Your firm doesn't have a revenue problem. It has a conversion problem.
Between completed work and collected cash, 15–25% of potential realization disappears. Zebraworks gives you the metrics that show where — and the operations to recover it.
15- 25% of potential realization lost to billing and collections friction
100-130 average days in A/R for large mid-size firms
81% of firms added billing and collections staff post-pandemic - yet the underlying issues persist
The Metrics That Matter
Own these four numbers.
Realization rate
The percentage of the value of work performed that the firm actually collects. Billed realization measures what survives from timesheet to invoice; collected realization measures what survives from invoice to bank.
Why it moves: most loss traces to delay — the longer work sits unbilled or invoices unpaid, the more likely they're discounted, disputed, or abandoned.
Lockup days
The capital tied up in unbilled WIP and unpaid A/R, expressed in days of revenue. Industry surveys put large mid-size firms at 100–130 days in A/R.
Why it moves: at a $200M firm carrying 105 days, roughly $57 million sits in the billing-to-payment pipeline at any moment — the largest untapped source of working capital available to firm leadership.
A/R turnover
How fast invoices convert to cash. Sustained revenue cycle improvement typically yields a 10–20 day reduction.
Why it moves: aging invoices don't just delay cash, they erode it — the probability of disputes, discounts, and write-offs climbs with age.
Billing cycle time
Days from work completed to bill delivered. Manual exceptions — delivery instructions in spreadsheets, missing recipients, attorney email chains — typically add 4–6 days per cycle.
Why it moves: compressing this window is the fastest, most controllable lever in the entire cycle.
Why the Numbers Don't Move
Exceptions are slowing your revenue cycle.
Most firms have responded to these metrics by adding headcount. It hasn't worked, because more staff only scales the inefficiency. The real bottleneck is exceptions — and they come in two kinds.
Delivery instructions tracked in spreadsheets
Missing recipients
Manual invoice resends
Incomplete remittance information
Manual exceptions slow the cycle. We automate them away.
Strategic exceptions create opportunity. We surface them automatically so teams can act.
Most firms have responded by adding headcount. It hasn’t solved the problem. Because more staff only scales the inefficiency. The exceptions keep coming.
The Math
What moving the metrics is worth.
Consider a midsize firm generating $200 million in annual revenue, carrying 105 days in A/R — roughly $57 million locked up at any given time.
The Operations
The workflows that move metrics live in the same platform.
From insight to cash, without the handoff.
A live view of your firm's work-to-billed-to-paid pipeline - and one platform to act on it.
Explore the platform
Work to Cash Pipeline
Worked YTD
40.83M
15% Higher than last year
Days to Bill
39.9
3% Lower than last year
Billed YTD
41.7M
28% Higher than last year
Days to Pay
62.9
25% Lower than last year
Collected YTD
35.5M
33% Higher than last year
Write-offs YTD
1.35M
31% Higher than last year
WIP Total
8.58M
Bill Approvals
2M
A/R Total
28M
A/R Notices
1M
Cash Forecast 30 Days
8M
1 Week Past Due
1M
WIP and A/R Aging
A/R Aging
1. Current
2. Over 30
3. Over 60
4. Over 90
WIP Aging
1. Current
2. Over 30
3. Over 60
4. Over 90
A/R Risk Level
A/R by Relative Credit Worthiness
1. Current
2. Over 30
3. Over 60
4. Over 90
The metrics tell you where revenue is leaking. Zebraworks tells you who should act.
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