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Applying Trust Funds to Invoices in LeanLaw

How to apply client trust funds to outstanding invoices in LeanLaw — a summary guide with links to the full workflow in the Payments & Collections section.

When a client has funds in their trust account, those funds can be applied directly to their outstanding invoices — recording the payment in LeanLaw and creating the appropriate QuickBooks journal entries automatically.

 

Quick Steps: Pay from Trust

  1. Go to Billing → Manage Invoices.
  2. Find the invoice for the client with available trust funds.
  3. Click the three-dot menu (⋮) → Pay from Trust. (This option only appears when the client has a trust balance.)
  4. Select the amount to apply, the payment date, and a memo.
  5. Click Pay from Trust.

⚠️ Physical fund transfer still required: Pay from Trust in LeanLaw records the accounting entries only — it does not move actual money between your bank accounts. You must manually transfer the funds from your IOLTA account to your operating account in your bank and/or in QuickBooks Online. This is a compliance requirement: LeanLaw does not have direct access to your bank accounts.

 

After Applying Trust

Once trust funds are applied to an invoice:

  • The invoice status updates in LeanLaw (Paid, or showing the remaining balance for partial payments).
  • The client's trust balance decreases by the payment amount.
  • The required journal entries are created in QuickBooks Online automatically.
  • Send the client an updated invoice to show the trust payment applied and any remaining balance.