Set up an evergreen retainer

Learn how to set up evergreen retainers to maintain a steady cashflow for clients and matters you regularly invoice. 

Activate evergreen retainers on a firm-wide level

To activate the evergreen retainer feature for your firm:

1. Select the Settings icon, then select Firm Settings.
   
2. Select Accounts from the left menu, then select the Evergreen Retainer tab.
   
3. Tick the Evergreen Retainer Activated box.
   
4. Enter the default minimum threshold in the Minimum Threshold field.
5. In the Replenish Up To field, enter the default amount you wish to top up the trust account with.
6. Select Save.

Edit the evergreen retainer request email

To amend the default email that goes out to clients who need a top-up on their evergreen retainer:

1. Navigate to Email Templates on the left menu, then select the Evergreen Retainers tab.
   
2. Make edits to the Email Subject and Email Body if needed. Use the Select placeholder here drop-down menus to select fields that Smokeball will automatically pull from the matter details.
   

Activate evergreen retainers for individual matters

If you wish to activate evergreen retainers for specific matters only:

1. Open a matter in the Smokeball Web App, then select Edit Matter.
   
2. Select Trust Settings from the left menu and tick Activate Minimum Trust Retainer.
3. Enter the minimum threshold and replenish amounts for this matter.
   
4. Select Save at the bottom of the screen.

How evergreen retainers work in Smokeball

Once you've activated evergreen retainers for all or some matters, those matters will display trust balances on the top of the screen. Trust balances that are below the minimum threshold are highlighted in red.

As soon as the matter drops below the minimum threshold, especially after a trust payment is made or the threshold is first set, you will be notified of this in the top-right corner.

Send requests for replenishment

You can generate a list of clients who need their evergreen retainers replenished and send emails directly from Smokeball to request replenishment:

1. Select Accounts from the left menu, then select the Evergreen Requests tab.
   
   • This tab will only appear if you have activated evergreen retainers.
   • By default, all matters that have evergreen retainers and have dropped below their minimum threshold are shown in this tab. Use the filters to drill down the list further.
2. Tick all the matters you wish to send replenishment requests to, then select Email Requests. The email that is sent out is the same as the one configured in the Email Templates in Firm Settings. 
   • The email will be immediately sent out upon selecting Email Requests.