WIP Finance for Law Firms & Professional Practices
Profitable on paper.
Tight on cash.
Long matters, delayed billing and extended lock-up periods can leave substantial value tied up in work already completed. WIP and disbursement funding can release some of that value while the matter runs its course.
- Confidential, no-obligation discussion
- Whole of market access
- We are a broker, not a lender
“A very quick and efficient service from Simon.”
- Lender searchWhole of marketNot tied to any one lender
- Instant QuotesNo credit searchSee indicative quotes first
- Who we helpProfessional practicesSole traders, partnerships, LLPs and companies
- Our roleSpecialist brokerWe approach suitable lenders for you
Quick answer
What is WIP finance?
WIP finance is funding secured against work in progress: work a law firm or professional practice has completed but not yet billed or been paid for. It releases part of that value as cash while matters run their course, which helps firms with long cases and high lock-up. We arrange WIP, disbursement and costs funding with specialist lenders across the market.
The pressure
The work is done. The cash isn’t in.
In most professional firms, salaries are paid monthly while fees arrive when a matter concludes, a bill is agreed, or costs are recovered from the other side. For firms running personal injury, clinical negligence, commercial litigation or long conveyancing chains, that gap can stretch to many months.
Meanwhile the firm is also paying counsel, experts and court fees out of its own pocket, and its PII renewal, VAT quarter and partners’ tax bills arrive on their own timetable.
The Law Society lists WIP and disbursement funding among the funding options a law firm could consider to support cash flow, alongside court-fee finance and aged-debt funding. (Law Society: seven funding options your law firm could consider)
Not every firm needs it. But for firms with long matters and heavy outlay, it can change what the firm is able to take on.
Different products, one problem
Five ways to release cash from casework.
“Getting a business loan can feel like a bit of a minefield, but everything was broken down for me in great detail.”
WIP Finance
Release cash tied up in work in progress.
Explore WIP Finance →Disbursement Finance
Fund counsel, expert witnesses, court fees and other costs before recovery.
Explore Disbursement Finance →Costs Finance
Bridge the period between case settlement and receipt of costs.
Explore Costs Finance →Court Fees & Case Costs
Issue proceedings and progress matters without waiting on cash.
Explore Court Fee Finance →Aged Debt & Lock-up
Release cash from bills already issued but still unpaid.
Explore Lock-up Finance →How WIP finance works
Borrowing against work already done.
WIP funding is usually a facility sized against the firm’s recorded, recoverable work in progress, with the lender looking closely at the quality of that WIP: the types of matter, how reliably they convert to fees, and how long that typically takes.
Depending on the lender, it may be structured as a revolving facility that grows with the firm’s WIP, or as a term loan. Repayment usually tracks the firm’s billing and cash collection.
How we help
A specialist corner of the market.
Relatively few lenders fund WIP, disbursements and costs, and they differ widely: some specialise in personal injury, some in commercial litigation, some fund portfolios rather than individual cases.
We aren’t tied to any of them. We look at your practice areas, lock-up and case management, search the market for funders with an appetite for your type of work, and manage the process from first conversation to drawdown.
- Whole of market accessHigh street banks, specialist and private lenders.
- Specialist understandingLenders who understand how practices earn and grow.
- Your case, properly presentedStructured and put to lenders suited to it.
- With you to completionFrom the first conversation to funds arriving.
What lenders will want to see
What lenders will look at.
- Time-recording and WIP reports, and how WIP is valued
- Matter types and historic conversion from WIP to cash
- Lock-up days (WIP plus debtors) and how they have moved
- Case management and risk assessment processes, especially for conditional-fee work
- Accounts, existing borrowing and the partners’ position
- SRA standing, PII in place, and any regulatory history
Questions
What firms usually ask.
Is WIP finance the same as invoice finance?
No. Invoice finance funds bills that have already been issued. WIP finance funds work before a bill is raised, which is why fewer lenders offer it and why they look more closely at the firm’s case management.
We do mostly conditional-fee work. Can that be funded?
Some specialist funders focus on exactly that. They will want to understand how cases are assessed and what the firm’s historic success rate looks like.
Will this affect our client account?
No. Borrowing is for the firm’s office account. Client money rules are unaffected.
Can WIP finance fund conditional fee work?
Some lenders will fund work on conditional fee agreements, but they look closely at the case types, the firm’s success rates and how long matters take to conclude. Appetite varies widely across the market, so we approach lenders already comfortable with your type of caseload. See also costs finance for the settlement stage.
How is WIP finance different from an overdraft?
An overdraft is a general facility, while WIP finance is assessed on the value of work in progress and how reliably it turns into bills and cash. That can mean more funding is available for firms whose value sits in unbilled work. Which suits you depends on your lock-up and the lenders involved.
Success stories
WIP Finance in practice.
In our clients’ words
“I’d like to say a big thank you to Simon and the team for successfully assisting with the sourcing and placing of our most recent funding. Simon was able to secure a lend when others appeared to have run out of appetite to place business or source viable options. I would highly recommend Simon should you need to raise capital or finance for your business needs.”
Knowledge Hub
Read the guides.
Buying a Professional Practice: Every Cost You Need to Fund
A cross-profession checklist of what you need to fund when buying a law, accountancy, vet, pharmacy, optician, funeral, medical or architects’ practice, and the order to arrange it in.
Read the guide →Funding Partner Retirement, Buy-outs and Practice Succession
How partnerships, LLPs and practice owners fund a retiring partner’s capital and goodwill, internal buy-outs and succession, and why planning early makes it easier.
Read the guide →WIP Finance for Law Firms: Funding Work in Progress, Disbursements and Lock-Up
Why profitable law firms run short of cash, the funding options that bridge work in progress and disbursements, and what lenders look at when assessing a firm.
Read the guide →Let's talk
How much of your firm’s value is sitting in WIP?
Let’s talk about releasing some of it.
Before you approach a lender, speak to someone who understands the transaction. Confidential, no-obligation initial discussion.
