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Expense Management for Law Firms

Law firm expense management software built around matters

Capture Expense is expense management software for law firms that ties every client claim to its matter and fee earner from the first receipt. Partners approve on the move, and finance get records that stand up to audit and Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) scrutiny.

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Trusted by finance teams at

  • 4.9/5

Client costs tied to the right matter

Matter reference and fee earner travel with each claim, ready for disbursement recharge and practice management exports.

Partners approve from court

Partners approve in the mobile app between hearings, and out-of-office delegation keeps claims moving during a trial.

Records that stand up to audit and SRA scrutiny

Receipts, approvals, and changes are timestamped and exportable, with a read-only auditor role for external review.

It took us nearly 3 years to find the right platform for us, and we couldn’t be happier with the savings and the excellent service we’ve received from Capture Expense
Natalie Moreton, Finance Director, Crimson

  • £12,250

    saved annually

  • 98%

    time saved on expense processing

Crimson

Paper expense forms compared with Capture Expense

  • Receipts

    Paper forms and email
    Paper forms and lost receipts from fee earners on the road
    Capture Expense
    Receipts sent by photo, WhatsApp, or Teams

  • Disbursements

    Paper forms and email
    Recorded late and missed off client bills
    Capture Expense
    Tagged to a matter and fee earner when the claim is submitted

  • Approvals

    Paper forms and email
    Partners chased between hearings
    Capture Expense
    Approved in the mobile app, with out-of-office delegation

  • Audit requests

    Paper forms and email
    Answered from email chains and filing cabinets
    Capture Expense
    Answered from one exportable record

Matter and fee earner tagging

Disbursements reach the client bill on time

Every client expense carries the matter reference and fee earner, so disbursements are recharged instead of missed off client bills.

  • Fee earners record the matter reference on every claim when they submit it.
  • The fee earner is captured alongside it, so each disbursement is ready to recharge.
  • Matter and fee earner travel with the claim into practice management exports.

Mobile and chat capture

Fee earners claim between hearings

Fee earners send receipts by app, WhatsApp, or Teams, and mileage is calculated from the court's postcode.

  • Receipts go in by app, WhatsApp, or Teams, whichever is to hand between hearings.
  • Mileage is calculated from the destination postcode at HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) approved mileage rates.
  • Each mileage claim shows the distance and CO2 alongside the amount.
  • Native iOS and Android apps with full parity let fee earners capture, claim, approve, and administer on the move.

Building the case for law firm expense management software?

Capture Expense covers you at every stage of spend. From saving days reconciling your credit cards to getting customised insights in an instant with your finance copilot, here’s everything you need to know about Capture Expense.

Download the brochure

Partner approval

Approvals reach the right partner first time

Claims route by department, matter type, or category, with out-of-office delegation so nothing waits for a trial.

  • Multi-stage Approval Records keep every stage on record, from line manager to finance or partner.
  • Spend limits and category overrides send each claim to the approver who should see it.
  • Out-of-office delegation hands approvals to a colleague while a partner is in court or on a trial.
  • Partners approve in the iOS or Android app without returning to a desk.

Policy control

Entertaining, alcohol, and gift rules enforced at the claim

Smart Audit enforces entertaining, alcohol, and gift rules on every claim, so finance isn't arguing policy after the event.

  • Entertaining, alcohol, and gift claims are checked against your rules before approval.
  • Weekend spend, missing categories, and incomplete claims are flagged in the approval queue.
  • The reason for each decision travels with the claim to the approver.

Audit trail

An audit trail ready for external review

Audit requests are answered from one record rather than email chains and filing cabinets.

