Report: Top law firms hit by late payment issues, reveals CFO survey from Elite
Global 200 Law Firms Serving Corporate and High-Net-Worth Clients Plagued by Late Payments and E-Billing Issues, Reveals Latest Elite Research Report
CFOs at some of the world’s top law firms say that late payments from clients are a persistent problem and that e-billing represents a major challenge for their firms, according to new research from leading legal enterprise SaaS company Elite.
Based on more than 20 in-depth interviews with CFOs at Global 200 law firms across the US, UK, and Australia, the report shines new light on the importance of revenue cycle management for modern law firms, as well as some of the key challenges facing those tasked with improving it.
Late client payments are a recurring issue for law firm CFOs, with nearly two in five (38%) saying that at least half of their clients pay their invoices late, resulting in invoices being outstanding for an overall average of 83 days. The findings suggest that law firms operate with one of the highest days sales outstanding (DSO) compared with other industry averages, according to recent data from PwC. More than two in five (42%) CFOs surveyed by Elite said that not following best practices internally is the most common cause for delays in billing and invoicing.
To try to tackle this challenge, nearly half (45%) of firms say they are using financial penalties internally—such as withholding bonuses—to help ensure that their lawyers are accurately tracking time and submitting timesheets. In addition, nearly a third (31%) of CFOs said that improving their e-billing processes, including consolidating to a single e-billing system, would be the single most impactful change that would improve their firm’s operational efficiency.
Finally, most CFOs (68%) say they are already using, or exploring the use of, automation and AI to reduce or eliminate time-consuming manual processes. One such area identified by respondents is ensuring compliance with Outside Counsel Guidelines (OCGs), for which the majority of CFOs (71%) say they still rely on an entirely manual review process.
Elite has recently introduced several innovations which directly address many of the challenges identified in the report, including digital payments and AI-driven OCG compliance. Elite’s invoice management solution, Elite Payments, is now fully integrated into its flagship SaaS enterprise platform 3E, providing law firms with fast, secure, and flexible client billing capabilities. Adoption is accelerating, and Elite has seen a threefold increase in monthly transactions since January, with users reporting reductions in time-to-payment of up to 40%. Earlier this year, Elite launched Elite Validate, a purpose-built, AI-powered billing compliance solution which streamlines the OCG review process, automating and simplifying a traditionally lengthy and complex task to help law firms get paid faster.
Late payments have been a perennial issue for Global 200 firm Gunderson Dettmer. “Clients would tell our collections team that the check was ‘in the mail’, and the check wouldn’t arrive for another three weeks,” explained Bryan Rosenberg, Director of Finance. But after adopting flexible billing capabilities now embedded within Elite Payments, the firm saw an immediate decrease in time spent chasing payments and a reduction in discounting invoices of around 25%. “Our clients are happy because they have access to even more resources to grow their business, and our partners are able to dedicate even more time to their clients and their growth. Finally, we are happy we don’t have to play bank for our clients. It’s a win-win,” added Rosenberg.
“Good revenue cycle management really matters to a firm’s financial health, but as we can see, 2025 has been fraught with challenges. CFOs are clearly on the front line, working hard to protect their firm’s bottom line while ensuring the adoption of best practices and fit-for-purpose processes to steer them through an increasingly tough economic environment,” said Mark Dorman, CEO of Elite. “For law firm CFOs to succeed, the right technology is absolutely crucial. By automating and streamlining core financial management processes, they can convert work into cash faster and more efficiently and get those all-important invoices paid much quicker.”
The full report is available on the Elite website by visiting: https://www.elite.com/2025-revenue-cycle-survey/.
