Recording expenses and disbursements

Filing fees, courier charges, expert reports: the costs you incur on a client's behalf are disbursements. Record them against the matter as they happen so they are ready to bill and nothing is missed.

Log the expense against the matter

Open Expenses and add a new one. Enter the amount, the date, and a clear description of what it was for, then attach it to the client and the matter it belongs to. Choose a category, such as court fees or travel, so your reporting groups like costs together. If you have the receipt, attach it to the expense so the backup lives with the record.

1. Enter the amount and date. Record what you actually paid and when.
2. Attach it to the client and matter. This is what makes it billable to the right file.
3. Categorize it. Pick a category so it is easy to report on later.
4. Add the receipt. Attach the document as proof of the cost.

Mark it billable

A disbursement you intend to recover from the client should be marked billable. Only billable expenses are offered up when you invoice, which keeps your own overhead separate from what the client owes. Apply tax where it belongs, so the recovered amount is correct.

Bring it onto an invoice

When you next invoice the matter, the unbilled billable expenses are there to add. Pull them onto the invoice and they appear as line items alongside your fees, at the amount you recorded. Once an expense is on an invoice it is marked billed, so it will not be offered again and cannot be charged twice.

Recurring costs

For a cost that repeats on a schedule, such as a monthly subscription tied to a file, you can set the expense to recur. A fresh expense is created each period, ready to be picked up on the next invoice, without you re-entering it every time.