LEDES Billing and Legal Ebilling Software for Law Firms

LEDES billing software turns coded time entries into the LEDES file a corporate client or insurer uploads to its e-billing portal. In almost every product it is a plan feature, not an add-on. The cheapest printed plans that export LEDES are CaseFox Professional at $45 a user a month and Bill4Time Legal Pro and Lawcus Growth at $59, billed yearly; PracticePanther Business is $89 and MyCase Pro $100. Most US clients ask for LEDES 1998B, which all of them produce.

Cheapest printed plan that exports a LEDES file, per user a month billed yearly

CaseFox Professional

$45

Bill4Time Legal Pro

$59

PracticePanther Business

$89

From each vendor's own pricing page. Bill4Time and PracticePanther keep LEDES off their entry plans.

Run a case file through the demo

LEDES plan finder

The cheapest plan that sends the file your client asked for

Format the client requires

Timekeepers

Billing

Lowest printed price for your format

Vendors that document it

A year for your timekeepers, cheapest LEDES plan at each vendor

Subscriptions only. Implementation fees, payment processing and portal fees charged by your client's e-billing vendor are extra. A vendor appears only if its own documentation names the format.

Billing coordinator at a law firm reviewing a rejected electronic invoice on two monitors with a stack of carrier billing guidelines — The software makes the file. The carrier's guidelines decide whether it gets paid.

Short answer

LEDES export is a plan feature, so you pay for it on every seat

Nearly every vendor puts LEDES one tier above its entry plan. PracticePanther moves you from $69 to $89, MyCase from $50 to $100, CosmoLex from $49 to $99, LeanLaw from $55 to $75 and Bill4Time from $39 to $59. The upgrade applies to every timekeeper, so for a ten lawyer firm on MyCase the LEDES requirement is worth $6,000 a year.

Format support is narrower than the marketing. MyCase, PracticePanther, Smokeball and Lawcus document LEDES 1998B only. If a client needs 1998BI or XML, the documented options are Clio (1998B, 1998BI, XML 2.0 and 2.1), CosmoLex (1998B, 1998BI, XML 2.0), Bill4Time (1998B, 1998BI and XML) and CaseFox (1998B and XML 2.0).

Ask the client which format and which portal before you buy. 1998B covers most US work.
Code time when you enter it. Back coding a month of entries at invoice time is where the hours go.
A valid file can still be cut. Block billing, vague narratives and unapproved rates are rejected on content, not format.

From each vendor's pricing page and help center

Which plan of each billing system exports LEDES, and what it costs

Cheapest plan with LEDES export at each legal billing vendor, price and documented formats
Vendor	Cheapest plan with LEDES	Per user a month	Formats its help docs name	The plan below it
CaseFox	Professional	$45 with annual billing selected; its page description says $39	1998B, XML 2.0	Free Solo plan, capped at 2 users and 4 cases
Bill4Time	Legal Pro	$59 yearly, $69 monthly	1998B, 1998BI, XML (version not stated)	Time and Billing $39, no LEDES and no trust ledger
Lawcus	Growth	$59 yearly, $69 monthly	1998B	Essential $39, no LEDES
LeanLaw	Pro	$75, billing period not labeled	1998B, LEDES 2000	Core $55, no LEDES
CARET Legal	Enterprise	$79 yearly plus a one time implementation fee	"LEDES invoicing", versions not published	It is the lowest plan
PracticePanther	Business	$89 yearly, $99 monthly	1998B	Essential $69, no LEDES
Rocket Matter	Pro	$95 paid annually	Not documented in a public help article	Essentials $59, no LEDES
CosmoLex	Core	$99 yearly, $109 monthly	1998B, 1998BI, XML 2.0, LEDES 2000	Launch $49, LEDES not included
MyCase	Pro	$100 yearly, $120 monthly	1998B	Basic $50, no LEDES
Sage Timeslips	Standard	$1,250 a year or $119 a month for the first license; extra licenses discounted, not printed	"LEDES 98B, Litigation Advisor, and Tymetrix export" in Sage's tier table	Starter $657 a year, no LEDES
Clio	Quoted tier	Starter from $49 a user, higher tiers quoted	1998B, 1998BI, XML 2.0, XML 2.1	Confirm LEDES is in the tier you are quoted
TimeSolv	Legal	Quote; last printed $53 yearly, $55 monthly for 1 to 4 users	1998B, 1998BI V2	Pro, no LEDES
Tabs3	Billing plus Taskbill	Cloud from $89, Taskbill license not priced	1998B, LEDES 2000	LEDES is a separate Taskbill license
Smokeball	Bill	Quote only	1998B	Bill is the lowest plan
Centerbase	Quoted	Quote only	LEDES templates Centerbase configures per client	Quote only

Clio prints only its Starter price, from $49 a user, and quotes the upper tiers; its help center documents four LEDES formats, so confirm LEDES is in the tier you are offered. Sage prints only the first Timeslips license price; additional licenses are discounted by an amount it does not publish. TimeSolv stopped printing per user prices in November 2025, when its Legal plan was $53 to $55 for 1 to 4 users. Tabs3 sells LEDES through a separate Taskbill license with no printed price.

