This article may be out of date!
Visit the New Knowledge Center

What Are All the Columns on LEDES Bills and What Do They Mean?

Objective:

  • Understand the parts of a LEDES1998B Bill
  • Change different areas of LEDES Bills 
  • LEDES Bills
  • LEDES Column meaning

Environment:

  • Clio Manage

Additional Information:

For more information on the LEDES 1998B Standard, see here.

To enable UTBMS (sometimes known as ABA Task Codes), see here.

Answer:

# Name

Description

01 INVOICE_DATE

The Issue Date of the Bill

02 INVOICE_NUMBER

The Invoice Number of the Bill

03 CLIENT_ID

An arbitrary number created by Clio.

To change the CLIENT_ID, see here

04 LAW_FIRM_MATTER_ID

The Matter Display Number of the Bill's Matter in Clio

05 INVOICE_TOTAL

The Invoice Total of the Bill after any Discounts, Credit Notes and/or Taxes applied

  • This is calculated by adding up values of the LINE_ITEM_TOTAL field for all of the line items, including the line items for Discounts, Credit Notes and Taxes
06 BILLING_START_DATE

The starting date for the billing period:

  • If a date range was selected at Bill Generation in Clio (eg/ Activities Date Range selected in the Filter on the Billable Clients tab), the start date will fill in here
  • If no date range was selected at Bill Generation, this will fill in with the date of the oldest line item on the Bill
07 BILLING_END_DATE

The ending date for the billing period:

  • If a date range is selected at Bill Generation in Clio (eg/ Activities Date Range selected in the Filter on the Billable Clients tab), the end date will fill in here
  • If no date range was selected at Bill Generation, this will fill in with the date of the newest line item on the Bill
08 INVOICE_DESCRIPTION

The Clio Matter Description of the Bill's Matter

09 LINE_ITEM_NUMBER

The number of the line item on the Bill ordered from the oldest to newest

10 EXP/FEE/INV_ADJ_TYPE

The type of line item for each item on the Bill. This will be populated with either E(xpense), F(ee), IF(Invoice-level adjustment on Fees) or IE(Invoice-level adjustment on Expenses).

  • Expense = E
  • Time = F
  • Tax = IE and IF (will create a line for the total of each)
  • Invoice Discount = IE and IF (will create a line for the total of each with a negative amount)
  • Credit Note = F (with a negative amount)
11 LINE_ITEM_NUMBER_OF_UNITS

The Quantity field of the Bill's Line Item

12 LINE_ITEM_ADJUSTMENT_AMOUNT

The Line Item Discount amount:

  • If there is no Discount, the value is "0"
  • If there is a Discount, the value will be negative.
13 LINE_ITEM_TOTAL

The Total of the Line Item:

LINE_ITEM_UNIT_COST x LINE_ITEM_NUMBER_OF_UNITS + LINE_ITEM_ADJUSTMENT_AMOUNT = LINE_ITEM_TOTAL

14

LINE_ITEM_DATE

The Date of the Bill's Line Item.

15 LINE_ITEM_TASK_CODE

The UTBMS Task Code of the Bill's Line Item. If nothing is selected, it will appear as L120 ("Analysis/strategy")

16 LINE_ITEM_EXPENSE_CODE

The UTBMS Expense Code of the Bill's Line Item. If nothing is selected, it will appear as E124 ("other")

17 LINE_ITEM_ACTIVITY_CODE

The UTBMS Activity Code of the Bill's Line ITem. If nothing is selected, it will appears as A111 ( "other")

18 TIMEKEEPER_ID

The User's Initials from the Bill's Line Item

To change a User's Initials, see here

19 LINE_ITEM_DESCRIPTION

The Activity Category and Description from the Bill's Line Item

This appears as "Activity Category: Description"

20 LAW_FIRM_ID

The "LEDES Law Firm ID, Tax ID or GST Number" in your Clio Account

To change this number, see here

21 LINE_ITEM_UNIT_COST

The Rate from a Service, or the Amount from an Expense on the Bill's Line Item

22 TIMEKEEPER_NAME

The full name of the Line Item's User in Clio

23 TIMEKEEPER_CLASSIFICATION

The Job Title of the Line Item's User in Clio

To configure your firm's Job Titles see here

Standard classifications include:

  • "PT" (Partner)
  • "AS" (Associate)
  • "OC" (Of Counsel)
  • "LA" (Legal Assistant)
  • "OT" (Other Timekeeper) 

For a full list of classifications, see here

24 CLIENT_MATTER_ID

The Client Reference Number of the Bill's Matter in Clio

  • If the Client Reference Number is blank in Clio, nothing will appear in the exported LEDES Bill
  • Often the attorney would have been provided with this code by their Client.

 

Was this article helpful?
This information is confusing or wrong
This isn't the information that I was looking for
I don't like this functionality