Clio Payments is Clio’s built-in payments solution for US and Canadian customers. With Clio Payments, US customers can manage credit card, debit card, and eCheck/ACH payments, while Canadian customers can manage credit card and debit payments directly in Clio Manage. Both US and Canadian customers can save client payment methods and create payment plans. Once set up, your clients can also pay their bills using Apple Pay and Google Pay.
Note: Clio Payments supports a variety of practice areas, including family, civil litigation, criminal, wills and estates, bankruptcy, corporate, immigration, traffic, personal injury, real estate, contract, media, and more.
Important: All payments will be processed and paid out in USD for firms in the US and CAD for firms in Canada, regardless of the default currency selected in Bill Settings.
Sign up for Clio Payments
All US and Canadian customers can sign up for Clio Payments, including users who want to disconnect their LawPay accounts and migrate to Clio Payments. You can continue to use the Clio Grow Scheduler to collect payment for client appointments without interruption. Once the signup process is complete, you will receive an email notification that you can begin using Clio Payments.
Note: Only administrators can sign up for Clio Payments.
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- Go to Online payments.
- Click Activate today.
- Under Business type, select your business type and business structure if appropriate, and then click Next.
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Complete your business details and then click Next. The bullet points below provide additional information on the required fields.
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Required: Statement descriptor: When your client makes a card payment for their bill, the amount your firm charged will appear on their credit card or bank statement. This line item is your firm's statement descriptor. By setting an easily identifiable statement descriptor, you can help your clients recognize your firm name and reduce the likelihood of chargebacks and disputes. Learn more about statement descriptors here, and see the screenshot below to get a better idea of what it is.
You can always edit the statement descriptor after signing up for Clio Payments, but, at this stage of the signup process, your statement descriptor should meet the following requirements to be approved:- Reflects your Doing Business As (DBA) name if you have one, otherwise reflects your legal business name
- Contains Latin characters only.
- Contains between 5 and 22 characters, inclusive.
- Contains at least one letter (if you are using a prefix and a suffix, both require at least one letter).
- Contains more than a single common term or common website URL. A website URL is only acceptable if it provides a clear and accurate description of a transaction on a client's credit card or bank statement.
- Does not contain any of the following special characters:
< > \ ' " *
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Required: Business website/Business description: Provide the business website you use to promote your services and a detailed description of the legal services you offer. Your website should accurately reflect the services you offer to clients. The description should include your specific practice area(s) and tell us when and how you get paid.
Business website/social mediaYour business website or social media profile is required to have the below list of information. Having this information on your website or social media profile is not required when signing up; however, you will need to add this information to your website or social media profile as soon as possible after signing up, and at the latest before accepting any payments, to avoid possible business disruptions.
- Your business name should be the same as the information you provided to Clio.
- Descriptions of your services should be the same as the information you provided to Clio.
- Include customer service contact details. This can be a phone number, email address, mailing address, contact form, or an online messaging service contact.
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Include a refund and dispute policy.
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Include a cancellation policy, if applicable.
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Include transaction currency.
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Include security capabilities and a policy for transmission of payment card details.
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Include a consumer data privacy policy.
Business descriptionIn this text field, include a short description of the types of legal services your firm offers and how and when you charge clients.
Acceptable: Waverly Law is a Seattle-based firm specializing in family law, with additional services in wills and estates. We require a retainer payment upon engagement and accept subsequent payments online, by check, and in cash.
Not acceptable: Legal services in Washington.
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(CA only) Sole proprietorship:
- Required: Business name and Business description: If you do not have a business name, use the name used to open your bank account. And, provide a detailed description of your legal services, including your specific practice area(s), and tell us when and how you’re paid for them.
- Optional: Business website: If you have a business website or social media profile for your firm, enter the website URL or full social media URL in this field.
- Required: Registry ID, Corporation Number, or Quebec Enterprise Number (NEQ): If you answered yes when selecting the business type, enter your tax ID number in this field.
