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Short answers and practical steps for professionals who hold client money.

Frequently asked questions

Money actions require owner or bookkeeper access. Team changes require the owner. Some actions also depend on your plan.

No. Recording a deposit or payment updates your books; arrange the actual bank movement separately.

Your profession changes record labels: matter, engagement, deal or case. These steps use matter for brevity.

Add a client and a matter

On Desk, scroll to New matter. Your profession may instead show New engagement, New deal or New case.
Enter the matter name and Client. Property desks label the client field Owners & tenants.
Choose the type and review Jurisdiction. Court (optional) can be left blank when it does not apply.
Select Create matter, Create engagement, Create deal or Create case. The client name is saved with that record.

Record a trust deposit

As owner or bookkeeper, expand the matter, then Open full matter and Record payment or money entry. Other professions use their own record label.
In the Record deposit form, choose Trust under Account. Enter What it is, Amount ($), Date and Method.
Complete Paid by, Check number if applicable, and Trust deposit category.
Set Clears on (trust only). Leaving it blank defaults checks and ACH to two business days from today; wires and cash to today.
Select Record deposit. Future Clears on dates show On hold; held funds do not count as available to disburse.

Disburse from trust

As owner or bookkeeper, open the full matter and Record payment or money entry.
Find the Pay from trust form. Enter What it pays, Kind, Amount ($), Date and Method.
Complete Paid to and Check number if applicable. Check the available balance, not just the held total.
Select Pay from trust. Payments beyond available funds or into a locked month are refused. This records a payment; it does not send money.

Reconcile a month and lock it

As owner or bookkeeper, open Trust and follow the month link under Reconcile.
Choose Trust account and Period ends, then Open the worksheet.
Tick entries the bank cleared. Leave outstanding entries unticked. Enter Statement balance ($).
If the numbers do not agree, explain each difference. Attach the bank statement (optional) if needed, then select Reconcile.
Review the saved result. A balanced reconciliation locks the month automatically. A saved difference does not lock it.
Trust shows Reconciled and locked. Only the owner can use Unlock this month with a recorded reason; the saved snapshot stays unchanged.

Upload and rename documents

Open the full matter and select Upload a document.
Choose Document type (used in the clean name), then File (up to 4 MB). Do not upload patient health records yet.
Select Upload document. The clean name uses the matter name, document type and date; detected PDF content may adjust the type.
Wait for Uploaded and the refreshed document list. The original filename remains in the was note.
To change a name, select Rename on its row, edit Clean name and select Save name. Empty names and path characters are blocked.
The extension, original file and SHA-256 fingerprint stay unchanged. Document details → Activity shows the before and after names.

Create a Bates production set

Expand the matter and select Create production set beneath its document list.
Review Bates prefix. To change it, enter up to twelve letters, numbers, underscores or hyphens and select Save prefix.
Under Select documents, tick the PDFs to include. Non-PDF files are skipped and listed in the log.
Enter Produced to and, if needed, Note (optional). Select Create stamped ZIP.
The ZIP download starts when the set is saved. Use Download production ZIP if needed, or Download again under Past production sets.
Stamps go on copies; originals stay unchanged. Numbers are never reused, including after a failed attempt. Nothing is sent to the recipient automatically.

Download trust records

As owner or bookkeeper, open Trust and scroll to Reports.
Choose From and To. These dates apply to journal, activity and printable report entries.
Select Download trust records. The ZIP also includes all trust transactions, current client and matter balances, and all saved reconciliations.

Invite team members and choose roles

As owner, open Team. The Free plan includes only the owner; a paid plan is needed for invitations.
Under Invite someone, enter Email and choose Role: bookkeeper or staff. Owner is the existing firm owner, not an invitation option.
Select Invite. The colleague receives a link and signs in with the invited email address.
Owner manages the team and settings. Bookkeeper records money movements and reconciliation. Staff works with documents and deadlines; financial records are read-only.
To change a member’s role, choose it in People with a desk here and select Save. Plan user limits still apply.

Open Log in. Enter Your email and select Sign in with email.
Open the one-time link from your inbox. Use the email your desk or invitation is under.
Alternatively, select Continue with Google when shown and use the matching Google address.
After 30 minutes of inactivity, you are signed out. Sign in again to continue; your saved records remain.

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