This article explains how you can accept trust/general retainer payments through Actionstep Payments.
The retainer information can be set on a matter-by-matter basis.
Go to Your matter > Billing (calculator) > Matter Billing Options
Then scroll down to the Retainer subheading.
| Option | Description |
| Enable | Switch to on to enable any type of retainer - General/operating or Trust |
| Initial retainer amount | Enter the amount of initial retainer amount (amount required to initiate paid work on the matter). |
| Type of retainer | Choose between the trust or operating |
| Pay new invoices from retainer | This can be set to automatic or manual. |
| Replenish retainer | Switch to enable ONLY if you require a minimum balance to be retained in trust and when a top-up request should be triggered. |
| Minimum balance | Required Filed: what is the minimum balance to always be required in the retainer. |
| Top-up trigger amount | When should a top-up request be triggered (for example, if you require $1,000 to be kept as a minimum amount in the retainer and your top-up trigger amount is $1,000 then if the balance on trust falls to $999 a request will be triggered to request $1 from your customer which may not suit your requirements. Setting the top-up request amount to $900 means that a request for retainer replenishment will not be sent until trust funds fall below $900). |
Understanding how Initial retainer amounts are calculated when they are partially paid
Once you save an initial amount to the retainer section, that amount will be available for a user to pay on the Actionstep Payments payment page. This amount may be partially paid in which case, Actionstep will calculate the remainder owing for the initial retainer by totaling all the payments into the retainer.
- If the matter is set to trust retainer, Actionstep will total all trust deposits made into your trust retainer bank account for the matter and compare that to the initial retainer to see if the initial retainer is paid in full.
- If the matter is set to a general retainer, Actionstep will total all general retainer deposited for the matter and compare that to the initial retainer to see if the initial retainer is paid in full.
The retainer replenishment / top-up's will not be calculated until the initial retainer has been considered paid in full.
For more information on: General Retainers - Actionstep Payments - General Retainer
For more information on: Trust Retainers - Actionstep Payments - Trust Retainers
- Access to Actionstep Payments Portal
- Actionstep Payments - Refunding Payments (Additional steps for trust refunds)
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