B.Legal Payments

How B.Legal Payments Works

• Your money goes straight to your bank. Payments land in your firm's own operating and trust (IOLTA) accounts. B.Legal never holds your money.
• Card and bank details stay with Confido. Clients type them on Confido's secure pages. B.Legal never sees full card or bank numbers.
• Your books update themselves. When a client pays, B.Legal records the payment on the invoice or in the matter's trust ledger.
• Trust money stays in trust. Invoice payments go only to operating accounts, and trust deposits go only to trust accounts.

Before You Start

• Who can set it up: only a firmAdmin or Managing Partnercan sign up for Confido or connect an account. Other billing users can see the Payments page but are told who to ask.
• Currency: online payments work for invoices in US dollars (USD) only.
• Have ready for a new application: your firm's legal name and tax ID (EIN), owner details, and the operating and trust (IOLTA) bank accounts you want payments deposited into. Confido's application tells you exactly what it needs.
• Where to start: openPayments in the sidebar (under Billing in the Mac and iPhone apps) or go to Settings → Payments. Both show the same two choices until your firm is connected.

Sign Up for Confido Legal

Steps

1. Open Payments. As an Admin or Managing Partner, go to Payments (or Settings → Payments).
2. Choose "Sign up for Confido Legal". It's under "New to Confido Legal?". B.Legal creates your firm's Confido account and opens a one-time sign-up link in a new browser tab.
3. Set your Confido password. The sign-up link is good for 20 minutes. If it expires, or the tab was blocked as a pop-up, come back to Payments and chooseOpen sign-up link to get a fresh one. The current link is also shown on the page.
4. Complete the application. Enter your firm, owner, and bank account details and submit. On the web you can also chooseFill in application here to complete the same application without leaving B.Legal.
5. Wait for approval. Confido reviews the application, usually in one to two business days. You'll get an email from Confido when your account is ready. Follow progress in Payments; seeApplication Status.
6. Finish setup. Once your status showsActive, followSet Up Accounts & Optionsand Turn On Payout Approval.

Connect an Existing Confido Account

Steps

1. Open Payments. As an Admin or Managing Partner, go to Payments (or Settings → Payments).
2. Choose "Connect existing Confido account".It's under "Already use Confido Legal?". You're taken to Confido.
3. Sign in to Confido as a firm administrator.
4. Approve the connection to B.Legal. You're sent back to Settings → Payments with a "Confido Legal connected" message.
5. Check your setup. Your bank accounts and payment options now appear in Settings → Payments. Then followTurn On Payout Approval.

Application Status

Once connected, Settings → Payments shows your Confido status and a progress bar. Choose Refresh status to check again with Confido.

Until your firm is Active, you can look around the Payments page, but Confido refuses new charges and payment buttons stay hidden on invoices and matters.

Set Up Accounts & Options

In Settings → Payments (on the web: full controls; in the apps, choose "Open payment settings on the web"):

1. Review your bank accounts. Each account shows whether it is Operating orTrust. UseMake default operating andMake default trust to choose where money goes unless you pick otherwise. Use Rename to give an account a clearer nickname. You add new bank accounts in Confido.
2. Choose payment options. Turn on the methods you accept: credit cards, debit cards, bank transfers (ACH), and checks, and which one is selected by default. You can also choose:
   • whether clients may pay part of a payment link;
   • whether pay pages offer "save this payment method";
   • whether to add a card surcharge (only if Confido approved it for your firm).
3. Brand your pay pages. UnderPay-page branding, set a header name, footer text, and colors for the pages and receipts your clients see. Then chooseSave branding.

Turn On Payout Approval

To approve payouts (money sent out of your accounts) from B.Legal, a firm administrator must turn this on once inside Confido. Payments in work without this step.

1. Sign in to Confido Legal at app.confidolegal.com as a firm administrator.
2. Go to Settings → Developer.
3. Find the API token named B.Legal, open its ⋮ menu, and choose Edit.
4. Tick Disbursements Approver and save.

If you signed up through B.Legal and don't see this option, first invite yourself as an administrator under Settings → Users in Confido and sign in with that login. Confido Legal support can help.

The Payment Process, Step by Step

Every online payment follows the same path, whether it's an invoice, a trust deposit, or a plan payment.

1. 1. You create a request. A payment link for an invoice, a trust deposit request, a "Pay full balance" link, or a payment plan. The request's status shows Link ready.
2. 2. You send it to the client. Email the invoice from B.Legal (the "Pay invoice" link is included), copy the link into your own message, or choose Email payment request via Confido. The status shows Request sent.
3. 3. The client pays on Confido's secure page. The page carries your firm's branding. The client chooses card or bank (ACH / eCheck), depending on the options you turned on, enters their details, and pays. They can pay part of the amount only if you allow partial payments.
4. 4. Confido emails the client a receipt.
5. 5. B.Legal records the payment on its own. The invoice moves to Paid or Partially Paid (status Paid online or Partly paid), or the deposit is added to the matter's trust ledger. This usually happens within moments. ChooseSync to check right away.
6. 6. The money reaches your bank. On the Payments page, a transaction moves from Pending toSuccessful, then Funds in transit, then Deposited once it's in your operating or trust account. Bank (ACH) payments take a few business days to deposit; card payments are usually faster. Confido's monthly statement shows the fees.

