eBilling accrual configuration is the workstream that determines whether the legal department can tell finance what it owes before the invoices arrive. It captures work law firms have performed but not yet billed, so the expense lands in the period it was incurred. Configuring it means setting the periods, deciding what firms must submit and by when, building the notification and reminder cycle, and defining how the resulting figures reconcile against invoices when they eventually appear. Done well, it is the workstream that makes the legal department a reliable participant in monthly close.
Why do accruals matter to a legal department?
Accruals matter because outside counsel work and outside counsel invoices arrive in different months, sometimes several months apart. For context, billing data from about 400 law firms shows invoice rejection rates climbed from 11 to 18 percent in 2025. Without accruals, legal spend appears in the accounts whenever the invoice happens to be processed, which distorts every period and makes forecasting unreliable.
Finance carries the consequence. A legal department that cannot produce accurate accrual figures forces finance to estimate, and estimates that prove wrong create variances someone has to explain. Accruals accurate enough for monthly close are one of the defining outcomes of a well-governed implementation.
What does eBilling accrual configuration actually cover?
eBilling accrual configuration covers six decisions, each of which affects law firms as much as internal users.
- Frequency. Monthly, quarterly, or annually, aligned to the finance calendar.
- Submission window. The period during which firms enter unbilled amounts, and the cutoff after which entries close.
- Scope. Which firms and which matters require accrual submissions.
- Notification cycle. The announcement to firms, the reminders, and internal alerts for review and approval.
- Approval routing. Who reviews the figures before they go to finance.
- Reconciliation treatment. What happens when actual spend differs from the accrued amount.
Each of these is a business decision before it is a configuration setting, and agreeing them with finance early prevents rework.
What do law firms actually submit for accruals?
Law firms submit unbilled amounts, meaning work performed and not yet invoiced, entered per matter. The structure is more precise than it first appears, and getting it wrong is a common source of inaccurate accruals.
Thomson Reuters’ Legal Tracker documentation sets out the model clearly. Firms submit the prior months unbilled amount and the current month estimated billing as separate figures, where the prior months amount covers everything from the start of the client’s fiscal year through the last full calendar month. Keeping the two separate matters because the prior months figure can be generated consistently from a firm’s time and billing system, while the current month is necessarily an estimate.
Two rules follow from this and both need communicating during vendor onboarding. Firms should submit a figure for every matter, entering zero where there is nothing unbilled, since a missing submission is indistinguishable from a zero without one. And accruals include only amounts for services rendered within the fiscal year of the accrual, so prior-year amounts are excluded.
What is the most common configuration mistake?
The most common mistake is enabling the accruals module before restricting which firms it applies to. This one is worth planning for specifically because the consequence is immediate and visible to every vendor.
In Legal Tracker, when the accruals module is enabled, the platform by default requires unbilled amounts from all law firms, and every firm receives the accruals announcement email automatically at the beginning of the next accrual period. Firms that should have been excluded must be turned off before that email goes out.
The remedy is sequencing. Decide the firm and matter scope, apply the exclusions, review the notification templates, and only then enable the module. Reversing an announcement sent to two hundred law firms is not possible, and the resulting confusion arrives in the legal operations inbox.
How should the accrual notification cycle be configured?
The accrual notification cycle needs enough reminders to achieve compliance and few enough to avoid being ignored. Legal Tracker’s model issues an announcement at the start of the period and a maximum of two reminder emails during the firm input window, which is a reasonable pattern to work from.
Other eBilling platforms handle accruals in the same shape, with month-specific submission cutoff dates, automatic notifications to vendors and to internal reviewers, and automatic forwarding to finance, along with reporting on accruals against budget and against invoiced amounts.
Notification content deserves attention during configuration. The template should state the submission deadline, the fiscal period covered, the instruction to enter zero where nothing is unbilled, and a named contact. Default vendor templates rarely carry all four.
How does accrual reconciliation work?
Accrual reconciliation compares accrued amounts against invoices received for the same period and resolves the difference according to company policy. This is where accrual configuration meets finance policy, and the two need agreeing together.
