Invoicing Software for Lawyers in 2026: Five Tools Compared

Law firms need invoicing that turns recorded time and agreed fees into clear bills for each client matter, takes online payments, sends reminders, and keeps costs passed on to clients separate from fees. Firms that hold client money in trust also need tools and processes that follow their state bar's trust-account rules. This page sets out what five tools say about those features on their own websites.

Billed publishes this page, and Billed is listed first. The other four tools are in alphabetical order. The page doesn't rank them. Each description quotes the vendor's own pages, opened on October 29, 2026. Prices and plans change, so check each vendor's pricing page for current details. This is general information, not legal or ethics advice.

What to check for a law practice

• Time entry to invoice: recorded time turns into invoice lines at the right rate.
• Fee types: hourly, flat fee and any other arrangements you use, on the same system.
• Costs passed on to clients, such as filing fees, shown separately from fees.
• Matters: bills and records grouped by client matter, if you work that way.
• Online payments and reminders from the invoice.
• Team access and permissions, if staff prepare bills and a lawyer approves them.
• Billing formats, such as LEDES files, if a client asks for them.
• Trust accounts, if you hold client funds: check your state bar's rules first, then check what each tool says it does.

The tools

Billed

From Billed's own product pages:

• Time and rates: "Create an hourly rate project, set its hourly rate, and Billed tracks the charge for each task as you log it" (time tracking).
• Team: "Invite teammates, accountants and contractors to your Billed account and grant them permissions".
• Payments: "Connect your Stripe account and every invoice you send gets a pay button, so clients can pay by card" (invoice software), and "Add your Paypal account to Billed to start accepting payments via Paypal on your invoices" (accept payments).
• Follow-up: "Invoice reports show which invoices are paid, partially paid or past due, and you can see who owes you money and send them a payment reminder."
• Retainers: the recurring invoices page says "Establish a stable cash flow with retainers." See also client management and pricing.

Clio

From Clio's legal billing software page:

• "Clio builds each bill from the time, expenses, and fee terms on the matter. You approve it, and clients pay from the invoice."
• "Rate tables apply the right rate by user, matter, or contact, on hourly, flat-fee, and contingency matters."
• "Export LEDES files with UTBMS codes, and on select plans, split one bill among up to 11 payers."
• "Apply available trust funds to a bill, and send a trust request when a balance runs low."
• "Automated email or text reminders run on the schedule you set and stop once the bill is paid in full."

FreshBooks

From FreshBooks' invoice software page:

• "Recurring invoicing, time tracking, project management and reporting all seamlessly work together with this one, easy-to-use tool."
• "Automate your entire billing workflow, from recurring invoices and card-on-file payments to sending reminders and charging late fees."

QuickBooks Online

From QuickBooks' invoicing page:

• "Send customers an invoice they can pay online right away."
• "Set up recurring invoices to auto-send every day, week, month, or year."
• One of the page's feature headings is "Add billable hours".

TimeSolv

From TimeSolv's home page:

• "Track time by task, project phase, or deliverable with total clarity. Bill hourly, by retainer, or per project, and send client-friendly reports that back up your value."
• "Accept credit cards or ACH payments directly from your invoice."
• "Stay compliant with clear, secure built-in trust accounting. Track client funds separately, automate three-way reconciliations, and generate trust reports that meet bar requirements."

Trust accounts

If your practice holds client funds in trust, the rules for those funds come from your state bar, not from your invoicing software. Clio's legal billing software page and TimeSolv's home page, quoted above, describe trust features. This page makes no statement either way about trust accounting in Billed, FreshBooks or QuickBooks Online; ask each vendor directly. Check your state bar's trust-account rules before you choose any tool, and confirm with the vendor how its features fit those rules. Ask your bar or an ethics adviser if you're unsure.

Worked example: one month of bills

The practice and figures here are a sample, invented for this example. No trust funds are involved.

A solo practice bills two clients for the month:

• Client A, flat-fee contract review: $2,500.
• Client B, hourly matter at $280 an hour:
  • time entries of 1.2, 3.5 and 2.8 hours: 1.2 + 3.5 + 2.8 = 7.5 hours;
  • fees: 7.5 × $280 = $2,100;
  • filing fee passed on at cost: $350;
  • Client B total: $2,100 + $350 = $2,450.
• Month total billed: $2,500 + $2,450 = $4,950.

For this practice, the features that matter are a flat-fee line, time entries that become hourly lines at the right rate, and costs shown separately from fees. Run your own month through the same check before choosing a tool.

When this guide isn't for you

This page covers invoicing for solo lawyers and small firms. If you need full practice management, such as conflict checks, deadlines and document management, or you bill large corporate clients through their e-billing systems, compare the legal practice-management products directly with each vendor.

Related articles

• Guide to Hourly Invoicing
• Guide to Retainer Invoicing
• Invoice Payment Terms Explained
• Invoicing Software for Consultants
• Invoicing Software for Accountants

Frequently Asked Questions

What should lawyers look for in invoicing software?

Time entries that become invoice lines at the right rate, support for the fee types you use, costs shown separately from fees, online payments and reminders, team permissions, any billing formats your clients ask for, and, if you hold client funds, trust features that fit your state bar's rules.

Can a law firm use general invoicing software?

It depends on how the firm bills and whether it holds client funds in trust. Compare the features you need with each vendor's own pages, and check your state bar's trust-account rules before you choose.

Which of these tools handle trust accounting?

Clio's legal billing software page and TimeSolv's home page describe trust features. This page makes no statement either way about the other three tools, so ask each vendor directly, and check your state bar's rules before you choose.

Can clients pay online from the invoice?

Billed, Clio, FreshBooks, QuickBooks Online and TimeSolv all describe online payments on their own pages. Check which payment methods each one supports for your clients.

Which of these tools should a law firm choose?

This page doesn't rank them. The right choice depends on your fee types, whether you hold client funds, the billing formats your clients ask for and each vendor's current plans, so compare their pages and try them with your own month of billing.