Client Funds Management

In Clio Manage, you can generate client funds requests to accept client funds for your clients. You can create client funds requests to collect initial client funds deposits or retainers from your clients, or to add additional client funds if the client funds reach a minimum threshold.

Client funds requests do not include any time or expense activities, and payments made on client funds requests are always deposited into a Clio client funds account ledger in full. You can manually record client funds transactions, but if you are using Clio Payments, you can accept debit and credit card payments that deposit the funds directly into the client accounts.

Create client funds accounts

Before creating a client funds request and accepting payment, you will need to create a client funds account in Clio Manage that the paid client funds will be stored in. To create a client funds account:

1. Got to Accounts.
2. Click New account.
3. Name the account and select Client Funds for the Account type.
4. Enter the remaining details for the client funds account.
5. Click Create New Bank Account.
6. Optional: If you have Clio Payments enabled, click Connect to payments to accept debit and credit card payments.
   • Enter your bank account numbers for this bank account and then click Connect bank account. Contact your financial institution for these numbers.

Create client funds requests

You can create a client funds request from four locations in Clio Manage—client page, matter dashboard, Billing page, or the global Create new button. Additionally, client funds can be stored at the client or matter level. You can select where to store these funds when creating the client funds request, and you can move funds from the client level to the matter level.

Sort and filter client funds requests

Once a client funds request is created, you can find it in the Billing tab or the Bills subtab within a matter or contact. The client funds request is differentiated from normal bills when viewing the bill Id. The bill Id will have the word “Client Funds” written in parenthesis next to the bill Id number. To view only client funds requests:

1. Go to Billing.
2. Select the All subtab.
3. Click Filters.
4. Optional: select the matter or contact.
5. Under Type select Client Funds.
6. Click Apply filters.

Edit client funds requests

You can only edit a client funds request if it is in draft and the client funds approval process has not been skipped. Generated client funds requests in draft have limited edit functionality compared to generated bills in draft. To edit a generated client funds request:

1. Go to Billing or the Bills tab in a contact or matter.
2. Click the Draft subtab.
3. Click Edit.
4. Make your changes.
5. Click Save client funds request.

Approve client funds requests

When a client funds request is created and you do not check the box to skip the client funds approval process, the client funds request can be found in the Draft subtab in Billing. While in draft, you can edit the client funds request and send it for approval and approve the client funds request. Once approved, you can accept payment for the client funds request.

Send client funds requests

Once a client funds request is approved, you can send it to the client. You can also send the client funds request to other related contacts.

1. Go to Billing or the Bills tab in a contact or matter.
2. Click the Unpaid subtab.
3. Click Send.
4. Select the client funds bill template, make any changes, and select the send method. Learn more about sending bills and options in this article.
5. Click Send client funds request.

Delete client funds requests

If a client funds request is still in draft, you can still delete the request. A client funds request that has been approved but does not have a recorded payment can only be voided.

1. Go to Billing or the Bills tab in a contact or matter.
2. Click the Draft subtab.
3. Click the down arrow next to Edit and select Delete client funds request. You can also view the client funds request, click the More actions dropdown and select Delete.
4. When the warning prompt appears, click Delete client funds request.

Void client funds requests

Follow these steps to void an approved and unpaid client funds request:

1. Go to Billing or the Bills tab in a contact or matter.
2. Click the Pending approval subtab.
3. Click the down arrow next to Edit and select Void client funds request. You can also view the client funds request, click the More actions dropdown and select Void.
4. When the warning prompt appears, click Void client funds request.

Record payments on client funds requests

If you do not have Clio Payments enabled, or if your client does not want to pay by debit or credit card online, you can record payment using client funds as a direct payment in Clio. Follow the steps below to record a payment using client funds.

1. Go to Billing or the Bills tab in a contact or matter.
2. Optional: Select the Unpaid subtab.
3. Click the down arrow next to Send and click Record payment. You can also click Record payment in the upper right corner.
4. Select the payment source and select the client funds account as the deposit account.
5. Complete the remaining details.
6. Click Record payment.

Record new transactions

If you need to record a new client funds transaction without creating a client funds request, you can do so from within the contact or matter's Transactions subtabs or from the main Accounts tab.

Transfer funds

If you store client funds funds at the client level, the funds can be applied as payment on bills for any of the client’s matters. When these funds are recorded, a transaction is added to the client’s ledger, which can be found in the Transactions subtab of the contact card.

If you store client funds funds at the matter level, the funds can ONLY be applied as payment on bills to that specific matter. When these funds are recorded, a transaction is added to both the client and matter ledgers, which can be found in the Transactions subtab of the contact card or matter screen.

You can also transfer funds from the client level to the matter level. Follow these steps to transfer funds:

1. Go to the contact’s Transactions subtab.
2. Click Transfer funds.
3. Select Between matters. Select Client Balance as the Source and the relevant matter for the Destination.
4. Complete the remaining fund transfer details.
5. Click Record transfer.

Release client funds

If you need to return any remaining client funds back to your client, or if you need to adjust mistakenly applied client funds, you can release these funds back to the client.

1. Go to the matter or contact depending on where the client funds are stored.
2. Click the Transactions subtab.
3. Under Transactions, click the down arrow and select the client funds account for the client.
4. Click Disburse funds.
5. Enter the amount and complete the remaining details.
6. Click Record transaction.

Set up evergreen management

Evergreen management is the process of retaining and replenishing client funds to pay for the work done on a client's case and ensuring consistent cash flow for continued work. In Clio Manage, you can send a client a client funds request to start their retainer, receive automatic notifications when the retainer reaches a minimum threshold, and then send the client a new client funds request to replenish their retainer.

Step 1: Send client request to start retainer:

See Create a client funds request to learn how to send your client a client request.

Step 2: Set up client balance notification:

The first step to managing an evergreen retainer is setting up a minimum client funds threshold and specifying which firm users should receive a notification if the client funds drop below the minimum threshold. Once this is set up, the minimum threshold, current matter client funds, and indication of when the matter client funds drop below the threshold will be visible in the Financial section of the matter's Dashboard.

1. Go to the matter for which you want to specify a minimum client funds threshold.
2. Click Edit matter.
3. Scroll down to the Billing preference section.
4. Under Client funds balance notification, check the box for Notify firm users when matter client funds are low.
5. Under Notify when client funds are below... enter the minimum client balance threshold for this matter.
6. Under Notification recipients, search for and select the firm users who will receive a notification for when the matter's client balance drops below the minimum threshold.
7. Click Save matter.

Step 3: Generate client management report:

The client management report gives firms a view of unbilled activities, client funds account balances, and minimum client funds thresholds. You can use this report to perform a cashflow analysis regarding your billable work and client fund holdings. Learn more about generating reports in Clio Manage here.

Step 4: Replenish matter client funds:

When your client's client funds balance drops below the minimum threshold that you specified for the matter, you can generate a new client funds request to replenish the matter client funds and continue billing for the matter.