Legal Expense Tracking Tool
Track time and external costs against a matter budget, with local saving and expense, budget and hours schedules.
Your matter worksheet
Example: 10%. Use your records’ rate; each row has its own tax basis.
Add or edit a cost entry
Entries stay in this tab until you choose Save on this device. Saved entries are available to other users of this browser. This worksheet does not connect to billing or accounting systems.
3 entries. All recorded rows contribute to the matter totals.
| Date / description | Category / time | Incurred | Invoiced | Paid | Unpaid | Edit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UndatedDocument review example | Professional time2 units × 60 minutes at $300.00/hour | $660.00 | Yes | $300.00 | $360.00 | |
| UndatedExternal report example | Disbursementinclusive | $220.00 | Yes | $100.00 | $120.00 | |
| UndatedTravel example | Other expensenone | $100.00 | No | $0.00 | $100.00 |
| Category | Incurred including tax |
|---|---|
| Professional time | $660 |
| Disbursements | $220 |
| Other expenses | $100 |
Saving is optional. Download a copy before clearing browser data or changing devices.
Record Time and Disbursements
Professional time is the number of hours multiplied by the entered hourly rate. Five six-minute units are half an hour. Keep fees paid to external providers as disbursements and other matter costs as expenses.
Choose the tax basis for each row. Tax-exclusive entries add the entered rate. Tax-inclusive entries split the entered total into net cost and tax. Rows marked No tax applied retain their entered amount.
The worksheet rounds each row to cents before adding totals. At the example’s 10% rate, two hours at $300 tax exclusive cost $660. A $220 tax-inclusive disbursement contains $200 net and $20 tax.
Compare the Budget With Actual Costs
Incurred costs include all entered rows. Invoiced costs include only rows marked invoiced. Paid amounts record payments applied to each entry and can include partial payments.
The example has $660 in time, $220 in disbursements and a $100 expense with no tax applied. Costs incurred are $980, of which $880 is invoiced. Recorded payments of $400 leave $580 unpaid.
Against a $2,000 tax-inclusive budget, the remaining allowance is $1,020. A negative allowance means recorded costs exceed the budget. The calculation makes no prediction about future legal work.
A payment reduces unpaid costs without reducing costs incurred. For a credit, enter a negative cost and a negative paid amount only when a refund has occurred.
Save and Export the Matter Schedule
Save on this device stores the current worksheet in this browser. Saving replaces its previous saved copy. Load saved worksheet restores that copy. Delete saved worksheet removes the saved copy while keeping the open entries.
The matter CSV includes client and matter labels, the budget and tax rate, entry dates, descriptions, original amounts, units and rates. Each row also has its tax basis, net cost, tax, invoiced flag and paid and unpaid amounts. Download expenses CSV limits the schedule to disbursements and other expenses. The budget CSV shows the overall allowance beside incurred costs and the remaining budget.
This is a manual billable-hours tracker. You update entries and payment records manually. Billing accounts and payment collection remain in your existing systems.
For the estimate and disclosure context behind a family matter’s costs, read family law costs.
Track Billable Hours and Export the Hours Schedule
The billable-hours chart groups recorded time by date. Credits reduce that date’s net hours. Undated entries stay in a separate group. Download the chart as an SVG image or its data for a spreadsheet.
Undated: 2 hours
Download hours schedule CSV contains each time entry with the client, matter, date, units, minutes per unit and hourly rate. It also includes hours, the tax basis and the incurred, paid and unpaid amounts. The hours chart CSV groups net hours by date.
Use the Legal Billing Template when you need an editable draft client bill from approved time, fees and disbursements.