Recover time that never got recorded
Clio flags work with no time against it, so the timekeeper can log it before bills reach you.
Take every bill from first draft to revenue
Write narratives that hold up
Turn rushed or forgotten time entries into professional writeups.
Bring exceptions to a decision
Route rate changes, write-downs, and guideline questions through a defined review path with a clear owner.
Track every invoice to payment
Send by email, client portal, or LEDES file, and see what’s paid, outstanding, and overdue.
Start the bill from the matter, not the month
Gaps in the billing record get harder to fix once the team moves on. Because time, expenses, and matter activity stay connected, Clio can prepare a draft bill and surface incomplete entries.
- Fix gaps with the right person. Incomplete entries go back to the timekeeper.
- Use UTBMS codes. Task codes and LEDES exports are included.
- Manage complex billing requirements. Operate across borders and split bills among multiple related parties.
Customizable legal billing solutions
Personalize Clio’s legal time and billing software to the needs of your firm and clients.
- Send branded invoices. Create professional, easy-to-read legal invoices with your law firm’s logo.
- Keep terms on the matter. Rates and fee arrangements stay visible during review.
- Mix fee arrangements. Hourly, flat fee, and contingency work run side by side.
Give each bill a clear path through review
Every bill needs an owner, a reviewer, a status, and a next action. A draft goes to the approver you name and can’t be sent, downloaded as a final invoice, or posted to receivables until it’s approved. Edits and review history stay with the bill.
- Separate duties. Permissions can split drafting, approving, and sending.
- See review history. Every edit stays connected to the bill and matter.
- Bill from the matter. Legal billing uses the matter’s rates and terms.
Carry the billing record through to payment
Once an invoice goes out, the record should follow it through payment. As legal accounts receivable software, Clio keeps payment status, payment plans, and balances connected, an aging report groups what’s unpaid at 30, 60, and 90 days, and reminders go out on the schedule you set.
- Get paid online. Clients pay by card or eCheck with online payments.
- Set up payment plans. Schedule payments toward a balance or a trust deposit.
- Automate reminders. Follow-ups start from the oldest unpaid bill.
Use each billing cycle to sharpen the next
A finished cycle shows where friction remains: late time entries, slow reviews, and invoices that took longer to pay. Reports surface those patterns so you can fix them before the next cycle, and trust accounting stays reconciled along the way.
- Reconcile trust. Three-way reconciliation puts the bank, trust, and client ledgers side by side.
- Report on collections. See billed, collected, and outstanding amounts by matter or timekeeper.
- Run firm accounting. Legal accounting sits on the same record.
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400,000+ legal professionals trust Clio
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130+ countries
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4.7/5 rating from 13,000+ reviews
I really enjoy that accounting is a part of Clio Manage. This allows for more productivity and fewer manual entries.
Attorney and Firm Owner, Matlach Law Firm
Billing manager software FAQs
What does legal billing manager software do?
Legal billing manager software helps firms capture time and expenses, apply rates and fee arrangements, prepare and review bills, send invoices, collect payments, and report on billing and collections. Clio connects that financial workflow to the matter activity and client requirements behind it, so billing teams can prepare more complete bills and keep the cycle moving without rebuilding the record. See Clio in action.
Can Clio draft the time entries and clean up the narratives?
Yes. Clio’s legal AI can draw on connected matter activity, time, expenses, and client terms to prepare draft time entries, and it can turn a rushed entry into a narrative that reads professionally in third person past tense. Anything it reworded is highlighted on the draft bill, and your original entry is never changed, so the internal record stays exact. See Clio in action.
Can a bill go out before someone approves it?
No. A draft goes to the approver you name, and until it is approved it cannot be sent to the client, downloaded as a final invoice, or posted to receivables. Permissions can separate who drafts a bill, who approves it, and who sends it, so the same person need not do all three. Get a demo.
Does Clio support our fee arrangements and billing rules?
Yes. Hourly, flat fee, and contingency work run alongside each other because billing attaches to the matter, and a matter template can set the arrangement when the file opens. UTBMS task codes and LEDES exports are included on every plan. See Clio in action.
Can Clio submit to our clients’ e-billing portals?
Clio exports LEDES files in the standard formats, which your team uploads to the client’s portal. There is no direct connection to the portals themselves, so the submission step stays with your team. See Clio in action.
Can clients pay online, and can we set up payment plans?
Yes. Clients can pay by card or eCheck from the invoice, and a payment plan can debit a card or account on a schedule toward an outstanding balance or a trust deposit. Automated reminders go out from the date of the oldest unpaid bill on the cadence you set. See Clio in action.
Can I see what is outstanding and how far overdue?
Yes. An aging report groups unpaid balances at 1 to 30 days, 31 to 60, 61 to 90, and over 90, so you can see where collections effort should go rather than working through invoices one at a time. See Clio in action.
How does Clio’s legal AI help billing teams?
Because matter activity, time, expenses, client terms, approvals, invoices, and payments are connected, Clio can prepare more complete billing work, surface what needs attention, and send defined steps for review. Nothing is written to the matter until you approve it, and a ninety-day log records every AI action with the user and the timestamp. Get a demo.