Legal Invoice Review and Dispute Workflow Playbook

Billing guidelines only work if invoice review is consistent.

This playbook installs an invoice review workflow that:

• flags non-compliant charges
• requests revisions with clear evidence
• tracks recovered value
• identifies root causes so problems shrink over time

What you will produce

1. Invoice review checklist
2. Dispute log with owners and due dates
3. Vendor feedback loop
4. Monthly recovered value report

Beginner-safe definitions

Dispute: a charge you challenge because it violates your guidelines, rate card, or scope.

Recovered value: dollars removed, credited, or revised due to dispute resolution.

Root cause: the underlying reason disputes keep happening.

Review workflow (simple and repeatable)

1. Intake: log invoice, due date, and amount
2. Review: validate rates, narratives, and restricted charges
3. Dispute: send a revision request with clear line-item feedback
4. Resolution: confirm corrected invoice or credit is received
5. Verify: record recovered value and update root cause trends

Templates

A) Invoice review checklist (copy and paste)

Copyable template (TEXT)
Copy
Invoice Review Checklist

Invoice number:
Vendor:
Matter:
Invoice total:

Rate compliance
- Rates match rate card: yes/no
- Timekeeper roles and levels are clear: yes/no

Narrative quality
- Narratives are specific and understandable: yes/no
- Block billing present: yes/no

Restricted charges
- Admin overhead present: yes/no
- Unapproved travel present: yes/no
- Premium billing without approval: yes/no

Scope and budget
- Work aligns to matter scope: yes/no
- Matter budget exceeded: yes/no

Decision
- Approve as-is
- Dispute and request revision
- Partial approval with disputed lines

B) Dispute log (copy and paste)

Copyable template (TEXT)
Copy
Legal Invoice Dispute Log

| Vendor | Invoice # | Matter | Disputed amount | Reason | Owner | Due date | Status | Recovered value |
| ----- | --------- | ------ | --------------: | ------ | ----- | ------- | ------ | --------------: |

C) Revision request email (copy and paste)

Copyable template (TEXT)
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Subject: Invoice revision requested

Hi [Name],

We reviewed Invoice [#] for Matter [name] and found non-compliant line items.

Requested changes:
- Line [x]: [reason] and required correction
- Line [y]: [reason] and required correction

Please revise and resubmit referencing the original invoice number.

Thank you,
[Name]

D) Monthly recovered value report (copy and paste)

Copyable template (TEXT)
Copy
Monthly Recovered Value Report

Month:
Total invoices reviewed:
Total amount reviewed:
Total disputed amount:
Recovered value:
Top dispute reasons:
- Reason 1:
- Reason 2:
- Reason 3:

Prevention actions for next month:
- Action 1:
- Action 2:

Common failure modes

• disputes are raised but not tracked to completion
• recovered value is not recorded, so the system loses credibility
• root cause trends are not acted on, so the same issues repeat