Billing Reconciliation Guide: Matching Payments, Fixing Duplicate Charges & Resolving Imported Data Issues
Billing & Payments
Overview
Billing reconciliation is the process of making sure every payment, invoice, and trust deposit in CampLegal matches your actual bank records and accounting system. This guide covers the most common billing issues our firms encounter and walks you through exactly how to resolve each one.
Whether you're dealing with a payment that isn't showing up, a duplicate charge, or imported data that doesn't look right after migration — this guide has you covered.
Table of Contents
1. Understanding CampLegal's Billing Structure
Before diving into reconciliation, it's important to understand how billing works in CampLegal. There are several key components:
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Billing Component
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What It Is
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Invoice
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A bill sent to a client for legal services. Can include flat fees, hourly charges, filing fees, and other line items.
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Trustvoice
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A request for the client to deposit funds into their trust account. Similar to an invoice but funds go into trust, not operating.
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Payment
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A recorded payment against an invoice — can be cash, check, credit card (via LawPay), or trust transfer.
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Trust Deposit
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Funds held in the client's trust (IOLTA) account. These are the client's funds until applied to an invoice.
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Trust Transfer
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Moving funds from a client's trust account to pay an outstanding invoice.
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Write-Off
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Marking an unpaid balance as uncollectible. Removes it from outstanding balances.
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Payment Plan
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A structured schedule allowing a client to pay an invoice in installments over time.
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Collection Status
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Tracks where an unpaid invoice stands in your collections process.
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Important: CampLegal maintains separate tracking for operating funds (invoices/payments) and trust funds (trustvoices/trust deposits). This separation is critical for IOLTA compliance. Never mix the two.
2. How to Match Payments to Invoices
To verify that a payment was correctly applied to the right invoice:
Step-by-Step
1.Navigate to the case for the client in question.
2.Click the Billing tab.
3.You'll see a list of all invoices and trustvoices for this case.
4.Click on the specific invoice you want to check.
5.Inside the invoice, scroll down to the Payments section.
6.You'll see every payment applied to this invoice, including:
•Payment date
•Payment amount
•Payment method (cash, check, credit card, trust transfer)
•Who recorded the payment
7.Compare this against your bank statement or LawPay transaction history.
From the Billing Dashboard
You can also reconcile from the main Billing section:
1.Click Billing in the left sidebar.
2.Select the Invoices tab to see all invoices across all cases.
3.Use the filters to narrow by:
•Date range
•Payment status (Paid, Partially Paid, Unpaid, Overdue)
•Attorney / Case Owner
•Client name
4.Click any invoice to see its payment details.
Pro Tip: Export your invoice list to CSV by clicking the export button. Open it in Excel alongside your bank statement for side-by-side reconciliation.
3. Resolving Missing Payments
Symptom: A client says they paid, but the invoice still shows as unpaid in CampLegal.
Common Causes & Solutions
Cause 1: Payment was recorded but applied to the wrong invoice or case.
1.Go to Billing > Invoices.
2.Search for the client's name across all cases.
3.Check if the payment appears on a different invoice or a different case for the same client.
4.If found on the wrong invoice, contact CampLegal support to have it reassigned.
Cause 2: Payment was made via LawPay but hasn't synced yet.
1.Go to Settings > Integrations > LawPay.
2.Check the sync status — if it shows a sync error, click Retry Sync.
3.LawPay payments can take up to 15 minutes to appear in CampLegal.
4.If the payment still doesn't appear after 30 minutes, verify the transaction exists in your LawPay dashboard, then manually record the payment in CampLegal.
Cause 3: Payment was made via the Client Portal but the client's session timed out.
1.Ask the client to log into the Client Portal and check their payment history.
2.Check your LawPay dashboard to see if the charge went through.
3.If the charge went through but CampLegal doesn't show it, manually record the payment and note "Client Portal sync issue" in the payment notes.
Cause 4: Payment was never recorded in CampLegal.
1.Open the invoice.
2.Click Record Payment.
3.Enter the payment amount, date, and method.
4.Add a note with the reference number (check number, transaction ID, etc.).
5.Click Save.
4. Handling Duplicate Charges
Symptom: A client was charged twice for the same invoice, or the same payment appears twice in CampLegal.
How to Identify Duplicates
1.Go to the case's Billing tab.
2.Look at the invoice's payment history.
