Matter audit sheet.
Not a replacement for practice management software. A diagnostic — pull every active matter into one sheet to surface what your PM tool isn't showing, run a real weekly review, or bridge the smallest firms before they buy software.
A working spreadsheet with eleven columns and realistic sample rows, ready to clone and adapt. Runs in Google Sheets, Excel, or Numbers.
Three honest use cases: (1) the smallest firms (1–4 FE) running on email and calendar before they buy software; (2) any firm doing a quarterly audit — pulling everything into one place to surface what their PM tool isn't showing; (3) practice managers running the weekly capacity meeting.
What your PM software won't surface in one place: who owns what, what's stalled, what's been quietly waiting on a client for six weeks, what matters were 'active' three months ago and nobody's touched since.
| Matter ID | Client | Type | Status | Owner | Opened | Last touch | Next action | Due | Fee | WIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M-0241 | J Henderson | Conveyancing | Active | SM | 01 Apr | 18 Apr | Chase local searches | 22 Apr | £2,400 (Fxd) | £1,650 |
| M-0242 | Brook Ltd | Commercial | Waiting | RK | 03 Apr | 17 Apr | Client to return redlines | 24 Apr | £8,500 (Hrly) | £5,400 |
| M-0243 | Kaur | Wills | Active | AP | 10 Apr | 19 Apr | Draft executor letter | 23 Apr | £800 (Fxd) | £220 |
| M-0244 | Walton | Family | On hold | LD | 28 Mar | 02 Apr | Awaiting disclosure | — | — (Hrly) | — |
| M-0245 | Apex Builders | Commercial | Active | RK | 15 Apr | 19 Apr | Due-diligence review | 26 Apr | £12,000 (Hrly) | £3,200 |
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Setup (30 minutes)
- Open the CSV in Google Sheets or Excel. Save a copy with your firm's name.
- Freeze row 1 and column A. Set column widths — Next action wants to be the widest.
- Matter ID convention:
M-0001ascending. Don't reuse numbers. - Add data-validation to Status: Active, Waiting, On hold, Complete. Four statuses is plenty.
- Add data-validation to Owner: fee-earner initials. Keep it short.
The weekly review (30 minutes)
Tuesday morning, with a coffee, pull the sheet up on a screen the whole team can see. In order:
- Any row where Last touchis > 14 days old: decide one of — close it, move owner, book an action this week.
- Any row where Due is this week or past: confirm the owner is on it.
- Any row marked Waiting: decide whether it's really waiting on the client or whether legal dropped the ball.
- Any matter missing a Next action: don't leave the meeting without one.
When to evolve past a sheet
Somewhere between 100 and 200 active matters, or when you have more than 8–10 fee earners, this sheet gets painful. At that point see Do you need matter management software?
Notes from other operators.
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We also run Techsperience (legal-tech support) and Clearmatter (matter management). Mostly we write. Learn more →