Law firm invoicing software
You worked the hours and some of them never reached a bill, because the short calls between the visible work are the ones nobody writes down. Smarfle turns time logged against the matter into invoice lines and keeps court fees as disbursements, so your fee is not quietly absorbing costs.
7 days free · No credit card · Built in Florida
Invoice
INV-00142
Issued recently
Bill to
Sarah Johnson
123 Oak Street, Orlando FL 32801
Labor. 2.5 hours @ $95/hr
Parts. Replacement components
Service call · diagnostic
Real Smarfle UI · Live data from your law firm CRM
Why generic invoicing software fails law firm owners
Generic invoicing tools weren’t built for law firm. Smarfle was.
Generic invoicing software
What everyone else gives you
- Billable hours across several matters are under-recorded
- Disbursements and court fees are folded into your own service line
- Money taken up front is tracked in a spreadsheet beside the documents
Smarfle for law firm
Built for your actual workflow
- Each attorney clocks to the matter and the month gathers at their rate
- Filing fees appear as their own pass-through lines, apart from labor
- A deposit taken on the signed quote is credited against the final bill
How law firm invoicing works in Smarfle
From the first touch to the closed loop. No missing pieces.
- 1
Time captured on the matter
Calls, drafting and court time are logged to the matter on the day, because the half hours reconstructed at month end are the ones that never get billed.
- 2
Disbursements recorded when they are incurred
Filing fees, courier and expert costs attach to the matter as they arise, so they are not absorbed into your fee by the time anyone looks.
- 3
Pre-bill assembled for review
Time entries become invoice lines for the responsible lawyer to read, adjust or write down before the client sees anything.
- 4
Fees and disbursements shown separately
The client can see what they paid you and what you paid on their behalf, which is the distinction that prevents most billing queries.
- 5
Invoice sent with a payment link
The document goes out by email with a way to pay attached, so settlement does not depend on the client initiating a transfer.
- 6
Balance and history stay on the matter
Every invoice and payment sits against the matter, so answering where a file stands financially takes a look rather than an afternoon.
Where law firm invoicing breaks down
The friction every law firm owner recognizes.
Half hours never reach a bill
A call taken between meetings, a document reviewed at the end of a day. Reconstructed at month end they are either written down or written off, and both of those cost the firm real money.
Disbursements quietly become your money
Filing fees, couriers and experts are paid by the firm and recovered later. Absorbed into a fee line they stop being visible as an outlay at all, to you or to the client.
Asking for money on account is a conversation
Requesting funds up front is awkward enough that it gets softened or skipped entirely. It happens least often with the clients where it matters most.
Unrecorded time is unbilled time
Work the arithmetic yourself. Take the hours you believe you worked last month, subtract the hours on invoices, and multiply the difference by your rate. Time entries recorded against the matter become invoice lines directly, and court fees and filing costs sit as disbursements rather than disappearing into a fee total.
6
Fee earners
2-5 a week
Hours logged late
~90
Hours at risk a month
Based on typical law firm operations. Your numbers may vary.
Features powering law firm invoicing
Each one a deep-dive in its own right.
Matter documents in one place
Engagement letters, signed retainers and filed documents keep to the matter, so a file handed to another lawyer is complete on the first look.
Learn moreParties and court numbers as fields
Opposing counsel, court references and the details your firm runs on sit as named fields rather than inside a document somebody has to open.
Learn moreDeadline reminders that fire
Messages go out on the dates you set, so a limitation period is watched by the system rather than by whoever last updated the diary.
Learn moreYour firm on the document
What a client files carries your name and marks, which is the baseline expectation of anybody paying an hourly rate.
Learn moreLaw firm invoicing software questions
Moving your law firm invoicing software off another tool?
Most law firm businesses arrive at Smarfle from one of the tools below. See a side-by-side comparison.
Other law firm tools
Smarfle ships invoicing software alongside the rest of your CRM.
Invoicing software for other industries
Same invoicing engine, tuned for each vertical.
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