3.If you see two identical payments (same amount, same date, same method), you likely have a duplicate.
How to Resolve
If the duplicate is only in CampLegal (client was NOT charged twice):
1.Open the invoice.
2.In the Payments section, identify the duplicate entry.
3.Click on the duplicate payment.
4.Select Delete Payment or Void Payment.
5.The invoice balance will update automatically.
If the client was actually charged twice (via LawPay or credit card):
1.First, confirm the double charge in your LawPay dashboard.
2.Process a refund through LawPay for the duplicate amount.
3.In CampLegal, delete the duplicate payment entry from the invoice.
4.Add a note to the invoice: "Duplicate charge refunded on [date] — LawPay transaction ID: [ID]."
5.Notify the client that the refund has been processed (typically 3-5 business days for credit card refunds).
If the duplicate came from a data migration:
1.Check if the payment existed in your previous system (Docketwise, INSZoom, etc.).
2.If it was imported twice, simply delete the duplicate entry in CampLegal.
3.Do NOT process a refund — the client was only charged once in the original system.
Important: Always check your bank statement or LawPay before deleting payments. Make sure you're deleting the duplicate, not the legitimate payment.
5. Fixing Imported Payment Data Issues
If your firm recently migrated to CampLegal from another system, you may notice some billing data that doesn't look right. Here are the most common issues and how to fix them:
Issue 1: Payments showing on the wrong contact
What happened: During migration, payments were associated with a contact record that doesn't match the correct client.
How to fix:
1.Identify the correct client/contact for the payment.
2.Open the incorrectly linked invoice.
3.Note the payment details (amount, date, method, reference number).
4.Delete the payment from the wrong invoice.
5.Navigate to the correct client's case and invoice.
6.Manually record the payment with the original details.
7.Add a note: "Payment reassigned from [wrong contact] during post-migration cleanup."
Issue 2: Invoice amounts don't match the original system
What happened: Line items, taxes, or discounts may not have transferred exactly during migration.
How to fix:
1.Pull up the original invoice from your previous system (or your records/exports).
2.Compare line by line with the CampLegal invoice.
3.Edit the CampLegal invoice to match the original amounts.
4.If the invoice has already been paid, adjust the balance accordingly.
5.Add a note: "Invoice adjusted to match original [system name] invoice #[number]."
Issue 3: Trust balances don't match
What happened: Trust deposits and trust transfers may not have migrated in the correct order, causing balance discrepancies.
How to fix:
1.Export your trust account history from your previous system.
2.In CampLegal, go to Billing > Trust Accounting.
3.Compare each client's trust balance between the two systems.
4.For discrepancies, manually adjust the trust balance by recording the appropriate trust deposit or withdrawal.
5.Document every adjustment with a note referencing the original system's records.
Pro Tip: After migration, we recommend doing a full trust account reconciliation within the first 2 weeks. This ensures your IOLTA compliance is maintained from Day 1 on CampLegal.
Issue 4: Historical payments showing as "pending" or with incorrect dates
How to fix:
1.Open the affected invoice.
2.Click on the payment entry.
3.Edit the payment date to match the original payment date.
4.Update the status to the correct state (Paid, Partially Paid).
5.Save and verify the invoice balance is correct.
6. Trust Account Reconciliation
Trust accounting requires extra care because these are your clients' funds. Here's how to reconcile your trust accounts in CampLegal:
Monthly Trust Reconciliation Checklist
1.Pull your IOLTA bank statement for the month.
2.In CampLegal, go to Billing > Trust Accounting.
3.Compare total trust balance in CampLegal vs. your bank statement. They should match.
4.If they don't match, drill down by client:
•Click on each client's trust account.
•Review all deposits and withdrawals for the month.
•Identify any transactions in the bank statement that aren't in CampLegal (or vice versa).
5.Record any missing transactions in CampLegal.
6.Verify trust transfers — make sure every trust-to-operating transfer has a corresponding invoice.
7.Document your reconciliation — save a copy of the bank statement and your CampLegal trust report for your records.
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What to Compare
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CampLegal Location
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Bank Statement
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Total trust balance
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Billing > Trust Accounting
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End-of-month balance
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Individual client balances
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Client's case > Billing tab > Trust section
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N/A (CampLegal tracks per-client)
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Deposits received
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Trust deposit entries
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Credits/deposits
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Transfers to operating
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Trust transfer entries
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Debits/withdrawals
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Important: Many state bars require monthly trust reconciliation. CampLegal makes this easier by tracking trust balances per client, but you are still responsible for ensuring your IOLTA account is properly reconciled.
