Taking payments¶

This page is for the attorney or office manager who collects money from clients. It covers recording a payment you received, applying payments to invoices, and letting clients pay online from a link in an email. You need the Financial permission for everything here. Ask your administrator.

Preparing and sending an invoice is covered in Invoicing. The client trust ledger is covered in Trust accounting.

How a payment works¶

A payment belongs to one matter. As soon as it is recorded it lowers Balance Due on the matter's Ledger. Separately, a payment is applied to invoices of that matter: each application puts part of the payment against one invoice. An invoice becomes Paid when payments and credits cover all of it. The part of a payment that is not applied to any invoice is its unapplied amount.

Record a payment on an invoice¶

1. Click Invoicing in the sidebar, then Invoices, and click the invoice's number.
2. Click + Card beside the invoice's status. The button is there while the invoice is Sent or Deferred. Use it for a check, a wire or any other payment that does not come from trust.
3. Add Payment opens, filled in for this invoice. Set Payment method. Amount starts as what the invoice still owes: change it if you received a different amount.
4. Click Submit.

You are on the Payments tab, and the new payment is in the list. Kosmos has applied it to the invoice, up to what the invoice still owed. The invoice is Paid if nothing is left owing.

Good to know:

• If the amount is more than the invoice still owes, the rest stays on the payment as unapplied money.

Record a payment that is not for one invoice¶

1. Click Invoicing, then Payments, then the plus button at the left of the toolbar. Add Payment opens.
2. Choose the Matter. The list has every matter that is Open or Complete.
3. Fill in Date, Payment method, Amount and Detail, and click Submit.

The payment is in the list with its whole amount under Unapplied. No invoice is marked paid until you apply it.

Pay an invoice from trust¶

On the invoice's page, click + Trust in place of + Card. Add Payment opens with Payment method set to Trust. When you click Submit, Kosmos records the payment, applies it to the invoice, and records a withdrawal of the same amount on the client's trust ledger. Pay an invoice from trust has the details and the cautions.

A payment whose method is Trust records that withdrawal wherever you enter it: under + Trust, under + Card, or in Add Payment on the Payments tab. A payment by any other method records none. The withdrawal carries the payment's date and amount. It changes when you edit the payment and is deleted when you delete the payment.

Kosmos refuses a trust payment in two cases:

• The amount is more than the client's trust balance, counting deposits and withdrawals that are not confirmed yet. The form says "The client holds $500.00 in trust, which is less than this payment.", with the client's own balance.
• The matter has no client. Kosmos says "This matter has no client, so there is no trust balance to pay from. Set the client on the matter first."

Apply a payment to invoices¶

1. On the Payments tab, click the payment's number under ID, then Apply.
2. Apply Payment shows the matter, the payment's date and amount, and Unapplied Amount. Under them is each unpaid invoice of the same matter (Sent or Deferred, with something still owing), oldest first, with its Amount Due.
3. Type an amount in Amount to Apply beside each invoice this payment is for. You choose the invoices: Kosmos does not fill them in.
4. Click Submit.

The dialog closes. The payment's Unapplied figure goes down, and an invoice with nothing left owing becomes Paid.

An amount can be less than the invoice owes (a part payment). It cannot be more, and the amounts together cannot be more than Unapplied Amount: Submit stays switched off until they fit. If the matter has no unpaid invoice, the dialog says "No unpaid invoices found for this matter."

To undo or change an application, open Apply again. Current Applications lists each invoice the payment is applied to, with Amount Applied. Click the X at the end of a row and confirm. The money goes back to the payment's unapplied amount, and an invoice that was Paid goes back to Sent (or to Deferred, if it was deferred when it was paid).

A payment holds one application for each invoice. A further amount for an invoice already under Current Applications is added to that application. To lower an application, remove it and apply the amount you want.

Good to know:

• A payment also becomes unapplied when the invoice it paid is voided.

The Payments tab¶

Invoicing → Payments lists every payment on every matter, newest first, ten to a page. Total Payments under the list adds up every payment that matches the current filter, not only the page shown.

To narrow or reorder the list:

• Click All, Applied or Unapplied. A payment is unapplied while any part of it is not applied to an invoice.
• Click Filter to open Filter Payments: Payment method, Matter, Application Status, Date (from and to) and Ordering. Click Apply. Restore Defaults clears the filter.
• Click the sort button beside Date, Matter, Method or Detail. Click it again to reverse the order.

A payment has no status of its own. The one mark you will see is a Pending badge in Detail: an online bank payment that the bank has not cleared yet. The same badge appears beside the invoice in the Invoices list, in the invoice's History tab and on the matter's Ledger.

Edit or delete a payment¶

Anyone with the Financial permission can edit or delete any payment.

1. On the Payments tab, click the payment's number under ID.
2. Click Edit, change the fields in Edit Payment and click Submit. Or click Delete, then Delete again in the confirmation.

The list and the matter's Ledger show the change. You can do the same from the matter's Ledger: click the payment's description, such as "Payment by Check". Edit Payment on an online payment also shows the processor's Transaction ID.

Kosmos checks an edit against the payment's applications:

• Amount cannot go below what is applied to invoices. The form says "$400.00 of this payment is applied to invoices. Remove an application first to make it smaller.", with the payment's own figure.
• Matter cannot change while any of the payment is applied. The form says "This payment is applied to invoices on its matter. Remove the applications first to move it."
• Amount must be more than zero: "Enter an amount greater than zero."

