Matter DueAsk a small firm how it tracks court dates, limitation dates and filing deadlines and you will often hear some version of: “There's a spreadsheet on the shared drive, and everyone also has their own diary.” That is a perfectly reasonable system for a few fee earners and a manageable caseload. It is cheap, everyone already knows Excel, and it can be set up in an afternoon.
The trouble is not that spreadsheets are bad. It is that a spreadsheet is passive. It records a deadline. It does not tell anyone about it. This guide sets out where that difference starts to matter, how to make a spreadsheet safer if you keep one, and what you actually gain by moving to software.
What a deadline spreadsheet does well
Before listing the problems, it is worth being fair to the spreadsheet. It has real strengths:
- It costs nothing extra. You already pay for Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace.
- It is flexible. You can add a column for anything your practice area needs.
- Everyone can use it. No training, no logins, no supplier to manage.
- It is easy to filter and sort. “Everything due this month” is two clicks away.
For a sole practitioner, or a two- or three-person team who sit together and talk every day, these strengths can outweigh everything below. If that is you, skip to making a spreadsheet safer.
Where spreadsheets quietly break down
The failures are rarely dramatic. They build up as the firm adds people, matters and offices.
1. Nothing happens unless someone opens the file
A spreadsheet cannot remind anyone. Every deadline in it relies on a person choosing to open the file, filter it correctly and read the right rows. In a busy week, during holidays or sickness, that habit is the first thing to slip, which is exactly when deadlines are most at risk.
2. “Owner” is just text in a column
Typing initials into a column records who was responsible when the row was created. It does not follow the work when a matter is reassigned, when someone leaves, or when two people both assume the other has it. Nobody is told when the owner changes, and nobody notices when a row has no owner at all.
3. Nobody is told when something goes overdue
Conditional formatting can turn a cell red. But red cells are only seen by someone already looking at the sheet. A supervisor or practice manager has no way of finding out that a deadline passed without action, short of checking every row themselves.
4. One file, many editors
Shared spreadsheets suffer from familiar problems: someone sorts one column and not the others, a filter is left on so rows seem to vanish, a copy is saved to a desktop and updated there instead, or a row is deleted by accident. Version history helps after the event, if someone notices in time.
5. No record of what actually happened
When a client, insurer or regulator asks how a deadline was handled, a spreadsheet usually shows the final state of the row: a date and perhaps “Done”. It rarely shows who was reminded, when, who completed it and at what time. That record is useful evidence, and it is hard to recreate afterwards.
6. It depends on one person
In most firms one person keeps the spreadsheet tidy. When they are away, it drifts. When they leave, the knowledge of how it works often leaves with them.
Signs your firm has outgrown the spreadsheet
None of these on its own means you must change. Several together usually do.
- More than one person adds deadlines, and you have found rows with no owner or the wrong date format.
- A partner or manager has asked “what's due this week across the firm?” and the answer took real effort.
- A deadline has been completed late, or nearly missed, because the right person did not see it in time.
- Fee earners keep their own diaries as well “just in case”, so the spreadsheet is not the real record.
- You have more than one office, or people who work remotely and never see the same screen.
- You have struggled to show how deadlines are supervised (see our guide on supervising deadlines under the SRA guidance).
If you keep the spreadsheet: making it safer
If a spreadsheet is right for you today, a few rules make a big difference. Start with the columns. This layout captures what you need to supervise a deadline, not just record it:
| Column | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Matter reference | Ties the row to the file so it can be checked. |
| What is due | A plain description: “Defence to be filed”, not “Def”. |
| Due date and time | A 4pm court deadline and a midnight online deadline are different. |
| Owner | One named person, never a team. |
| Back-up | Who covers it if the owner is away. |
| Date checked by | A second person who confirmed the date was calculated correctly. |
| Source | Where the date came from: a court order, a decision letter, a statute. |
| Status | Open or Complete, from a drop-down, never free text. |
| Completed by / on | Who did it and when, so there is a record. |
Then a few working rules:
- One master file. Store it in one place, lock the header row, and forbid local copies.
- Add the date when it arises. Add it when the court order or decision letter arrives, not at the end of the week.
- Review it together every week. Spend ten minutes going through the next 14 days and anything overdue, with every owner present.
- Give the sheet itself an owner. One person keeps it clean and checks for empty owner cells.
- Back it up with personal reminders. Each owner also puts their dates in their own calendar with alerts, because the sheet will not alert them.
That last rule shows the core limitation: you end up keeping two systems, and only one of them reminds anyone. For a fuller treatment of the process side, see how to stop key dates slipping.
What deadline software actually adds
Deadline software is not magic, and it does not replace judgement. A person still has to work out the right date and enter it correctly. What it changes is everything that happens after the date is recorded:
- Reminders that go out on their own. The owner is reminded at set points before the date, whether or not anyone opens anything.
- Real ownership. Each deadline is assigned to a person, and reassigning it is a deliberate act, not an edited cell.
- Escalation. If a deadline is still open once it is overdue, a manager is told automatically.
- A firm-wide view. Overdue, due this week and at risk, counted for the whole firm or filtered to one person.
- A record. Which reminders went out, to whom and when, and who marked the work complete.
Spreadsheet, case-management system or a dedicated tool?
There are usually three realistic options, and the right one depends on the firm:
| Option | Best when… | Watch out for… |
|---|---|---|
| Spreadsheet | A very small team, low volume, a strong weekly review habit. | No reminders, no escalation, depends on one person. |
| Your case-management system's key dates | Everyone already uses the system consistently and its reminders suit you. | Uneven use between fee earners, and no single view for managers unless it has been set up. |
| A dedicated deadline tool | You want firm-wide visibility and escalation without changing how matters are run. | Key dates are entered in a second place, so keep it to the dates that matter. |
If you already have a case-management system, read deadline control alongside Clio, LEAP or your case system before deciding. Sometimes the right answer is to use the system you already pay for more consistently.
Matter Due is the step up from a deadline spreadsheet, without a new case-management system. Each deadline gets a named owner. Reminders go out automatically (14, 7 and 1 days before by default, or your own schedule). A manager is told when one is still open after it is due, and the whole office can see what is coming on a TV board. It costs £29 a month for the whole firm, with no per-user fees.
You can keep your spreadsheet running alongside it until you trust the new system. If you have a long list to bring over, we will book a short session and enter it with you.
Questions firms ask
Does the SRA allow firms to track deadlines in a spreadsheet?
The SRA does not prescribe particular tools. The Code of Conduct for Firms requires effective systems and controls (paragraph 2.1) and “an effective system for supervising clients' matters” (paragraph 4.4). Whether a spreadsheet meets that depends on how it is run and checked, not on the software itself.
Will deadline software work out our deadlines for us?
Not Matter Due, and be cautious with any tool that claims to for UK practice. Many “docketing” products that calculate court deadlines are built around US court rules. In Matter Due you enter the date your fee earner has worked out, and the software makes sure it is seen, owned and acted on.
Can we import our existing spreadsheet?
There is no self-service import today. You add matters and deadlines in the app, and your first matters take minutes. For a long backlog we book a short session and enter it with you, and you can keep the spreadsheet running until you are confident.
Sources
- SRA, Code of Conduct for Firms, paragraphs 2.1, 2.5 and 4.4.
- SRA, Effective supervision guidance (updated 12 June 2026).
This guide is general information for law-firm managers, not legal or regulatory advice. Check time limits against the rules and directions that apply to each matter. Last reviewed .