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Payments for law firms, arranged around the trust account
A firm does not have one banking relationship. It has two, they answer to different rules, and a payment stack that cannot tell them apart is the problem rather than the tool.
What the money actually has to do here
Not a feature list. These are the mechanics a legal practice is held to, and what each one means for the way the account is built.
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Two accounts, two settlement paths
Client funds settle to the trust account and earned funds settle to the operating account; a single merchant record funding one bank account cannot honour that separation, so the firm is boarded with both. DRAFT — pending counsel
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A dispute is debited from the operating account
A returned or disputed payment is debited from the operating account and is never swept out of client funds held in trust, which means the debit account is named at boarding rather than discovered later. DRAFT — pending counsel
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Passing card costs to a client is not a switch to flip
Card-brand rules and state law both speak to surcharging and they do not agree everywhere; where it is not permitted the terminal and the payment page are configured so it cannot be added at all. DRAFT — pending counsel
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The matter reference survives settlement
Every authorization carries the matter number through to the settlement export, so a deposit reconciles to a client ledger instead of to a batch total somebody has to unpick by hand.
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Evergreen retainers replenish on a stored credential
Replenishment runs as a stored-credential transaction with the client authorization recorded alongside it, retrievable years later rather than living in a session that expired.
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Refunds after settlement are new movements of money
A return past the settlement window does not reverse the original deposit, so it has to be issued from the account the funds are actually sitting in. DRAFT — pending counsel
What to ask any processor before you sign
Five questions that separate a payments provider who has boarded a law firm from one who is about to learn on yours.
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Ask which account a dispute is debited from
If the answer is the account on file, ask which one. A provider who cannot name the operating account out loud will take it from wherever the money settled. DRAFT — pending counsel
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Ask to see the matter reference on a settlement file
A reference that exists only on the terminal screen is gone by the time the bank statement arrives. Ask for a real export, not a screenshot of a receipt.
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Ask what an authorization record looks like in year three
Retainer replenishment stands on the client consent stored with the transaction. If that consent is a checkbox in an expired session, the firm has nothing to produce.
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Ask how a refund is issued after the batch closed
Returns after settlement are new movements of money and they must land back in the account the funds came from. DRAFT — pending counsel
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Ask what happens the day the firm changes banks
Trust and operating accounts rarely move on the same date. Ask how a bank change is handled without a gap in which client payments cannot be taken. DRAFT — pending counsel
Questions law firms actually ask
Short answers. Where a question touches a rule rather than a preference, the answer is marked as draft until counsel has signed it off.
Can one merchant account fund both the trust account and the operating account?
It is set up as separate records so that client funds and earned funds never share a settlement path and a dispute cannot reach client money. (DRAFT — pending counsel)
Do you support surcharging for a law firm?
Only where card-brand rules and applicable state law both permit it, and the device is configured so it cannot be added where they do not. (DRAFT — pending counsel)
Can a client pay an invoice without calling the office?
Yes. A hosted payment link carries the matter reference with it, so the deposit reconciles to the right client ledger without anybody retyping anything.
How do evergreen retainers replenish?
As stored-credential transactions on a schedule the client authorized in writing, with that authorization attached to the payment record rather than filed separately.
Do we have to replace our practice-management software?
No. If the firm already runs a practice-management system we integrate with it. If it is working, we leave it alone.
Talk to somebody who has boarded a law firm before
Tell us the firm and how to reach you. The next step is a short call, not a quote sheet.
Thank you. Somebody who has set up trust and operating accounts before will reach out to book a short discovery call.
We will implement whatever is right for you — including keeping what you have.
Two free tools, before you talk to anybody
Both are open to anyone, and neither touches a client ledger or asks you to describe a matter.
- Answer the boarding questions Say that you hold client money in trust and take fees from an operating account, and it returns a starting configuration that never lets one fund the other.
- Get a free statement audit Send a month of receipts. We identify each line and show which account a fee of that kind is being taken out of today.
Last updated: 2026-08-17