- Required: Registered business address: You can use your home address if you do not have a registered business address. Your address should be in Canada, and a physical address. Post office boxes and private mailboxes are not permitted.
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(CA only) Private corporations, private partnerships and non-profits :
- Required: Business website/Business description: Provide the business website you use to promote your services and a detailed description of the legal services you offer. Your website should accurately reflect the services you offer to clients. The description should include your specific practice area(s) and tell us when and how you get paid
- Required: Registered business address: Your address should be in Canada and a physical address. Post office boxes and private mailboxes are not permitted.
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Required: Statement descriptor: When your client makes a card payment for their bill, the amount your firm charged will appear on their credit card or bank statement. This line item is your firm's statement descriptor. By setting an easily identifiable statement descriptor, you can help your clients recognize your firm name and reduce the likelihood of chargebacks and disputes. Learn more about statement descriptors here, and see the screenshot below to get a better idea of what it is.
- Add your personal information to verify that you own the business, and then click Next. Depending on the business type you selected at the start of the signup process, you may need to also add personal information for beneficial owners on the next screen.
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For firms that need to add beneficial owners or directors: Your business type will dictate whether you need to add beneficial owners, directors, or both. If you do not see the business owners screen, skip to step seven on payout accounts. Beneficial owners can include one or both of the following individuals:
- Individuals who own 25% or more of your firm.
- Individuals who exercise significant control over your business ( i.e., executive officers or senior managers, such as CEO, CFO, COO, Managing Member, General Partner, President, Vice President, or Treasurer).
- Click Add person to add additional users. In this window, you can add personal information for each new user. Click Add person to finish adding the user.
- Add at least one payout account. Earnings that you receive through Clio will be sent to these accounts. Contact your financial institution for your bank account and sort code numbers (if required). Once you are done adding payout accounts, select the primary operating account that you want to use with online payments, and then click Next.
- You are required to add at least one operating account and have the option to add trust accounts.
- Click Add payout account to add additional accounts.
- Review the information you entered, check the boxes to agree to the terms and conditions, and then click Submit.
- Optional: Go back to the Online payments page to view the status of your application. If there are any issues with your business details, you will be prompted to enter more details.
- Once your application is approved and you receive an email that your account is ready, you will need to connect at least one Clio Manage operating account to online payments. You may also need to provide additional verification for your payments profile.
- To connect a Clio Manage bank account to online payments, go to the main Accounts tab. Learn more about how to connect operating accounts to online payments here.
- To provide additional verification for your payments profile, go to Settings > Online payments, and then click Go to Payment Settings. Learn more about updating your payments profile here.
- Go to Online payments and select the Access more features subtab.
- In the Sign up for Clio Payments section, click Begin.
- Under Business type, select your business type and business structure if appropriate, and then click Next.
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Complete your business details and then click Next. See the bullet points below for additional information on two required fields.
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Required: Statement descriptor: When your client makes a card payment for their bill, the amount your firm charged will appear on their credit card or bank statement. This line item is your firm's statement descriptor. By setting an easily identifiable statement descriptor, you can help your clients recognize your firm name and reduce the likelihood of chargebacks and disputes. Learn more about statement descriptors here, and see the screenshot below to get a better idea of what it is.
You can always edit the statement descriptor after signing up for Clio Payments, but, at this stage of the sign-up process, your statement descriptor should meet the following requirements to avoid delays in your application approval:- Reflects your Doing Business As (DBA) name if you have one, otherwise reflects your legal business name
- Contains Latin characters only.
- Contains between 5 and 22 characters, inclusive.
- Contains at least one letter (if you are using a prefix and a suffix, both require at least one letter).
- Contains more than a single common term or common website URL. A website URL is only acceptable if it provides a clear and accurate description of a transaction on a client's credit card or bank statement.
- Does not contain any of the following special characters:
< > \ ' " *
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Required: Business website/Business description: If you have a business website or social media profile for your firm, enter the website URL or full social media URL in this field. If you do not have a business website or social media profile, click I don't have a business website to enter business description details instead.
