Non-trust retainers or Credits are used when a firm receives funds into their operating account that have not been earned or billed for yet. In MyCase, these funds can be deposited as Credits, which can be used for record keeping or to apply to future invoices.
OVERVIEW
The Master User of your account must enable this function. To access this, click on the Settings button that appears in the top-right hand corner of MyCase and choose All Settings in the dropdown menu.
On the left hand side, click on Client Billing & Invoice Settings, select Edit Preferences. You will have the option to "Enable" Non-Trust Retainers and Credit Accounts on this page.
Once this has been enabled, you will see a Deposit into Credit button on your Billing Dashboard.
You will see your contact's full Credit History under the Billing section of the contact details page. You can also Deposit into Credit from this page, Withdraw from Credit, refund credit deposits and export the Credit History into a PDF.
Non-Trust Retainer Requests
Within MyCase, you have the option to request non-trust retainer funds online through the Client Portal. This feature is designed to be quick and easy so any billing user can ask for non-trust funds. There is no more hassle with creating paper invoices - this is all done electronically! Just click the "Request Funds" icon on the Billing dashboard to try it now. Your client receives a customized email and can pay in two easy steps. This feature is available for full billing users only.
After you've created and sent the Request for Funds to your client, they will receive the request in their email inbox (see below) and can click the orange button to be able to 'Deposit Funds'.
When your client clicks the Deposit Funds button in their email, and they are also logged into their Client Portal, a new tab will open in their web browser and they will be taken directly to a form to pay via credit card or eCheck (see below).
If the client is enabled but not logged into their Client Portal when they click the Deposit Funds button in their email, a new tab will open in their web browser and they will be able to pay the request via credit card or they can pay via eCheck if they click the 'Pay with eCheck' hyperlink and log in to their Client Portal.
If the Client Portal has not been enabled for your client, when they click the email link they will be taken to a payment page where they may pay by credit card.
You can also send reminders on all of your outstanding Requests for Funds outside of the Client Portal.
Receiving Payments from Non-Trust Credit
If your contact has available funds in their credit account, you will have the option to apply their credit funds to an invoice. You can also choose to show the credit summary or full credit history on the invoice to show your client where their money was applied and how much they have left.
You can also apply their non-trust retainer or credit to an already created invoice. Open up the invoice, click the yellow Receive Payment button on the top right, choose From Credit Account, and select your client's name with their available balance. You can then type in the amount from their Credit Account that you would like to apply on the invoice.