Lesson 4 of 4 · 12 min

Forms and payments

Public intake forms feed your lead pipeline; portal invoices are paid via Stripe Checkout.

Lesson 4 of 4

Public intake forms and online invoice payments are the two client-facing "do something" features. Forms feed your lead intake pipeline for staff review; invoices are paid online via Stripe Checkout.

Forms create leads, not matters

A public form does not create or update a matter record. When someone submits it, the app creates a portal form submission and an intake request that lands in your lead intake pipeline (under Leads) for a staff member to review and convert. Treat forms as a front door for new work, not as a way to edit existing matters.

  1. 1

    Build an intake form

    Go to Leads › Intake Forms and click "New form" (or "Create First Form" if you have none yet). Give the form a name and add the fields you want to collect. Each form gets its own public link.

  2. 2

    See the public form a client fills in

    The public form lives at /forms/:id and shows the form's name and fields with a Submit button. When a client submits it, they see a "Form Submitted Successfully" confirmation, and behind the scenes a portal submission plus an intake request are created for your team to review — no matter is touched.

  3. 3

    Show invoices in the portal

    When you send an invoice to the portal, the client sees it in their Invoices list with a "Pay Now" button. (In the read-only preview you'll see the invoices list, but the Pay Now button is hidden — the preview never charges anyone.)

  4. 4

    Pay online via Stripe Checkout

    Pay Now opens a secure payment page where the client pays by card. Online card payment needs your firm's Stripe account connected (see the Billing & Finance path) and the invoice set to be paid through Stripe; once that's in place, the client pays in a few clicks. Card is the only online option — there's no direct debit.

Tips & pitfalls

  • A public form does not create or update a matter — it creates an intake request in your lead pipeline (Leads) for a staff member to review and convert.
  • Online payment needs your firm's Stripe account connected and the invoice set to be paid through Stripe. Card is the only online option — there's no direct debit.
  • Open your public form's link yourself before you share it — you'll see exactly what a client sees and can check every field reads well.

Key takeaways

  • Public intake forms feed the lead intake pipeline — they don't create matter records.
  • Portal invoices are paid online via Stripe Checkout (card only) at /pay/:token.
  • Online payment needs your firm's Stripe account connected; until it is, clients can see the invoice but can't pay online yet.
Document sharing Back to Academy

Put the lesson into practice.

Book a guided session and our team will help you configure MatterFirst for your own practice.

Book a session Back to the Academy