Irish law firms choose between practice management software with payments built in, such as Clio Payments or LEAP's online payment portal, general payment providers such as Stripe and GoCardless, the reminders in Xero or QuickBooks, and payment and credit control tools such as Adfin. Whichever you pick, the Solicitors Accounts Regulations 2023 decide where fee money goes: into client account or office account without delay, and client money can only be applied to fees once that's been made clear to the client in writing. A payment tool collects fees; it isn't a client account and doesn't make a firm compliant.
In this article
The short version
- Fee money goes into client account or office account without delay.
- Client money can only pay fees once the client has been told in writing.
- A payment tool that collects fees is not a client account.
- Statutory late payment interest applies to business clients, not private clients.
- Options include practice management payments, payment providers, accounting software and Adfin.
The rules a payment tool has to fit around
Your choice of payment tool sits inside your accounting obligations as a solicitor, so start with these rules and judge each tool against them.
- Money received for professional fees and outlay goes into client account or office account without delay.
- Fee money paid into client account has to be transferred to office account under the Regulations.
- Client money can only be applied to your fees once that's been made clear to the client in writing, for example in a bill of costs.
- A payment tool that collects fees is not a client account, so money that must be held for a client shouldn't go through it.
- Statutory late payment interest applies to business clients, never to private clients acting as consumers.
- You can't add a surcharge when a private client pays by consumer debit or credit card.
Client money and fee payments
The Solicitors Accounts Regulations 2023 (S.I. 118 of 2023) took effect on 1 July 2023 and replaced the 2014 Regulations. They set out how you handle money your firm receives, and they shape which payments a collection tool should touch.
When you receive money for professional fees and outlay, the Regulations require you to pay it, without delay, into client account or office account. If it goes into client account, it then has to move to office account in line with the Regulations. Money held for a client can only be applied to fees once that's been made clear to the client in writing, whether in a bill of costs or otherwise, and it then has to move from client account to office account within three months of the firm complying with Regulation 12.
A payment tool fits most easily on bills you've already issued for fees and outlay, since the Regulations allow that money to go into office account. Money that belongs in client account is a different matter. Take advice from your accountant before you route any new type of payment through a tool.
Adfin collects payment of fee invoices, but it isn't a client account and it doesn't make a firm compliant with the Regulations.
The kinds of tool Irish firms use
Payment and billing tools for law firms fall into four groups. You may end up combining two, such as a practice management or accounting system for billing and a separate tool for collection.
Practice management software with payments built in suits you if you want billing, time recording and payment in one system. Clio Payments is available in Ireland, and LEAP's Irish product includes an online payment portal. Check what each charges per payment and which payment methods it accepts before you compare them with anything else.
General payment providers take payments but leave billing and chasing to you or another tool. Stripe charges 1.5% + €0.25 for standard European Economic Area cards and 3.15% + €0.25 for international cards, and Stripe Invoicing adds 0.4% or 0.5% per paid invoice on top of payment fees. Stripe lists €3.50 for a failed SEPA direct debit and €15 for a SEPA dispute. GoCardless collects by direct debit, doesn't take card payments, and doesn't send invoice reminders or chase unpaid invoices. Its fees are taken out of payouts, and showing your own firm's name on clients' bank statements is a paid add-on at €50 a month.
Accounting software has its own reminders, too. Xero Ireland offers invoice payments through Stripe and GoCardless and can send automatic reminders before or after the due date, and QuickBooks Online Ireland can send up to three automatic reminders on unpaid invoices.
Payment and credit control tools combine collection with chasing. Adfin takes payment by SEPA direct debit, card, Apple Pay, Google Pay and bank transfer, sends payment links by email, SMS or WhatsApp, and runs reminders and statements on top of Xero or QuickBooks. It works alongside whatever practice management software you use.
How the options compare
The table sets out what each option publishes for Ireland. It isn't a ranking, and it doesn't cover every feature.
