing fees, court reporters, expert fees, records, service of process — advanced by the firm and billed at cost. And where client funds are held in trust, the invoice should show the amount applied and the remaining balance, since that is the client’s money until it is properly earned.
What to include
Everything below is already in the generator above — this is what each part is for.
Matter name and number
The matter this invoice covers, exactly as it appears in your engagement letter and file.
Timekeeper, rate and date
Who did the work, on what date, at what rate. Clients check all three.
Task description and time
What was done, in specific terms, with time in tenths of an hour. Vague entries are the ones written off.
Flat fees where they apply
Fixed-fee stages referenced to the engagement letter, rather than mixed into hourly entries.
Disbursements, itemised
Filing fees, court reporters, records, experts and service costs advanced by the firm, at cost.
Trust application and balance
Funds applied from trust and the remaining balance, plus any replenishment required.
Three steps to a finished PDF
Enter client and matter
Your firm, the client, and the matter name and number in the client block or notes field.
Bill time and disbursements
One line per timekeeper task with hours as the quantity and the rate as their hourly rate, then disbursements at cost.
Apply trust and download
Use the discount field to apply a trust credit, then download the PDF and send it with the trust statement.
Billing practices that avoid write-offs
Write entries a client can understand
“Attention to file” and “review correspondence” are the entries that get challenged and written down. Name the document, the call, the party. Specific entries take ten seconds longer to write and survive review, which makes them the most profitable ten seconds in the practice.
Bill contemporaneously
- Time recorded at the end of the week is time understated — usually by a meaningful margin.
- Record in tenths as you go, and describe the task while you still remember what it involved.
- Send bills monthly; a quarterly bill is a shock, and shocks get negotiated.
Handle trust funds carefully
Client funds held in trust are the client’s until fees are earned and properly billed. Jurisdictional rules govern how retainers are held, when funds may be transferred, and what accounting the client must receive. Show the amount applied and the remaining balance on the invoice, and keep your trust accounting to the standard your jurisdiction requires — this is one area where general practice guidance is no substitute for your own rules.
Consider flat fees where scope allows
Formation, immigration filings, straightforward transactions and defined litigation stages can often be priced as fixed fees, which clients prefer and which removes the entire category of billing disputes. Reference the engagement letter on the invoice and bill the stage on completion.
Three mistakes that delay payment
Block billing
Multiple tasks folded into a single long entry is the first thing a reviewing client challenges.
Disbursements unexplained
A $2,400 “costs” line with no itemisation invites a fee dispute.
Trust position omitted
Clients need to see what was applied and what remains — and in most jurisdictions, so do you.