Law firm payments and billing controls
Separate capture, approval, payment, allocation and reconciliation. Do not automate money movement from a sketch. Use it when the firm is reviewing payment methods or collection tooling, when completed work is not turning into timely payment, or when billing delays span several teams.
Boundary: this is not accounts, tax or client-money advice. Responsible compliance officers must approve regulated decisions.
Operational guidance, not legal advice. No confidential information is needed. Original PDF editions (all v1, 18 Aug 2026, now combined into this single maintained page): Legal Payment Processing Controls Guide, Law Firm Payment Collections Workflow and Law Firm Billing Seven-Step Map.
1. Frame the decision
Separate capture, approval, payment, allocation and reconciliation. Do not automate money movement from a sketch.
Specific focus - pick the line that matches your situation:
- Payment processing: map who may request, receive, allocate and reconcile each payment.
- Collections: separate client queries, reminder timing, allocation and corrections.
- Billing map: name owners for capture, pre-bill, review, issue, query, receipt and reconciliation.
Questions to answer:
- What makes work ready to bill?
- Who approves?
- How is money identified?
- What proves records agree?
Avoid:
- mixing client and business money
- speed overriding authorisation
- corrections without audit trail
2. Control sheet
Treat a blank evidence field as a reason to pause, not a reason to guess. Record sources and owners before changing the workflow.
| Area | Evidence to collect | Pass condition |
|---|---|---|
| Capture | Time and disbursements | Record complete |
| Review | Scope and approval | Approver accepts |
| Issue | Channel and query route | Client informed |
| Receive | Account and allocation | Approved rule used |
| Reconcile | Ledger and bank | Difference resolved |
Fail closed: if an input, owner or approval is missing, record the gap and keep the affected step outside the proposed change.
3. Working record
Complete this page with counts, dates and named sources. Do not include client names, matter names, contract text or privileged material.
| Field | Evidence or answer |
|---|---|
| Billing trigger | |
| Approver | |
| Bill delay | |
| Correction reason | |
| Allocation route | |
| Reconciliation |
Evidence quality check:
- The source is named and dated.
- An estimate is labelled as an estimate.
- The owner can reproduce the measure.
- The same method can be used after a change.
4. Decision record
Select the outcome that the evidence supports. A stop or no-change decision is valid.
- Stop: a required source, owner or approval is missing.
- Fix: repair the underlying route before adding technology or cost.
- Test: run one bounded change with a baseline and review date.
- Proceed: adopt only the option supported by the recorded evidence.
| Decision field | Record |
|---|---|
| Chosen outcome | |
| Reason and evidence | |
| Owner and approvers | |
| Review or expiry date |
Related pages: the cost-decision worksheet (/resources/law-firm-cost-and-billing-decisions/) and the guides hub (/law-firm-guides/). Questions: hello@margolegal.com.
Primary sources
- SRA - Accounts Rules: https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/standards-regulations/accounts-rules/
- SRA - Accurate client accounting records: https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/guidance/accurate-client-accounting-records/
- SRA - Client care letters: https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/guidance/client-care-letters/
- Information Commission (formerly ICO) - Information security checklist: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/advice-for-small-organisations/getting-started-with-gdpr/data-protection-self-assessment-medium-businesses/information-security-checklist/
Source status: links checked 15 September 2026 (all four verified live 200). Confirm the current version and obtain appropriate professional advice before relying on regulated, contractual, privacy, security, insurance, financial or wellbeing conclusions.
MARGO LEGAL LTD, company number 17322603. Registered in England and Wales. Registered office: 66 Paul Street, London, England, EC2A 4NA. Originally published as three PDF guides (v1, 18 August 2026); consolidated and converted to HTML 15 September 2026.