Bills that have been created for a client will show as an amount owed (aka amount outstanding). When a client makes a payment, the funds may be placed in trust and later applied to a bill to pay down the amount owed to the firm. Funds that are drawn down from client trust will result in at least two transactions: 1) a transaction showing funds leaving the client's trust account and 2) a transaction showing funds going into the firm's operating account.
The following actions can be performed by an administrator or a role to which permission was granted to access Billing functions.
How to Apply Funds from Trust (recommended)
Note: In order to draw down funds from the client's trust, funds must be available in the trust account. <learn more>
Go to Billing > Invoices or go to the Matter's Billing tab
Select the action dropdown next to the invoice
Choose 'Apply Funds from Trust.' A side drawer will appear, and the system will check current balances in the client and matter's trust account.
If there are no funds available, the system will indicate with red color and text.
If there are insufficient funds, the system will indicate with color and a message that a partial payment can be made and what amount of funds can be applied to the bill.
If there are sufficient funds, the system will indicate with green color.
Once a payment has been applied, either in full or in part, the outstanding amount showing on the bill will adjust automatically. If the outstanding amount is $0, the status of the bill will automatically update to a "Paid" status. The system will also create the necessary transaction records to show the flow of funds (ex. transaction for funds leaving the trust account, transaction for funds going to firm operating account).
How to Add a Direct Payment to an Invoice
Note: This approach will result in a direct payment to reduce the amount owed on the bill/invoice, but will bypass the trust account. There will not be a transaction showing funds entering the trust account.
Go to Billing > Invoices from the side navigation panel or a specific matter.
Select the action dropdown next to the invoice
Choose 'Add Payment'
Complete the Add Payment Form and required fields
Save and finish
