B2Bpay for law firms and legal practices

What law firm bills can be paid through B2Bpay?

Short answer: The firm's own operating costs. Barristers' fees, expert witnesses, practice management software, professional indemnity insurance, legal research subscriptions, rent and the ATO can be paid by Visa, Mastercard or American Express, with the payee receiving a bank transfer or BPAY payment.

B2Bpay is used for payments from the firm's operating funds, not trust money. Typical bills include:

• Barristers' fee notes and expert witness, medico-legal and forensic accounting invoices, which are almost always settled by bank transfer.
• Practice management, document, e-discovery and time recording software, often invoiced annually.
• Professional indemnity and cyber insurance premiums.
• Legal research and publishing subscriptions, CPD and law society fees.
• Office rent, IT support, marketing and the ATO (BAS, PAYG withholding and instalments, income tax).

The payee receives a bank transfer and does not need to accept cards. See paying suppliers who do not accept cards.

How does it help a firm's cash flow?

Firms carry work in progress and disbursements for months before matters are billed and paid. Barristers and experts expect payment on their terms regardless. B2Bpay lets you pay them on time by card while the cash stays in the firm's account for up to 55 days interest-free, depending on the card and statement cycle.

The annual PI premium and the quarterly BAS are the other obvious candidates: large, fixed-date payments that can be moved to your statement cycle. The cash flow guide explains how to time them. Firms can also offer clients card payment on invoices through the biller product, which helps on the collection side.

What do the points look like for a practice?

Your card issuer pays its usual reward points on every B2Bpay payment, and B2Bpay adds B2B Points: 1 per $1 on Earn Max, 1 per $2 on Earn Plus. 1 B2B Point equals 1 Qantas Point or 1 Velocity Point.

A firm paying $60,000 a month in counsel fees, software, rent, insurance and ATO payments through B2Bpay on Earn Max earns 60,000 B2B Points a month before card points. That funds partner travel to interstate hearings and conferences, or a staff reward, from bills the firm pays anyway. Run your figures in the points calculator and read points maths: what a payment earns.

Who uses it, and what does it cost?

Usually the practice manager or finance officer, with a partner approving. Multiple user logins support that separation, and bills sync from Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks with automatic reconciliation. Payments can be scheduled to fee note due dates.

Fees ex GST, as published at b2bpay.com.au. Earn Max earns 1 B2B Point per $1, Earn Plus 1 per $2, Essential none. The fee is a platform fee for the service, shown on your tax statement.

A $10,000 barrister's fee note paid by Visa on Earn Max carries a $250 fee and earns 10,000 B2B Points plus card points, while the $10,000 stays in the firm's account until your statement is due. See platform fees, GST and tax deductions.

Security and getting started

B2Bpay is PCI DSS compliant, tokenises cards, verifies payee bank accounts before the first payment and holds data onshore with an Australian based team; see is B2Bpay safe. Register at points.b2bpay.com.au/sign-up or call 1300 205 575.