Professional services
Law Firm Retainer Fee Calculator
Size a retainer and see how long it lasts at the expected burn rate before it needs replenishing.
Result
Business arithmetic for running a practice, not legal advice. Fee agreements, contingency limits, trust accounting and fee splitting are governed by the rules of professional conduct in your jurisdiction, and several of them are strict. Check the applicable rules before any of this affects a client agreement. Retainer funds are usually client money held in trust and drawn down only as fees are earned and billed, and the accounting rules around that are strict and strictly enforced. Commingling trust and operating funds is among the most serious professional violations there is.
Get a Free Business AuditQuestions
About this calculator
What is an evergreen retainer?
One that replenishes to its original level whenever it falls below a trigger, so the firm is never working against an empty balance. It largely eliminates collection risk where the client agrees to it.
Can I treat the retainer as income when received?
Generally not until it is earned. Unearned retainer funds are client money held in trust, and the rules on holding, accounting for and drawing on them are specific to each jurisdiction.
The formula
months covered = retainer / monthly burn; replenishment trigger = retainer x trigger share
Put this calculator on your site
Free to embed. Paste this where you want it to appear. It stays up to date automatically because it loads from BDEVY.
Please keep the attribution line. It is the only thing we ask in return.
Keep going
Related calculators
Estimating is the easy part
The jobs you never hear about cost more than the ones you mis-measure. BDEVY builds the marketing, systems and automation that bring them in.