This article details the steps and options involved in Clio's billing workflow after a bill has been generated. To learn how to generate a bill, read through this article.

When a bill is moved to the next state, a state change marker will display on the bottom right of the page. 

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Draft bills

When a bill is generated and the box for Skip the bill approval process is not checked, the bill will go into the Draft state. In Draft, the bill can be edited before being approved. Draft invoices cannot accept payment. You can view the bill and options in the draft state by clicking on the Id number or viewing it in the Billing tab.

Billing Id:

1. Go to your matter's Bills subtab or click the Billing tab in the left navigation menu.
2. Click the Id number or click the arrow next to Send and select View bill.

Billing tab:

1. Go to your matter's Bills subtab or click the Billing tab in the left navigation menu.
2. Click the arrow next to Send and select View bill.

When a bill is in draft, you can perform the following actions:

• • Edit: Edit the bill to make changes to existing line entries or add new ones, and add discounts or tax per line entry or to the entire bill.
    

    Note: Many changes made when editing the bill will not affect the time and expense entries in the Activities page. The changes that will affect the original time and expense entries are quantity, rate, date, and line item notes.

  • Submit for approval: Moves the bill to the Pending approval state for review. You can also send out a notification email to the reviewing party.
  • Approve bill: Bypass the approval process and move the bill to Unpaid, where you can send the final bill to the client and apply payments.
    

    Note: Any firm user can approve and move bills from Draft to Unpaid.

  • Approve & apply trust: Approve the bill and automatically apply any trust funds to the invoice. If there are not enough trust funds to fully pay off the invoice, the maximum available amount will be applied. If the trust funds fully pay off the bill, the bill will move into Paid state. 
  • View bill: View the bill in its current state.
  • Send bill: This option sends the invoice to your client. A watermark will appear on the bill to help you and your client differentiate between draft and final bills. 
  • Download bill: You can download the bill in either PDF, CSV, or LEDES 1998B output formats.
  • Delete: If you delete the bill, the time and expense entries will be reset and you can generate the bill again.
    

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Submit for approval

You can submit a draft bill for approval, which will move it to the next state. You can also submit multiple bills for approval at once. To send bills for approval:

1. Check the box next to multiple bills or select the down arrow next to Edit for one bill.
2. Click Submit for approval.
   
3. When you submit a bill for approval, a prompt will appear for you to select which firm user should approve the bill. You also have the option to send the user a notification. 
4. Select whether to notify the firm user by email or secure internal message, or both, and add any notes if necessary.
5. Click Submit for approval.
6. Once submitted for approval, the success notification will appear on the bottom right hand corner to reflect the new bill state. 

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Pending approval

When a draft bill is submitted for approval, it will remain in the pending approval state until it is approved. All the same changes that you can make to a bill in draft can be made to a bill pending approval.

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Approve bills

If you are finished reviewing a bill and changes are no longer required, you can approve the bill.

1. If you're viewing the whole bill, click More actions and select Approve. If you're viewing the bill in the bill states section of the Billing tab, select the down arrow next to Edit and select Approve bill.
   
2. If the bill's issue date is in the past, then you will be given the option to change the issue date and the due date. By changing the issue date, the interest and early payment periods will update accordingly. Checking Update the issue date (optional) will calculate the new issue and due date based on the grace period on the payment profile for the Client.
3. The bill will move to the Unpaid state and you will see the success notification on the bottom right hand corner to reflect the new bill state.

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Approve and apply trust

If you are finished reviewing a bill and changes are no longer required, and the client or matter have trust funds, you can approve the bill and apply trust funds. If the trust funds are insufficient to pay off the entire invoice, then any funds available will be applied as a partial payment. If the trust funds are able to complete the entire invoice, then the bill will move to the Paid state. 

1. If you're viewing the whole bill, click More actions and select Approve. If you're viewing the bill in the bill states section of the Billing tab, select the down arrow next to Edit and select Approve bill.
2. Select the account that you want the funds to be deposited into and select APprove & apply trust.
3. The bill will move to the Paid state if the trust funds are sufficient to cover the total bill. You will also see the success notification on the bottom right hand corner to reflect the new bill state.

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Unpaid bills

From this state, you can send the final bill out to your client. You can send it via Clio for Co-Counsel/Clio Connect or email and await payment. This is the state where interest calculations will begin to accrue if set up to do so. The draft watermark will be removed from this state. Once the payment is received, you can record the payment in your account. 

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Paid bills

When a bill is paid in full, it will move to the Paid section. Bills in this state can be viewed, downloaded, or sent to the client.

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All bills

Bills in draft, pending approval, unpaid, and paid states can be found in the All section.

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Archive bills

This section of the bill index shows deleted and voided bills.