Enterprise DNA

Instead of Brightflag

Stop renting Brightflag. Own your legal spend system.

We build your version around your panel, your rate cards and your billing guidelines, bring your Brightflag invoice history across, and run it with your legal and finance team.

Brightflag charges a one-time implementation fee and an annual subscription based on your outside counsel spend, with no public price list. As your legal spend grows, so does the bill.

Get your version built See it working
  • check_circleYour data in a database you own
  • check_circleOpen source, no lock-in
  • check_circleBuilt and run by Enterprise DNA

Read the agreement

What sits inside the Brightflag bill?

Brightflag quotes on your outside counsel spend and publishes no price. Separate the services you rely on from the record work your team does every week.

database

A price tied to your spend

The subscription is based on your annual outside counsel spend, plus a one-time implementation fee. A heavy litigation year means a bigger software bill for the same kind of records.

checklist

Invoice review against guidelines

Brightflag enforces billing guidelines and can approve or reject invoices automatically. Underneath, that is each line compared with an agreed rate and rules your team wrote.

schedule

Budgets and accruals

Budgets by matter and practice area, and accrual collection for finance. Those are figures your lawyers and firms already supply each month.

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Invoice intake from firms

Brightflag processes LEDES and PDF invoices from your firms. Decide whether you need that intake service, or whether your panel can send the LEDES files their billing systems already produce.

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Dashboards and custom reports

Central dashboards and reports you can customise. Your own version answers the questions your general counsel and finance team ask, in plain words.

support

Benchmarks and automated analysis

Rate benchmarking, automatic work classification, invoice summaries and spend forecasts. Keep them if they earn their place. Most weekly decisions need only your own records.

The work you can own

Start every invoice review with the money at stake

Invoice review

Every line checked against the rate card

Each invoice line is compared with the timekeeper's approved rate on the day of the work and with your guidelines. The review queue puts the invoice with the most money at stake first.

  • check Rates billed above the agreed card, with the exact overcharge
  • check Timekeepers who are not on the firm's approved card
  • check Work dated outside the billing period, and disallowed expenses
  • check Block billing, vague entries and days over ten hours, ready to query

Decisions

Approve, adjust or reject with the reason on file

Take an amount off a line with the reason, and the approved figure drops by that amount plus its GST. Accepting a flagged overcharge needs a written reason, so the next review knows why.

  • check Every decision recorded with who made it and when
  • check A draft note to the firm listing each reduction and its reason
  • check Approved invoices tracked to payment by due date
  • check Off-panel firms and lapsed appointments flagged before approval

Budgets and accruals

Know the forecast before finance asks

Forecast spend is approved invoices plus invoices waiting plus this month's estimate of unbilled work. Matters past your warning level surface while there is still time to ask for a revised estimate.

  • check Matters past 80 percent of budget, and matters with no budget
  • check Open matters still missing this month's accrual
  • check Draft month-end requests to each firm for unbilled work
  • check A branded accrual schedule finance can file

Panel review

Bring evidence to the rate negotiation

See how each firm bills: spend, reductions, flags and how long it takes to invoice after the work is done.

  • check Billed rates against the card for every timekeeper
  • check Spend by business unit and matter type for internal recharges
  • check GST number, ABN and buyer detail checks on NZ and AU invoices
  • check Your own questions answered as the panel changes

Make it yours

Design your own Brightflag replacement

Everything starts from the open-source base. Then it gets your name, the parts you run, your rules and your data from Brightflag. Try it here, and we build the real one.

2. What it runs

3. Make it fit

4. Your colour

Your business · your Brightflag replacement Your version
YB Your business

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Answered from your own database

Build my version

We build it from the open-source base, bring your Brightflag data across and run it for you.

What it looks like

Ask it like you would ask a colleague

Three real answers from fictional demonstration records for an in-house legal team. Ask about the next invoice, a rate above the card or a matter near its budget.

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Legal Spend for Claude Code

Connected to your own database

Which law firm invoices should we review first?

TC-0098

Firm
Totara Chambers
Matter_number
HL-2026-033
Reviewer
Hana
Currency
NZD
Total
3450.00
Flags
1
At_stake
3000.00
Days_waiting
14
Days_to_due
6

KLL-4532

Firm
Kauri Lane Lawyers
Matter_number
HL-2026-014
Reviewer
Hana
Currency
NZD
Total
12165.28
Flags
8
At_stake
1848.50
Days_waiting
4
Days_to_due
14

SCL-20931

Firm
Southern Cross Legal
Matter_number
HL-2026-027
Reviewer
Liam
Currency
AUD
Total
5874.00
Flags
2
At_stake
120.00
Days_waiting
8
Days_to_due
5

PEL-1187

Firm
Pohutukawa Employment Law
Matter_number
HL-2026-030
Reviewer
Liam
Currency
NZD
Total
5129.00
Flags
1
At_stake
0
Days_waiting
1
Days_to_due
18

Ask it anything

Ten questions to ask of your legal spend

Each answer comes from the records in the free version. Brightflag also offers reports and a conversational query tool. Add the questions your own team asks.

chat_bubble Which invoices carry the most money we could ask a firm to take off?
chat_bubble Which lines bill a rate above the agreed card, and by how much?
chat_bubble Who billed us that is not on the firm's approved rate card?
chat_bubble Which matters will pass their budget once this month's work is billed?
chat_bubble Which matters still have no accrual for month end?
chat_bubble What does each business unit owe for legal work this year?
chat_bubble Which firm takes longest to bill after the work is done?
chat_bubble Which timekeepers bill above their card rate most often?
chat_bubble Which invoices are missing a GST number, ABN or buyer details?
chat_bubble Who approved this invoice, when, and why did they accept a flag?

