You can ask for help preparing your billing, from finding unbilled time to creating a trust request. In the top right, click the Clio icon in your header bar to open the prompt panel, or ask in a Clio Work conversation. You can also use the prompt box at the top of the Today page. Then use natural language to describe what you want.
This article provides suggested prompts, and links to the manual steps so you can see how each part of billing works in Clio.
Important: This article describes unified Clio. Unified Clio is available to firms in stages, so your account may still use the old experience. To switch to the old experience, open the user menu. Then select Switch to the old experience. Your data and settings are the same in both experiences.
Tip: Billing depends on consistent rates, categories, and settings. Each section links to the manual steps so you know what your request relies on, and so the results stay consistent.
Review unbilled time
Find unbilled time across your firm or on a single matter, and ask for vague or duplicate descriptions to be tidied before you bill. Clio shows you what it found and asks for your approval before it changes any entries.
- Find unbilled time example: Which matters have unbilled time older than 30 days?
- Review a matter example: Show the unbilled time and expenses on the Smith matter grouped by timekeeper.
- Tidy descriptions example: Find unbilled time entries on the Smith matter with vague or duplicate descriptions and suggest clearer wording.
If you do not provide sufficient details, Clio may automatically assign a logical option, or it may ask follow-up questions. When Clio has all the details, you can provide your approval once for the single request, approve that Clio takes action anytime you prompt in the particular conversation, or reject it to start again.
To understand how time entries, rates, and billing status relate to each other, see Time Entries. To turn unbilled time into an invoice, see Generate Bills in Clio Manage.
Complete related tasks manually
- Generate bills in bulk: Create invoices for many matters at once.
- Create non-billable time entries: Decide whether a non-billable entry shows on the invoice.
- Edit time entries: Correct an entry directly in the entry modal.
Edit invoices and move them through approval
Ask for changes to a draft invoice, such as its memo or dates, and move it to the next state when it is ready. You can also share an invoice with a client.
- Edit invoice example: Change the memo on the Smith draft invoice to "Services rendered through October 31."
- Move invoice example: Submit the Smith draft invoice for approval.
- Share invoice example: Share the approved Smith invoice with the client through the client portal.
If you do not provide sufficient details, Clio may automatically assign a logical option, or it may ask follow-up questions. When Clio has all the details, you can provide your approval once for the single request, approve that Clio takes action anytime you prompt in the particular conversation, or reject it to start again.
Your firm's approval settings decide which states an invoice passes through. To understand them, see Invoice States and Approvals and Edit Invoices.
Complete related tasks manually
- Void an invoice: Remove payments first, then void the invoice.
- Delete an invoice: Remove an invoice that is still a draft.
- Send Bills to Clients: Send an invoice to a client by email or text.
Create payment links
If your firm uses Clio Payments, you can ask for a payment link for an invoice, or ask for an existing link to be expired.
- Create payment link example: Create a Clio Payments link for the Smith invoice.
- Expire payment link example: Expire the payment link on the Smith invoice.
If you do not provide sufficient details, Clio may automatically assign a logical option, or it may ask follow-up questions. When Clio has all the details, you can provide your approval once for the single request, approve that Clio takes action anytime you prompt in the particular conversation, or reject it to start again.
To see what Clio Payments enables and how it is set up, see Get Started with Clio Payments.
Create trust requests
Ask for a trust request to collect an initial retainer or to replenish a matter's trust balance. Clio creates the request for you to review, and a person on your team approves it in Clio Manage before it is sent.
- Create trust request example: Create a trust request for $2,500 from Jane Doe on the Doe matter with the message "Initial retainer."
If you do not provide sufficient details, Clio may automatically assign a logical option, or it may ask follow-up questions. When Clio has all the details, you can provide your approval once for the single request, approve that Clio takes action anytime you prompt in the particular conversation, or reject it to start again.
Trust funds can be held at the client or matter level, and the currency follows the billing preferences for the matter or client. To understand these choices, see Create Trust Requests.
Complete related tasks manually
- Approve and Send Trust Requests: Approve a trust request and send it to the client.
- Edit a trust request: Change a request that is still a draft.
- Delete a trust request: Remove a draft request.
- Void a trust request: Cancel a request that is approved and unpaid.
- Record Payments on Trust Requests: Apply a payment to a trust request.
Up next
- Create and Update Matters and Contacts using Clio's AI features: Open, update, and close matters, and add contacts.
- Message Clients and Log Communications using Clio's AI features: Share invoices and trust requests with clients through the client portal.
- Generate Reports and Monitor Performance: Run reports on your firm's billing and performance.