Format pages of the LEDES Oversight Committee, ledes.org

LEDES 1998B, 1998BI or XML, and which one your client wants

LEDES stands for Legal Electronic Data Exchange Standard. It is maintained by the LEDES Oversight Committee, a voluntary nonprofit that grew out of a 1990s working group of the American Bar Association, the Association of Corporate Counsel and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

For a US firm the answer is usually 1998B. The LOC calls it the most widely used e-billing standard in the US legal industry: a plain text file, pipe delimited, with 24 fields on every line and a header that literally reads LEDES1998B. Its definition is frozen, which is why every billing system on this page can produce it.

The other formats show up when the client is international or tax heavy. 1998BI adds the fields for VAT and multiple currencies (52 in its current version, ratified January 2020). The XML formats carry far more: XML 2.0 has grown to 172 elements and XML 2.1 to 205, and in April 2026 the LOC authorized XML 2.1.5 and 2.2.2 to fix client funds being counted twice in the invoice total. If a client names an XML version, confirm your vendor exports that exact version before you sign.

invoice_4471.txt, LEDES 1998B

LEDES1998B[]
INVOICE_DATE|INVOICE_NUMBER|CLIENT_ID|LAW_FIRM_MATTER_ID|INVOICE_TOTAL|BILLING_START_DATE|BILLING_END_DATE|INVOICE_DESCRIPTION|LINE_ITEM_NUMBER|EXP/FEE/INV_ADJ_TYPE|LINE_ITEM_NUMBER_OF_UNITS|LINE_ITEM_ADJUSTMENT_AMOUNT|LINE_ITEM_TOTAL|LINE_ITEM_DATE|LINE_ITEM_TASK_CODE|LINE_ITEM_EXPENSE_CODE|LINE_ITEM_ACTIVITY_CODE|TIMEKEEPER_ID|LINE_ITEM_DESCRIPTION|LAW_FIRM_ID|LINE_ITEM_UNIT_COST|TIMEKEEPER_NAME|TIMEKEEPER_CLASSIFICATION|CLIENT_MATTER_ID[]
20260930|4471|CARR-0192|2026-0388|8642.50|20260901|20260930|Defense of claim|1|F|1.8|0|495.00|20260914|L330||A101|TK-07|Prepare outline for deposition of plaintiff's treating physician|FIRM-001|275.00|Reyes, Ana|ASSOC|CL-55102[]

1998B

24 fields, pipe delimited text. The US default for insurers and corporate legal departments.

1998BI

52 fields, adds tax and currency. Common with UK and EU clients.

XML 2.0, 2.1, 2.2

Structured XML, 172 to 216 elements. Ask for the exact version.

The fee line is an illustration with invented values. Dates are YYYYMMDD and every line ends in []. Field names are from the LOC's 1998B specification.

ABA litigation, activity and expense code sets, published on utbms.com by the LOC

The UTBMS codes every time entry carries

LEDES is the envelope. UTBMS codes are what the client's reviewer reads. A litigation entry carries a task code for the phase and task, an activity code for what you did, and expenses carry their own code. The 1997 ABA litigation set has 5 phases and 29 task codes.

L100

Case assessment, development and administration

L110 fact investigation, L120 analysis and strategy, L130 experts, L160 settlement and non binding ADR.

L200

Pre-trial pleadings and motions

L210 pleadings, L230 court mandated conferences, L240 dispositive motions.

L300

Discovery

L310 written discovery, L320 document production, L330 depositions, L340 expert discovery.

L400

Trial preparation and trial

L410 fact witnesses, L420 expert witnesses, L450 trial and hearing attendance.

L500

Appeal

L510 appellate motions, L520 appellate briefs, L530 oral argument.

Activity codes, A101 to A111

A101 plan and prepare for, A102 research, A103 draft or revise, A104 review or analyze, A105 to A108 communicate (in firm, with client, with other counsel, other external), A109 appear for or attend, A110 manage data and files, A111 other. The LOC's 2013 revision adds codes such as A112 billable travel time and A115 medical record and medical bill management, so check which list your client loaded.