Legal Tracker’s approach illustrates the mechanics. Running the accrual report produces a remaining accrual balance for each matter. A positive balance means spending has not exceeded the accrual. A negative balance means it has, and the organization decides whether the excess is charged against the current year’s budget, with memo entries used to move amounts between periods where required.
The configuration questions that follow are practical. What tolerance is acceptable before a variance requires explanation, who investigates it, and how are corrections recorded so the audit trail holds. Deciding these during implementation is considerably easier than deciding them during a year-end close.
What does accrual accuracy depend on?
Accrual accuracy depends on firm compliance more than platform capability. The system can request, remind, route, and report, and none of that produces an accurate figure if firms submit late or estimate carelessly.
Three things move firm compliance. Clear communication during onboarding, covering what is required, when, and why it matters to the client. Submission windows that allow enough time between the request and the cutoff. And feedback when submissions are consistently inaccurate, since a firm whose estimates are routinely half the eventual invoice will keep doing it until someone says so.
Vendor onboarding is where the first two are delivered, alongside the wider portal setup covered in how firms use Counsel Exchange, Onit’s vendor portal.
How does eBilling accrual configuration fit the wider rollout?
eBilling accrual configuration sits inside the wider rollout as one workstream, dependent on decisions made elsewhere. Matter structure determines what accruals attach to. Vendor onboarding determines who can submit. Billing guidelines and invoice validation determine what the accrued work eventually becomes.
Historical data matters here too. Reporting compares accrued against invoiced amounts, so inconsistent invoice history undermines the comparison, a pattern covered in why messy legacy data can ruin a perfect platform build. The program-level view is set out in what an Onit eBilling implementation involves, and the invoice side in turning outside counsel billing guidelines into enforceable rules.
Conclusion
eBilling accrual configuration is a small workstream with a disproportionate audience, because its output goes to finance as well as the legal department. When it works, legal becomes a dependable contributor to close. When it does not, someone in finance builds a spreadsheet, and the platform has failed at one of the things it was bought to do.
Four practices carry most of the outcome. Agree accrual frequency, submission windows, and variance tolerance with finance before configuring anything, since these are accounting decisions the platform then implements. Set firm and matter scope before enabling the module, because announcement emails go out automatically and cannot be recalled. Write notification templates that state the deadline, the period, the zero-entry instruction, and a named contact. And treat firm compliance as an ongoing relationship task, since accuracy depends on submissions the client does not control.
How Basla can help
Basla provides delivery teams for enterprise legal management and eBilling software implementation, covering legal technology consulting, business analysis, billing guideline configuration, accrual and reporting setup, rule testing, vendor onboarding support, documentation, and post-go-live support. Basla has supported matter management and eBilling programs spanning more than ten global jurisdictions.
Frequently asked questions
What is an eBilling accrual?
An accrual records work a law firm has performed but not yet invoiced, so the expense is recognized in the period it was incurred. In an eBilling platform, firms submit unbilled amounts per matter and the system aggregates them into figures the legal department passes to finance.
What do law firms submit for accruals?
Unbilled amounts per matter, usually split into two figures: the prior months unbilled amount covering the period from the start of the fiscal year through the last full calendar month, and the current month estimated billing. Firms should submit for every matter, entering zero where nothing is unbilled.
How often should accruals be collected?
Aligned to the finance calendar, which for most organizations means monthly, though quarterly and annual cycles are used. The decision belongs to finance, and the platform is configured to match it.
What is the most common mistake in accrual configuration?
Enabling the accruals module before setting firm and matter scope. Platforms typically require unbilled amounts from all firms by default and send announcement emails automatically at the start of the next accrual period, so exclusions must be applied first.
How are accruals reconciled against invoices?
By comparing accrued amounts against invoices received for the same period. A remaining accrual balance that is positive means spending has not exceeded the accrual. A negative balance means it has, and company policy determines whether the excess is charged against the current period’s budget.
What determines accrual accuracy?
Law firm compliance more than platform capability. The system can request, remind, and report, but accuracy depends on firms submitting on time with realistic estimates. Clear onboarding communication, adequate submission windows, and feedback on consistently inaccurate estimates all improve it.
*This article is provided for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Basla Solutions provides legal technology implementation and support services and does not practice law.*