Refunding trust funds returns money electronically to a client's original payment method through Clio Payments, correcting an overpayment or returning remaining trust funds after a matter closes. Refunding reverses the original trust payment and adjusts the client or matter trust balance. With refunds recorded, your Clio trust records match the funds returned to your client.
Note: Use Refund to return funds electronically through Clio Payments when the original payment was collected electronically. Use Disburse to manually record funds leaving a trust account by physical check or cash. For manual returns, see Disburse Trust Funds.
Note: Refunding trust funds requires administrator, primary subscriber, or combined Accounts and Billing permissions.
Refund trust funds
Important: Refund eCheck payments within 180 days of the original payment. Credit card payments have no refund time limit. The refundable amount for each matter is capped at the amount originally charged for that matter's trust request.
Refund from the Online Payments tab
- Go to Online payments.
- Click Refund next to the trust payment transaction.
- Under Refund amount, enter the amount to return to the client.
- Click Refund payment.
Refund from a trust request
- Go to Billing, or the Bills subtab in the contact or matter.
- Optional: Select the Paid quick filter to view paid trust requests.
- Click the trust request ID number.
- In the trust request preview window, select the Online payments subtab.
- Click Refund next to the trust payment transaction.
- Under Refund amount, enter the amount to return to the client.
- Click Refund payment.
The refund modal shows the amount available to refund, the account the refund comes from, and the client it goes to. Payments linked to a contact or matter show the contact or matter, including multi-matter trust requests. Simple payments with no linked contact or matter show only in the Online Payments tab. For multi-matter trust requests, refunds apply from the newest matter to the oldest, and the refundable amount for each matter depends on that matter's original trust request payment.
Once you process a refund, you and your client each receive a confirmation email, and the transaction stays in the Paid quick filter in the bills table. View refund transactions in the contact or matter Transactions subtab, or the trust account's Transactions subtab in Accounts.
Important: Most jurisdictions require contemporaneous recording of trust disbursements. Record the payee and description immediately to keep an audit-ready trust ledger.
Note: If you deleted the matter before returning remaining trust funds, recover the matter from the Recovery bin first. See Delete and Recover Matters.
Up next
- Disburse Trust Funds: Return remaining trust funds to your client or pay a third party manually.
- Record Trust Transactions: Record a trust transaction directly, without creating a request first.