Expense codes, E101 to E124

E101 copying, E106 online research, E110 out of town travel, E112 court fees, E115 deposition transcripts, E119 experts, E121 arbitrators and mediators, E124 other. The 2013 LOC revision replaces these with X codes (X101 onward) for clients that adopted it.

From the vendor help centers and terms of each e-billing system

Where the file goes, and which portals bill the law firm

Your billing software makes the LEDES file. Your client's e-billing system receives it, checks it against their rules and routes it for approval. Some of those systems charge the law firm for the privilege, so a new insurance or corporate client can come with a second software bill.

Corporate and insurer e-billing portals, whether the law firm pays, and LEDES formats accepted
Client e-billing system	Does the law firm pay?	LEDES formats it documents
Thomson Reuters Legal Tracker	No. Its law firm help pages say Tracker is available at no cost for law firms.	1998B, 1998BI (including v5), XML 2.1, XML 2.2
LexisNexis CounselLink	Usually not when you bill an existing client. Firms that join the optional CounselLink Registry pay $25 per fee invoice and $10 per expense only invoice, plus registration fees.	1998B, 1998BI, LEDES 2000, XML 2.0; 10 MB file limit
Mitratech Collaborati (TeamConnect clients)	Yes, a Collaborati Use Fee for 2026 to 2027, charged in advance and tiered on the fees you billed through it the prior year. Some clients negotiate a different model.	1998B, 1998BI V2, LEDES 2000, XML 2.0, XML 2.1
Onit (SimpleLegal, Unity ELM, Counsel Exchange)	Yes. Onit's product terms say it separately charges each participating legal vendor an annual fee based on spend submitted. CounselGO has been replaced by Counsel Exchange.	Set by each client
Wolters Kluwer ELM Solutions (TyMetrix 360, Passport)	Possibly. The ELM Solutions law firm agreement provides for a per client access fee, paid by the firm or by the client on its behalf, at rates in a pricing letter that is not public.	Registration asks for 1998B, 1998BI or LEDES XML
Brightflag	No vendor fee appears in Brightflag's vendor help center.	1998B and 98BI V2; a client can require V2 only

Thomson Reuters, which sells a free portal, writes that about half of client e-billing vendors charge law firms, from 0.12 percent of fees to more than 3 percent, or a flat or tiered rate. Read the end user agreement the portal shows you at registration, because that click is where a firm usually accepts the fee. If the client asks you to absorb it, that is a rate negotiation, and it belongs in the engagement letter.

Legal Tracker posting errors, Brightflag vendor help, Collaborati troubleshooting

Why LEDES invoices get rejected, from the portals' own error lists

01 Timekeeper and rate

Rate not approved for that date

Brightflag lists no approved rate for the date range, a billed rate above the approved one and a pending rate request as rejection causes. Collaborati rejects a timekeeper the client has not authorized. Submit new timekeepers and January rate increases before you bill them.

02 Math

Totals that do not add up

Legal Tracker flags line item math errors and an INVOICE_TOTAL that differs between lines. Collaborati recomputes both totals and rejects a mismatch, and too many decimal places in a unit cost. Rounding in a spreadsheet edit is the usual cause.

03 Codes

Task or expense code not enabled

A valid UTBMS code still fails if this client did not enable it. Legal Tracker also wants VAT coded E124. Load each client's code list, not a generic one.

04 Dates and matters

Line dates outside the billing period

Brightflag clients can auto reject a line dated outside the period, and Collaborati rejects dates after the invoice date, a closed matter or a duplicate invoice number. Late time belongs on the next invoice.

05 File

Wrong header, wrong column count

Fewer than 24 fields on a 1998B line, a date that is not YYYYMMDD, a blank required field. Collaborati expects ANSI text for 1998B and UTF-8 for XML. Never hand edit the exported file.

06 Content

A valid file the reviewer cuts

Legal Tracker lets the client reject an invoice whose content is incorrect, with a comment. Block billing, vague narratives and time over a guideline cap are cut on review, line by line.

Partner and billing manager going over printed invoices with task code notes at a conference table — Pre-bill review is where rejections are cheapest to fix: before the file leaves the firm.

Stated plainly

Where CaseAgent fits next to your LEDES billing system

CaseAgent does not produce LEDES files, keep trust ledgers or process payments. Keep one of the billing systems above for that.

