Fixed fee/price arrangements

Legalsense lets you agree a fixed price, also called a fixed fee, for a matter instead of billing by the hour. This article explains how to set up a fixed price, bill it, and handle recurring fixed-price agreements.

Set a fixed price on a matter

When you create or edit a matter, select the pricing scheme Fixed price. An extra field appears where you enter the fixed price amount. If you leave this field empty, Legalsense assumes a fixed price of €0, so work in progress (WIP) on the matter is also valued at €0.

Bill a fixed price as a final settlement

Legalsense assumes you'll bill a fixed price as a final invoice once all work on the matter is complete. Complete all activities before billing the fixed price, because only then can Legalsense distribute the fixed price pro rata among all timekeepers.

If you need to bill the fixed price before the work is complete, we recommend creating an advance invoice instead. When you create the advance invoice in draft, you can replace the text Advance with Fixed price. Once the work is complete, create the final invoice; Legalsense settles the advance payment against the fixed price, so the final invoice amount should be €0.

Important: If you bill a fixed price before closing the matter, Legalsense values all further activities on that matter at zero.

Apply a fixed price to an invoice afterwards

You can also turn a draft invoice into a fixed price invoice while editing it. Adjust the invoice total to the amount you want, and Legalsense automatically distributes it pro rata among the timekeepers whose work appears on the invoice. This is a form of fixed pricing too, but because the matter itself doesn't use the pricing scheme Fixed price, Legalsense doesn't show it as a fixed price matter in reports, for example a report listing all fixed price matters.

Handle recurring fixed prices

You can also bill a recurring fixed price, for example a monthly fixed price agreed with a client. Suppose you've agreed a monthly fixed price of €5,000 for the matter Project X:

1. For the first month, set the fixed price to €5,000 and create the invoice.
2. For the second month, change the fixed price from €5,000 to €10,000.
3. When you create the invoice for the second month, Legalsense bills €5,000, the difference between the new fixed price and what's already been billed.
4. Repeat this process for each subsequent month.