For service firms
Professional services firms run on distinct billing models. Whether you charge fixed fees, bill for time and materials, or hold client retainers against future work, our free accounting software keeps your ledgers accurate and your cash flow clear.
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Create detailed invoices for fixed fee milestones or itemise your time and materials. Send them directly to clients via email or WhatsApp to keep your monthly billing cycle moving.
Log your firm disbursements and out-of-pocket costs as expenses. Add these directly to your next client invoice to ensure you recover costs accurately.
Set up recurring invoices for clients on fixed monthly retainers. Automate your billing cycle so you never miss a scheduled charge for your ongoing advisory services.
Post journal entries to hold client deposits as liabilities. Recognise the revenue only when the work is actually completed and billed against the retainer.
Draft professional quotations for new engagements. Outline your scope of work, fixed fee milestones, and expected disbursements before the client signs the contract.
Generate profit and loss statements to track the financial health of your firm. Understand which service lines yield the best margins after accounting for overheads.
Billing models
Service firms rarely use a single billing method. You might charge a fixed fee for a specific deliverable, while billing another client strictly for time and materials. Paper & Pen allows you to structure your invoices to match the engagement. Add custom line items to detail the hours worked and your hourly rate, or list fixed project milestones. While our software does not include built-in time tracking or project management tools, it provides the exact financial documents you need to turn your external timesheets into payable invoices at the end of the month.
الفواتير
4 فواتير · مايو 2026
Invoices
4 invoices · May 2026
चालान
4 चालान · मई 2026
চালান
4 চালান · মে 2026
انوائسز
4 انوائسز · مئی 2026
Client deposits
When clients pay a retainer upfront, that money is not yet earned revenue. It is a liability held against future work. Our general ledger lets you post manual journal entries to account for client deposits correctly. As your team completes the work, you can recognise the earned revenue and draw down the retainer balance. You can also account for work in progress that is earned but not yet billed, ensuring your balance sheet reflects the true financial position of your firm before the monthly billing cycle concludes.
الفواتير
4 فواتير · مايو 2026
Invoices
4 invoices · May 2026
चालान
4 चालान · मई 2026
চালান
4 চালান · মে 2026
انوائسز
4 انوائسز · مئی 2026
Cost recovery
Lawyers, consultants, and agencies frequently incur costs on behalf of their clients. Whether these are travel expenses, filing fees, or third-party vendor costs, you need a reliable way to recover these disbursements. Log every out-of-pocket cost in the expenses module as soon as it occurs. When your monthly billing cycle arrives, you can review these logged expenses and add them to the client's invoice. This ensures you recover disbursements at cost without letting small expenses slip through the cracks and erode your firm's profit margins.
الفواتير
4 فواتير · مايو 2026
Invoices
4 invoices · May 2026
चालान
4 चालान · मई 2026
চালান
4 চালান · মে 2026
انوائسز
4 انوائسز · مئی 2026
Questions
Manage your client retainers, recover your disbursements, and streamline your monthly invoicing cycles with our free cloud accounting software today.
Free forever · No credit card required · Add modules anytime