Before sending a LEDES invoice, confirm the format, clear required-field warnings, check timekeeper and billing codes, and review the exported file.
Key takeaways
- Confirm the client's required format and your software settings.
- Fix missing information in the record that holds it.
- Compare timekeeper, task, and activity codes with the client's guidelines.
- Read the exported file and reconcile its totals before sending.
The client's system reads the file field by field, so a missing value or a code in the wrong place can cause the bill to be rejected or sent back for correction. Either outcome delays payment and creates extra work for whoever prepared the bill.
The good news is that most of these problems can be caught before the file leaves your desk. This post walks through four checks to run on every LEDES invoice before you send it. They are written for billing coordinators and bookkeepers who already know how their firm produces these files and want a dependable routine for clearing them.
The steps here are general. Your client's billing guidelines always come first, and your billing software's help pages will show the exact menu paths for your setup. Treat this as a checklist to adapt, not a substitute for the requirements in your engagement letter.
Check 1: Confirm the format and the setup
Start with the basics. Before you look at a single time entry, confirm that you are producing the format the client asked for. The LEDES Oversight Committee maintains the specification, and LEDES 1998B is the most widely used version, according to LeanLaw's billing glossary. That does not mean every client wants 1998B. Some clients ask for a different version, and some do not accept LEDES files at all. Check the outside counsel guidelines or the engagement terms for the required format rather than assuming the default is right.
Next, confirm that the feature is switched on. In Smokeball Bill, firms must enable LEDES/UTBMS in Firm Settings before the feature is available, according to Smokeball's support article on LEDES billing. If someone is new to the system, or if the firm recently changed its settings, this is the first thing to look at. A missing option is usually a setup problem rather than a data problem, and editing individual time entries will not fix it.
Then check the client record. In PracticePanther, after you save and open an invoice for a contact with LEDES enabled, the "Actions" button includes "Download as LEDES," according to its LEDES billing article. If you cannot find it, check the contact's LEDES setting first and confirm the invoice is saved and open before you assume the export is broken.
Finally, make a note of the format and version you confirmed for this client. Put it in the matter file or your billing checklist. The next person who prepares the invoice should not have to rediscover it. A format assumption carried over from a different client is an easy mistake to make, and it is one a written note prevents.
Check 2: Clear every required-field warning
Your billing software may warn you about problems before you export. MyCase, for example, notes that a warning appears when a LEDES bill is missing some required fields, as described in MyCase's LEDES billing article. Treat that warning as a stop sign. Fix the missing information, regenerate the file, and check again. Do not dismiss the warning and send the bill on the theory that the client will sort it out. Clients may not catch the gap, or they may return the bill and ask for a corrected file, which costs time either way.
Missing fields tend to come from a small number of sources: matter setup, timekeeper profiles, and individual time entries. When a warning points to a blank value, trace it back to the record that holds the value. If a timekeeper's profile is incomplete, fix the profile, not just the one invoice in front of you. That way the next bill, and the one after it, will not carry the same gap. Fixing the source takes a few minutes longer now and saves a repeat of the same problem every billing cycle.
It also helps to keep a written checklist of the required fields that matches the client's guidelines. Many firms have one checklist for each client, because clients often ask for slightly different information. Walk through the checklist for each invoice rather than relying on memory. A checklist also makes it easier to train a new coordinator, because the rules are written down in one place. For the wider review, use the invoice approval checklist.
Work through the warnings in order and re-run the check after each change. Fixing one field can clear several warnings at once, and re-running the check confirms that your change did what you expected. Do not start editing other entries until you know the current warnings are resolved. Working in a loop of change, check, and change again is slower than it sounds, but it prevents the kind of drift where one fix quietly undoes another.
Avoid editing the exported file by hand unless your firm has a written process for doing so. A hand-edited file is hard to reproduce. If the client later questions an entry, you will not be able to show how the file was made, and a second export may not match the first. Correct the data in the billing system, then export again. The file you send should be the same one the system produces, not a version someone adjusted in a text editor.
Check 3: Verify the timekeeper and billing codes
Codes are often the source of friction in a LEDES file, mainly because they look similar and are easy to mix up. The first set to check is the timekeeper classification codes. MyCase notes that the LEDES Oversight Committee has prepared a complete list of timekeeper classification codes, and that the list was last revised in August 2014, according to MyCase's LEDES billing article. A code that looks unfamiliar is not automatically wrong. Compare it against the list your software uses and against the client's guidelines before you change it.
Confirm the classification for each timekeeper on the invoice. Do not copy the classification from the last bill and assume it still applies. People change roles, rates are set differently on different matters, and a new associate may be billing under a classification that was set up for someone else. A short review at the start of each billing cycle, comparing each timekeeper's classification with the current staffing on the matter, catches most of these problems early.
