Billing partners spending hours each month editing draft invoices before they go out because the billing system can't apply client-specific rate arrangements or produce the narrative format the client requires?
Trust account reconciliation done manually at month end because the billing platform and the bank account don't talk, creating a three-way reconciliation that takes the accounts team a full day?
Legal Billing and Time Tracking Software Development
Standard legal billing platforms cover straightforward time-and-rate billing well. Custom becomes the right choice when your billing arrangements include alternative fees, blended rates, budgeted matters, client-specific billing rules, or LEDES invoice formats that the platform can't produce without manual post-processing.
We build legal billing systems designed around how your firm actually bills -- your rate structures, your AFA arrangements, your trust accounting requirements, and the invoice approval workflow your billing partners use before invoices go to clients.
Time capture across desktop and mobile with matter, activity code, and work type tagging for UTBMS-compliant time entries
LEDES 1998B and LEDES 2000 invoice generation with client-specific billing rules, rate arrangements, and narrative formats
Trust account management with three-way reconciliation, trust ledger per matter, and disbursement tracking
Client payment portal with online invoice access, payment processing, and automated receipt generation
RaftLabs builds custom legal billing and time tracking software for law firms with complex billing arrangements -- LEDES invoicing, alternative fee arrangements, trust accounting, multi-currency billing, and client payment portals. Most legal billing projects deliver in 8 to 12 weeks at a fixed, agreed cost.
100+Software products shipped
·FixedCost delivery
·8-12Week delivery cycles
·24+Industries served
When billing complexity exceeds what standard platforms can handle
Most law firm billing problems are not time recording problems. Fee earners record time with reasonable consistency once a system is in place. The problems appear at the billing stage: applying the right rate to the right timekeeper on the right matter under the right client arrangement, producing an invoice in the format and electronic structure the client's billing guidelines require, routing the draft invoice through the approval workflow before it goes out, and reconciling the trust account at the end of each month. These steps multiply in complexity as the client base grows and the billing arrangements diversify -- and most off-the-shelf billing platforms hit their ceiling before the firm does.
We have built legal billing systems that handle LEDES electronic billing for large corporate clients, alternative fee arrangement tracking for fixed-fee and capped-fee matters, trust accounting with the three-way reconciliation required by the Solicitors Accounts Rules, and client payment portals that reduce payment cycles by giving clients online access to their invoices and a direct payment route. The billing logic -- the rate structures, the AFA rules, the invoice format requirements -- is specified during discovery and built into the system rather than patched on top of a generic billing tool.
What we build
Time capture and recording
Time recording across desktop and mobile applications with matter search and activity code selection designed for speed -- the fee earner logs a time entry in under thirty seconds without leaving the document or call they are on. UTBMS activity codes and task codes pre-configured for your practice areas with the codes mapped to the matter types and work categories your firm uses. Timer mode for fee earners who prefer to run a live clock rather than record time retrospectively, with the timer linked to the matter and activity code before it starts. Bulk time entry for fee earners who prefer to record their day in one session, with the entries validated for completeness and activity code compliance before saving. Time entry narrative templates for common work types so fee earners can produce a compliant billing narrative without writing from scratch on each entry. WIP dashboard showing each fee earner's recorded time against their target for the day and the week, visible to the fee earner and their supervisor.
LEDES invoicing and electronic billing
LEDES 1998B and LEDES 2000 invoice generation in the electronic format required by each client's billing guidelines, with the UTBMS activity and task codes, timekeeper identifiers, and matter references structured to the specification the client's e-billing platform expects. Client-specific billing rules applied automatically at invoice generation -- the rate caps, the excluded activity codes, the narrative format requirements, and the invoice review period that each client's guidelines specify. Line item review before invoice finalisation so billing partners can see each time entry and disbursement, edit narratives, adjust allocations, and remove entries that don't meet the client's billing guidelines before the invoice is submitted. Invoice status tracking from draft through partner review, submission to the client's e-billing platform, client acceptance, and payment receipt. Write-off and discount management with the approval workflow configured to your firm's authority levels for each write-off category.
