How a 5 minute setup led to seamless billing, and years-old invoices finally getting paid

Katy Mandel, Senior Accountant, KB&A
Tina Harmon, Controller, KB&A

KB&A is a boutique, mid-size law firm. It was founded on the belief that a more collaborative and customized approach was needed to help clients solve their IP and corporate challenges. “We’ve also never lost sight of how important ‘&’ is,” they say. 

Since 2023, KB&A has been powered by another “&”: KB&A & Clio. More specifically, the firm tapped into Clio Payments, the payment processing software that’s built into Clio’s industry-leading practice management solution. Activating Clio Payments has led to improvements for KB&A in efficiency, independence, and collections. 

How Clio helped

Disjointed systems → easy to set up payment processing

The KB&A team found it particularly straightforward to set up Clio Payments. Katy noted that all she needed was the firm’s banking information and after a few clicks, Clio Payments was ready to use. Katy also shared that she’s able to walk new associates through the platform in only 15 minutes. For firms making the switch, and in addition to this ease of set up, Clio is here to help every step of the way.

Learn more about how Clio supports your firm’s transition

Third party software → one unified solution

“We started using Clio Payments right when we made the switch to Clio. Our previous software was older and very clunky. It had no option for online payments, forcing us to use a separate third-party merchant provider—a process that was nowhere near as streamlined or seamless as it is now. Back then, our entire billing workflow was far more difficult and time-consuming.” – Tina

Simplify the way you get paid with Clio

Heavy amounts of handoffs → Increased independence

“Before Clio, our billing process was extremely time-consuming. Assistants would process an invoice, print it out, and then wait for attorneys to manually mark it up with changes. Since moving to Clio, our workflow is so much easier. The platform has created a new level of independence within the firm, allowing everyone to move forward without relying on a constant back-and-forth.” – Tina

See how law firms have better billing with Clio Payments

Outstanding bills → Automated reminders & instantly payable bills

“Automated bill reminders have been golden for us. We had so many bills outstanding, some for more than 120 days. Once we turned on those reminders, we started getting collections from invoices that were years past. It has helped us so much with collections.” – Tina

“Our clients love being able to click on the invoice and instantly pay. I think both tap to pay and automated bill reminders are definitely leading to our success.” – Katy

Discover how to make collections effortless with Clio Payments

Too many to-dos → Time to tackle tasks

“Clio allows me to focus my time on what truly matters. I’m finally checking off items that have been on my to-do list for a very long time, and our team has started working at a much nicer, sustainable pace.” – Tina

Learn more about how Clio Payments improves firm efficiency

Additional benefits to using Clio

Third time’s the charm

It was the third go-around in evaluating legaltech solutions that KB&A decided to implement Clio. All the while, there was chatter amongst KB&A attorneys that Clio could be a fit. But, Tina and Katy knew Clio’s built-in billing and payments was superior to what is out there. The pair took it to the firm’s managing partners who went with Tina and Katy’s recommendation.

Read more about Clio Payments

Modern solutions and integrations

Katy also spoke highly of the smooth integration between Clio and Quickbooks Online. She joked that it felt as if KB&A was using “dinosaur software all around” prior. Additionally, Clio ensures each firm has what it needs to succeed. In fact, Clio connects with the legal industry’s most popular apps and works as your central source of truth and operating system. Plus, an open API affords you the flexibility to build private custom workflows and integrations.

Discover Clio’s 250+ apps and integrations

From manual time entries to the click of a button

“Clio transformed our billing process. We went from a completely manual, assistant-driven system to an automated one where attorneys have the independence to handle their own billing. It’s been much more efficient for everyone.” – Tina

Learn more about timekeeping in Clio

Known problems for assistants lead to unexpected benefits

“We were looking for something to benefit the assistants and the partners. We weren’t necessarily thinking that Clio was going to optimize our job in accounting. Because Clio has that instant sync, we actually ended up finding six months after we had gone through the transition that we had a little bit more free time in accounting as well because it had smoothed out our processes.” – Katy

See how Clio has something for everyone in your firm