Lesson 2 of 6 · 6 min

Tracking disbursements

Recording third-party costs paid on a client's behalf and billing them back.

Lesson 2 of 6

Disbursements are costs your firm pays on a client's behalf — search fees, filing fees, couriers. MatterFirst tracks them per matter and pulls the billable ones onto invoices.

What a disbursement record holds

Each disbursement carries a description, amount, date, a category (search fees, filing, courier, travel, photocopying, postage, other), a billable/non-billable flag, an optional linked receipt document, and an optional expense code. Billable disbursements flow onto invoices alongside unbilled time.

How disbursements are created today

Disbursements are recorded behind the scenes rather than through a form on the matter page — an administrator or a connected system enters them, and they then appear on the matter's Billing tab. There you review the disbursements that already exist and watch the billable ones roll onto invoices.

  1. 1

    Open the Billing tab's Disbursements section

    On a matter, open the Billing tab and select the Disbursements section. Each row shows the description, date, category, status, and amount. When the matter has none yet, the section reads 'No disbursements for this matter yet' — there's no add button here, because disbursements are recorded behind the scenes rather than typed in on this tab.

  2. 2

    Billable disbursements flow onto invoices

    You do not add disbursements to an invoice by hand. When you create an invoice from the Billing tab and keep 'Include unbilled time entries and disbursements' selected, billable disbursements are pulled in automatically alongside unbilled time.

Tips & pitfalls

  • You won't find an 'add disbursement' form on the matter page — disbursements are recorded behind the scenes and then appear here for you to review and bill.
  • Mark a disbursement non-billable to keep it off invoices while still tracking the cost.
  • Billable disbursements are pulled onto an invoice automatically when 'include unbilled' stays selected.

Key takeaways

  • Disbursements are per-matter costs with a category, amount, and billable flag.
  • They are listed on the matter's Billing tab and flow onto invoices.
  • Disbursements are recorded behind the scenes, then appear on the Billing tab to review and bill.
Recording time entries Creating invoices

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