Support · Expenses

Expenses

Expenses are what your practice spends – chambers costs, software, insurance, filing fees, and so on. Recording them keeps your profit, GST and tax figures right, and lets you pass on-matter costs (disbursements) to the client. This guide shows you how. Every step has a picture, and the thing to click is circled in it.

Last updated: 19/07/2026

If at any point your screen does not look like the picture, stop and email support@lexbrief.au – we would rather help than have you guess.

Before you start

If this is your very first time in LexBrief, read Your first day in LexBrief Counsel first. This guide is about expenses on their own.

A note on wording: the dark strip of links down the left-hand side of the screen is the menu. When we say "click Expenses in the left-hand menu", we mean click the word Expenses in that dark strip.

The kinds of expense

When you record an expense you tell LexBrief what kind it is. This decides how it is treated in your reports. The kinds are:

  • General expense – the everyday running costs of your practice: chambers fees, software, insurance, stationery. This is the usual choice.
  • Capital expense – a larger one-off purchase, such as equipment.
  • Disbursement – a cost you incur on a particular matter and pass on to the client, such as a filing fee or a transcript. A disbursement is always attached to a matter (see Disbursements below).
  • Tax payment – money you pay the ATO, such as a BAS payment, a PAYG instalment, or your end-of-year tax bill.
  • Personal expense – personal spending or drawings you want tracked but which is not a business cost.

You do not have to get this perfect – you can change the kind later by opening the expense and editing it.

Your expenses list

Click Expenses in the left-hand menu. You see a list of everything you have recorded, with the date, description, payee, category, amounts and GST.

The Expenses list, showing one row per expense with description, payee, category and amounts

Just above the list is a row of tabs – All, General, Capital, Tax payment, and so on. Click a tab to see only that kind of expense. The number on each tab is how many you have of that kind.

The expense-type tabs above the expenses list, circled

Record an expense

1. Click "New expense"

On the Expenses page, click the gold New expense button in the top-right corner.

The New expense button in the top-right of the Expenses page, circled

2. Choose the kind of expense

At the top of the form, the Expense Type box sets the kind (see The kinds of expense above). It starts on General Expense – leave it there for an ordinary practice cost.

The Expense Type box at the top of the new expense form, circled

3. Describe it

In the Description box, type what the expense was for – for example Chambers rent – July 2026. Check the Date below it (it starts on today; change it if the cost was on another day).

The Description box on the new expense form, circled

4. Enter the amount

In the Amount section, type what you paid. You can enter it three ways, whichever you have to hand:

  • $ incl. GST – the total you paid, GST included.
  • $ excl. GST – the amount before GST.
  • $ GST – the GST portion on its own.

Fill in the one you know and LexBrief works out the others. The GST box on the left controls whether GST is added at the standard 10%, set to nil, or entered by hand.

The Amount section of the new expense form, circled

5. Add the payee and category (optional)

In Payee & category you can record who you paid and put the expense in a category (such as Insurance or Software) so your reports group it sensibly. Pick from the lists, or type a new payee or category to add it.

The Payee and category section of the new expense form, circled

6. Attach a receipt (optional)

To keep the receipt with the expense, click the Click to upload a receipt box and choose the file (a photo or a PDF).

The receipt upload box on the new expense form, circled

7. Save

Click Save at the bottom. The expense now appears in your Expenses list.

The Save button at the bottom of the new expense form, circled

Disbursements – costs you pass on to a client

A disbursement is a cost you incur on a particular matter and pass on to the client – a court filing fee, a transcript, an expert's account. It is recorded like any other expense, with one difference: it must be attached to a matter, so it can be billed on that matter's invoice.

There are two easy ways to record one:

  • On the Expenses form, set the Expense Type to Disbursement. A Matter box then must be filled in – choose the matter it belongs to.
  • Or, from the matter itself: open the matter, go to its Disbursements tab, and click New disbursement – the matter is filled in for you.

The new expense form set to Disbursement, with the Matter box circled

Good to know: once a disbursement is added to an invoice and that invoice is issued, the disbursement is locked so its figures cannot drift – exactly like the time entries on an invoice. To change it, unissue or void the invoice first.

Expenses that repeat

Some costs come round on a schedule: chambers rent every month, insurance every quarter, your practising certificate once a year. Instead of typing each one out again, you can set it up once as a recurring expense. LexBrief then reminds you each time it falls due.

Nothing is ever recorded in your books on its own. A due expense waits for you to click Confirm. That is deliberate, for three reasons: the amount often changes (a phone or electricity bill is rarely the same twice); a recorded expense usually wants its receipt attached; and confirming by hand stops a catch-up run writing an expense into a financial year you have already lodged.

Open the recurring expenses page

Click Expenses in the left-hand menu, then click the Recurring button along the top of the page.

