Fee notes, matters and client money: billing software for lawyers and attorneys in Mauritius
Lawyers and attorneys in Mauritius: matter files, a timer with hourly rates, disbursements at cost, a client money ledger and locked invoices. 14-day Envoice.mu trial, no card.
Imagine chambers on a narrow street in Port Louis, a short walk from the courts. It's Friday afternoon. A client on a property matter phones to ask for a breakdown of everything he has paid since January, because his bank wants it. The fee notes were typed in Word and saved in three different folders; the payments came by cheque, bank transfer and once in cash; and there's a registration fee you paid on his behalf in March that you're not sure was ever billed back. Your secretary starts opening files. The client says he'll wait.
The fee note nobody can find
Invoice Blindness is the gap between work billed and money you can actually see. The advice was given, the fee notes went out, and still nobody in the office can say quickly what the client has paid, what's outstanding, and since when.
Small firms and sole practitioners feel it most because billing is squeezed between hearings. Fee notes get drafted from old ones, renumbered by hand, sometimes edited after they've gone out. Time tends to be reconstructed at month end instead of written down when it was spent. Payments are matched to matters from memory. Clients aren't the problem; they usually pay when a clear fee note reaches them. The problem is that the record of each matter is spread across Word, email, the bank app and a diary.
How a matter runs in Envoice
The Professional practice add-on gives you matter files, a diary and charges, with roles for the secretary, billing and the practitioner. A matter runs from opening the file, to recording advice and time, to reviewing the period, to the invoice. Creating or changing practice records needs the add-on on Starter Plus (see current pricing a month) or a higher plan.
| On the fee note | How Envoice handles it |
|---|---|
| Your fee estimate before you start | A quote the client can accept on their phone |
| Time spent | The matter timer, or minutes entered by hand, at the matter's hourly rate or your own default rate |
| Fees and expenses for a period | Charges you review, then bill into a draft invoice that you issue; it locks once issued |
| A correction or a reduced fee | A credit note, so the original stays on record |
| Payment by cheque, transfer, cash or Juice | Recorded against the invoice, with a numbered receipt for the client |
| A retainer billed monthly | A recurring invoice, with payment reminders if it goes unpaid |
For the client on the phone, that means one place to look. His invoices, his payments and his receipts are all there, and you can share them by WhatsApp link. Envoice records payments; it doesn't collect them online.
Time, disbursements and client money
Matter details and the conflict check. Each matter holds the parties, the opposing party, opposing counsel, the court and the case number. When you enter an opposing party, Envoice checks that name against the parties and opposing parties on your other matters and shows any match as a possible conflict. It's a prompt to look, not a ruling; you decide.
The timer. Press start when the call begins and stop when it ends. The minutes drop into the entry, you describe the work, and it's saved as unbilled time on the matter. Set an hourly rate for the matter, or a default rate for yourself.
Disbursements at cost. When you pay a court filing fee for the client, you record it as paid on the client's behalf. It's billed at cost with no VAT added, as it's outside the scope of VAT, and it still shows on the invoice. When you recharge an expense as your own, it's billed at the standard rate. Your accountant will confirm which of your expenses fall into each group.
Client money. Each matter has a ledger for money you hold for the client: money received, money paid out to settle a bill, and refunds. The balance on a matter can't go below zero, so Envoice refuses a payment larger than what you hold. To pay a bill from it, the invoice must already be issued, and in the default client account mode you record the date the client authorised it. Only an owner, an administrator or a practitioner can move money out. The ledger helps you follow your client-money rules, but it doesn't make a firm compliant by itself, and the rules that apply to your practice stay your responsibility. Paying a bill from the ledger takes you to the invoice, where you record the payment as usual.
If your firm passes Rs 3m in turnover, VAT registration is compulsory from 1 October 2026; see VAT registration above Rs 3 million. Envoice's VAT Manager prepares the monthly worksheet and the VT03 annex, and you file on the MRA portal yourself.
What to look for in legal billing software
Ask these before you commit to anything:
- Are invoices numbered automatically and locked once issued?
- Can each payment be tied to a specific invoice, with a receipt the client can keep?
- Can you show a client everything they've paid on a matter in a minute?
- Do staff get their own logins and roles, with two-step login available?
- Can time be recorded as it happens, at a rate that's set once?
- When the vendor talks about client money, do they say exactly what the software does, and what stays your responsibility?
Getting started this week
- Start the free trial and add the firm's details, BRN and VAT number if registered.
- Add the Professional practice add-on, from Starter Plus up, for matter files and the diary.
- Open your ten most active matters and enter the invoices still unpaid on each.
- Set your hourly rate and time your next phone call with the timer.
- Create logins for your secretary and billing staff, each with their own role.
- Record this week's payments against their invoices and give each client a receipt.
Try it on your active matters
The trial gives you a free trial on the free plan with no card required. The Professional practice add-on isn't part of the trial. You add it to your plan, and it needs Starter Plus or above. Prices are per workspace, before VAT. Visit www.envoice.mu, or WhatsApp +230 5881 9999 if you'd like help setting it up for chambers or a small firm.
Know who owes you. Keep the proof.