From signup to your first disbursement.
What setup involves, who does what, and what to have ready. Connecting your systems takes an hour or two with our team. Most firms send their first payment within two weeks. Firms importing years of trust history plan on 30–45 days.
Illustrative. Westbrook & Vale is a fictional firm; figures are sample data.
The eight steps
Sign up
Accept the terms, verify your email, enter the office address, verify the admins' identity. No contract, no paperwork.
About 10 minutes.Connect your banks
IOLTA and operating through Plaid, read-only; two years of transactions come in for matching.
5 minutes with your online-banking login.Set up checks
Signature image, routing and account numbers, name on the check, return address, starting check number. Logo envelopes optional.
Shared through a secure channel, never read out on a call.Connect your case system
A service account and token; fields mapped per project type (plaintiff, settlement, fee, referral fee, costs, providers); the Disbo Payments tab installed.
About 30 minutes with your case-system admin.Connect your books
Someone with admin rights connects the trust and operating company files; the trust ledger, fee account, payee naming and memo format are mapped. Read-only until you switch posting on.
About 30 minutes with your bookkeeper.Import open cases and balances
Cases come in from your books and your case system and are matched on case number; about 80% match on their own and our team clears the rest with you. A trust audit compares Disbo to your books, case by case.
Our team does the matching.Send a $1 test check
And a $5 Quick Pay if you'll use ACH. Compare the entry in your books before anything real goes out.
30 minutes, its own session.First real disbursement
One case, start to finish, with our team on the call. Then your account manager and support.
"When is your next disbursement?" is the first thing we ask.
What we need from you
- Someone with admin rights in your accounting system (most owners don't have it; your bookkeeper or office manager can grant it)
- Your case-system admin on the connection call
- A case number that lives in both your case system and your books
- A signature image on white paper
- Routing and account numbers for trust and operating, shared securely
- A starting check number for each account
- Your clearing hold after a deposit (firms choose 4–10 business days)
- Your IT team whitelists Disbo's sending domain so verification and payment emails arrive
- An email address for each payee you'll pay electronically
What our team does
Maps your fields with you
Settlement, fee and provider amounts from wherever they live todayA mapping per project type.
Imports and matches your cases
Case number first, then name and date of loss; we clear the rest with youThe matching queue, emptied.
Runs the trust audit
Disbo against your books, case by case, before you send anythingA list of differences, each with the case.
Sets up your bank exports
Void lists and positive-pay files in your bank's layoutA daily file, if your bank wants one.
Runs your first disbursement with you
On the call, on your caseThe first payment, sent together.
Stays on
An account manager after go-live; support 7am–7pm PT with a 24-hour response; a 30-day reviewOne name to text.
A typical calendar
Typical firm
- Week 1: Sign up, banks, checks, case system, books (one or two calls)
- Week 2: Import, $1 test, first disbursement
- Weeks 3–4: Run alongside your current process until month-end ties
- Month 2: Everything through Disbo
Firm with years of history
- Weeks 1–2: Agree the scope; start with one account or one state
- Weeks 2–4: Connect and import; trust audit
- Weeks 5–8: Pilot in parallel with your current process
- Weeks 9–12: Voids, costs and reports; then widen to every account
Funds, approvals and audit records.
Who holds the money?
No one. Most payouts are checks, drawn on your IOLTA and cleared by your bank like any check you write today. The rest are electronic payments that pass through our banking partner instantly and never sit anywhere or earn interest. Disbo holds nothing; it is software, like your bank's bill pay.
Who can send a payment?
Staff prepare payouts. Only a registered admin or an authorized signer can release them, from a phone, with two-factor on every send. You can require a second approver above any amount you choose.
Do you send our checks?
Yes, with every document. Each check is printed and mailed for you, drawn on your own IOLTA with your check number and your firm on the envelope. The lien letter, the signed statement, and anything else you attach go in the same envelope. You see it mailed, delivered, and cashed.
Setup questions
Do we have to stop printing our own checks?
No. Print what you want to print; mark it paid in Disbo and it lands on the case. Many firms run both for a month.
Our data is messy.
We import open balances only, match on case number and clean the rest with you. The only thing you need is a case number in both systems.
Our bank isn't on Plaid.
Our team adds the accounts by hand and verifies them with a micro-deposit.
Who at the firm needs to be on the calls?
Whoever has admin rights in your books, your case-system admin, and the person who prepares disbursements. An hour or less per call; the test disbursement is its own 30 minutes.
Is there an implementation fee?
No. Setup, import and the historical balance import are included.
What if we stop?
There's no contract. Your money is in your bank and your books are in your accounting system; Disbo adds the record, it never holds either.