Business website/social mediaYour business website or social media profile is required to have the below list of information. Having this information on your website or social media profile is not required when signing up; however, you will need to add this information to your website or social media profile as soon as possible after signing up, and at the latest before accepting any payments, to avoid possible business disruptions.
- Your business name should be the same as the information you provided to Clio.
- Descriptions of your services should be the same as the information you provided to Clio.
- Include customer service contact details. This can be a phone number, email address, mailing address, contact form, or an online messaging service contact.
-
Include a refund and dispute policy.
-
Include a cancelation policy, if applicable.
-
Include transaction currency.
-
Include security capabilities and a policy for transmission of payment card details.
-
Include a consumer data privacy policy.
Business descriptionIf you do not have a business website or social media profile, click I don't have a business website to enter a business description instead. In this text field, include a short description of the types of legal services your firm offers and how and when you charge clients.
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(CA only) Sole proprietorship:
- Required: Business name: If you do not have a business name, use the name used to open your bank account.
- Optional: Business website: If you have a business website or social media profile for your firm, enter the website URL or full social media URL in this field.
- Required: Business description: Provide a detailed description of your legal services, including your specific practice area(s), and tell us when and how you’re paid for them.
- Required: Registry ID, Corporation Number, or Quebec Enterprise Number (NEQ): If you answered yes when selecting the business type, enter your tax ID number in this field.
- Required: Registered business address: You can use your home address if you do not have a registered business address. Your address should be in Canada, and a physical address. Post office boxes and private mailboxes are not permitted.
-
(CA only) Private corporations, private partnerships and non-profits :
- Required: Business website/Business description: Provide the business website you use to promote your services and a detailed description of the legal services you offer. Your website should accurately reflect the services you offer to clients. The description should include your specific practice area(s) and tell us when and how you get paid
- Required: Registered business address: Your address should be in Canada and a physical address. Post office boxes and private mailboxes are not permitted.
-
Required: Statement descriptor: When your client makes a card payment for their bill, the amount your firm charged will appear on their credit card or bank statement. This line item is your firm's statement descriptor. By setting an easily identifiable statement descriptor, you can help your clients recognize your firm name and reduce the likelihood of chargebacks and disputes. Learn more about statement descriptors here, and see the screenshot below to get a better idea of what it is.
- Add your personal information to verify that you own the business, and then click Next. Depending on the business type that you selected at the start of the signup process, you may need to also add personal information for beneficial owners on the next screen.
-
For firms that need to add directors or owners: Your business type will dictate whether you need to add owners, directors or both. If you do not see the business owners screen, skip to step seven on bank accounts. Beneficial owners can include one or both of the following individuals:
- Individuals who own 25% or more of your firm.
- Individuals who exercise significant control over your business ( i.e., executive officers or senior managers, such as CEO, CFO, COO, Managing Member, General Partner, President, Vice President, or Treasurer).
- Click Add person to add additional users. In this window, you can add personal information for each new user. Click Add person to finish adding the user.
- Add at least one payout account. Earnings that you receive through Clio will be sent to these accounts. Contact your financial institution for your bank account and sort code numbers (if required). Once you are done adding payout accounts, select the primary operating account that you want to connect to online payments, and then click Next.
- You are required to add at least one operating account and have the option to add trust accounts.
- Click Add payout account to add additional accounts.
- Review your business details, ownership information, and payout accounts.
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Agree to the Terms & conditions:
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- Required: I have read and agree to the Terms & Conditions.
- Required: I have read and agree to the Direct Debit Agreement.
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Required: I consent to receive electronic copies of my form 1099-K.
Note: After signing up, you can manually request paper copies of your form 1099-K. Learn more here.
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- Click Submit.
- Optional: Go back to Access new features subtab to view the status of your application. If there are any issues with your application, you will be notified via email to provide more details. You can also resolve issues with your application on the Access new features subtab by clicking Begin verification.
