Online payments

Online payments are optional: you can always record payments by hand. With them, clients can pay invoices by card through Stripe, and the money goes to your firm's own Stripe account. You need the Manage online payment settings permission and a plan that includes online payments.

Trust money stays outside Mattersimple. Online payments are for earned fees on invoices you have issued. Mattersimple does not hold or manage trust (client) money — keep retainers, settlement funds and other client money in your trust account, outside Mattersimple, as your law society or state bar requires. Card payments settle to your operating (Stripe) account net of fees, which is not acceptable for trust deposits in most jurisdictions.

Connect Stripe#

1. Open Firm settings → Online payment settings.
2. Click Start Stripe onboarding and complete Stripe's forms: your business, your bank account and your identity. Your Stripe account is opened in your firm's country (set in General settings).
3. If you stop halfway, click Continue Stripe setup to pick up where you left off.

Clients can pay online once Stripe has enabled both charges and payouts: the page then says Stripe account connected. If Stripe needs more from you, it's listed under Stripe still needs from you. Stripe account details lets you view and change your business and payout details without leaving Mattersimple.

Mattersimple offers online payments only to businesses in the United States and Canada, outside Quebec. If the business address Stripe has for you is elsewhere, the page says Online payments aren't available for this business and clients can't pay online. If that address is wrong, correct it in Stripe account details. See Where Mattersimple is available.

Payment links#

When you send an invoice, Include a payment link adds a "Pay online" button. It opens a payment page on your firm's site (your custom domain if you have one, otherwise your Mattersimple subdomain). The client pays the balance due by card on Stripe's checkout page, comes back to that page, and the payment is recorded on the invoice automatically, with a receipt emailed to them. If the client can sign in to your client portal, the page also links back to their invoices there. You can also Copy payment link from a sent invoice to share it yourself.

Fees#

Stripe charges its processing fees on each online payment; your Stripe Dashboard shows your rates. Depending on your plan, Mattersimple may also take a platform fee, a percentage of the invoice amount paid, on top of Stripe's fees. Online payment settings → Fees on online payments shows your rate (there's none during your trial). Both come out of the payment before it reaches your Stripe balance, and the platform fee is returned in proportion when you refund.

There is no option to surcharge clients a processing fee: passing card fees on to the payer is banned or capped in several US states and in Canada, so the client always pays exactly the invoice balance. If you want card costs covered, price them into your fees.

Transactions and payouts#

Under Online Payments in the sidebar, Transactions lists your Stripe charges and transfers, and Payouts shows when Stripe pays the money into your bank.