The Recurring button along the top of the Expenses page, circled

What you should see: a page headed Recurring expenses, with two tabs across the top: Recurring expenses (the list of the ones you have set up) and To confirm (the ones that have fallen due and are waiting on you). The number beside each tab tells you how many.

The Recurring expenses page, with the Recurring expenses and To confirm tabs circled and a count beside each

How to set up an expense that repeats

1. Start a new one

On the Recurring expenses page, click the gold New recurring expense button in the top-right corner.

2. Choose the kind of expense

The Expense Type box at the top works exactly as it does on an ordinary expense (see The kinds of expense above). It starts on General Expense.

3. Describe it

In the Description box, type what the cost is for – for example Chambers rent June 2026.

Underneath is a switch: Roll the month named in the description forward each time. Switch it on if your description names a month. Chambers rent June 2026 then becomes Chambers rent July 2026 on the next occurrence, and so on. If the description names no month, the switch does nothing.

4. Say how often it repeats

In the How often section, use the Repeats box to pick one of: Daily, Weekly, Fortnightly, Monthly, Quarterly, Half-yearly or Annual. If none of those fits, choose Custom… and two more boxes appear so you can say Every so many days, weeks, months or years.

The new recurring expense form, with the Repeats box circled and the First due on and Ends boxes beside it

5. Set the first date

In the First due on box, put the date it is next due – for example 01/08/2026. Every later occurrence is worked out from this date.

Month-ends look after themselves. A monthly expense first due on the 31st falls on the last day of any shorter month – 30 June, 28 February – and then goes back to the 31st in the months that have one. It never quietly drifts earlier.

6. Say when it should stop

The Ends box has three choices. Say what you know:

  • Never – it keeps going until you pause or end it. This is the usual choice for rent.
  • On a date – a Last due on box appears. Use this for a fixed-term cost.
  • After a number of times – a Number of times box appears. Use this for, say, twelve instalments.

7. Fill in the amount and the rest

The Amount, Payee & category, Matter and Notes sections are the same as on an ordinary expense. Put in the usual amount. If the bill differs one month, you correct it when you confirm it – you are not locked in.

8. Save

Click Create recurring expense at the bottom.

What you should see: you are returned to the Recurring expenses list, with your new one in it showing its description, how often it repeats, the Next due date, the payee, the amount and a Status of Active.

Confirming an expense that has fallen due

When the date arrives, the expense does not post itself. It waits for you, in two places – whichever you happen to be looking at.

From your dashboard

Click Dashboard in the left-hand menu. On the Diary/Action Item Summary card you will see a column headed Expenses to confirm, listing each due expense with its date, description and amount including GST. Each one has two buttons:

  • Confirm – records the expense, at the amount shown, then and there.
  • Skip – dismisses this one occurrence. The series carries on as normal; only this instance is passed over.

The column only appears when something is actually due, so an empty dashboard means there is nothing waiting.

The Expenses to confirm column on the dashboard Diary/Action Item Summary card, circled, with Confirm and Skip buttons beside each due expense

From the To confirm tab

Click Expenses in the left-hand menu, then Recurring, then the To confirm tab across the top. You get the same list in a fuller table, with the same Confirm and Skip buttons.

Below it, Recently dealt with shows the ones you have already handled and what happened to each – Recorded (with a view expense link straight to it) or Skipped. It is there so you can check you did not miss anything.

The To confirm tab listing two due expenses with Confirm and Skip buttons, and the Recently dealt with table below

If the amount has changed

This will happen often with utilities. You have two ways to deal with it, both fine:

  1. Click Confirm, then open the new expense from your Expenses list and edit the amount (and attach the receipt while you are there).
  2. Or click Skip, and record the expense by hand with New expense.
If you have been away: LexBrief works out at most 12 missed occurrences for any one repeating expense in a single catch-up. So coming back after a long break will not bury you in a hundred items. Deal with what is there and the rest follow along behind.

One thing LexBrief will not let you do: confirm an expense dated inside a financial year you have already lodged a tax return for. It will say so, and ask you to record it at a date in the current financial year instead. That is protecting your lodged figures.

Pausing, changing or ending a repeating expense

Go to Expenses in the left-hand menu, then Recurring, and stay on the Recurring expenses tab. Each row has its own buttons on the right:

  • Pause – stops it falling due for now, without losing the setup. The Status changes to Paused and the row goes grey.
  • Resume – appears in place of Pause once something is paused. Click it to start the reminders again.
  • Edit – opens the same form you filled in, so you can change the amount, how often it repeats, or when it ends. Click Save changes at the bottom.

To stop one for good, open it with Edit and click the red Delete recurring expense button at the bottom. A small pop-up box asks you to confirm.

Good to know: deleting a repeating expense only stops future reminders. Every expense you have already confirmed from it stays in your books, untouched. If you may want it back later, Pause is the gentler choice.

What next

These guides cover the areas expenses connect to:

Stuck on anything at all? Email support@lexbrief.au – a real person reads it, usually the same working day.