- Once your application is approved, you will receive an email prompting you to finish setting up Clio Payments. Proceed to the steps in the next section.
Set up Clio Payments
To finish your switch to Clio Payments, you will need to connect your bank accounts and decide how to handle active payment plans and saved payment methods.
- Go to Set Up Clio Payments and select Get Started.
- Connect each relevant bank account to ensure existing payment links work seamlessly. If accounts are not connected before switching from LawPay, any payment links associated with unconnected accounts will be disabled after the switch. Once finished, click Next.
- For existing payment plans:
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- Stop existing payment plans in LawPay and manually recreate them in Clio, or
- Continue running these payment directly from your LawPay account. Note that payments received from these plans will not sync to Clio Manage, so you will need to manually record the transactions in Clio.
- For saved payment methods, request saved payments directly from clients.
- Click Next.
- Read and check all terms, then click Activate Clio Payments.
Add payout accounts and set primary operating account
Payout accounts are your real-life bank accounts, where payouts are deposited. After signing up for Clio Payments, you can add new payout accounts. When you add a new payout account, the name will automatically update to your financial institution and will not be available for use in Clio Manage until it is fully verified. When you have at least two verified payout accounts, you can choose which one should be the primary operating account.
Add payout accounts:
- Go to Settings > Online payments.
- Click Go to Payment Settings.
- Click Banking.
- In the Payout accounts card, click Add payout account to add a new account.
Set primary operating account:
- Go to Settings > Online payments.
- Click Go to Payment Settings.
- Click Banking.
- In the Primary operating account card, select the account you want to use as the primary operating account.
Update payments profile
After signing up for Clio Payments, you may be prompted to provide additional verification details. You can provide these details and address any errors in your payment settings.
- Go to Settings > Online payments.
- Click Go to Payment Settings.
- Click Payments profile.
- Make any necessary changes to address the errors.
Edit statement descriptor
When you review your credit card or bank statement, the individual line items are each merchant's statement descriptor. Statement descriptors serve as explanations of the transactions on your statement. For example, if you recently paid for a Netflix subscription, you might see something like "netflix.com" and the amount charged on your statement. Netflix's statement descriptor is easily identifiable and you know immediately that this charge on your card is from Netflix.
Similarly, when your client makes a card payment for their bill, the amount your firm charged will appear on your client's credit card or bank statement. Without an easily identifiable statement descriptor, your client might not understand where the charge came from. Setting a custom statement descriptor will help your clients recognize your firm name and reduce the likelihood of chargebacks and disputes. You can customize your statement descriptor while signing up for Clio Payments and edit it after signing up. Any firm user with access to payments can edit it.
- Go to Settings > Online payments.
- Click Go to Payment Settings.
- Click Payments profile or Manage payments profile.
- Under the Business details card, click Edit business details.
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Enter the new statement descriptor in the statement descriptor field. See the screenshot below to get an idea of what a statement descriptor looks like on a credit card or bank statement. Your statement descriptor has the following requirements:
- Reflects your Doing Business As (DBA) name if you have one, otherwise reflects your legal business name.
- Contains Latin characters only.
- Contains between 5 and 22 characters, inclusive.
- Contains at least one letter (if you are using a prefix and a suffix, both require at least one letter).
- Contains more than a single common term or common website URL. A website URL is only acceptable if it provides a clear and accurate description of a transaction on a client's credit card or bank statement.
- Does not contain any of the following special characters:
< > \ ' " *
- Click Save.
Accepted credit and debit cards
With Clio Payments, your clients can pay their bills by credit card, debit card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, or eCheck/ACH (US only). The types of credit cards and debit cards that your clients can use to pay their bills depend on where the clients are located. The table below shows what cards your clients can use if they are located in the US or in Canada, or if they are located internationally.
