← Business Guides · Explore this topic
Estimate the value of missing time entries without confusing unrecorded work, invoice write-downs and unpaid bills.
Use your figures: Open the calculator. All amounts in the examples are illustrative and can be read in one currency of your choice.
Start with the work that never reached a timesheet
A short client call can disappear between finishing the task and recording it. That is a different problem from a recorded entry being reduced before billing, or an invoice going unpaid. Separating these stages gives you a useful estimate and a clearer next step.
Begin with eligible work actually completed. A billable-hours target alone is not evidence that the hours were worked. Check a small sample of calendars, matter records and time entries, then estimate the percentage of completed billable work that was not recorded. Exclude administrative work and tasks that your engagement terms do not allow you to bill.
The formula and the figures you need
Annual potential billable value = attorneys × eligible annual hours per attorney × average hourly rate. Multiply that value by the unrecorded-time percentage, then by the expected percentage that can be invoiced of the recovered time. Use a blended rate that fits the work you are reviewing, rather than automatically using the highest partner rate.
Clio distinguishes utilization, percentage that can be invoiced and collection as separate measures. This model uses percentage that can be invoiced only for recovered time. It does not treat every invoice reduction as a missing time entry. Read Clio’s metric definitions.
A worked example with a cautious recovery case
Suppose eight attorneys each completed 1,700 eligible hours at an average rate of 350. Potential value is 4,760,000. If 6% was not recorded, the face value of that time is 285,600. Applying 92% percentage that can be invoiced produces an estimated annual invoice opportunity of 262,752.
Recovering a quarter of that opportunity would put 65,688 onto invoices. If only 90% of those invoices are collected, the corresponding cash estimate is 59,119.20 before recovery costs. Collection is an extra scenario calculation, not an input to the tool’s headline result.
What to investigate before spending money
Check whether the missing entries can still be reconstructed and billed. Look for repeat gaps around calls, email, document review and switching between matters. Take account of client billing rules, evidence quality and the age of the work. A large estimate may justify a review; it does not prove a recovery system will pay for itself.
Do not add this result to a separate estimate of the same completed-but-unbilled work. That would count the gap twice. When your issue is the match between operational records and issued invoices, use the CRM-to-billing reconciliation calculator instead.
What if the team saves time but cannot bill more?
Extra recorded time creates value only if it is eligible and reaches an invoice. The same caution applies to intake automation: freeing an hour is not the same as selling an hour. Compare that separate decision with the law firm intake ROI calculator.
Related reading
- Law Firm Intake Software ROI: Value Time Savings and Extra Cases
- Completed Work Not Invoiced: Check the Gap Between Work and Billing
Work through your own numbers
Use the unrecorded billable hours calculator to test a baseline and a cautious improvement. Check the calculation guide if you need help with currencies, sharing or assumptions.
Prepared by ProWorkstack. Examples are constructed calculations, not customer results. See our editorial standards.