  • Every receipt, approval, and change is timestamped and exportable for SRA or external audit requests.
  • A read-only auditor role gives external reviewers access without touching live claims.
  • Capture Expense is Cyber Essentials certified, Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) registered, and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliant.
Approval queue
Stage 1 Stage 2 Finance

Jonny Dowell

Claim 145

£199.39

11 February 2025

  • Meeting

    Mileage

    Modified 6%450 miCO2 124 kg

    £112.50

    VAT £0.00

  • M&S

    Meals and drinks

    Duplicate expenseIncomplete

    £26.80

    VAT £0.00

  • 2 Knives Bar and Kitchen

    Meals and drinks

    Approval 1 of 2Event to London, 191 mi

    £48.10

    VAT £8.01

  • Tamworth Burger King

    Missing category

    IncompleteWeekend

    £11.99

    VAT £0.00

Smart Audit

Rejected Duplicate expense

2 Knives Bar and Kitchen

Event and client meet, 307 mi, 9 hrs

£20.00

VAT £8.01

  • Receipt read and matched to the card line
  • VAT receipt present, £8.01 reclaimable
  • Same merchant, date and amount as claim 145, line 3

Why trust Capture Expense?

700k+
Receipts every year
£45m+
In spend every year
18m
Miles tracked every year

Smart Audit checks every claim against policy and VAT rules

  • Policy, VAT, and history checks

    Smart Audit checks each claim against your policy, VAT rules, and claim history.

  • Receipts matched to card lines

    Smart Audit reads each receipt and matches it to the corporate card line.

  • Duplicates caught before approval

    A claim with the same merchant, date, and amount as an earlier one is flagged as a duplicate.

  • Approve, reject, or escalate

    Smart Audit approves, rejects, or escalates each claim with the reasons attached.

Legal teams cutting manual expense work

Legal

Greenwoods Legal LLP put an end to manual expense forms. In their first 12 weeks of using Capture Expense, they saw:

Read the case study

  • £5,250

    saved on expense processing

  • 36 hours

    saved on expense processing

  • 35%

    increase in VAT recovery

Posts into the finance systems law firms already run

Capture Expense posts into Xero, Sage, Business Central, NetSuite, Access, and other practice finance systems.

  • Xero
  • Sage
  • Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
  • NetSuite
  • Access
See all integrations

Law firm expense management software FAQs

What is law firm expense management software?
Law firm expense management software lets fee earners submit expenses against a client matter while partners and finance approve, recharge, and record them. Capture Expense is built around matters, so every client claim carries its matter reference and fee earner from the first receipt.

How do disbursements get from a fee earner's claim to the client bill?
Fee earners record the matter reference when they submit a claim by app, WhatsApp, or Teams, and the fee earner is captured alongside it. Disbursements are then ready to recharge and flow into practice management exports. Capture Expense posts into Xero, Sage, Business Central, NetSuite, Access, and other practice finance systems.

Can partners approve expenses from court?
Yes. Partners approve claims in the Capture Expense iOS or Android app, which has full parity with the desktop. Out-of-office delegation hands approvals to a colleague during a trial, so nothing waits for a partner to reach a desk.

How is VAT on disbursements and client entertaining handled?
Smart Audit checks every claim against VAT rules and shows whether a valid VAT receipt is present and how much VAT is reclaimable. Entertaining, alcohol, and gift rules are enforced on each claim before approval. That matters because HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) blocks VAT recovery on most client entertaining.

Does Capture Expense help with SRA Accounts Rules and audit?
Yes, for your expense records. Receipts, approvals, and changes are timestamped and exportable, and a read-only auditor role gives external reviewers access without touching live claims. Compliance with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Accounts Rules stays with your firm and its Compliance Officer for Finance and Administration (COFA).

How do we get started with Capture Expense?
Book a 30-minute demo and bring a couple of real claims and details of your finance system. The Capture Expense team shows you how each claim flows from receipt to ledger and replies to enquiries within one working day.

Is Capture Expense secure?
Yes. Capture Expense is Cyber Essentials certified, Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) registered, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliant, and a Crown Commercial Service G-Cloud supplier. It's hosted on Azure, and the Security and trust page has the detail.

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Features best suited to law firm expense management

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