7. Reconciling with QuickBooks
If you have QuickBooks connected, payments and invoices sync between the two systems. Here's how to make sure they match:
1.In CampLegal, go to Billing > Invoices and export the list for your date range.
2.In QuickBooks, pull your Sales > Invoices report for the same date range.
3.Compare:
•Total number of invoices
•Total dollar amounts
•Individual invoice amounts
4.If an invoice exists in CampLegal but not QuickBooks:
•Go to Settings > Integrations > QuickBooks.
•Check for sync errors.
•Click Retry Sync for the affected invoices.
5.If amounts differ, check if taxes or discounts were applied differently in either system.
Pro Tip: Run this reconciliation weekly during your first month on CampLegal, then monthly once you're confident the sync is working reliably.
8. Reconciling with LawPay
LawPay is your payment processor — it's where credit card and ACH payments are actually charged. Here's how to reconcile:
1.Log into your LawPay dashboard at lawpay.com.
2.Go to Transactions and filter by your date range.
3.In CampLegal, go to Billing > Invoices and filter for payments received in the same date range.
4.Compare each LawPay transaction with the corresponding CampLegal payment.
5.Watch for:
•Processing fees — LawPay deducts processing fees before depositing to your bank. CampLegal shows the gross amount. Your bank deposit will be less than what CampLegal shows.
•Pending transactions — Payments may show in LawPay before they appear in CampLegal if there's a sync delay.
•Refunds — Make sure any refunds processed in LawPay are also reflected in CampLegal.
9. Common Billing Errors & Fixes
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Error / Issue
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Cause
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Fix
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Invoice shows wrong balance after payment
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Payment amount was entered incorrectly
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Edit the payment entry with the correct amount
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"Payment failed" notification
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Client's credit card was declined
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Ask client to update their payment method in the Client Portal or pay via alternative method
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Trustvoice funds appearing in wrong contact
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Trust deposit linked to wrong client record
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Delete the trust deposit and re-record it under the correct client's case
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Invoice total doesn't match line items
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Rounding or tax calculation issue
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Edit the invoice and recalculate. Check if tax was applied to items that should be tax-exempt
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Payment recorded but client still sees "Unpaid" in portal
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Portal sync delay
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Wait 5-10 minutes. If it persists, go to the invoice and click Save again to trigger a refresh
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Write-off not reducing outstanding balance
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Write-off was created but not applied to the specific invoice
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Open the write-off and link it to the correct invoice
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Collection status not updating
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Status must be manually changed
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Go to the invoice > Collection Status and update to the correct stage
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10. Best Practices for Billing Accuracy
Follow these habits to minimize billing issues and keep your accounts clean:
Daily
•Record payments the same day they're received — don't let them pile up.
•Check for any LawPay sync errors under Settings > Integrations.
Weekly
•Review all unpaid invoices and follow up on overdue accounts.
•Check that all time entries have been converted to invoices.
•Verify any new payments match your bank deposits.
Monthly
•Perform a full trust account reconciliation (see Section 6).
•Reconcile CampLegal invoices with QuickBooks (see Section 7).
•Reconcile LawPay transactions with CampLegal payments (see Section 8).
•Review and clean up any invoices in "Draft" status — either send them or delete them.
•Export a monthly billing summary for your records.
After Migration (First 30 Days)
•Compare every client's balance in CampLegal against your previous system.
•Verify all trust balances match your IOLTA bank statement.
•Flag and fix any imported data issues immediately — don't let them compound.
•Keep your previous system accessible for at least 90 days as a reference.
Still Need Help?
If you've followed this guide and still have a billing issue you can't resolve:
•Submit a Support Ticket — Click the help icon in CampLegal or email support@camplegal.com. Include the client name, case number, invoice number, and a description of the issue.
•Knowledge Base — Browse more billing articles at Billing & Payments
•Schedule a Billing Training Call — Contact your account manager for a personalized walkthrough of billing and trust accounting.
Pro Tip: When submitting a billing support ticket, always include screenshots of the invoice and payment in question. This helps our team resolve your issue much faster.