WIP Aging Report

When to use this

Use this skill to:

• Run the monthly or weekly WIP review to identify stale unbilled time before it becomes uncollectable.
• Prepare the partner billing meeting — each partner sees their matter list sorted by WIP age.
• Identify matters where an interim bill is overdue (WIP exceeds agreed billing cadence or credit limit).
• Flag likely write-off candidates before year-end so provisions can be made.
• Monitor whether fee-capped matters are approaching their cap (remaining fee capacity vs. remaining WIP).

WIP left unbilled degrades over time: clients forget the work, dispute the descriptions, or face their own budget pressure. The longer WIP ages, the more likely it is to be written down or off.

Core concepts

What is WIP?

Work-in-progress (WIP) is time entered and expenses recorded against a matter that has not yet been invoiced. It sits on the firm's balance sheet as an asset until billed (when it becomes accounts receivable) or written off (when it becomes a loss).