Getting Invoices Paid

Add a pay link to an invoice

1. When creating the invoice, turn onAccept online payment and, if you like, choose which operating account to deposit into.
2. For an existing invoice, open it and chooseCreate payment link.
3. Send it. When you email the invoice from B.Legal, the email includes a "Pay invoice" link. You can alsoCopy payment link to send it yourself, or chooseEmail payment request via Confido to have Confido email the client.
4. Get paid. When the client pays, the invoice changes to Paid or Partially Paid on its own, and the payment shows on the matter.

Trust Deposit Requests

Ask a client for a retainer or other trust deposit:

1. Open the matter and choose Request a trust deposit.
2. Enter the amount and a memo the client will see, and pick the trust account (or leave the default).
3. Choose Create payment link, then copy the link or have Confido email it.
4. When the client pays, B.Legal records the deposit in that matter's trust ledger. The matter's Online payments section lists every request and payment.

For an evergreen retainer, set up a trust payment plan on the Payments page. It tops up the matter's trust balance on a schedule.

Taking a Payment Yourself

If a client gives you card or bank details by phone or in person, open the invoice and choose Take payment (web). Enter the details in the secure Confido form. With the client's permission, you can save the method for future charges; saved methods appear under Saved methodson the Payments page, showing only the card brand and last four digits.

Payment Plans

A payment plan charges a client's saved card or bank account on a schedule. Use it to let a client pay an invoice in installments, or to keep a matter's trust balance topped up (an evergreen retainer).

1. Save the client's payment method first. On the web, use Saved methods on the Payments page, or tick "save" when you take a payment, with the client's permission.
2. On the Payments page, open Payment plans and choose New payment plan.
3. Pick the client, the saved method to charge, and where the money goes:Operating (to pay an invoice; you can link the invoice) or Trust (IOLTA) (to replenish a matter's trust balance).
4. Set the amount per payment and how often: weekly, every two weeks, monthly, or yearly, on the day you choose.
5. Choose when it ends: on a date, after a number of payments, or after a total is collected. An invoice plan also stops once the invoice is paid.
6. Choose Create plan. Each charge is recorded like any other online payment. You can change the amount or cancel the plan at any time.

Payouts

Payouts send money out of your accounts, for example a settlement share to a client or a fee to an expert or court reporter. Every payout needs two people: someone drafts it, and an Admin or Managing Partner approves it. Payout approval must be turned on first; see Turn On Payout Approval.

1. Add the payee. For a third party, add them underVendors & payees. Clients are already there.
2. Draft the payout. On thePayouts tab, choose a client or vendor, the account to pay from, the amount, the payment methods the payee may choose (for example ACH, paper check, push to debit card, PayPal, Zelle), and a memo. A payout from a trust account must name its matter, and B.Legal refuses it if the matter's trust balance (less other pending payouts) can't cover it. Choose Create draft.
3. Approve it. The draft shows "Waiting for an Admin or Managing Partner to approve." An Admin or Managing Partner reviews it and choosesApprove. The trust balance is checked again at this point.
4. The payee claims it. Confido sends the payee a secure link to choose how to receive the money. Or an Admin can chooseSend to saved method if the payee has already saved their details.
5. It's recorded. When the money leaves a trust account, B.Legal posts the withdrawal to that matter's trust ledger.

Before approval, a draft can be edited or deleted. An approved payout that hasn't been claimed can be voided by an Admin or Managing Partner; it can't be claimed after that.

The Payments Page

B.Legal Payments in the sidebar is where all online payments live. The Mac and iPhone apps show transactions and the everyday actions. Choose Open full Payments on the webfor everything else.

• Transactions: every payment, refund, void, return, chargeback and payout, with filters and totals.
• Payment plans: scheduled charges; see Payment Plans.
• Saved methods: cards and bank accounts clients have saved for future charges.
• Payouts: send money out; see Payouts.
• Vendors & payees: the people and companies you pay, and secure links for them to add where they want to be paid.
• Statements: Confido's monthly processing statements and fees (Admin / Managing Partner).
• Reports: payment volume by day, month, or year.
• Needs review: payments B.Legal couldn't match to an invoice or matter on its own. Each one explains what to do. Once it's handled, an Admin or Managing Partner marks it resolved with a note.

Refunds & Voids

1. An Admin or Managing Partner opens the transaction on the Payments page (web, Mac or iPhone).
2. Choose Void to cancel a card payment that hasn't settled yet (no fee is charged to the client), orRefund for the full or a partial amount. Confido shows only the option that's available for that payment.
3. The transaction shows "Processing" until Confido confirms it. Then B.Legal updates the invoice balance or trust ledger to match.

Billing users can also Resend receipt to the client.

Who Can Do What

Billing roles are Admin, Managing Partner, Partner, Attorney and Associate Attorney. Paralegals, legal assistants and view-only members can't see or use online payments. Actions that move money back out, or change where money goes, are limited to an Admin or Managing Partner. B.Legal hides buttons your role can't use, and its server checks every action again.

Disconnecting

An Admin or Managing Partner can choose Disconnect Confido Legal at the bottom of Settings → Payments. B.Legal stops creating payment links, and in-app payments, plans and payouts become unavailable. Your Confido account itself is not closed, and money you've already collected is not affected. Links already sent to clients stay live at Confido until you void them there. To reconnect later, use Connect existing Confido account.

Troubleshooting

Questions about your Confido application, approval, deposits or fees: contact Confido Legal support at support@confidolegal.com.