Costs Agreement Template for Victoria

Prepare an editable Victorian retainer draft, estimate schedule and separate disclosure checklist from your matter particulars.

Prepare the retainer draft

Client and scope

Client name and capacity

Law practice details

Matter description

Included work

Excluded work

Fees and external expenses

Charging basis

HourlyFixed fee

Hourly rate

Estimated hours

GST on professional fees

Add 10%No GST

External expense description

External expenses

Before GST. Enter zero if none are anticipated.

GST on external expenses

Enter the supplier’s estimated GST amount.

Estimate assumptions

Billing and retainer terms

Billing terms

Payment terms

Retainer terms

Your draft

3 terms require completion or review.

Editable agreement draft

VICTORIAN COSTS AGREEMENT PREPARATION DRAFT
For practitioner completion before issue

1. Parties and matter
Client: Alex Taylor (example client)
Law practice: Example Legal Pty Ltd
Matter: Example commercial dispute: disputed account transfers

2. Retainer scope
Included work: Review twelve months of supplied bank statements, obtain instructions and advise on the disputed transfers.
Excluded work: Court proceedings, counsel, expert testimony and additional statement periods.
Additional work requires further instructions and review of the scope and costs disclosure.

3. Charging basis
Hourly rate: $450.00 excluding GST. Estimated work: 8 hours. This estimate is not a fixed fee. Billing increments and personnel rates: Completion required.
GST on professional fees: 10% added.

4. External expenses
External financial-analysis work: example allowance, subject to a written scope and quote
The estimated allowances appear in the separate estimate schedule. Obtain the necessary client authority before incurring external expenses.

5. Billing and payment
Billing: Monthly itemised billing
Payment: Payment within 14 days of a valid bill
The client agrees to pay the professional fees for the included work on the charging basis above, together with authorised external expenses and applicable GST, subject to the client’s statutory rights.

6. Client rights
The client can negotiate this agreement and the billing method, receive a bill and request an itemised bill. The client can seek assistance from the Victorian Legal Services Commissioner with a costs dispute. This draft does not exclude any statutory right to costs assessment.

7. Changes and acceptance
If the scope, assumptions or estimated costs change significantly, give the required updated written disclosure and explain the changed course of action and costs.
Client acceptance record: Completion required. Record the actual acceptance method and date. Conditional agreements require the client’s signature.
Practitioner review and issue date: Completion required.

UNRESOLVED TERMS
Billing increments and personnel rates
Client acceptance record
Practitioner review and issue date

Changing particulars replaces manual edits. Download edits first.

Preparation draft. Complete unresolved terms and practitioner review before issue.

Separate disclosure checklist

Editable disclosure checklist

DISCLOSURE CHECKLIST - SEPARATE FROM THE AGREEMENT
Matter: Example commercial dispute: disputed account transfers
Client: Alex Taylor (example client)

Amount-based starting point: Full disclosure required. Amount tests exclude GST and disbursements. Assess the actual expected total professional fees, including additional providers’ legal work where relevant.
Assess commercial or government client exemption: Completion required. Assess the statutory client category. A commercial dispute or company name alone does not establish an exemption.

Before issue, record completion of each applicable check.
1. Provide the required written disclosure when or as soon as practicable after instructions are initially given. Use the standard form only where its conditions apply. This checklist is not the disclosure statement.
2. Disclose the basis of charging and a genuine estimate of total costs, including disbursements and GST. Explain the assumptions, major cost drivers and any staged estimate.
3. Explain the rights to negotiate the agreement and billing method, receive a bill, request an itemised bill and seek the Commissioner’s assistance with a dispute.
4. Take reasonable steps to confirm the client understands and consents to the proposed work and costs. Keep that communication record.
5. Review third-party payers, another law practice’s costs, likely adverse costs and settlement disclosure where applicable. Review applicable scales and fair, reasonable and proportionate charges.
6. Record who will monitor changes. Further statement production, added periods or revised analysis scope requires a fresh estimate review and the required updated disclosure.
7. Ordinary retainer selected. Review the complete agreement before issue.

Client acknowledgment record: Completion required. Record what was explained, questions answered and the client’s actual instructions. A populated draft does not record consent.
Disclosure supplied by / date / method: Completion required.
Practitioner review / date: Completion required.

ESTIMATE AND DISBURSEMENT SCHEDULE
Professional fees excluding GST: $3,600
GST on professional fees: $360
External expenses excluding GST: $1,200
GST on external expenses: $120
Estimated total including GST: $5,280
External expense description: External financial-analysis work: example allowance, subject to a written scope and quote
Estimate assumptions: One complete statement set, one client conference and no further statement production. External allowance is illustrative, not a provider quote.
Figures are estimates rounded to whole dollars. Confirm each supplier’s GST treatment and the completed total before disclosure.

UNRESOLVED TERMS
Billing increments and personnel rates
Client acceptance record
Practitioner review and issue date

Changing particulars replaces manual edits. This is not the disclosure statement.

Estimate schedule and unresolved terms

Estimate and disbursement schedule

ESTIMATE AND DISBURSEMENT SCHEDULE
Professional fees excluding GST: $3,600
GST on professional fees: $360
External expenses excluding GST: $1,200
GST on external expenses: $120
Estimated total including GST: $5,280
External expense description: External financial-analysis work: example allowance, subject to a written scope and quote
Estimate assumptions: One complete statement set, one client conference and no further statement production. External allowance is illustrative, not a provider quote.
Figures are estimates rounded to whole dollars. Confirm each supplier’s GST treatment and the completed total before disclosure.

Unresolved terms

Billing increments and personnel rates
Client acceptance record
Practitioner review and issue date

Your particulars stay in this tab. Download your work before leaving. Reloading clears changes.

Enter Scope and Charging Terms

Enter the client’s capacity, practice contact details and the actual work covered by the retainer. State excluded stages and external work separately.

The fictional example estimates eight hours at $450 before GST, plus $1,200 in external expenses and $480 in total GST. It shows $5,280 overall.

The external allowance is illustrative. Replace it with the quoted scope, amount and GST treatment for the matter. Fixed fees cover only the included work.

Blank particulars remain marked “Completion required”. Invalid numbers replace the draft with “Unavailable” and disable exports until corrected.

Keep Agreement and Disclosure Separate

The agreement records the proposed retainer terms. The separate checklist records disclosure tasks and leaves the client acknowledgment for you to complete.

The amount-based disclosure route uses professional fees before GST and disbursements. At $750 or less, amount alone does not require disclosure. Above $750 through $3,000, the standard short form is available. Above $3,000, full disclosure is required.

A client exemption needs its own assessment. A commercial dispute does not establish that its client meets the statutory commercial-client definition.

Conditional and special retainers leave the payment obligation for practitioner-selected clauses. The tool supplies no success condition, uplift fee or compliant conditional agreement.

Use the Victorian regulator’s disclosure guidance and costs-agreement guidance beside the applicable Uniform Law provisions. The solicitor’s costs-agreement guide explains the duties beyond this draft builder.

Review and Export the Matter Draft

Edit the agreement and checklist independently. Download each edited output before changing particulars, which regenerates both documents. The estimate schedule downloads separately.

Complete the missing terms and review the full retainer before issue. A generated draft does not establish client understanding, acceptance or compliance.

Additional statement production, more accounts or a wider analysis period can change external expenses and legal work. Review the estimate and provide the required updated disclosure.

Retain the completed disclosure, the explanation given to the client and the actual acceptance record with the matter file.

FinTrace

FinTrace is an AI-assisted forensic bank-statement analysis service for legal teams, delivering a structured ledger and source-linked findings.