Can I send invoices as a PDF or printed copy instead of email?

Yes. A LeanLaw invoice can be exported as a PDF for printing or attaching to your own email, in addition to LeanLaw’s own emailed invoice, which lets a client pay online directly. Which delivery method you use for a given client is a collections decision, not a formatting preference.

PDF export, not a separate invoice

A PDF version of an invoice draws on the exact same time and trust data as the emailed version — it’s an export, not a different document. That matters because choosing PDF delivery for one client, or one matter, doesn’t create a second, divergent record to reconcile later. It’s the same invoice, delivered a different way, and LeanLaw’s Masterclass session on invoice delivery covers the feature in more depth.

Why delivery method changes how fast you get paid

An emailed invoice with an online payment option asks almost nothing of the client beyond clicking through and paying. A PDF sent as an attachment, printed, or mailed asks for an extra step somewhere: someone has to open a file and act on it, write and mail a check, or route the document through an accounts-payable process that only accepts attachments, not automated emails. None of that is a flaw in the PDF. Each of those routes simply adds a step between “invoice sent” and “invoice paid” — a step some clients require regardless of what a firm would otherwise prefer.

This connects directly to billing velocity: the number of steps between an invoice going out and the payment landing in an account is exactly what velocity measures, and delivery method is one of the few variables a firm actually controls without touching the client relationship itself.

When PDF or print is the right call anyway

Some clients require it: a corporate accounts-payable system built around attachments rather than emailed links, an institutional client whose own policy dictates format, or an individual client who simply prefers paper. Choosing that route deliberately, for the clients who actually need it, is different from defaulting every invoice to the slower path out of habit. The same client-by-client thinking applies to invoice format itself — format and delivery tend to travel together. And if a PDF or paper invoice is already slowing a client down, tracking how long invoices sit unpaid is how a firm would actually notice.

What this depends on

• Whether your clients are individuals or organizations with their own accounts-payable requirements.
• How comfortable your specific client base is paying online versus by check.
• Whether a particular matter or fee arrangement requires a specific delivery form.
• How your firm currently keeps its own invoice records outside of email.

Which delivery method should this invoice use?

The default, emailed invoice with online payment, is the shorter path when a client is willing to use it. The question worth asking, client by client, is which ones actually need the longer path — and whether a firm is choosing PDF delivery on purpose, or defaulting to it out of habit.

Related questions

How do we back up invoices — can we print or export them? Yes — PDF export exists for exactly that reason, whether you’re keeping your own paper trail or sending a printed bill. It draws on the same invoice data as the emailed version.

Can I email the invoice directly to the client from the system? Yes, that’s LeanLaw’s default delivery method, built to let a client pay online without printing anything. PDF export exists for the clients or matters where that default isn’t the right fit.

If I wanted to do that as an attachment to an email? A PDF invoice attaches to any email the same way any PDF file would, sent from your own inbox rather than an automated one — useful when a personal touch matters for a particular client relationship.