How do I automatically charge credit card fees to clients in Clio?

In this article, we will walk through the process of automatically charging credit card fees to clients in Clio using the Confido Legal/Clio integration.

Prerequisites

You have an active Confido Legal/Clio integration.
You have surcharging enabled on your Confido Legal account.
You are in a state that permits surcharging (see our state-by-state guide)

Charging the Credit Card Fee to the Client

Ensure that all your Clio bills are synced with Confido Legal.
Select the bills you would like to send to clients on the Invoices tab in Confido Legal.
Click Review and Send Selected. In this step, you can send both trust requests and invoices in the same email to the client. The integrated system ensures that the payment is split and deposited into the appropriate bank accounts.
Bulk Sending (Optional): If you prefer not to edit individual bill emails, you can choose to bulk send the bills to clients.
Once the client receives the email, they can view the invoices, which render exactly as they would in Clio. Clients can choose to pay each invoice individually or use the Pay All option for convenience.
Upon selecting credit card payment, the system displays a message indicating a surcharge for credit card transactions. The client enters their credit card information, and the system automatically calculates and displays the surcharge amount and the new total.
Clients also have a free-to-them option to pay via ACH or debit card if enabled.
The client can then complete the payment.
The system ensures that the credit card fee is tracked separately from the invoice and trust request amounts in Clio. This transparency allows for clear financial tracking without impacting the displayed bill amounts in Clio.

Note: For transactions involving both trust requests and invoices, the system intelligently splits the payment and allocates the funds to the respective bank account. The surcharge amounts charged to clients for trust transactions are only deposited into the operating account to reimburse you for the associated credit card fees. We never deposit more than the request amount into the trust account.

By leveraging the Confido Legal Clio integration, law firms can automate credit card fee charges to clients during the payment process. This not only enhances efficiency but also provides a transparent and straightforward billing experience.