German legal invoices may use RVG fees or agreed hourly rates. Everhour keeps matter time organized for billing review.
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A German attorney billing total answers a narrow question: given approved matter time, agreed rates, billable expenses, and VAT treatment, what amount should appear on the client invoice? The answer is normally in euros because Germany's official currency is the euro. The calculation is cleanest when the engagement uses an hourly remuneration agreement instead of a purely statutory fee.
The important first step is identifying the fee basis. In Germany, lawyer remuneration is calculated either under the Lawyers' Remuneration Act (RVG) or under an agreed remuneration arrangement between lawyer and client. For civil matters under the RVG, statutory attorney fees are generally based on matter value and legal activity, using the statutory fee table rather than hours worked.
Do not treat every German legal matter as a time-and-rate invoice. If the matter is billed under the RVG, the core inputs are the statutory fee schedule, the matter value, and the activity performed. Hours can still help with internal analysis, but they do not replace the statutory calculation for the client-facing fee.
If the matter uses an agreed hourly arrangement, the agreement matters before the math starts. A German attorney remuneration agreement must be in text form, clearly identified and separated from other agreements except the engagement itself, and it may not be included in the power of attorney. For court representation, agreed attorney fees generally cannot be lower than the statutory RVG amount.
For an hourly matter, multiply each approved billable entry by its agreed rate, add billable expenses, then apply VAT where applicable. Example: 17 partner hours at €210 equal €3,570, 9 associate hours at €140 equal €1,260, and €80 of billable expenses brings the net amount to €4,910. With German VAT at 19%, VAT is €932.90 and the gross total is €5,842.90.
Keep VAT treatment separate from the fee calculation. German VAT law sets the standard rate at 19% for taxable supplies, and attorney fees are stated by the German Federal Bar as amounts plus VAT where applicable. A Germany-based small entrepreneur's taxable domestic supplies are VAT-exempt if total turnover did not exceed €25,000 in the previous calendar year and does not exceed €100,000 in the current calendar year.
A German lawyer may demand remuneration only on the basis of a text-form calculation that states individual fees and expenses, advances, fee descriptions, applicable RVG schedule numbers, and the matter value where value-based fees apply. A calculator helps with the arithmetic, but it does not replace those invoice details or the engagement-specific billing basis.
A one-off calculation is enough for checking a single hourly invoice before sending it. A managed workflow is better when several people record time, mark tasks billable or non-billable, review write-downs, and hand approved totals to invoicing. Everhour fits that workflow by keeping billable status, rates, and invoice-ready reporting connected to the underlying time entries.
This content is for general information only, may not be fully up to date, and is provided without any warranty or liability.
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Hourly billing works when the lawyer and client have a valid remuneration agreement. In Germany, that agreement must be in text form, clearly identified, and separated from other agreements except the engagement itself. For court representation, the agreed fee generally cannot fall below the statutory RVG amount, so the hourly total still needs a statutory-fee check.
For civil matters under the RVG, the statutory attorney fee is generally calculated from the matter value and the legal activity performed, using the statutory fee table. Hours worked can support internal review, staffing analysis, or a separate hourly agreement, but they are not the main statutory input for the RVG fee.
Add German VAT only where it applies. The standard German VAT rate is 19% for taxable supplies, and attorney fees are stated as amounts plus VAT where applicable. If the supplier qualifies for the German small-business VAT exemption, taxable domestic supplies are VAT-exempt under the listed turnover limits.
A debtor on a payment claim is in default at the latest if payment is not made within 30 days after due date and receipt of an invoice or equivalent payment statement. For consumer debtors, the invoice must specifically warn of this consequence, so billing teams should not treat the 30-day rule as automatic without that notice.
The common mistake is multiplying hours by rates before confirming the matter's legal fee basis. If the matter is RVG-based, the calculation needs matter value and statutory fee details. If it is hourly, the calculation needs approved time, agreed rates, billable expenses, VAT treatment, and invoice details that match the remuneration agreement.
Everhour supports billable and non-billable time through project billing status, task-level non-billable controls, custom task rates, and member-rate exceptions. Admin reports can show billable time, non-billable time, billable amount, and cost, so review can happen before invoice totals are finalized.
Everhour Billing & Invoicing converts tracked billable time and expenses into invoices, calculates invoice amounts from rates while excluding non-billable work, and can group line items by project, task, person, or date. Export options include QuickBooks Online, Xero, and FreshBooks.
Track billable and non-billable legal work, review rates, and keep invoice-ready totals organized. Everhour gives teams cleaner billing reports from approved matter time.
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