Source: https://billingmart.com/solutions/legal Legal Matter Billing • Legal # Invoicing for law practices Matter billing, retainers & hard cost disbursements Bill partner, associate, and paralegal time by matter, show the retainer applied on each invoice, and pass hard court costs through at cost. Matter # On Every Invoice Minutes Time Recorded per Entry Net 30 Default Payment Terms Industry Terminology Matter · Scope change · Client Priced for Lines Attorney time · Paralegal time · Flat fee Standard Settlement Net 30 days [Start free with the Legal preset](https://app.billingmart.com/sign-up?industry=legal) [See all features](https://billingmart.com/features) ## Billing, not trust accounting BillingMart can show a retainer amount you recorded as applied to an invoice. It does not hold or reconcile IOLTA or client trust funds. BillingMart is a billing and payment workflow platform. It does not hold or manage client trust funds and is not a substitute for legal practice management, IOLTA/trust accounting, conflict checking, or jurisdiction-specific professional responsibility requirements. It does not decide what is billable. A sample document ## How an invoice looks in the real world An illustrative invoice with Legal line items and terms. The names, amounts and notes on it are made up; the notes are the business’s own wording, not BillingMart’s. How it bills ## The legal billing flow From the estimate to the payment, the steps this kind of work usually follows. Phase 1 Step 01 ### Engagement & Retainer Invoice Send an engagement estimate the client accepts in one click from their portal, then invoice the upfront retainer for the matter. Phase 2 Step 02 ### Billable Hour Tracking & Hard Cost Disbursements Log partner, associate, and paralegal time to the minute, each entry at its own rate. Record hard costs (court filing fees, deposition transcripts) as dollar-for-dollar pass-throughs. Phase 3 Step 03 ### Monthly Matter Invoice Rebill the period’s time and disbursements onto the matter invoice, and record the retainer applied in its own field. Built for this trade ## Purpose-Built for Law Firms, Solo Practitioners & Corporate Counsel Matter-by-matter billing of time, disbursements, and retainers Law firms bill by the matter: hours at different rates for partners, associates, and paralegals, hard costs passed through at cost, and a retainer applied against the bill. BillingMart does not hold client funds. Your trust account and its accounting stay where they are; the invoice records the retainer applied in its own field, so the client sees it on the statement. Time entries carry their own hourly rate, so partners, associates, and paralegals bill at distinct rates, alongside itemized hard cost disbursements. ### What it does for this trade - Matter #, matter name, and billing period fields on every invoice - Partner, associate, and paralegal rates on each time entry - Dollar-for-dollar hard cost disbursement pass-throughs (court fees, stenography) - A retainer-applied field on the invoice; BillingMart holds no trust funds ### Instant Configuration Selecting this industry profile pre-populates all terminology, custom fields, and dunning cadences in your workspace. You retain complete control to edit or expand any setting at any time. The preset ## It already knows the words Pick this trade when you sign up and everything below is pre-filled. Every value is fully customizable in your settings. ### What things are called job Matter change order Scope change client Client invoice Invoice estimate Engagement estimate ### On every invoice - Matter # - Matter - Retainer applied - Billing period First-class structured fields rather than an unstructured notes box, printed on the invoice and its PDF. ### Terms it starts with Payment terms Net 30 days Numbering INV-2026-0001 Deposit 50% up front Reminders day 7, day 21, day 45 after the due date Deposits, progress draws and retainage are part of jobs: included in the trial, then on the plans that list jobs. ### Common Line Item Presets Frequently billed items for legal work. Click-to-add on any invoice to save repetitive typing. - + Attorney time - + Paralegal time - + Flat fee - + Disbursement Questions ## Frequently asked questions about legal invoicing What people ask before they bill this way, answered from what the product does. **Does BillingMart hold client trust funds?** No. BillingMart does not hold, move, or account for trust funds; keep IOLTA accounting in your trust account and accounting system. Invoices record the retainer applied in a dedicated field. **Can invoices show the retainer applied?** Yes. The legal model has a "Retainer applied" field printed on every matter invoice, beside the matter # and billing period. **How are hard court costs and filing fees distinguished from legal fees?** Disbursements (court filing fees, expert witnesses, deposition transcripts) bill as their own lines at cost, and each line carries its own tax treatment. **Can law firms bill by the tenth of an hour (0.1 hr)?** Time is recorded in minutes, so a 6-minute (0.1 hr) entry bills exactly, at the rate set on that entry for the attorney, associate, or paralegal. ## Start billing your firm Start on the free plan, with no credit card required to sign up. Every plan and its monthly send limit are on the pricing page. [Start free](https://app.billingmart.com/sign-up?industry=legal) [Compare all plans](https://billingmart.com/pricing) --- This is the Markdown copy of https://billingmart.com/solutions/legal. Live plans, prices and limits are published as JSON at https://billingmart.com/plans.json and https://billingmart.com/agent-info.json.