Law firm payment processing starts with a link and ends in a ledger entry.
A payment is always recorded against one invoice, so the invoice balance and the account ledger move together, and any surplus lands on the client's trust ledger instead. Clients pay from a secure link, and your firm confirms it landed.
One link per invoice, two ways to pay it
The client opens a page of their own, signs in with a link sent to the email you hold, reads the invoice, and pays from their bank or your QR code, in full or in part when you allow.
A payment method reaches the client's page only when it is complete: the switch on and a URL saved, or the switch on and a QR image uploaded.
Payment settingsBank transfer or QR code
Clients pay through their own bank or wallet app.
Full balance or a part of it
Clients pay the whole balance, or part of it when you allow.
Posted to the right account, once you clear it
A payment a client reports arrives as pending, and only a cleared one moves the invoice balance. An overpayment is parked in trust, and a cleared payment carries a receipt.
Set up how your firm gets paid.
Browse the docsFAQs
Links, methods, clearing, trust transfers, overpayments, and refunds.
Does Esqase process card payments for our clients?
No. Esqase does not process card or online wallet payments, and both client payment methods are self-reported. The client sends the money through their own bank or payment app, using the manual bank transfer link or the QR code your firm set up, then tells you on the page that they have paid.
What does a client have to do to open a payment link?
Prove they are the person it was sent to. The link opens in any browser and shows no financial detail until the client enters the email address your firm holds for them and clicks through the sign-in link Esqase emails to that address. There is no Esqase account and no portal password involved.
Which account does a payment collected on a link land in?
Your firm's default deposit account, set once under payment settings. Only active operating and savings accounts are offered there, and trust accounts never are: money collected on an invoice is earned revenue, while a trust account holds client funds you have not yet earned. The money is recorded there once a member marks the payment cleared.
Why did recording a payment not change the invoice balance?
Because its status is not cleared. Only a cleared payment reduces an invoice balance, which is also why every payment a client reports on a link arrives as pending. Open the row's Review action, check the details and any proof of payment attached, then mark it cleared. The deposit posts to the account ledger and the invoice moves to partially paid or paid. If your firm issues official receipts, the payment takes its receipt number at that moment.
Can we pay an invoice from a retainer already held in trust?
Yes. Set the payment method to Trust / Escrow Transfer, then pick the trust account to draw from and the operating account to receive the funds. Each trust option shows that client's available balance. The amount cannot exceed the invoice's outstanding balance or the client's balance in that account, and the two accounts have to be different.
What happens when a client pays more than the invoice owes?
An overpayment notice appears in the form, naming how much goes to the invoice and how much goes to trust. You pick the trust account that will hold the surplus, and the form refuses to save until you do. The invoice is then paid in full from the applied portion, and the surplus is deposited to trust as client credit.
Can a refund be held for the client instead of paid back?
Yes. A cleared payment can be refunded in full or in part, to one of two destinations. Refund to client takes the money out of your operating account, and hold as client credit deposits it into a trust account you choose, where it stays available for future invoices. A reason is required, because it is what the audit trail carries.