Alternative fee arrangement management
Fixed-fee matter management tracking the budgeted fee against the time and cost accruing to the matter throughout the engagement, with alerts when the matter approaches the budget threshold so the fee earner and the billing partner can assess whether the scope has changed materially. Blended rate calculations applying the agreed blended hourly rate across all timekeepers on the matter regardless of individual timekeeper rates, with the blended rate applied consistently at invoice generation without manual calculation. Capped fee monitoring showing the cumulative billed and unbilled fees on a capped matter against the cap, with the system preventing billing beyond the cap without an explicit override and approval. Contingency and success fee tracking for matters with a conditional fee element, with the trigger conditions and fee structure recorded against the matter and the contingency fee generated when the trigger is met. Volume discount application calculating the applicable tier rate for clients with volume-based discount arrangements based on the cumulative spend across all matters in the arrangement period.
Trust accounting and client ledger
Trust account management maintaining a separate client ledger for every matter with a trust balance, recording every receipt and disbursement against the correct client account and providing the transaction history needed for client accounting. Three-way reconciliation -- client ledger totals, trust account cashbook, and bank statement balance -- produced automatically from the system's transaction data at each reconciliation period, with variances flagged for investigation rather than requiring manual calculation. Compliance with the Solicitors Accounts Rules or equivalent jurisdiction-specific requirements for client money handling -- the system's transaction rules preventing the transfers and allocations that would constitute a breach. Disbursement management recording disbursements paid on behalf of clients from office account, with the recovery tracked against the matter and included in the draft invoice at billing stage. Interest calculation on trust balances for matters where interest accrues on client money held, with the accrued interest credited to the client account and reported in the client ledger.
Billing approval workflow
Pre-bill production from the matter's time and disbursement records at the configured billing frequency, presented to the billing partner with the draft invoice showing the entries available for billing alongside those already billed. Partner review interface allowing the billing partner to approve, edit, or hold individual time entries, adjust narratives, apply discounts, and add fixed-fee charges before the invoice is finalised. Approval routing for invoices above configured value thresholds, requiring sign-off from a senior partner or managing partner before dispatch. Billing target reporting showing each fee earner's billed and unbilled time against their monthly and annual billing target, visible to the fee earner, their supervisor, and the firm's management team. Billing cycle management for clients with agreed billing frequencies -- monthly, quarterly, or milestone-based -- with the pre-bill generated automatically at the start of each billing cycle without requiring a manual trigger.
Client payment portal
Client-facing payment portal where clients log in to view all outstanding and historical invoices for their matters, download invoice PDFs, and pay online using card, bank transfer, or direct debit where the firm offers those payment options. Invoice notification emails sent to clients when a new invoice is available in the portal, with a direct link to the invoice and the payment facility, reducing the delay between invoice dispatch and payment. Payment allocation against the correct matter and client ledger posting automatically to the billing system without manual bank reconciliation for portal payments. Partial payment handling for clients who pay in instalments, with the outstanding balance tracked against the invoice and the client notified of the remaining amount. Aged debt reporting showing the outstanding balance by client, matter, and invoice age so the collections team can prioritise follow-up and manage the firm's debtor position.
Frequently asked questions
Standard billing platforms handle straightforward time-and-rate billing well. Custom is right when your billing arrangements include complex AFA structures that the platform's fixed-fee module can't model, when LEDES electronic billing requires format compliance that the platform can't produce without post-processing, when your trust accounting requirements are subject to jurisdiction-specific rules the platform doesn't support, or when you need tight integration between billing and a custom practice management or matter management system. We'll tell you honestly if a configured platform would cover the requirement.
Yes. Common integrations cover Xero, Sage, QuickBooks, and specialist legal accounting platforms such as Solicitors Own Accounts. The integration typically covers invoice posting to the debtors ledger, payment allocation from the client account, trust account reconciliation, and disbursement cost recovery. For firms using a separate finance system for management accounting and payroll, we build the integration to cover both.
LEDES compliance is built into the billing module with the specific format variant -- 1998B or 2000 -- configured per client. Client billing guidelines are stored against the client record and applied automatically at invoice generation so the rate caps, excluded codes, and narrative format requirements don't need to be applied manually each time. Where a client's billing platform uses a non-standard extension of LEDES, we build the format mapping during the integration phase. The spec is tested with a sample submission to the client's e-billing system before go-live.
A billing system covering time capture, draft invoice production, partner review, and integration with an accounting platform typically runs $25,000 to $50,000. Adding LEDES electronic billing, AFA management, trust accounting, and a client payment portal typically brings the total to $50,000 to $90,000. Fixed cost agreed before development starts.
Tell us how your firm bills today -- the rate structures, the AFA arrangements, the invoice formats your clients require -- and we'll scope a billing system that handles it without manual workarounds.
