The combination of Clio and Klyant enables many capabilities that are advantageous to solicitors and cashiers alike. In general we recommend that transactions are initiated in Clio as the synchronisation between the two systems is predominantly from Clio to Klyant.
In this article we will cover
- Billing clients
- Managing the client bank account(s)
- Reconciling the client bank account(s)
- Accessing matter ledgers
- Managing non-matter expenditures
- Financial reporting
To learn more about setting up the integration, click here.
Billing Clients
Clio works best when it is used as the source of truth up until a bill is paid. Meaning that Clio should be used to record time, capture disbursements, issue the bill and then marking it is paid. Klyant is then used to manage all your firm accounting requirements and reconcile your client accounts.
Recording Time
Record your time in Clio. When you add time entries to a bill and approve it they will be synced over to Klyant.
Recording Expenses & Disbursements
Both Clio and Klyant enable you to manage the different types of expenditures you bill to your clients. We recommend recording expenditures that you plan to pass on to the client in Clio first. Non-matter expenditures that your firm incurs (e.g. office supplies) do not need to be recorded in Clio.
To take advantage of all of the options available in the Clio and Klyant integration please make sure you have enabled disbursement tracking in your Clio settings. When enabled you will have the option to mark expenses as a disbursement, which is typically used if the expense recovery requires payment to a vendor on behalf of the client (e.g. court fees). We do not recommend marking an expense as a disbursement if you did not spend money out of your office account on behalf of the client.
Disbursements (aka an “outlay” in Klyant) that are recorded in Clio will be imported into Klyant during the next sync. Once imported, the firm’s Office Account in Klyant will be debited with the relevant amount. The disbursement will be marked as “billed” if it has been added to an invoice in Clio, if it has not been billed then it will be marked as “unbilled”.
Klyant will detect the vendor (aka a “supplier” in Klyant) selection from Clio. Disbursements that have been assigned a vendor will be imported as an unpaid invoice and linked to the Purchase Ledger in Klyant. If the disbursement has not been assigned a vendor in Clio but should have been, it can be corrected in Klyant and imported back into Clio.
Expenses that are entered into Clio without checking the disbursement checkbox will be imported into Klyant against the income account you have selected in the configuration settings.
Do not worry if you forget to assign a vendor or add a description in Clio, it can be remedied from Klyant later on.
Applying VAT
You will have the option to apply VAT when raising the bill in Clio. VAT can be applied in bulk or on individual line items. VAT amounts will be synced over to Klyant.
You can also edit disbursements as inclusive of VAT from the Clio/Klyant sync log.
Recording Payments
We recommend that you record your payments in Clio first. Payments that are recorded in Clio are synced over to Klyant.
When a payment is sent to Klyant you can allocate the receipt as appropriate on the matter screen in Klyant.
Applying discounts
We recommend recording discounts against the Bill in Clio. Discounts that are recorded in Clio are synced over to Klyant.
If you use Clio’s bulk discount feature we recommend that you take advantage of the “Group Fee Lines for Discounts” option in the configuration settings. When enabled Klyant will move discount allocations to only be against time entries, preserving the full disbursement amount.
Applying credit notes / writing off fees
At this time credit notes need to be raised in both Klyant and Clio in order to keep the relevant items up to date.
Importing credit notes will be added to the Clio + Klyant integration in a subsequent release.
Managing the Client Bank Account(s)
Clio allows you to record when client money is requested for, received and then transferred to the office account to pay a bill.
We recommend initiating client account transactions in Clio because they allow you to take advantage of key functionality in Clio (e.g. paying bills with client funds, notifications when client funds are low) and the transactions are kept in sync with Klyant.
Reconciling Client Bank Accounts
Klyant is used for reconciliation of both the office and the client accounts. To reconcile client accounts, navigate to the Klyant home page and click on Client Ledger > Reconcile Client Bank Accounts.
Accessing the Matter Ledger and Statements of Accounts From Clio
The integration will insert custom field links into Clio for each matter so that you do not have to leave Clio to view a Matter Ledger Report or Statement of Account. Click on the link and you will be brought straight to the relevant report in Klyant.
Managing non Matter related Transactions (aka Office Only Entries)
Use Klyant to manage all non matter related transactions.
You also have the option to reconcile the office account by navigating to the Klyant home page and click on Office Only Entries > Reconcile Office Bank Accounts.
Financial Reporting
Klyant provides users with a complete suite of powerful financial management reports and client money regulation reports. All reports can be exported to PDF and Excel.
Further support
Klyant provides expert telephone and email support. If you require any assistance setting up your integration with Klyant or about using the integration please contact:
Email: hello@klyant.com
Phone: +44 (161) 768-1736 or +353 (1) 873-3512