Lynda ArtesaniLegal Accountant and Data Migration Specialist at The Proper Trust

The Hidden Billing Trap in Evergreen Retainers

23 Jun 2026 · 1 min

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0:30

In this segment, the speaker emphasizes the importance of actively monitoring billing under evergreen retainer agreements to prevent a firm from billing ahead of actual client payments. They warn that without proper oversight, a firm can accrue client hours without having the corresponding funds allocated, violating the agreement's terms. The discussion recommends establishing a reliable tracking method and, whenever possible, collecting costs upfront to align billing with available funds, thereby avoiding hidden billing traps.

You have to monitor what's happening so that you don't, as a firm, get ahead on your billing and incur more client hours if you don't have the funds per se in the right bucket because the agreement stipulates an evergreen style of management. So you want to make sure you have a tracking method. To your point, Steve, is if you're going to do the cost upfront as much as you can, you want to make sure you're doing a tracking method, set up these billing practices. Mm-hmm.