Smokeball makes it easy to manage funds in Trust and Operating Retainer Accounts. Smokeball offers the ability utilize Trust accounting, where a client's funds are deposited into the firm's Trust account until the fee is earned, and Operating Retainer accounting, where a client's funds are deposited into the firm's operating account and not held separately.
This article will walk through the various ways to make deposits into Trust and Operating Retainer.
Make a Deposit to a Trust Account or Operating Retainer
Follow these steps to deposit funds from a Matter:
- Navigate to the Matter's transactions tab. From the transactions tab, select Trust or Operating Retainer tab and then select Deposit funds.
- Whether you are depositing into Trust or Operating Retainer, work through the:
- Date: Date will default to current date
- Account: The account will default to trust if selecting from the trust tab or operating retainer if selecting from the operating retainer tab
- Matter: If you are depositing funds from within a matter, this field will default to that matter
- Contact: This will default to the debtor on the matter if depositing funds from that matter
- If changing the contact, select the 'x' to remove the contact. If choosing an existing contact, type the contact's name and select from the drop down. If a new contact, select '+' and add contact.
- Enter the Amount and Type
- Select Process to complete the transaction
Note: There is an option to print a PDF receipt of the deposit. Learn more about Trust Deposits and Payment Receipts.
You can add a trust deposit from the Quick Add menu as well. This will not auto-populate the matter and contact.
The Trust and Operating Retainer Accounts for all Matters can be managed in the Accounts View on the left side of Smokeball.
Did You Know
- You can protect funds in a client's trust account to ensure money earmarked for a specific purpose does not get applied to invoices.
- Learn more about Protected Trust Funds.
- Smokeball can accept credit card deposits through Smokeball Payments or LawPay. Both Smokeball Payments and LawPay can request a credit card deposit directly into the Matter.