Switching

How to switch from Brightflag

The move usually involves choosing which history to bring, mapping your fields and rules, rehearsing the imports, and checking the new records alongside Brightflag.

  1. 1

    Export the records

    Start with Brightflag’s AP batch CSV for approved invoices, including firm, matter, department and dates. Get LEDES 1998B files for invoice line items where firms submitted them, or ask firms for files they can produce. If these exports are not available in your account, check with Brightflag. Invoice PDFs, review comments and budgets need a separate migration scope.

  2. 2

    Map and rehearse the import

    Agree which records and history to bring, then map Brightflag’s fields to the fields and rules in the new database. Rehearse each import before loading anything, using a test run where the import offers one. Compare the expected record counts, and resolve any mapping questions first. The AP and LEDES imports do not cover PDFs, review comments or budgets, so plan those separately if you need them.

  3. 3

    Check the imported data

    Review the import results, then check flagged invoices and lines against the Brightflag records. Compare invoice counts, firms, matters, dates and amounts, and confirm that the line items you expected from LEDES files are present. Review the checks against rate cards and billing guidelines, and confirm that flags make sense for your rules. Resolve gaps or mismatches before relying on the new records.

  4. 4

    Run both systems together

    Keep Brightflag available while your team uses the new database for a short period. Compare invoice reviews, decisions and month-end accruals in both systems, and check that your team can find the records and history it needs. Use any differences to correct the data, field mapping or guideline settings. Agree what must be working before Brightflag becomes the system you no longer use.

  5. 5

    Switch off Brightflag

    Once the team has checked the records, flags and day-to-day work, choose a cutover point and make the new database the place you use for legal spend. Confirm that the history you need is available, including any separately scoped PDFs, comments or budgets. Then stop using Brightflag for the work you have moved, following the terms of your Brightflag agreement.

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Where the real effort goes

The real work is usually mapping your own fields and billing rules, then choosing how much history to bring. The AP export and LEDES files cover different records, while PDFs, review comments and budgets need separate migration scope. If you have Enterprise DNA install and run the system, they handle this migration work with you.

Not ready for a call?

Get your Brightflag switch plan by email

We will send you the step-by-step plan for moving your business off Brightflag, what the move really involves, and how we would do it for you.

One email with your plan. No spam, and you can unsubscribe any time.

Three ways to own it

Start with the free version, then choose the help you need

Open source

Do it yourself

Free, open source

  1. 1 Clone the repository, run npm install and npm run demo
  2. 2 Open the folder in Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode or Cursor
  3. 3 Rehearse import brightflag on your AP batch export, then load LEDES files with import ledes
  4. 4 Start an empty database for your own records and run /invoice-review
Get it on GitHub

Built around your business

We customise it

An agreed setup fee

  • check Your rate cards, billing guidelines and approval rules
  • check Your Brightflag invoice history mapped and checked
  • check Invoice intake from your firms, including PDF reading, if you want it
  • check A web front end for the people who need one, or a different technology stack
Get your version built

Omni by Enterprise DNA

We run it for you

One setup fee, then a monthly retainer

  • check Installed and operated through Omni by Enterprise DNA
  • check Firm invoices loaded and checked as they arrive
  • check Monthly accrual requests and reports prepared for finance
  • check Your lawyers keep every approval decision
Book a discovery call

Questions

Instead of Brightflag, answered

Does this replace everything Brightflag does? expand_more

The free version covers the panel, rate cards, matters, budgets, invoices and their lines, decisions and month-end accruals. Brightflag also processes PDF invoices, benchmarks rates and offers automated analysis. We agree which of those you need and build them into your version, or keep Brightflag for them, before you move.

What Brightflag history can we bring across? expand_more

Two exports. The AP batch export brings approved invoices with their firm, matter, department and dates. LEDES files bring the line items: Brightflag keeps one when a firm submitted it, and many firms can produce them from their own billing system. Invoice PDFs, review comments and budgets need a separate migration scope. We rehearse every import before anything loads.

Will our panel firms have to change how they bill? expand_more

Not if they already send LEDES files, the e-billing format many law firm billing systems produce. Firms that only send PDFs can keep doing so. Someone enters the key lines, or Enterprise DNA builds PDF reading into your version.

Who approves invoices? expand_more

Your lawyers. The system checks each line and shows what to query, but only the reviewing lawyer records a decision. Every reduction carries a reason, and accepting a flagged overcharge needs one too. Each decision is on file with the person who made it.

How should we compare the price? expand_more

Brightflag publishes no price list. It charges a one-time implementation fee and an annual subscription based on your outside counsel spend. Start from your own agreement. Enterprise DNA quotes an agreed setup fee, then a retainer for running it. The free version costs nothing to use and change.

Bring last month's invoices

Spend 30 minutes with Sam. Bring one invoice, your rate card and your billing guidelines. We will show you the lines your version would flag, and outline the migration, custom work and ongoing support you need.

Book a discovery call Get the free version

Legal Spend for Claude Code is free and open source, published by Enterprise DNA.

Done paying for Brightflag?

Get your version built