Time, billing & payments
Get paid for the work you've done.
Record time and costs on the matter as you work. Build an invoice from what's unbilled, have a lawyer issue it, and let clients pay by card online, straight into your firm's own account.
Time and costs
Time in tenths of an hour, kept on the matter.
Start a timer when you pick up the file, or type the hours in afterwards. Each entry sits on the matter with who did the work, the rate and what it was for, so the bill is ready when the work is.
- Hours in tenths (0.1 is 6 minutes), with a start/stop timer
- A default rate for each person, which a matter can override
- Hourly, flat-fee or contingency billing for each matter
- Costs advanced, like filing and records fees, marked billable or not
Invoices
Anyone can prepare the draft. Only a lawyer can issue it.
Build an invoice from the matter's unbilled time and costs, add flat-fee lines if you need them, and check it over. When a lawyer issues it, Meruit numbers it, locks it and records who issued it and when.
- Built from unbilled time and costs, plus flat-fee lines
- Issuing records the lawyer's name in the audit log
- Numbered (INV-0001, INV-0002…) and locked once issued
- Corrected only by voiding, with a reason, never by editing
- Amounts kept to the exact cent
Payments
Paid online, straight into your account.
Connect your firm's own Stripe account and clients can pay an issued invoice by card from their client portal. The money goes straight to your firm; Meruit never holds it. Payments taken any other way can be recorded too.
- Online card payments through your own Stripe account
- Earned fees only, into your operating account (not trust)
- No case details sent to Stripe
- Record checks, ACH, card and cash taken elsewhere
How it works
From the first tenth of an hour to a paid invoice.
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Track time and costs
On the matter, with a timer or typed in afterwards.
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Prepare the invoice
Anyone on the team builds a draft from what's unbilled.
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A lawyer issues it
It's numbered, locked and recorded in the audit log.
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The client pays
By card in the client portal, or record a check or transfer.
Honest limits
What it doesn't do yet.
Client money is the highest-risk part of running a firm, so we're building it in order and saying plainly where it stops today.
- Trust accounting is coming. Online payments go to your operating account, for fees you've already earned. Retainers, advance fees and settlement funds stay in your trust (IOLTA) account and your current trust software for now.
- Card payments run through Stripe only. You'll need a Stripe account for your firm. Without one, you can still record payments taken any other way.
- Settlement statements and AI time capture are on our roadmap, not in the product yet.
Questions
Can clients pay a retainer or put money into trust through Meruit?
Not yet. Online payments are for invoices a lawyer has issued, which means fees you've already earned, and they go to your firm's operating account. Retainers, advance fees and settlement funds belong in your trust (IOLTA) account, and trust accounting isn't built yet. Keep handling trust money the way you do today.
Does Meruit hold our money?
No. You connect your firm's own Stripe account, and clients pay through Stripe straight into it. Meruit never holds the money and never has your bank details.
Who pays the card fees?
Stripe charges its usual card fees to your Stripe account, as it would if you used Stripe on your own. Meruit adds no fee of its own on payments today.
What does Stripe see about our clients?
Only the payer's email address and a line such as "Invoice INV-0012 from your firm". No matter names, injuries or descriptions of the work are sent to Stripe.
Can a paralegal prepare invoices?
Yes. Anyone on the team can prepare a draft invoice. Only a lawyer can issue it, and their name and the time are recorded in the audit log.
How do we fix a mistake on an issued invoice?
An issued invoice is locked and never edited. A lawyer voids it with a reason, which is recorded, and its time and costs go back to unbilled so you can issue a corrected invoice. A recorded payment is corrected the same way: with a new entry that reverses it, and a reason.
We work on contingency. Is this still useful?
Yes. Contingency matters still track time and costs, which helps with fee petitions and with costs to be repaid from a settlement. They just aren't invoiced by the hour. Settlement statements are on our roadmap.
Can we record payments taken outside Meruit?
Yes. Record a check, ACH transfer, card or cash payment against an invoice. A payment can't be more than what's owed.
Works with the rest of Meruit
Intake & conflict check Record new enquiries, check conflicts across the firm and get a suggested limitation date. Matters One workspace per case: parties, stage, key dates, notes, documents and history. Deadlines Every deadline in the firm in one list, with limitation dates a lawyer confirms. Medical records & chronology Upload records; approve AI-suggested chronology entries tied to the page they came from. Demand letters Your template, filled with the case facts, approved and locked by a lawyer. Client portal & e-signature Clients sign in to see their case, message you, share files and sign documents.