| Option | Type | What it publishes for Ireland |
|---|---|---|
| Clio Payments | Practice management with payments | Available in Ireland |
| LEAP | Practice management with payments | Online payment portal in its Irish product |
| Stripe | Payment provider | Standard EEA cards 1.5% + €0.25; international cards 3.15% + €0.25; Invoicing 0.4% or 0.5% per paid invoice extra; €3.50 per failed SEPA payment; €15 per SEPA dispute; SEPA funds available after six business days |
| GoCardless | Direct debit provider | No card payments; no invoice reminders or chasing; fees taken out of payouts; own name on statements €50 a month |
| Xero | Accounting software | Invoice payments through Stripe and GoCardless; automatic reminders before or after the due date |
| QuickBooks Online | Accounting software | Up to three automatic reminders |
| Adfin | Payments and credit control | SEPA direct debit, card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, bank transfer; 20c + 1% per successful payment, with the 1% part capped at €2 on direct debit and bank transfer but not cards; free Essential credit control; certified Xero and QuickBooks app; not a client account |
Late payment from business and private clients
Late payment rules split your clients in two. For business clients, the European Communities (Late Payment in Commercial Transactions) Regulations 2012 (S.I. 580 of 2012) give you statutory interest at 10.4% a year from 1 July 2026, reset each 1 January and 1 July, plus fixed compensation of €40, €70 or €100 depending on the bill, with no reminder needed. For private clients acting outside their trade or profession, none of that applies.
Adfin's Enhanced credit control, at 0.3% per paid invoice and only when used, can add statutory late payment interest to overdue bills for business clients automatically, with grace periods and waivers for individual clients. Its collection agents also choose the timing, channel and tone of reminders within rules you approve. The free Essential level covers unlimited reminders by email, SMS and WhatsApp, statements, and an aged debtors view where you can give each overdue client an owner and a next step.
Card fees follow the same split between business and private clients. You can't surcharge a payment made with a consumer debit or credit card. Commercial cards are outside that ban, but any charge on them can't exceed your direct cost of accepting the card.
What to check before you choose
Run each option you're considering through these questions. The answers usually narrow the field quickly.
- Which money will go through it, and is all of it fee money for bills already issued rather than money held for clients?
- Which payment methods does it accept, and do those match how your clients want to pay?
- What does each payment cost, by method, and is there a cap on large payments?
- Is there a monthly fee, a setup fee or a minimum contract?
- Does it send reminders and statements, or will chasing stay manual?
- Can it add statutory late payment interest for business clients only?
- Does it connect to your accounting software and mark bills paid when clients pay?
- Will it work alongside your practice management system without changing how you bill?
- Has your accountant confirmed it fits your accounts rules?
Which option fits which firm
If you want billing, time recording and payment in one place and you're already on Clio or LEAP, start with what that system offers for Ireland and check its payment costs. If your main problem is chasing rather than collecting, look first at the reminders in Xero or QuickBooks, then at a credit control tool if those don't go far enough.
If you bill business clients a fixed monthly fee for work already done, such as company secretarial services, SEPA direct debit collects each bill on its date instead of waiting for the client to pay. A €1,500 monthly bill collected by direct debit through Adfin costs €2.20, because the 1% part is capped at €2 on direct debit and bank transfer. Card payments aren't capped.
If most of your clients are private individuals paying one-off bills, a payment link sent with the bill by email, SMS or WhatsApp lets them pay by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay without looking up your bank details.
Common questions
Can a payment tool be used as a solicitor's client account? No, a payment tool that collects fees isn't a client account. Money that must be held for a client belongs in client account under the Solicitors Accounts Regulations 2023.
Where do fee payments have to go under the Solicitors Accounts Regulations 2023? Money received for professional fees and outlay must go into client account or office account without delay, and fee money paid into client account then has to move to office account.
Can I charge late payment interest to a private client? Statutory late payment interest only applies between businesses and between a business and a public body. Private clients acting as consumers are outside the rules.
Can a law firm add a card surcharge to client payments? A firm can't surcharge payments made with consumer debit or credit cards. Commercial cards are outside the ban, but any charge can't exceed the firm's direct cost.
Is Clio Payments available in Ireland? Clio's Irish website says Clio Payments is available in Ireland. LEAP's Irish product includes an online payment portal.
Does Adfin work with practice management software? It works alongside practice management systems, and it's a certified app for Xero and QuickBooks with two-way sync, so payments taken through it are marked paid in your accounts.
Sources
- Irish Statute Book - S.I. No. 118/2023, Solicitors Accounts Regulations 2023 (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2023/si/118/made/en/print
- Irish Statute Book - S.I. No. 580/2012, European Communities (Late Payment in Commercial Transactions) Regulations 2012 (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2012/si/580/made/en/print
- Clio - Features, Ireland (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.clio.com/ie/features/
- LEAP - Legal accounting software, Ireland (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.leaplegalsoftware.com/ie/features/legal-accounting/
- Stripe - Pricing, Ireland (accurate as of November 2026) https://stripe.com/ie/pricing
- Oireachtas - Dáil written answer on card surcharging, 6 March 2018 (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2018-03-06/50/
