Costs disclosure and costs agreements, signed online
Fixed fees, estimates with ranges, hourly rates and disbursements in one clear agreement, from your firm's own approved wording.
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A QuoteCloud costs agreement sets out the basis of your fees in a price table: fixed fees, estimates with a range, hourly work and disbursements as their own group, with tax on the fees. Your disclosure wording comes from a locked library block (Business) or your own PDF, and every party signs online with a certificate and audit trail.
The costs section of a sample costs agreement from a fictional firm for Sarah Kwan's property settlement: a fixed fee for advice and disclosure, an estimate of $4,500 for negotiation (range $3,500 to $6,500), a fixed fee for consent orders, and a valuation and searches as disbursements at cost. The lines split into professional fees of $9,500, tax on fees of $950 and disbursements of $695, then recombine into an estimated total of $11,145.00 with an estimated range of $10,045 to $13,345.
Sarah's costs agreement, page by page
A property settlement by consent from a fictional firm: fixed fees, one estimate and two disbursements, disclosed before the work starts and signed online.
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Thistlewood Marsh LawyersCosts agreement & engagement letter LG-2466 Sample · fictional firm
Costs agreement & engagement letter
Your property settlement
Thank you for meeting with us on Monday. This agreement sets out the work we will do towards a property settlement by consent, how each part is charged, and our best estimate of the total, so you can plan for it.
Cover
Her name, her matter
The family law template's cover and welcome, filled in for this matter: who it's for, the date and how long the agreement stands.
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Thistlewood Marsh LawyersCosts agreement & engagement letter LG-2466 Sample · fictional firm
1. Scope of our work
MatterProperty settlement by consent with your former partner
What we will do
- Advice on your entitlements and the steps to a settlement
- Financial disclosure with the other party's lawyers
- Negotiating the settlement
- Drafting and filing consent orders
Not included
- Parenting arrangements
- Court proceedings if a settlement is not reached (a revised agreement first)
- Tax or financial advice on the settlement
Our fee assumes Both parties give full financial disclosure · No more than two rounds of offers · One valuation of the home
Scope
What the fee covers, and what it doesn't
Included work, exclusions and the assumptions behind the estimate, from the firm's content library.
Engagement letters & matter scope -
Thistlewood Marsh LawyersCosts agreement & engagement letter LG-2466 Sample · fictional firm
2. Our costs Fixed fees, one estimate, disbursements at cost
Item Basis Amount Professional fees Initial advice and financial disclosureFixed feeFixed $2,200.00 Negotiating the settlementEstimate, charged at the hourly rates belowEstimate $4,500.00$3,500–$6,500 Consent orders: drafting and filingFixed feeFixed $2,800.00 Fixed $880.00 Disbursements At cost, as incurred Independent valuation of the homeEstimateAt cost $650.00 Title searchesAt cost $45.00 - Professional fees (estimate)
- $9,500.00
- Tax on fees (10%)
- $950.00
- Disbursements, at cost
- $695.00
- Estimated total
- $11,145.00
- Estimated range
- $10,045 to $13,345
- Payment on signing
- $2,000.00
Hourly rates ex tax
- Principal$560/h
- Senior associate$420/h
- Lawyer$310/h
- Law clerk$180/h
Hourly work is charged in 6-minute units. We will tell you in writing if the estimate is likely to be exceeded.
Costs
Every basis of charging, in one table
Fixed fees and an estimate with its range, an optional line for pension splitting, tax on the fees only, disbursements at cost, and the hourly rates behind the estimate. Tick the optional line to see the totals move.
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Thistlewood Marsh LawyersCosts agreement & engagement letter LG-2466 Sample · fictional firm
Uploaded PDF TM-costs-disclosure.pdf
Costs disclosure statementPage 2 of 3
1. Your right to negotiate this agreement
2. Your right to receive an itemised bill
3. Your right to seek a review of our costs
4. Interest on unpaid costs
- InitialsSK
- Date12/11/2026
Your firm's own disclosure document, uploaded as a PDF with initials and date fields placed on it.
Disclosure
The firm's disclosure statement, initialled
Kept as the firm's own PDF and uploaded into the agreement, with initials and date fields on the page. Initials work on uploaded PDFs.
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Thistlewood Marsh LawyersCosts agreement & engagement letter LG-2466 Sample · fictional firm
3. Standard terms
- Our standard terms of engagement form part of this agreement and are attached.
- Disbursements are passed on at cost, including any tax charged to us.
- We will tell you in writing before any work outside the scope above is charged.
- You may end this agreement at any time; you pay for work done up to then.
Sarah KwanIf we settle after one offer, do I pay the whole negotiation estimate?
Helena, Thistlewood MarshNo. Negotiation is charged for the time it actually takes, so a quick settlement costs less than the estimate.
Terms
Standard terms and a question answered
The standard terms are a library block, locked on the Business plan. Sarah asks about the estimate as a comment and Helena answers in the same document.
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Thistlewood Marsh LawyersCosts agreement & engagement letter LG-2466 Sample · fictional firm
4. Accept and sign 1 of 1 signed
- Sarah KwanClient Passcode verified Signed · 13 Nov, 8:20 pm
Payment on signingPaid to Thistlewood Marsh's connected Stripe account $2,000.00 Paid via StripeCertificate of authenticity and audit trail attached
Signed
Signed after a passcode, paid on signing
Sarah enters the optional one-time passcode emailed to her, signs, and makes the $2,000 payment on signing by card. Payments go to the Stripe or PayPal account your firm connects. QuoteCloud does not operate a trust account; check your own trust-money rules before taking payments for future costs.
