Financially Legal

How Immigration Law Firms Automate Payment Plans with QuickBooks

Written by Emery Wager | Aug 2, 2022 7:00:00 AM

Immigration law firms have unique billing practices. Most immigration firms we encounter either predominantly or exclusively put clients on payments plans. These plans involve the client entering their payment information so they can be automatically billed on a regular schedule until a specified dollar amount is reached.

Accounting for these payments can be tricky. One client might want to be billed twice a month, while another wants to be billed on their payday every two weeks. If your firm has one hundred active matters, you might have two hundred active payment plans depending on the terms. This leads to two big questions:

How do you manage all the different payment plans?

How do you keep track of who owes what?

These are exactly the challenges we set out to solve with the Confido Legal/QuickBooks Online integration. If you are already doing your accounting and billing management in QuickBooks Online, you can use Confido Legal to setup and initiate payment plans. All payments made on those plans are automatically recorded in QuickBooks and can be applied to an outstanding invoice balance for that client. 

 

How Immigration Law Firms Can Track Payment Plans in QuickBooks

1. Create a payment plan in Confido Legal, either tied to a specific client or as a template that any client can use

2. The client adds their payment information on the associated payment plan link 

3. The client is automatically billed on regular intervals and all payments are recorded in QuickBooks under that client's record 

 

Payment plans can be a great way for immigration law firms to make their services more accessible and smooth out monthly revenue fluctuations. But managed carelessly, these payment plans can be a major accounting headache.

Whichever solution you choose to manage these plans, consider the following questions:

  • What is the client experience? What impression am I giving to my clients when they get setup on a plan?
  • Do I have a way to update the plans when the client's circumstances change?
  • Are payments made automatically, or do I have to manually process them?
  • Can I easily see how much has been paid on the plan and how much is left?
  • Can I see how much revenue I can expect from my plans in the future?
  • Do clients have a way to update their payment information without having to call the firm?
  • How will these payments get added to my invoicing and accounting systems?

To learn more about the Confido Legal QuickBooks integration, grab some time with our team at the link below or get access to a detailed overview video of the integration