Law Firm Balance Sheet Template

Enter your current figures starting from cash and working down through the asset section. The trust account balance should match your IOLTA reconciliation — use the Trust Account Reconciliation sheet to confirm the figure before entering it. Work-in-progress should reflect unbilled time valued at your standard billing rates. On the liabilities side, the trust account liability line must equal your trust asset balance; the template links these cells automatically so they stay in sync. Once you've entered all figures, the balance check cell at the bottom confirms your statement is in balance.

Work-in-progress is another line item that distinguishes legal practices from most businesses. WIP represents time your attorneys have worked but not yet billed. For firms on a cash basis, WIP doesn't appear on the balance sheet at all — but for accrual-basis firms (which most mid-size practices use), WIP is a current asset valued at billing rates. Tracking it separately from accounts receivable is important because it has different collection risk. Billed and unpaid invoices are receivables; unbilled time is WIP. The ratio of WIP to total outstanding billings tells you whether your billing cadence is keeping pace with work being done. Firms that let WIP accumulate for more than 30–60 days typically collect less of it.