Trust deposit requests

A trust deposit request asks a client to pay money into your firm's trust account, for example a retainer before work starts. You create the request from the client's contact or from the matter, send the client a secure link, and the client pays by card or from their bank account through your firm's LawPay or Confido Legal account. Esqase records the deposit on your trust account under that client's name by itself, so the client's trust balance is right as soon as the money arrives.

This page explains what you need before you start, how to request a deposit, what your client sees, how the deposit lands in your trust ledger, how bank payments are handled while they clear, how to track and revoke requests, and what is not sent to your accounting software.

Before you begin

The Request trust deposit button appears only when all of these are true:

• A payment processor is connected and working. Your firm has a LawPay or Confido Legal account connected, and its status on the Processor tab of your payment settings is Connected (not Application in progress or Needs reconnecting). See Taking card and bank payments with LawPay or Confido Legal.
• A default trust account is mapped. Under Account mappings, one of the processor's trust accounts is mapped to an active Esqase Trust Account, IOLTA, Client Trust Account, or Escrow account, and chosen as the Default in the Trust accounts group. See Map your bank accounts.
• The currencies match. The trust account uses your firm's currency.
• A payment method is on. Card payments or Bank payments is switched on under How clients can pay on the Autopay tab of your payment settings, and the default trust account accepts that method. See Choose how clients can pay.
• You have permission. Requesting a deposit needs Create access for Transactions. Firm owners, administrators, and attorneys have it by default. See Roles and permissions.
• The matter or contact is not archived.

The client also needs an email address on their contact. The link asks them to confirm that address before they can pay, and Esqase can email the request only to an address on file.

Request a trust deposit

You can start a request from a matter or from a contact.

1. Open the matter or the contact and click Request trust deposit in its header. (On a narrower screen the button reads Request.)

2. The Request trust deposit dialog opens. Fill in the fields:

   • Client: the client asked to pay. From a contact, it is that contact. From a matter, pick one of the matter's active clients (a matter with one client picks it for you).
   • Matter: the matter the deposit is for. From a matter, it is that matter. From a contact, pick one of the client's matters, or leave it on No matter. Archived matters are not offered.
   • Amount: how much to request, in your firm's currency.
   • Expires on (optional): the last day the link can be paid. Leave it on No expiry to keep the link open until it is paid or revoked. The earliest date you can pick is tomorrow.
   • Description (optional): what the deposit is for, up to 500 characters. The client sees it on the payment page.

   Below the fields, the dialog names the trust account the client pays into and says the deposit is recorded as a client retainer on that account.

3. Click Create request. You see Trust deposit request created, and the dialog shows the link.

4. Share the link:

   • Click Copy next to Payment link and send the link however you like, or
   • Choose the address in Send to and click Send by email. You see Request emailed to the client, and the button changes to Emailed. The email, titled (your firm) requests a trust deposit, gives the amount, the matter, and the link. If the client has no email address on file, the dialog says so instead.

5. Click Done.

What your client sees

1. Confirming who they are. The link opens a page titled Trust deposit request, which says your firm requested a deposit into its trust account. It works the same way as an invoice payment link: a client already signed in to the Esqase client app is usually let straight through, and anyone else enters their email address and clicks Send me a sign-in link. The page then reads Check your email, and the link Esqase emails them expires in 30 minutes. Only an email address on the client's contact is accepted. See How clients sign in.
2. The request. The page shows Trust deposit with your firm's name, the Amount requested, the matter, and your description. The amount is fixed, with the note Your firm requested this amount as a deposit into its trust account.
3. Paying. The client chooses Card or Bank account (only the methods your trust account accepts are shown) and fills in the same secure card or bank form an invoice payment uses. Bank transfer and QR code are not offered for trust deposits, and a trust deposit never saves a card or bank account for later.
4. Confirmation. After a card payment the page reads Deposit received: your firm received the trust deposit and holds it in the firm's trust account for the client. After a bank payment it reads Deposit processing: the payment usually clears in 3 to 5 business days, and your firm sees it in its trust account once it clears. Opening the link again later shows the same page.

If the request has been revoked or has expired, or the matter or the client has since been archived, the link shows a not-found page instead. If card and bank payments have both been switched off since the request was sent, the processor status is Needs reconnecting, or your firm has disconnected the processor and not reconnected the same account, the page reads No payment options yet and asks the client to contact your firm. Once payments are back on, the same link works again. If your firm connected a different processor account, revoke the request and send a new one.

How the deposit lands in your trust ledger

Esqase records the money as a trust deposit, not as an invoice payment, so it never touches an invoice balance, your Payments list, or your operating account.

