Collections: Finish 2025 Strong, Level Up in 2026

In many law firms, December is a mad dash to collect overdue bills and secure compensation. Tabs3 Billing in Tabs3 Cloud can help you finish strong this year. Moreover, it can help you make 2026 even more profitable. Read on to learn how. 

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Start by getting 2025’s bills collected 

You still have time to maximize revenue for this year, and you can collect more if you think outside the Aging AR report. Below are four tips to boost your collections outcomes. 

1. Get invoices out to clients

If your firm does not bill on a regular cadence, now is the time to catch up. You may need to do a second round of invoicing in December to clear the decks before the new year.   

Make sure to locate any “lost” billable work that can be added to the end of year invoices. Tabs3 Billing in Tabs3 Cloud includes reports that can help you find hidden billables:  

• The Recap of Hours Report helps you find missing timeslips 

• The Aged Work-In-Process Report helps you find time that could be invoiced. You can also see aging WIP in the Timekeeper Status Report. 

• The Client Budget Report can be helpful for flat fee cases.  

2. Follow up on receivables

Next, take action on overdue invoices. Many firms start with a written reminder, but consider making a phone call sooner rather than later if the client is not responding.   

Depending on your practice area and the client relationship, it may be helpful to make a plan while on the phone with the client about how and when they will pay. Then you can follow up right away if the payment does not arrive as promised.  

Tabs3 Billing in Tabs3 Cloud comes with a variety of helpful collections reports:  

• The Detail Accounts Receivable Report shows outstanding receivables for each client broken out by age. The Accounts Receivable by Invoice Report gives you details about each invoice. 

• The Summary Collections Report and Detail Collections Report helps you focus your collections efforts by setting criteria for inclusion like number of days past due, total balance due, and more. 

• To check on receivables for individual timekeepers, you can use the Timekeeper Status Report to see receivables by age. Tabs3 Cloud and Platinum Edition users can also access the Accounts Receivable by Timekeeper Report.

Finally, make sure that any unallocated payments are correctly applied to outstanding invoices. The Unallocated Payments Report in Tabs3 Billing can help you find them. 

3. Be strategic with write-downs and write-offs

It often makes sense to write down time on an invoice to get cash in the door and stanch spending on collections activities. Of course, writing down time for a client can create an expectation of future write-downs. It is a good practice to review your firm’s write-down practices at least annually to pinpoint patterns of excessive write-downs. The Write-Up/Write-Down Report in Tabs3 Billing can help you keep an eye on discounting.  

Unlike write-downs, write-offs have tax consequences. The Write-Off Report in Tabs3 Billing helps you track write-off activity. 

4. Accept electronic payments

If your firm is not already accepting payments electronically, adding that capacity now could help you collect more (and faster) on your outstanding invoices. For example, instead of a reminder letter, you could send an email invoice with an electronic payment link.   

If you are using Tabs3Pay in Tabs3 Billing, you can offer PayPal Pay Later, which gives clients more time to pay while putting revenue to your pocket right away. Clients can also pay by ACH, credit card, debit card, Venmo, or standard PayPal. 

👉 Check out The Midsize Law Firm Survival Guide for more information about how Tabs3 can benefit your firm

Plan for a more profitable 2026 

Late payments hurt your cash flow and waste your time. Calling clients about unpaid bills can be stressful. And waiting until the end of the year to handle unpaid bills not only takes over your December schedule, it can reduce the likelihood of getting paid at all.   

Below are three ways Tabs3 Billing in Tabs3 Cloud can help you stay on top of collections year-round so you collect more revenue with less work. 

1. Send invoices monthly

Getting paid on time starts before you send the bill. Maintaining a regular billing cycle keeps your invoices top of mind for clients and spreads out the work of billing and invoicing.   

Best practices include:  

• Completing time entry and sending a statement for every matter monthly, even if no money is owed that month 

• Writing clear fee entries to show clients the work you are doing on their behalf 

• Offering clients the option to get invoices by email and pay electronically. 

The right billing software makes it easy to bill every month. Tabs3 Billing in Tabs3 Cloud simplifies time entry, offers all-electronic pre-billing workflows, and supports email invoicing.  

This article offers a deep dive into billing best practices.  

2. Collect consistently

Monitor aging receivables monthly so you can intervene early with unpaid bills. In Tabs3 Billing, you can run the Detail Accounts Receivable Report and the Accounts Receivable by Invoice Report. You can look at individual timekeepers with the Timekeeper Status Report. If you have Tabs3 Cloud or Platinum Edition, the Accounts Receivable by Timekeeper Report is available.  

With that data in hand, you can take action. That might include sending reminder messages when a bill is a week late, and making a phone call when bills are 30 days late. You might even update your engagement agreement template to add more clarity about payment policies.  

Finally, remove barriers to payment. With Tabs3 Billing in Tabs3 Cloud, you can invoice by email and include a link that allows clients to pay electronically with the method of their choice via Tabs3Pay. Clients can pay faster, so you spend less time collecting bills. 

👉 Paperless Invoicing: A How to Guide for Busy Law Firms

3. Evaluate fee options

If your firm often struggles to collect on invoices, it may be time to reassess your fee structure.  

For example, you could experiment with alternative fee arrangements, like flat fees or milestone-based fees. If you are not already using alternative fees, check your local rules for guidance on fees paid in advance to make sure your trust account is in compliance. Tabs3 Billing in Tabs3 Cloud can handle virtually any alternative fee arrangement.  

Evergreen retainers are another option. Unlike a one-time retainer, an evergreen retainer is refilled once a set threshold (like dollar amount remaining) is reached. Earned fees are paid from the trust account, rather than by billing the client and waiting for payment. You can typically structure your retainer agreement to pause work or withdraw if the client does not refill the retainer as agreed. Tabs3 Billing makes managing evergreen retainers simple.  

Finally, you could allow clients to choose buy now, pay later options on your electronic payment platform. You get paid immediately, and the client pays the lender off in affordable monthly installments. Tabs3Pay in Tabs3 Billing includes PayPal’s Pay Later. 

Keep the revenue flowing with Tabs3 Cloud 

With Tabs3 Billing, your firm is supported throughout the revenue cycle, from time entry to collections. It integrates seamlessly with Tabs3 Financials, which handles your trust accounting, accounts payable, and general ledger. You can collect more in less time (and with less stress).  

Ready to learn more? Demo Tabs3 Cloud today.