Skip to main content
Use case studies

REVENUE RECOGNITION & CONTRACT-TO-CASH

Billing that waits for the number, not the other way around.

How a legal services firm automated a four-phase billing lifecycle for estate planning fees that aren't known until mid-engagement.

Legal Services: Estate Planning Revenue Recognition
1

Targeting 200 new estates/month by late 2026

2

billing is 1% of estate value, unknown until mid-engagement

3

four-phase automated billing lifecycle

4

deferred revenue amortized over a 12-month term

01

The problem

The problem

A growing estate planning firm billed 1% of final estate value, a number that isn't confirmed until roughly six months into a 12 to 18 month engagement. Sales staff manually created invoices in QuickBooks after every client call, revenue recognition lived in Excel, and HubSpot wasn't connected to QuickBooks, so "Closed Won" was a manual step. Nothing triggered a mid-engagement invoice when the estate value was finally confirmed. At 1,000+ estates a year, the Excel process was set to break.

02

What Loopfour automated

What Loopfour automated
PhaseTimingWhat happens
Order form signedDay 0Contract detected in HubSpot, branded invoice generated, sales rep approves via Slack, invoice sent
Deposit collectedDays 1-14Stripe payment confirmed, HubSpot flipped to Closed Won, implementation team notified
Marshaling assets~Month 6Slack prompt to confirm estate value, mid-term invoice drafted, rev rec schedule updated
Final true-upMonth 12-181% of estate minus all payments, final invoice issued, revenue recognized, case closed

Revenue recognition follows the engagement itself: deferred at a $9,000 minimum through month 3, flipping to unbilled as services are performed, re-amortized once the estate value is confirmed at month 6, and trued up with a final invoice for the delta at close.

03

Why it matters for controllers

Why it matters for controllers

A rev rec schedule that updates itself the moment new contract information arrives means finance stops chasing amendments after the fact.

Billing on a number that isn't confirmed until mid-contract?

Book a demo