Time Billing for Conveyancing Matters in Australia: A Practical Guide

Conveyancing is one of the highest-volume practice areas in Australian law, and one where time billing often falls through the cracks. Many conveyancing matters are handled on fixed fees, but firms that do bill on time often struggle to capture all the small tasks that add up across a transaction — the quick calls to the agent, the title search reviews, the back-and-forth on special conditions.

Whether you bill conveyancing work on time or use time records to check the profitability of your fixed fees, accurate time recording is essential.

Common Billable Tasks in a Conveyancing Matter

A standard residential conveyancing transaction involves dozens of discrete tasks. Here are the most common ones, grouped by stage:

Pre-exchange / Pre-contract:

• Taking initial instructions from the client (purchaser or vendor)
• Reviewing the draft contract for sale
• Obtaining and reviewing title searches, plan searches, and survey reports
• Reviewing section 149 certificates (NSW) or equivalent planning certificates
• Advising the client on special conditions, sunset clauses, and risk provisions
• Negotiating amendments to the contract with the other party's solicitor
• Arranging building and pest inspections and reviewing reports

Exchange to settlement:

• Exchanging contracts and arranging deposit payment
• Liaising with the client's financier regarding mortgage documentation
• Requisitions on title — preparing, serving, and responding
• Reviewing mortgage documents from the lender
• Preparing transfer documents and settlement figures
• Arranging settlement — coordinating with the other party, financier, and settlement agent
• Attending to electronic settlement via PEXA or Sympli

Post-settlement:

• Confirming registration of transfer and mortgage
• Reporting to the client on completion
• Adjusting council rates, water rates, strata levies, and land tax
• Preparing final account and trust ledger reconciliation

Writing Effective Billing Descriptions for Conveyancing

Conveyancing billing descriptions tend to be repetitive across matters, which can lead to lazy recording. Avoid generic entries like "Work on conveyancing matter" or "Attend to settlement." Instead, include the property address or a short identifier, the specific task, and any relevant detail.

Good examples include: "Reviewing contract for sale for 42 Smith Street, Parramatta; identifying and advising client on sunset clause (Clause 28.4) permitting vendor rescission after 12 months," or "Preparing requisitions on title; raising query regarding unregistered easement disclosed in deposited plan DP 1234567."

These descriptions take only a few seconds longer to write but provide significantly more value — they justify the time claimed, they create a record of the work done, and they demonstrate to the client that specific, skilled work was performed on their matter.

Fixed Fee vs Time-Based Billing for Conveyancing

Many Australian firms offer conveyancing on a fixed-fee basis, particularly for standard residential transactions. Common fixed fees in the Sydney market range from $1,200 to $2,500 plus disbursements for a straightforward purchase or sale.

Even if you charge a fixed fee, recording your time is critical for profitability analysis. If your standard fixed fee for a residential purchase is $1,800 and your time records show you are consistently spending 8 hours at a charge-out rate of $350, you are earning an effective rate of $225 per hour — significantly less than your standard rate. This data allows you to identify matters that are unprofitable and adjust your pricing or processes accordingly.

Time recording on fixed-fee matters also protects the firm if the matter becomes more complex than anticipated. If a conveyancing matter that was quoted at $1,800 turns into a property dispute requiring 30 hours of work, having detailed time records supports a conversation with the client about additional costs.

Electronic Settlement and Billing

The shift to electronic settlement through PEXA and Sympli has changed the billing landscape for conveyancing. Settlement day used to involve a solicitor physically attending a settlement room, often waiting for other parties — time that was easily billed as "Attend upon settlement — 1.2 hours."

Electronic settlement is faster but still involves work: preparing the PEXA workspace, verifying settlement figures, confirming financial settlement, and monitoring the lodgement of documents. Some firms have adjusted their billing practices to reflect this — billing less time for settlement attendance but adding entries for PEXA workspace preparation and post-settlement verification.

The key is to record the actual time spent on these tasks, even if they take less time than the old paper-based process. Accurate time data helps the firm set appropriate fixed fees and ensures that if the firm bills on time, the entries reflect the reality of modern conveyancing practice.

Disbursements in Conveyancing

Conveyancing matters typically involve significant disbursements that must be accurately recorded and passed on to the client. Common disbursements include title searches (NSW Land Registry Services), plan searches, section 149/10.7 planning certificates, strata inspection reports, building and pest inspection reports, PEXA lodgement fees, registration fees, and stamp duty (if the solicitor arranges payment).

Each disbursement should be recorded with the date, the provider, the amount (excluding GST), and whether GST applies. Some disbursements — particularly government fees like stamp duty and registration fees — are GST-free, and this distinction must be maintained in your billing system.

Getting the disbursement record right is not just a billing issue — it is a trust accounting compliance issue. Disbursements paid from trust must be properly authorised and reconciled, and the client's final account must accurately reflect all trust transactions.