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When You Can't Invoice 100% of Unbilled Fees
Sometimes you have unbilled fees for a project that you'll never invoice. For example, coordination work that wasn't in scope, meetings that went over budget, or rework that the client won't pay for. And when you decide to write off these fees, keeping track of that decision becomes a new problem.
As you continue invoicing for the project, keeping track of what's been written off becomes more complex. Your unbilled totals don't distinguish between fees you will invoice and fees you won't. Every time you look at that number, you have to mentally remember to subtract the amount you can't bill. Different team members remember different adjustments, and some forget entirely. You're all making decisions based on numbers you mentally adjust, which causes confusion and mistakes.
Write-offs in Monograph help you lock in your decision so everyone sees the same accurate number everywhere. Write off fees that won't be invoiced, and your unbilled totals automatically update to show what you'll actually bill. No mental math. No confusion.
This is how we build Monograph: features that show you what's actually billable so you can make informed decisions. Write-offs follow the Monograph Method, connecting unbilled fees to what you'll actually invoice, so everyone sees the same accurate numbers everywhere.
How Unbilled Fees Confusion Hurts Your Firm
Without write-offs, there's no formal way to lock in and communicate that decision across the team. The decision exists only in people's heads, in email threads, or in notes that may or may not be accessible when needed.
This problem compounds across projects and months. For example, Workbench, a 30-person design-build firm, had 20% of fees go unbilled every month from overage. After implementing Monograph, their unbilled fees dropped from 20% to less than 5%. They also cut billing time from 20-25 hours per month to just 5 hours. The difference: accurate visibility into what's actually billable, not just what's logged.
What happens if you don't write it off:
- You may invoice what shouldn't be invoiced. Without a clear record of what's been written off, someone might include non-billable time in an invoice, damaging client relationships and creating disputes.
- You discover misalignment late in the invoicing process. Different team members have different understandings of what's billable. You only discover this when building invoices, when it's too late to adjust without looking unprofessional.
- You waste time as multiple people try to figure out what's actually billable. Every time someone needs to know the real billable amount, they have to ask around, check emails, or do their own mental math. This happens repeatedly across multiple projects.
- You can't document which person's hours need to be written off. Without tracking which specific person's hours are written off, you can't learn from patterns. Is it always the same person? Is it certain types of tasks? You can't identify training needs or process improvements.
- Your project health metrics are misleading. Project profitability, budget performance, and cash flow projections are all based on inflated numbers. You think a project is profitable when it's actually losing money, or vice versa.
- You can't accurately understand profitability based on what you'll actually invoice. Financial decisions are made on incorrect data. You might decide to take on similar projects, adjust staffing, or set fees based on numbers that don't reflect reality.
The real cost:
- Money lost - According to our 2025 Architecture & Engineering Business Benchmarks Report, firms with realization rates below 91.6% lose one month of revenue per year to unbilled fees. Low-performance firms realize 82% while high-performance firms realize 108%—a +25% revenue gap. Without write-offs, you can't efficiently diagnose low realization rates to identify where revenue is being lost.
- Time wasted - Hours spent trying to figure out what's actually billable, explaining adjustments to team members, and reconciling different understandings
- Invoicing mistakes - Missed opportunities to catch problems early, and poor decisions based on wrong numbers
- Relationship damage - Client disputes from invoicing non-billable time, or appearing unprofessional when you have to adjust invoices late
- Team frustration - Confusion, misalignment, and wasted effort across the team
- Missed learning opportunities - Can't identify patterns in write-offs to improve training, processes, or scoping
See Your True Unbilled Value at a Glance
Most systems show you unbilled totals, but not what's actually billable. You see a total, but you don't know how much of it you can actually invoice without digging.
Write-offs consolidate all unbilled time logged for project phases into a single unbilled value. This value represents all time logged, but you can write off the portion that won't be invoiced. Hover over the unbilled value to see how it's calculated, including a breakdown by date ranges. The earlier date range shows time covered by opened invoices. The more recent date range shows time from the day after your latest invoice's service period through the date selected on the report. Use this before building an invoice, reviewing project financials, or planning cash flow. You see the calculation breakdown without guessing.
Each view shows the unbilled value and write-off value side by side, so you see what's billable and what's not. Hover over the unbilled value to see the calculation breakdown by date ranges. Hover over write-offs to see the date and any notes you've added. Instead of asking teammates "how much of this unbilled time can we actually bill?" or doing mental math, the unbilled and write-off values give you quick answers. Everyone sees the same accurate numbers everywhere.
This is especially useful for A&E firms managing dozens of projects. Clear values mean less guessing, less risk, and more accurate invoicing.
Write Off Fees Across All Roles or Specific Roles
Write-offs work where you need them, with multiple access points and two ways to write off fees.
Multiple access points where you need them:
- Write off from the Unbilled report when reviewing project health
- Write off from Project Financials when analyzing budgets
- Write off directly from Invoice builder when preparing invoices (right when you need it)
This means you can write off fees at the moment you realize they need to be written off, not later when you remember to do it.
Two ways to write off fees (so you can learn for the future):
- Across all roles: Enter a value and it divides proportionately among everyone who logged time. Use this when the overage was shared equally or you're not sure who specifically went over budget.
- To specific individuals: Choose who receives what write-off. Use this when you know exactly whose work needs to be written off.
This lets you document which person's hours during that service window need to be written off. This way you can better understand in the future what excess work to correct—whether certain people need more training, certain tasks take longer than expected, or certain project types require different scoping.
