Law Firm P&L Template

Once the categories are set, enter your current month's revenue by billing type and expenses by category. If you track billing and collections separately, enter collected revenue (not just billed) for a true P&L view. The Practice Area P&L sheet is worth setting up early — enter each area's revenue and direct costs to see where contribution margin comes from across the firm. The Annual Summary and Dashboard update automatically as you fill in monthly data.

A law firm P&L needs to reflect the structure of legal revenue. Hourly matters have different economics than flat fee work — hourly revenue is variable and tied to billable hours, while flat fees depend on scoping accurately and working efficiently. Retainers provide predictable monthly revenue but require tracking against hours consumed. Contingency fees are lumpy and hard to forecast. Separating these on the P&L shows which revenue types are growing, which are most profitable, and where rate or scope adjustments would have the most impact.