Overview

Disbursements add the cost of each Legl check to a matter in Clio as an expense, so you can bill it to your client. You set them up once, and the settings apply to the whole firm.

Before you start

The Clio Manage integration is set up. See How to set up the Clio Manage integration.
You are an Admin in Clio and in Legl.
Your Legl contact (your Customer Success Manager, Launch Manager or Business Development contact) is added as a contact in Clio. You need their Clio contact ID for the Vendor ID.
You know who will be the Authenticated Lawyer: a Clio user with a Legl profile and permission to create Expenses and access Expense Categories and Activities in Clio. This is often someone in your finance team.

Video tutorial

💡 Coming soon

How to set up disbursements

Step 1: Turn on disbursements

Select Integrations in the left-hand menu. On the Overview tab, select Get started on the Clio Manage card. On the Manage tab, scroll down to Configure disbursements and turn on the Clio Manage toggle.

Step 2: Choose the disbursement type

In Disbursement Type, choose how disbursements are calculated:

Per Workflow: one price for the whole workflow. All the steps and actions in an Engage request are charged together, as one expense, when the request is marked as reviewed.
Per Step: each step is charged separately, as its own line item, when the request is marked as reviewed. One request can add more than one expense.

For example, a workflow with Standard CDD and Source of Funds adds one expense under Per Workflow, and two under Per Step.

Step 3: Choose the Authenticated Lawyer

In Authenticated Lawyer, choose the Clio user every expense is created as. There is one for the whole firm, often someone in your finance team. They need a Legl profile, and permission in Clio to create Expenses and access Expense Categories and Activities.

Step 4: Add the Vendor ID

Clio won't create an expense without a vendor. The vendor is whoever charges your firm, which here is Legl. So you need a contact for your Legl representative in Clio, and that contact's ID. Without it, no disbursements are created.

In Clio, go to Contacts and create a contact for your Legl representative: your Customer Success Manager, Launch Manager or Business Development contact. Any of them works. If you already have one, open it.
Copy the contact ID. It is the number at the end of the page URL, for example .../contacts/20886670.
In Legl, paste it into Vendor ID.

You only do this once. Every disbursement Legl creates in Clio is raised against that contact.

Step 5: Choose the activity type and save

Activity Type sets how each expense is recorded in Clio:

Hard Cost (Disbursement) (the default)
Soft Cost (Expense Recovery)
Expense Entry
Time Entry

It applies to every expense Legl adds. If your firm records compliance costs as expense recoveries, choose Soft Cost (Expense Recovery). Choose the type that matches how your finance team records these costs in Clio, so you don't need to reclassify them by hand. Expense Entry and Time Entry are for firms whose billing process needs those types.

Select Save.

Step 6: Set your prices

You choose your own disbursement costs. If you need a copy of your Legl price list, contact your account contact or our Support team.

The following items can be disbursed back to Clio:

Workflows
- any of your firm's workflows (Per Workflow).
Steps
- Standard CDD, Dual-ID CDD, Source of Funds, CDD Documents Proof of Address and eSignature Request (Per Step).
- In Australia, Basic CDD too.
Risk assessments
- Any of your firm's risk assessment templates.
Business reports
- Company report and Business sanctions check.
- In Australia, Company report + UBO may also be available, depending on your account.

The pricing section matches the disbursement type you chose in step 2. Add a row for each item you want to charge for, or select Remove to delete one. Select Save when you are done.

Per Workflow

In Workflow Disbursement pricing, select Add Workflow Disbursement pricing and add a row for each workflow. Choose a Workflow Name. The list shows all of your firm's workflows, by name.

Per Step

In Step Disbursement pricing, select Add Step Disbursement pricing and add a row for each step type: Standard CDD, Dual-ID CDD, Source of Funds, CDD Documents Proof of Address and eSignature Request. In Australia, Basic CDD is also listed.

We recommend adding a row for every step type, even ones you do not use yet. If you start using them later, they are charged straight away.

Fields in each row

Unit price: the amount added to the matter. Enter it in the currency of your Clio matters. Legl does not convert currencies.
Description: the description of the expense in Clio. You can add placeholders to fill in details for each expense, for example "ID & AML Check for {contact_name}". Workflow prices can use {workflow_name} and {contact_name}. Step prices can also use {engage_step_name}.
Unit price already includes tax: choose False if the price excludes tax, so Clio adds tax on top. Choose True if the price already includes tax.
Expense Category ID: optional. The list shows the expense categories in your Clio account. Choose None if you do not use them.

ℹ️ Further guidance

For more details on charging costs back to your clients in the UK, see How to pass Legl costs to clients.

For Australia, see How to pass Legl costs to clients.

Step 7: Set your risk assessment prices

To charge for risk assessments, go to Risk Assessment Disbursement pricing and select Add Risk Assessment Disbursement pricing. Choose a Risk Assessment Template. The list shows all of your firm's risk assessment templates, by name.

Fill in the rest of the row as in step 6, then select Save. The description can use {risk_assessment_name}, {risk_assessment_type}, {entity_name}, {matter_reference} and {risk_level}.

An expense is added each time a risk assessment using that template is marked as reviewed.

Step 8: Set your business report prices

To charge for business reports, go to Business report disbursement pricing and select Add Business report disbursement pricing. Choose a Report Type: Company report or Business sanctions check. In Australia, Company report + UBO may also be listed, depending on your account.

Fill in the rest of the row as in step 6, then select Save. The description can use {business_name}, {report_type}, {matter_reference} and {report_reference}.

To charge a report to a matter, add the Clio matter reference in Matter reference (optional) on the New business search page, before you select Start. Legl can make this matter reference mandatory, reach out to our support team if you'd like to set this up.

The company report and business sanctions check expenses are added once the sanctions screening is reviewed. Each report is charged once. Refreshed company reports are not charged.

Step 9: Test your settings

You can only test once your disbursement settings and prices are set up and saved. Then select Test Configuration, next to Save.

In Test Disbursement Configuration, enter the Matter Reference of an open matter in Clio. Use the reference exactly as it is shown at the top left of the matter, for example 1.00017, not the number in the page URL.

Choose a Disbursement to test, for example Standard CDD, then select Test Configuration.

If the test works, you see Test Successful, and the expense is added to the matter in Clio.

ℹ️ Important

The test adds a real expense to the matter in Clio. Use a matter you can safely test on, and delete the expense in Clio afterwards.

What happens next

When you create an Engage request, risk assessment or business search, add the matter reference of the Clio matter to charge.
When the request, risk assessment or sanctions screening is marked as reviewed, Legl adds the expense to the matter in Clio, usually within a few minutes. It shows in the matter's Activities tab as a Disbursement, with the description you set.
Enter the matter reference exactly as it is shown at the top left of the matter in Clio, not the number in the page URL. The matter must be open.

To see the details of an expense, select Edit on its line in the Activities tab. The entry shows the details from your disbursement settings: the expense type, expense category, amount, matter, description, firm user, tax and vendor.