The second set is the task and activity codes, which are easy to confuse with each other. LeanLaw's glossary explains the difference. Task codes identify the phase of the litigation or transaction, while activity codes describe what was done. The glossary gives L200 as an example of a task code for pre-trial motions and A102 as an example of an activity code for research. Those examples show what each kind of code describes. They do not tell you which codes your client requires for a given entry.
To check a time entry, ask two questions. Does the task code describe the phase of the matter where the work happened? Does the activity code describe the work that was actually done? If an entry is for research on a motion, the task code should point to the motion phase and the activity code should point to research. If the codes answer the wrong question, the entry may be correct in the system and still be wrong for the client.
Watch for codes that are valid but used in the wrong place. A common example is a code from the activity list typed into the task field, or the reverse. Some systems will reject this outright. Others will accept it and send the file, and the client's review team may catch it weeks later. Scan the codes column by column rather than entry by entry. A column that holds a mix of phase and work descriptions is easy to spot once you look for it.
Finally, check whether the codes match the client's guidelines, not just the standard list. Some clients restrict which codes they accept for certain types of work, or they want a narrower set of activities than the full list offers. The standard code list tells you whether a code is valid in general. The guidelines tell you whether the client will pay for it. Both checks matter.
Check 4: Open the file and review it before it goes out
The last check is to read the actual file. Smokeball's help center shows what a LEDES1998B invoice looks like when opened in Notepad, as noted in its LEDES/UTBMS billing article. The point for your purposes is that the file can be opened in a plain editor, so you can read what the client will receive. The software's on-screen view can hide problems that show up in the raw output, such as stray characters, extra spaces, or a field that is present but empty. Reading the file itself is a useful check against those.
Open the file in a plain text editor, and read it without changing anything. Look at the header section first. Check that the matter, client, and invoice details match what you expect. Then move to the entries. Check that the dates are in a consistent format from the first entry to the last, that the amounts look reasonable, and that no line is cut off or wrapped onto the next line. A single broken line can cause a rejection even when everything else is correct, so look at line endings as well as content. If a field appears in some entries but not others, note which entries it is missing from and go back to Check 2 before you go further.
Next, reconcile the totals. Add up the entry amounts in the file and compare the result with the total on the invoice. Also compare the number of entries in the file with the number of entries you expect from the system. If the counts or totals do not match, do not send the file. Find the difference first. A mismatch can come from a filter that dropped entries, a rounding difference, or an entry that was added after the export. Each has a different fix, and sending the file before you know which one applies only moves the problem to the client.
If you have an invoice the client accepted recently, compare its structure with the new file. Look at the order of the fields, the way the header is laid out, and the general shape of the entries. A difference does not always mean an error, since the content will change from one invoice to the next. But a difference in structure is worth a closer look, because it often means a setting changed or a field was dropped.
Once the file checks out, record that you reviewed it. A short note with the date, the invoice number, the person who checked it, and the result is enough. If the client later disputes a charge or a rejection, that record shows what was reviewed and when. It also helps your firm see patterns over time, such as a timekeeper whose entries often need correction or a client whose guidelines change every quarter. For related record checks, see electronic invoice records.
Illustrative example: Reconcile the exported amounts
If the exported file contains just the entry for 50, both the count and total differ from the invoice. Find the missing entry in the billing system, export again, and repeat the comparison before sending.
Common mistakes to avoid
One mistake is sending on a deadline without re-checking. Pressure to get a bill out is real, especially at the end of a month or a quarter. A rejected file costs more time than a short delay to finish the checks. If you are short on time, do the checks in the same order every time so they go faster, rather than skipping one.
Another mistake is assuming that a file accepted once will always be accepted. Software updates, changes to a client's system, and new timekeepers can all change what a valid file looks like. Keep your checklist current, and treat a rejection as information about the process, not only as a problem with one bill.
Putting the checks into one routine
Keep the routine short enough that people will actually use it. A one-page checklist for each client, with the four steps and the specific fields and codes that client requires, is usually enough. Review the checklist when a client changes its guidelines or when a rejection comes back, and update it so the next invoice reflects what you learned.
LEDES invoices reward patience and consistency. The work of checking them is mostly routine, but the cost of a mistake lands on your firm and on the client's accounts payable team, both of which depend on the file being right the first time. A clear process makes that easier to achieve, and it gives the next person who handles the bill a way to pick up where you left off.
Today, choose the next invoice awaiting review and start with Check 1. Record any correction needed before moving to the next check.
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Common questions
Does every client want LEDES 1998B?
No, the required format depends on the client's billing guidelines. Confirm the version before preparing the export.
What should I do when MyCase warns about missing fields?
Trace the warning to the record that holds the value.
Can I inspect the file in a plain text editor?
Yes, you can open the exported file in a plain text editor to review it. Read without changing the contents, then make any corrections in the billing system.