Payment plans give your firm a structured, automated way to collect an outstanding balance without manual follow-up each cycle. You schedule recurring credit card charges against a client's payment method toward a balance or ongoing services. The plan charges automatically until the balance is paid or you stop it, and both you and the client receive email updates.
Important: Only administrators and users with billing permissions can create, edit, and delete payment plans. Clients cannot set up their own plans. Firms in Australia can accept credit card payments on a plan.
Note: If your firm operates under New South Wales trust accounting rules, payment plans for trust accounts are disabled.
Understand payment plan terms
- A plan toward an outstanding balance pays the bill with the oldest due date first. When two bills share a due date, the bill created first is paid first. The payment order is fixed.
- When the remaining balance on a bill is less than the scheduled amount, Clio charges only the remaining amount.
- A plan toward an outstanding balance continues until all due bills are fully paid, even when a payment fails or is voided, or until you stop it. An ongoing plan continues until you stop it.
- Trust fund plan payments stay at the client level, not the matter level.
- You and the client receive an email when a payment processes or fails. For a balance plan, the confirmation email shows the remaining balance.
- Automated bill reminders pause while a client has an active plan and resume when it stops.
Note: When a payment fails because of invalid card details or an expired or cancelled card, stop the plan and create a new one with a valid method, or edit the plan after the client saves a new payment method.
Create a payment plan
Tip: Confirm the client has a stored payment method first. Learn how in Request and Store Payment Methods.
- In Clio Manage, click Online payments > New payment plan.
- Add the contact, the bank account for deposit, the amount per payment, the start date, the payment frequency, and the Repeat until condition.
- For Repeat until, select one option.
- Total payment amount reached: End the plan once a set total is reached. Set a fixed amount, or apply the plan to the entire outstanding balance, which updates as amounts are paid or bills are added.
- Ongoing: Continue the plan until you stop it.
- Click Next step.
- Confirm the payment plan details and click Create payment plan.
Edit a payment plan
Note: To change the payment method, first request a new method from the client. After they save it, edit the plan and select the new method, and Clio uses it for the next payment.
- In Clio Manage, click Online payments.
- Select the Payment plans subtab.
- Find the plan and click Edit.
- Make your changes.
- Click Save payment plan.
Stop a payment plan
A plan ends automatically when the entire overdue balance is paid, and the client is not notified. You can also stop a plan at any time; when you do, the client receives an email, and any paused bill reminders resume.
Note: Inactive plans do not reactivate when a new bill is generated. Create a new plan for a new balance.
- In Clio Manage, click Online payments.
- Select the Payment plans subtab.
- Click the down arrow next to Edit and select Stop.
- When the warning prompt appears, click Stop.
Up next
Record and Manage Online Payments: Record and reconcile client bill payments in Clio Manage.