United States | Canada | International |
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Visa (debit or credit) | Visa (debit or credit) | Visa (debit or credit) |
Mastercard (debit or credit) | Mastercard (debit or credit) | Mastercard (debit or credit) |
American Express | American Express | American Express |
Discover | ||
Diners Club | ||
JCB | ||
UnionPay |
Complete identity confirmation for payout accounts
For your protection, when connecting a payout account to Clio Payments, you may be prompted to provide additional identity confirmation. Once you have completed the identity verification form, your submission will be sent to Clio for processing and review. Upon successful confirmation of your identity, you will be notified via email that your submission has been accepted, and you will be able to connect additional payout accounts to Clio Payments.
Note: Your successful identity confirmation status will last for 30 days. If you need to connect additional payout accounts after this 30-day period, you may be required to undergo the identity confirmation process again.
If you need to connect a payout account to Clio Payments and are prompted for additional identity confirmation when viewing the Accounts tab, follow these steps if you are using the Clio Manage desktop app:
- Click Verify my identity. This action will result in the following:
- It will redirect you to Clio's identity confirmation form.
- You will receive an email with a link to the identity confirmation form.
- The primary subscriber for your firm will be notified that you are undergoing the identity confirmation process. No email will be sent if you are your firm’s primary subscriber.
- In the identity verification form, select the type of government-issued documentation you are using under Document Type (e.g. driver's licence, passport, etc.) and the issuing country of that document under Country.
- Under Capture Type, select whether you are uploading a photo of the front of the documentation, back of the document (only for some documentation types), or a live photo. You are required to upload a photo of the front of your documentation and a live photo of yourself. For some documentation types, you may be required to upload a photo of the back of the documentation.
- Under Auto/Manual Capture, select how you will take the photo. If you experience difficulties with Auto, try Manual instead.
- If you selected Auto, click Capture Photo to use your computer's webcam and camera software to assist in the picture-taking process.
Tip: Put a contrasting background color behind your document to assist the automatic detection process in recognizing your document. - If you selected Manual, click Capture to upload your photos from your computer.
- If you selected Auto, click Capture Photo to use your computer's webcam and camera software to assist in the picture-taking process.
- Click Submit once you are done.
If you need to connect a payout account to Clio Payments and are prompted for additional identity confirmation when viewing the Accounts tab, follow these steps if you are using the Clio mobile app:
- Click Verify my identity. This action will result in the following:
- It will redirect you to Clio's identity confirmation form.
- You will receive an email with a link to the identity confirmation form.
- The primary subscriber for your firm will be notified that you are undergoing the identity confirmation process. No email will be sent if you are your firm’s primary subscriber.
- In the identity verification form, select the type of government-issued documentation you are using under Document Type (e.g. driver's licence, passport, etc.) and the issuing country of that document under Country.
- Under Capture Type, select whether you are uploading a photo of the front of the documentation, back of the document (only for some documentation types), or a live photo. You are required to upload a photo of the front of your documentation and a live photo of yourself. For some documentation types, you may be required to upload a photo of the back of the documentation.
- Under Auto/Manual Capture, select how you will take the photo. If you experience difficulties with Auto, try Manual instead.
- If you selected Auto, click Capture Photo to use your mobile device's camera to assist in the picture-taking process.
Tip: Put a contrasting background color behind your document to assist the automatic detection process in recognizing your document. - If you selected Manual, click Capture to upload your photos from your computer mobile device.
- If you selected Auto, click Capture Photo to use your mobile device's camera to assist in the picture-taking process.
- Click Submit once you are done.
Important: Your personal information is very sensitive and is treated with the utmost care. The data you provide is accessible to only a select few Clio employees on the Security team. Your document images are stored within Clio for a one-year period for auditing purposes, at which point they are automatically and irrevocably deleted.
Disconnect Clio Payments
If you no longer want to use Clio Payments, contact Clio's support team and state that you want to disconnect Clio Payments from your account. Your account's Primary Subscriber or an administrator will be required to authorize the disconnection via email before Clio Payments can be disabled from your account.