What carrier and corporate billing guidelines squeeze is the reading: reviewing records, summarizing depositions, first drafts, tracking deadlines. CaseAgent does that work inside the case file, with a citation to the page behind every statement, so the hours you do bill are the ones a reviewer will pay. It is priced per firm, not per timekeeper: Solo $149 a month, Firm $399 for up to 5 users, Practice $899 for up to 15, Enterprise $1,798 for up to 45, or $74, $199, $449 and $899 a month billed yearly.

See every plan

Live demo, real output

1. Pick a case file

2. Task 3. Jurisdiction

The demo has reached its hourly limit for your network. to run CaseAgent on your own matters.

⏳ agent working…

That was the free demo run, to run it on your caseload.

The case files above are composed for the demo, so no client data is involved. Drafts are first-pass work product for attorney review, not legal advice.

Answered first, then explained

LEDES billing questions firms ask before they buy

What is LEDES billing?

LEDES billing means sending your invoice as a LEDES file, the Legal Electronic Data Exchange Standard, instead of a PDF. Corporate legal departments and insurers upload it to an e-billing system that checks each line against their rates and guidelines. Most US clients ask for LEDES 1998B, a 24 field pipe delimited text file, with UTBMS task and activity codes on every entry.

How much does LEDES billing software cost?

The cheapest printed plans that export LEDES run $45 to $59 a user a month billed yearly: CaseFox Professional at $45, Bill4Time Legal Pro and Lawcus Growth at $59. CARET Legal starts at $79 plus implementation, PracticePanther Business is $89, CosmoLex Core $99 and MyCase Pro $100. In most products LEDES is a tier feature, so you pay for it on every timekeeper.

Which billing software supports LEDES XML?

Clio documents LEDES XML 2.0 and 2.1, CosmoLex documents XML 2.0 alongside 1998B and 1998BI, and CaseFox documents XML 2.0. Bill4Time says it exports XML without naming the version. MyCase, PracticePanther, Smokeball and Lawcus document LEDES 1998B only, so a client that requires XML rules them out.

Does QuickBooks support LEDES?

QuickBooks has no built in LEDES export. Firms that keep their books in QuickBooks Online add a legal billing layer that syncs to it. LeanLaw Pro at $75 a user a month exports LEDES 98b and LEDES 2000 and is built around QuickBooks Online, and Bill4Time Legal Pro at $59 yearly exports LEDES and offers a QuickBooks integration.

Does Clio support LEDES billing?

Yes. Clio's help center says bills can be downloaded individually or in bulk as LEDES 1998B, LEDES 1998BI, LEDES XML 2.0 and LEDES XML 2.1, after you switch on LEDES billing and UTBMS code sets in billing settings. Clio prints only its Starter price, from $49 a user, and quotes Core, Signature and Elite, so confirm LEDES is in the tier you are quoted.

Does MyCase do LEDES billing?

Yes, on Pro and Advanced. MyCase Pro costs $100 a user a month billed yearly or $120 monthly, and Basic at $50 has no LEDES billing. MyCase documents LEDES 1998B export only, individually or in bulk as a zip of text files, and notes that it will not generate a LEDES file for an invoice with a balance forward.

Does Timeslips support LEDES?

Yes, from the Premium Standard tier, according to the tier table on Sage's Timeslips pricing page. The table lists LEDES 98B, Litigation Advisor and TyMetrix export from Standard up. Standard costs $1,250 a year or $119 a month for the first license, with unpublished discounts on more, and Starter at $657 a year has no LEDES export. Timeslips Premium runs on Windows desktops.

What are UTBMS codes?

UTBMS codes are the Uniform Task Based Management System, billing codes built in the 1990s by the ABA, the Association of Corporate Counsel and PricewaterhouseCoopers and now maintained by the LEDES Oversight Committee. A litigation entry carries a task code such as L330 depositions and an activity code such as A103 draft or revise; expenses carry codes such as E115 deposition transcripts.

Do law firms pay to use e-billing portals?

Some do. Thomson Reuters says Legal Tracker is free for law firms, and CounselLink typically does not charge firms billing an existing client. Mitratech charges a Collaborati Use Fee tiered on the fees you billed the prior year, and Onit charges participating vendors an annual fee based on spend submitted. Read the agreement you accept at registration.

Why was my LEDES invoice rejected?

Most rejections come from the portal's rules, not the file format: a timekeeper or rate the client never approved, line item math that does not match the invoice total, a task code the client did not enable, a line dated outside the billing period, or a duplicate invoice number. Fix the cause in your billing system and rebill, never by editing the exported file.