Deleting removes the payment and its applications. The matter's Balance Due goes up, a part-paid invoice shows more owing, and an invoice that was Paid goes back to Sent (or Deferred, if it was deferred when it was paid).

A payment by Trust keeps its trust withdrawal in step. Editing the payment changes the withdrawal's date, amount and description to match (and its client, if you move the payment to another client's matter), and the new amount is checked against the client's trust balance. Changing the method to Trust records a withdrawal, changing it to another method deletes the withdrawal, and deleting the payment deletes the withdrawal with it.

Good to know:

• Deleting only removes the record. It does not send money back to the client.

Let clients pay online¶

What the client receives¶

Every invoice email, invoice reminder, payment request and request reminder has a Pay now button. It opens a payment page on your Kosmos site. The client does not sign in.

A link works for 90 days from the day its email was sent, unless your administrator has set a different period. After that the page says "This payment link has expired. Please contact us for a new one." Send the invoice or the request again and the new email carries a fresh link.

What the payment page shows¶

The page for an invoice shows your firm's logo or name, the invoice number and date, Client, Amount Due, a link to download the invoice as a PDF, the payment fields and a Pay button with the amount on it. The client pays the whole amount due and cannot change it. Card and bank details go straight to the processor. Kosmos never receives or keeps them.

If your processor takes bank payments through Kosmos, the client chooses between Bank (eCheck) and Card, and the page starts on the bank option. Otherwise the page takes cards only.

After paying, the client sees "Payment received. Thank you." For a bank payment the page says "Payment successful. Bank (eCheck) payments take 1–2 business days to clear." If the payment is declined, the page shows the reason, nothing is recorded, and the client can try again. Once the invoice is paid, the link shows "This invoice is paid in full. Thank you." For an invoice that is Void or Uncollectible, the link shows "This invoice is no longer open for payment. Please contact us if you have a question about it."

What Kosmos records¶

Kosmos records the payment the moment the processor accepts it: on the invoice's matter, dated today, with the method Card or ACH / eCheck, applied to the invoice. The invoice becomes Paid. Kosmos treats a card payment as final at that point. A bank payment is recorded at once too, with a Pending badge that goes away when the bank clears it.

If online payment is not set up¶

Invoice emails and invoice reminders carry a View invoice button instead of Pay now, and their text no longer offers to take payment. The page it opens shows the amount due and the invoice download, with "Online payment is not available. Please contact us to arrange payment." Nothing can be paid there. Links sent before online payment was turned off open the same page.

Payment requests and trust deposit requests cannot be sent:

• Request Payment, Request Trust Deposit and the Trust tab's Request Deposit are not shown.
• The Requests tab is shown only while there are requests from before. They can be canceled but not resent or reminded.
• A request form opened another way says "Online payments are not set up. Requests cannot be sent." and sends nothing.

Request payment of a balance¶

A payment request is an email asking a client to pay toward a matter's open balance: what is still owing on its sent invoices, deferred ones left out.

1. Click Invoicing, then Requests, then the plus button, then Request Payment.
2. Choose the Matter. To fills in with the client's email and Amount with the open balance.
3. Lower Amount to ask for part of the balance. It cannot be more than the balance. Add Cc (optional) and Message (optional) if you want them.
4. Tick Include statement link or Include invoice links to put download links for the matter statement or the open invoices in the email.
5. Click Create Request.

Kosmos sends the email and says "Payment request sent to" with the address. The request is in the list as Sent. If the email cannot be sent, no request is created.

When the client pays, Kosmos records one payment on the matter, applies it to the open invoices oldest first, and marks the request Paid. The client is charged the amount you asked for, or the open balance at that moment if that is lower.

Click All, Sent, Paid or Canceled to show one status. Filter opens Filter Requests: Matter, Account, Status and Date.

Good to know:

• The payment page for a request always offers the matter statement and each open invoice as a PDF, whether or not you ticked the boxes. The statement is the matter's whole ledger.
• A request becomes Paid only when it is paid through its link. If the client pays another way, record the payment and cancel the request.

Request a trust deposit¶

1. On the Requests tab, click the plus button, then Request Trust Deposit. On the Trust tab the same form is under the plus button as Request Deposit.
2. Choose the Client (current and pending clients are listed), check To, and enter the Deposit amount.
3. Click Request Deposit.

The request is in the Requests list with Trust under Account. When the client pays, Kosmos records a deposit on the client's trust ledger, described "Online trust deposit" with the processor's name. The deposit is not confirmed yet, and the request becomes Paid. Online trust deposits explains how the deposit is confirmed.

If the form opens with a message beginning "Trust deposit requests cannot be sent", nothing is sent: the processor is not set up to keep trust money apart. Ask your administrator.

Fees and bank accounts¶

• The client is charged exactly the amount on the payment page. Kosmos adds no surcharge, and it does not record what the processor charges your firm.
• Payments on invoices and payment requests go to the firm's operating account. Trust deposit requests go to the trust account.

Failed, returned and refunded payments¶

Receipts and notices¶

Kosmos does not email a receipt to the client, and it does not tell the firm when an online payment arrives. The client sees the confirmation on the payment page, and the payment appears on the Payments tab.