Does Your Firm Accept Credit Cards from Clients?

Trust Accounting

Does your firm accept credit card payments from clients? Not too long ago it would be an utter shock to hear that a law firm would accept credit cards from their clients. To someone outside of the legal industry, this would sound downright silly. We live in a day and age where people are swiping their card far more often than they are taking dollars from a billfold. While the rest of the world seems to be leaving paper money, coins, and their checkbooks in the past, the same cannot be said for law firms.

Challenges of Credit Card Payments for Law Firms

For law firms, there are some challenges when it comes to accepting credit cards from clients that are specific to the legal industry. This would explain why lawyers haven’t exactly caught up to the rest of the world when it comes to using plastic.

The concerns are really two-fold. Attorneys need to worry about whether credit card merchants can handle the specific needs of a law firm, as well as if their own firm has the systems and procedures in place internally needed to accept credit card payments.

Credit Card Challenges Related to Merchants

It’s no secret that attorneys and law firms have unique and specific requirements when it comes to their legal accounting. These requirements will inevitably play into which credit card merchant a law firm will choose to use if they plan on accepting credit cards. No law firm should use a credit card merchant that doesn’t have a legal specific solution. Law firms need a credit card merchant to be able to:

  • Keep separate merchant accounts for trust accounts and business or operating account
  • Remove fees predeposit
  • Remove fees at month end
  • Isolate all chargebacks to operating accounts

Credit Card Challenges For Law Firms

While it is important to select a legal specific credit card merchant, like LawPay, Law firms also face challenges internally when they accept credit cards from their clients. Any firm who is going to be accepting credit card payments from their clients needs to be able to answer three questions:

  1. How will your accounting systems understand which invoices are actually being paid?
  2. What is your firm’s plan to manage credit card batching?
  3. How will your firm deal with voids and chargebacks?

Do you have answers to these questions? It’s okay if you don’t. CosmoLex and LawPay have a long-lasting partnership that helps thousands of law practices across the country accept credit cards while remaining compliant — and we can help your firm too! If you’re interested in learning more about the challenges that law firms face when accepting credit cards, or you’re simply looking for a better creedit card processing solution for your office, take a look at a recording of our recent webinar The Challenges of Accepting Credit Cards at Law Firms.

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