Each way of charging has its own place
The same costs table works for every practice area, so clients read the basis of each fee the same way every time.
Fixed fees
A fixed amount for a defined piece of work, with a Fixed chip on the line. Bundles can be packages the client chooses.
Estimates with a range
Your most likely figure on the line with the low and high estimate under it, and an estimated range in the totals.
Hourly work
An estimate of hours at a stated rate, and your hourly rates listed for anything outside the scope.
Staged matters
Agree the first stage and disclose the later ones as estimates. Staged litigation estimates show how.
Disbursements at cost
Searches, valuations, filing fees and counsel kept in their own group, apart from your professional fees and the tax on them.
Optional work
Lines the client ticks themselves, such as pension splitting orders. The totals and any payment on signing follow their choice.
Keep your disclosure statement as it is
Many firms already have a disclosure document they trust. Upload it as a PDF and place initials and date fields on the pages that matter, so the client initials it as they read, inside the same agreement they sign.
The wording stays yours: QuoteCloud doesn't check it against your jurisdiction's costs disclosure rules, and gives no legal advice. It records who initialled and signed, and when.
- Initials, text and date fields on uploaded PDFs
- Several signers, each with their own fields
- Certificate of authenticity and audit trail
eSignatures: every plan
How QuoteCloud eSignatures workUploaded PDF TM-costs-disclosure.pdf
Costs disclosure statementPage 2 of 3
1. Your right to negotiate this agreement
2. Your right to receive an itemised bill
3. Your right to seek a review of our costs
4. Interest on unpaid costs
- InitialsMB
- InitialsLB
- Date04/11/2026
Your firm's own disclosure document, uploaded as a PDF with initials and date fields placed on it.
Send your next costs agreement from QuoteCloud
Free for 14 days, no credit card. Send us your current costs agreement and we'll convert one template for you during the trial.
A partner sees the discount before the client does
Set an approval rule on the template: a fixed fee discounted by more than 10%, or an agreement over a total value, goes In Review and can't be sent until a partner approves it.
The partner approves or declines from the document itself, and the log shows who sent it for review and when.
- Triggers on discount % or total value
- One or several approvers
- The log stays with the document
Approval workflow: Business plan
How the approval workflow worksDocument workflow
In ReviewTriggered when Discount greater than 10%
- Rupert ThistlewoodPartnerWaiting
A fixed fee discounted by more than 10% waits for a partner before it can be sent.
- Sent for review by Priya Venkat · 3 Nov, 4:05 pm
Approval workflow · Business plan
Costs agreement questions, answered
Can QuoteCloud make our costs agreement compliant?
No. QuoteCloud sets out and records what your firm writes: the basis of your fees, estimates, disbursements and your disclosure wording, with the client's signature, a certificate and an audit trail. Whether an agreement meets your jurisdiction's costs disclosure rules depends on its content, which your firm decides. QuoteCloud gives no legal advice.
How do we show an estimate as a range?
Put your most likely figure on the line with the low and high estimate in its note, and the costs table shows the range under the amount and an estimated range in the totals. Hourly work can be set out the same way, as an estimate of hours at a stated rate, with your hourly rates listed below the table.
Are disbursements kept separate from our fees?
Yes. Disbursements sit in their own group, marked at cost, apart from your professional fees. In our sample the tax (sales tax, VAT or GST as set on your account) is worked out on the professional fees, and disbursements are passed on at cost as the firm's own term. Set up the table the way your firm charges.
Can the client initial the disclosure statement?
Yes, on a PDF you upload. Electronic initials, text and date fields can be placed on uploaded PDFs, so a disclosure statement you keep as a PDF can be initialled and dated inside the agreement. Documents built from QuoteCloud content blocks use eSignature blocks instead.
Can the client choose optional work in the agreement?
Yes. Optional lines in the price table appear with a checkbox, and the client ticks the ones they want before signing. The totals, the estimated range and any payment on signing update with their choice. Price tables need the Essentials plan or above.
Can a partner approve a discounted fee before it is sent?
Yes, on the Business plan. An approval rule on a discount percentage or a total value puts the agreement In Review, and it can't be sent until the approvers you name approve it. The approval log stays on the document.
More for law firms
Every page of the QuoteCloud legal microsite, from the intake form to the signed agreement.
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Engagement letters & matter scopeWhat's included, what isn't and the assumptions behind the estimate, from your firm's own approved wording.Explore
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Staged litigation estimatesEach stage estimated as a range, counsel and expert fees as disbursements, revised before the next stage starts.Explore
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Conveyancing & property costs agreementsA fixed conveyancing fee, searches and settlement costs as their own lines, signed by both buyers.Explore
- Matter intake formsThe client's details, other parties and key dates collected inside the document, ready for your conflict check.
- Fixed-fee legal packagesWill and power of attorney bundles, employment advice and visa packages, chosen and signed in one document.
- Signing, passcodes & multiple partiesClients, both spouses or a guarantor sign online, each after a one-time passcode, with a certificate and audit trail.
- Payments on signingA set amount or the whole fixed fee paid when the client signs, through Stripe or PayPal into the account your firm connects.
- Scope changes & revised estimatesWhen the matter changes, send a revised agreement or a new estimate and keep each signed version on record.
- Practice management, CRM & accounting integrationsSigned engagements to your practice-management system through Zapier or the API, and to Xero or QuickBooks.
- Legal templatesReal QuoteCloud agreement templates, and how your firm's own precedents become QuoteCloud templates.
- QuoteCloud implementation for law firmsPrecedents converted, standard terms locked, fee items in the library, partner approvals and training.
- FAQAnswers to the questions law firms ask most about costs agreements, signing and payments.
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