Built-in safeguards and visibility:
- Cannot write off more fees than are available in unbilled (prevents errors)
- Hover over unbilled value to see calculation breakdown by date ranges
- See which time is covered by opened invoices vs. not yet invoiced
- Real-time updates as you write off fees
Documentation and accountability:
- Add notes to document why fees were written off, who made the decision, and when
- Mouse over write-offs to see the date and notes
- Creates accountability and helps you learn from past decisions
The write-off value appears alongside the unbilled value, so you can see what's been written off and what remains billable. This consolidated view updates everywhere: across Unbilled report, Project Financials, and Invoice builder—everything stays connected so everyone sees the same accurate numbers. This means you can accurately understand profitability based on what you'll actually invoice, not what's just logged, which leads to better decisions about project health and future work.
This keeps your project accounting accurate. When you write off fees that won't be invoiced, your project financials reflect reality. Your unbilled totals match what you'll actually bill. Your cash flow planning is based on accurate numbers.
View Write-offs Across Multiple Reports
Write-offs appear wherever you need them. When you write off fees, it updates across all views automatically.
Instead of tracking write-offs in spreadsheets, adjusting unbilled totals manually, or trying to remember what you wrote off where, Monograph keeps everything in one place. Your unbilled fees, write-offs, and invoices all live in the same system, connected to the same projects.
Use write-offs in the Invoice builder to ensure your invoices reflect what you'll actually bill. You can also apply write-offs directly from the invoice builder if you see you're still over budget even after invoicing 100% of a phase. Build accurate invoices, avoid client disputes, and keep project financials accurate as your firm grows.
Write-offs follow the Monograph Method, specifically Principle 1: all features, all connected. Your unbilled totals, write-offs, and invoices all live in the same system, connected to the same projects. This accuracy helps you generate revenue faster and keep project accounting accurate.
Important Note: Write-offs Are for Invoicing Only
Write-offs write off fees for invoicing purposes only. They don't change the underlying billable status of timesheet entries' activities on other reports. This means you can write off unbilled time for invoicing without affecting your time tracking or other financial reports.
This separation keeps your time tracking accurate while you control what gets invoiced. Your timesheets show all time logged. Your invoices show what you're actually billing. Write-offs bridge the gap between the two.
Best Practices for Using Write-offs
Review unbilled totals before building invoices. Check the unbilled value and write-off value before you start building an invoice. This shows you what's actually billable so you can make informed invoicing decisions. For example, if you're about to invoice for August, filter your time down to that month and review the unbilled values on the Unbilled report.
Write off fees as you identify them. Don't wait until invoice time to write off fees that won't be invoiced. Write them off as soon as you know they won't be billable. This keeps your unbilled totals accurate throughout the project. For example, if a phase is complete but over budget with unbilled fees you know you can't charge to the client because of a contracted amount, write them off immediately.
Use hover tooltips to understand calculations. Hover over the unbilled value to see how it's calculated, including a breakdown by date ranges. This shows you what's included so you can make better write-off decisions.
Check write-off values across all views. View unbilled and write-off values on the Unbilled report, Project Financials, and Invoice builder. Make sure the numbers match what you expect before building invoices. You can also apply write-offs directly from the invoice builder if you see you're still over budget even after invoicing 100% of a phase.
Document why you wrote off fees. Add notes when writing off fees to document why they were written off, who made the decision, and any relevant context. These notes appear when you hover over write-offs, along with the date, creating a record that helps your team understand write-off decisions, maintain accountability, and avoid repeating mistakes. This documentation helps you learn what excess work to correct in the future.
Choose the right write-off method. Use "across all roles" when the overage was shared equally among the team and no one was directly responsible. Use "to specific individuals" when you know exactly whose work needs to be written off and want to track patterns for future improvement.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do I find write-offs? Write-offs are available in the Unbilled report, Project Financials, and Invoice builder. View unbilled and write-off values in any of these locations.
How do I write off fees? You can access write-offs from three places: the Unbilled report, Project Financials, or Invoice builder. Click the add button or "add write-off" to load the edit view. You'll see a list of team members' roles with their logged time and values on the left, and an entry point for write-offs on the right. You can write off fees across all team member roles (divided proportionately) or apply write-offs to specific individuals. The write-off value appears alongside the unbilled value.
What happens when I write off fees? When you write off fees, it updates the unbilled value to reflect what you'll actually invoice. The write-off value shows what's been written off. Both values appear in the Unbilled report, Project Financials, and Invoice builder.
Do write-offs affect my timesheets? No. Write-offs are for invoicing purposes only. They don't change the underlying billable status of timesheet entries' activities on other reports. Your timesheets still show all time logged.
Can I see how the unbilled value is calculated? Yes. Hover over the unbilled value to see how it's calculated. The tooltip shows a breakdown by date ranges: the earlier date range represents time covered by opened invoices, and the more recent date range shows time from the day after your latest invoice's service period through the date selected on the report.
Can I write off fees for specific roles? Yes. You can write off fees across all team member roles (divided proportionately among all individuals who logged time) or apply write-offs to specific roles. This lets you handle different scenarios.
Can I write off more fees than are available? No. You cannot write off more fees than are available in unbilled. This ensures your write-offs stay accurate and reflect only the fees that are actually logged.
Can I add notes to write-offs? Yes. You can add notes when writing off fees. These notes, along with the write-off date, appear when you hover over write-offs. Use notes to document why fees were written off, who made the decision, and any relevant context that helps your team understand the write-off decision.
When should I use "across all roles" vs. "to specific individuals"? Use "across all roles" when the overage was shared equally among the team and no one was directly responsible for the overage. This divides the write-off proportionately among everyone who logged time. Use "to specific individuals" when you know exactly whose work needs to be written off and you want to track patterns. This helps you learn what excess work to correct in the future—whether certain people need more training, certain tasks take longer than expected, or certain project types require different scoping.
Where can I see write-off values? Write-off values are visible on the Unbilled report, Project Financials, and Invoice builder. They appear alongside the unbilled value so you can see what's been written off and what remains billable.