• Card payments are recorded straight away as a deposit on the Esqase trust account, in the Client Retainer / Deposit category, with the client's name as the Payer / payee and the matter attached. The client's balance on the account's Clients tab goes up by the amount, and the deposit appears on the trust account's Transactions tab and on the matter's and the contact's Transactions tabs. The request is marked Paid.
• Bank payments are recorded as a pending deposit, and the request shows Processing. A pending deposit does not count toward the client's trust balance. When the processor reports that the money arrived, usually 3 to 5 business days later, Esqase posts the deposit, dated the day it cleared, and marks the request Paid. A deposit started near the end of a month can therefore land in the next month's ledger and trust reports. If the client's bank refuses the debit, Esqase voids the pending deposit and the request goes back to Awaiting payment, so the client can pay again from the same link.
• The Check or reference no. on the deposit is the processor's transaction reference, which helps you match it on your trust bank statement. The Description reads Trust deposit request followed by a short code.
• Processing fees never touch trust. LawPay and Confido Legal take their fees from your operating account, not from the deposit, so the full amount lands in trust.

If a deposit that already cleared is later returned by the client's bank, charged back, or refunded in the LawPay or Confido Legal portal, Esqase records a matching withdrawal from the trust account for that client once the processor reports it. If that withdrawal would take the client's trust balance below zero, Esqase changes nothing, and the processor's Recent activity list shows a row that Needs attention. Record the reversal by hand once the balance allows it. See Trust compliance and three-way reconciliation.

Track your requests

The matter's and the contact's Transactions tabs show a Trust deposit requests table below the ledger once there is a request, or as soon as you are able to create one. Seeing it needs View access for Transactions.

Each row shows its Actions, when the request was Created, the Amount, the Client (on a matter) or the Matter (on a contact), the Status, the day it Expires, and when it was Paid on. The Status reads:

• Awaiting payment: the link is open.
• Processing: the client paid from their bank account and the payment has not cleared yet.
• Paid: the deposit is posted to trust.
• Revoked: your firm cancelled the link.
• Expired: the expiry date passed without a payment.

Click Copy link on a request that is Awaiting payment or Processing to copy its link again.

Revoke a request

Revoking closes the link so the client can no longer pay from it. It needs Update access for Transactions, which firm owners, administrators, and attorneys have by default.

1. On the request's row, click ⋯ next to Copy link, then click Revoke request.
2. In Revoke trust deposit request?, click Revoke request. You see Trust deposit request revoked.

A revoked request cannot be reopened, but you can send a new one. You can revoke a request that is Awaiting payment or Expired. A request that is Paid, already Revoked, or Processing a bank payment cannot be revoked.

What is not sent to accounting

Trust deposit requests and the deposits they record are not sent to QuickBooks Online or Xero. If you keep trust balances in your accounting software, enter trust deposits there yourself. See Connecting QuickBooks Online or Xero.

Troubleshooting

• The Request trust deposit button is missing. One of the conditions in Before you begin is not met: no connected processor, a status other than Connected, no default trust account mapped, a currency mismatch, card and bank payments both off or not accepted by the trust account, a role without Create access for Transactions, or an archived matter or contact.
• The dialog says "Online trust deposits are not set up". The processor or its trust mapping changed after the page loaded. Click Payment settings to open the Processor tab and check it.
• The dialog says "No client to request from". The matter has no active client. Add a client to the matter first.
• "The matter must belong to the selected client". The matter you picked does not list this client. Pick another matter, or No matter.
• The dialog says to add an email address. The client has no email address on file, so the request cannot be emailed. Copy the link instead, or add an email address to the contact and create a new request.
• The client says the page is not found. The request was revoked or has expired, the matter or the client was archived, or the link was copied incompletely. Create a new request.
• The client paid by bank account and the deposit is not in the trust balance. A bank payment stays pending until it clears, usually 3 to 5 business days. The request shows Processing until then. If the processor's portal shows the payment cleared some days ago and the request still shows Processing, contact Esqase support.
• Revoke request is missing. The request is paid, already revoked, or has a bank payment processing, or your role lacks Update access for Transactions.

Common questions

• Can the client pay part of the amount? No. The client pays the full amount requested.
• Can I change the amount after sending? No. Revoke the request and create a new one.
• Does a trust deposit request create an invoice or a payment? No. It records a trust deposit, which appears in the trust ledger and the client's trust balance, not in your Payments list.
• Which trust account receives the money? The Esqase trust account mapped to your processor's default trust account. The dialog names it before you create the request.
• Can a client pay a trust deposit with a saved card or autopay? No. Each trust deposit is paid on its own page, and nothing is saved for later.

Related

• Accounts, trust, and transactions
• Trust compliance and three-way reconciliation
• Taking card and bank payments with LawPay or Confido Legal
• How clients pay invoices
• The matter workspace
• Working with contacts