What this article helps with: Adding a memo that is shown on the payee's Confido receipt, how Hona fills it in from the case, how a Disbursement Admin sets the memo template, and how the memo differs from the internal note.

Who this is for: Anyone at your firm with a disbursement permission (Drafter, Approver, or Disbursement Admin). The template section is for Disbursement Admins.

Before you start: The memo to payee is turned on firm by firm. If you do not see a Memo to payee field when you draft a disbursement, it is not on for your firm yet. Email [email protected] and we will help.

Key Terms

What do you mean when you say...

Payee = whoever is being paid: your client on a client disbursement, or the vendor on a vendor payment.
Memo to payee = a short line of text that Hona sends to Confido with the payment. It is shown on the payee's Confido receipt.
Internal note = the field that used to be called Notes. It is for your team and is not shown on the payee's Confido receipt.
Memo template = the pattern Hona uses to fill in the memo when you pick a case. Your Disbursement Admin sets it.
Case number = the case's ID from your case management system, or the case ID you type in by hand.

How it works

When you draft a disbursement and pick a case, Hona fills in Memo to payee from your firm's memo template. You can change it before you save. The memo is shown on the payee's Confido receipt, so they know what the payment is for. This works the same for clients and vendors.

Unless your Disbursement Admin changes the template, the memo is:

Client disbursements: client name and case number, for example Jane Doe · PI-2026-0001. The client name is the name of the person you are paying.
Vendor payments: the case number only, for example PI-2026-0001.

A few rules:

No case number, no suggestion. If the case has no case number, Hona leaves the memo blank. You can still type one.
A case ID typed by hand counts. If you enter a case ID manually instead of picking a case, Hona uses it as the case number.
Hona never replaces what you typed. If you pick a different case, the memo changes only while it is empty or still holds Hona's suggestion. If you clear the case, an untouched suggestion is cleared too.
It is optional. You can delete the memo and save the disbursement without one.

Where the memo shows up

The payee's Confido receipt, for client disbursements and vendor payments alike.
Your firm's Confido dashboard.
Hona's email to a vendor. On a vendor payment, the memo is also added under the message in Hona's payment email to the vendor, unless the message already includes it. See Vendor Email Templates.

The memo does not appear:

On checks Confido mails. Their memo line shows "Disbursement #<number>".
In ACH remittance details.
On the page where your client chooses how to be paid.

Adding a memo when you draft

Start a draft the usual way: from the case (Actions, then Draft Disbursement), or from the Disbursements page with New Disbursement, on the Client or Vendor tab.
Pick the recipient or vendor, then the case. Memo to payee fills in.
Check the memo and change it if you need to. The counter under the field shows how many characters you have used, and the field stops at the limit.
Put anything meant only for your team in Internal note.
Click Draft Disbursement for a client, or Draft Payment for a vendor.

The character limit

Hona limits the memo to 140 characters to keep the receipt short.
The field will not take more, and the counter under it shows how many characters you have used.
If your template would fill in something longer, Hona shortens it to fit. It shortens the other text and never cuts the case number. Read the memo before you save.

Memo to payee and Internal note

	Memo to payee	Internal note
Who it is for	The payee	Your team and your approvers
On the payee's Confido receipt	Yes	No
Where it goes	Sent to Confido with the payment	Client disbursements: stays in Hona. Vendor payments: sent to Confido as an internal memo, which Confido does not show on receipts or to payees.
Who has it	Firms with the memo turned on	Every firm

Both show on the case's Disbursements card and in the disbursement's detail window, and changes to either are written to the audit log.

One caution about the internal note. It is not on the receipt, but it is not locked away either. If your firm has an automation or client message that uses the disbursement's notes as Pipe Text, that text goes out wherever the message goes. Keep anything sensitive out of notes that feed client messages.

Setting your firm's memo templates

Disbursement Admins choose what Hona fills in. There is one template for client disbursements and one for vendor payments.

Go to Disbursements and open the Settings tab.
Scroll to the Payee memo card, below the vendor email cards.
Under Client disbursements or Vendor payments, edit the template. Type plain text. To add a field, click the {+} button at the right edge of the template box (it shows when you hover over or click into the box) and pick the field.
Check the Example under each template. It shows the memo with sample values and its length against the limit.
Click Save.

Fields you can use

Field	Client disbursements	Vendor payments
Client Name, First Name, Last Name	Yes	No
Case Number	Yes	Yes
Project Name (the case name)	Yes, if you add it	Yes, if you add it
Project Type	Yes, if you add it	Yes, if you add it

Check the case name and case type before you add them. Neither is in the default templates. Both come from your case management system as free text, and can hold the client's name or details like the injury type. The memo goes to someone outside your firm.
Vendor templates have no client name fields, so a vendor memo never pulls in your client's name on its own.
Not offered at all: client email and phone, custom fields, and case status and phase.
The case number is required. If a case has no case number, Hona suggests no memo, whatever the template says.
Blank fields drop out cleanly. If a field is empty on a case, Hona leaves it out along with the separator next to it, so you do not end up with a stray "·".
Limits. A template can be up to 500 characters, and Hona will not save one that comes out empty. If the example runs past the memo limit you see a "Runs past 140 characters" warning. You can still save, and drafters see the shortened memo.
Changes apply to new drafts. Memos already saved on disbursements do not change.

Going back to the default

On the Payee memo card, click Reset to default.
Hona asks you to confirm. Click Reset to default again.

Both templates go back to the default: client name and case number for client disbursements, case number for vendor payments. Memos already saved on disbursements do not change. The button is greyed out while both templates are already the default.

Who can change the templates

Only Disbursement Admins. Anyone else who can open the Settings tab sees the example memos and the note "Only Disbursements Admins can change the payee memo."

FAQs

Does the payee see the internal note?

No. The internal note is not shown on the payee's Confido receipt. The one exception is a client message or automation your firm set up to include the notes, as described above.

Does my client see the memo?

Yes. The memo is sent with client disbursements as well as vendor payments, and it is shown on the payee's Confido receipt. It is not shown on the page where your client chooses how to be paid.

I picked a case and the memo stayed empty. Why?

The case has no case number, so Hona has nothing to suggest. Type the memo yourself, or enter a case ID by hand.

Can I add an invoice number?

Yes. Type it into Memo to payee before you save the draft. Keep the whole memo within the limit.

Can I change the memo in Confido instead?

Set it in Hona. When the disbursement is approved, Hona's memo replaces anything typed into Confido directly.

Can I change the memo after the disbursement is approved?

No. An approved disbursement cannot be edited in Hona. If the memo is wrong on a client disbursement that has not been claimed yet, cancel it and draft a replacement.

Still stuck? Chat with our support team or email [email protected].

Memo to Payee on Disbursements