Law Firm Billing & Profit Tracker

Law Firm Billing Tracker Excel for your practice — matter rates, time entries and invoices, trust and retainer tracking, and a monthly P and L dashboard. Know what every matter actually billed, what every hour actually made, and which retainer is already used up.

Built for attorneys, solo practitioners, and small law firms who need to know, matter by matter and timekeeper by timekeeper, whether the hourly rate covers the filing fees, the expert, and the associate — without accounting software. If a matter has billed past its retainer, this workbook shows it before the next time entry.

WHAT'S INCLUDED (6 sheets):

- Matters and Billing Rates — matter, client, practice area, hourly rate, hours, fees billed, direct costs, profit, margin percent, and cost per hour for every matter. Change a rate and every time entry reprices by formula.

- Time Entries and Invoices — date, client, timekeeper, matter, hours, hourly rate, fees billed, cost per hour pulled from the matter sheet, profit per entry, and margin. Log partner, associate, and paralegal time in one place.

- Trust and Retainers — client, matter, retainer received, fees billed, retainer applied, trust balance, and outstanding invoices. Fees billed are formulas from the Time Entries sheet; enter each client's retainer received and the rest fills in.

- Monthly P and L — revenue, direct costs, associate pay, rent, and other expenses by month, Jan-Dec, with net profit and margin. Revenue and direct costs are formulas from the Time Entries sheet.

- Dashboard — total revenue, time entries, hours billed, average fee per entry, gross and net profit and margin, best matter by margin dollars and by margin percent, most-billed matter, best entry and best timekeeper, costs by category, total retainers, trust balance, outstanding invoices, and realization rate.

- Cover and How to Use — start here. Yellow cells are the only ones you edit.

EXAMPLE DATA (October 2026 — replace with your own numbers):

- Total fees billed 42,650 from 20 time entries and 126 hours billed; average fee per entry 2,132.50.

- Direct costs (filing, expert, other) 6,205; gross profit 36,445; gross margin 85.5 percent.

- Associate pay 5,200, rent 2,600, other expenses 1,400 (malpractice insurance, software, bar dues); total expenses 15,405; net profit 27,245; net margin 63.9 percent.

- Revenue by timekeeper: Partner 20,975 (best), Associate 19,325, Paralegal 2,350.

- Best matter by margin dollars: Garcia Criminal Defense, profit 6,550. Best matter by margin percent: Patel Estate Plan, 94.7 percent (cost 95, fees 1,800).

- Most-billed matter: Chen v. Meridian, 22 hours. Next: Garcia Criminal Defense, 18 hours; Adams Personal Injury, 16 hours.

- Best entry by fees: David Chen, October 5, Chen v. Meridian, 12 hours — fees 4,500. Best entry by profit: Miguel Garcia, October 7, Garcia Criminal Defense, 10 hours — profit 3,638.89.

- Trust and retainers: total retainers received 41,600; total fees billed 42,650; retainer applied 40,050; trust balance 1,550; outstanding invoices 2,600; realization rate 93.9 percent. Four matters billed past their retainer — Garcia Criminal Defense by 1,200, Adams Personal Injury by 600, Alvarez Divorce by 550, Chen v. Meridian by 250.

HOW IT WORKS:

1. Download the Excel file instantly after purchase.

2. On sheet 1, enter each matter's client, practice area, hourly rate, hours, and direct costs. Fees billed, profit, and cost per hour fill in by formula.

3. On sheet 2, log every time entry: date, client, timekeeper, matter (spelled exactly as on sheet 1), hours, and hourly rate. Fees, cost, and profit fill in by formula.

4. On sheet 3, enter each client's retainer received. Fees billed, retainer applied, trust balance, and outstanding invoices fill in by formula.

5. On sheet 4, enter associate pay, rent, and other expenses each month, then check gross and net profit on the Dashboard.

HOW THE NUMBERS WORK:

Fees billed are hourly rate times hours. Profit per matter is fees billed minus direct costs. Margin percent is profit divided by fees billed. Cost per hour is direct costs divided by hours. Gross profit is revenue minus direct costs; net profit is revenue minus direct costs, associate pay, rent, and other expenses. Retainer applied is the smaller of retainer received and fees billed. Realization rate is fees covered by retainers divided by fees billed. One billed hour is one unit.

WHO IT'S FOR:

Attorneys, solo practitioners, and small law firms who want matter profitability, time-entry billing, retainer tracking, and a monthly P and L in one workbook — without accounting software.

PLEASE NOTE:

- This is a digital download. No physical item will be shipped.

- Works in Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets (upload to Google Drive to open in Sheets).

- Example data for October 2026 is included (12 matters, 20 time entries, 126 hours billed). Replace it with your own numbers.

- The example is simplified: the partner's own time is not costed, and contingency matters bill differently, so track them separately. The Trust and Retainers sheet tracks balances only — it does not replace trust accounting software or your state bar's trust rules. Add your own expense lines on sheet 4 as needed.

- This is a bookkeeping and planning tool only, not tax, legal, or CPA advice.

- Due to the nature of digital downloads, refunds are not available. Message me before buying if you have a question.

Built by an accountant: B.S. Accountancy, ASU W. P. Carey, with revenue-reconciliation experience at Marriott and audit work at PwC.