What this article helps with: The two emails Hona sends to vendors, how a Disbursement Admin edits them, which Pipe Text fields you can use, where vendor replies go, and how to change the message for a single payment.

Who this is for: Disbursement Admins, who edit the templates, and anyone who drafts vendor payments.

Before you start: Editable vendor emails are turned on firm by firm. If you do not see the vendor email cards on the Settings tab of your Disbursements page, they are not on for your firm yet. Email [email protected] and we will help. New to paying vendors? Start with Vendor Disbursements: Paying Providers, Experts, and Other Vendors.

Key Terms

What do you mean when you say...

Payment-details request email = the email Hona sends when you ask a vendor to add their payment details.
Payment email = the email Hona sends when a payment to a vendor is approved and sent.
Template = your firm's standard subject and message for one of these emails.
Pipe Text = fields like Vendor Name that Hona replaces with the real value when it sends the email.
Reply-to email = the address a vendor's reply goes to.

The two emails

Email	When Hona sends it	Always included after your message
Vendor payment-details request email	When you choose Email the vendor a link under Payment methods on a vendor	Your personal note, the Add payment details button, the link expiry note, and the footer
Vendor payment email	When a payment to the vendor is approved and sent	The amount, a details block (from, paid to, sent on), a note that Confido processes the payment, and the footer

You edit the subject and the message. The parts in the right-hand column are always included and cannot be edited. Both emails go to the contact email on the vendor record.

Hona's default wording

Every firm starts with this wording. Words in brackets are Pipe Text.

Vendor payment-details request email

Subject: [Company Name] needs your payment details
Message: Hi [Vendor Contact Name], [Company Name] would like to pay [Vendor Name] electronically and needs your payment details on file. Details are entered on a secure page hosted by Confido Legal, the firm's payments provider — they are never shared with anyone else.

Vendor payment email

Subject: [Company Name] sent you a payment of [Amount]
Message: Hi [Vendor Contact Name], [Company Name] has sent a payment of [Amount] to [Vendor Name]. For questions about what this payment covers, contact [Company Name] directly.

Company Name is your firm's name. If the vendor has no contact name, Vendor Contact Name uses the vendor's name.

Editing a template

Only Disbursement Admins can edit the templates. Each email has its own card.

Go to Disbursements and open the Settings tab.
Scroll to the Vendor payment-details request email card or the Vendor payment email card.
Optional: enter a Reply-to email. See "Where vendor replies go" below.
Edit the Subject and Message. To add a field, click the {+} button at the right edge of the box (it shows when you hover over or click into the box) and pick the field.
Check Preview with sample data to see how the email will read.
Click Save.

The subject can be up to 200 characters and the message up to 4,000. Both are required.
Changes apply to emails sent from then on. Emails already sent do not change.
Anyone else who can open the Settings tab sees the preview and the note "Only Disbursements Admins can change this email."

Going back to the default

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

Your firm's subject, message, and reply-to email for that email are replaced with Hona's defaults. Emails already sent are not affected. Each card resets on its own, and the button is greyed out while the card still uses the default.

Pipe Text fields you can use

Field	Payment email	Payment-details request
Company Name	Yes	Yes
Vendor Name, Vendor Contact Name	Yes	Yes
Amount, Memo to Payee	Yes	No
Client Name, First Name, Last Name	Yes, when the payment is linked to a case	No
Project Name, Case Number, Project Type, Division Name	Yes, when the payment is linked to a case	No
Link Expiry Date	No	Yes

Client and case fields are blank when the payment has no case. Case Number also picks up a case ID typed in by hand.
Client Name is the case's client. If a case has more than one client contact, Hona uses the one that was added to Hona first.
The payment-details request has no client or case fields, because it is about the vendor, not a case.
Not offered: client email and phone, custom fields, and case status and phase. They can hold details a vendor does not need.
No fields for the account or sent date. The details block under your message already shows the amount, the account the payment went to, and the date it was sent.
The memo to payee is added for you. If a payment has a memo to payee, Hona adds it as a quote under your message, unless the message already uses Memo to Payee or contains the memo text. See Memo to Payee on Disbursements.

Think before adding client and case fields. They put your client's information in an email to someone outside your firm. Add only what the vendor needs to match the payment, such as the case number.

Where vendor replies go

Each template has an optional Reply-to email field, above Subject. If you leave it blank, replies go to your firm's contact email, which the field shows in grey. That is the email under Settings, Company Info, Contact Info. If your firm has no contact email there, replies go to [email protected].

Hona uses the first address it has, in this order:

Payment email	Payment-details request
1. The reply-to set on this payment 2. The payment email template's reply-to 3. Your firm's contact email 4. [email protected]	1. The payment-details request template's reply-to 2. Your firm's contact email 3. [email protected]

The address must be a single inbox your firm reads. Hona will not accept a list of addresses, a no-reply address, or an address at Hona's sending domain. If an address you saved stops meeting these rules, Hona skips it and uses the next one, and the email still goes out.

Changing the message for one payment

When you draft a vendor payment, you see the payment email as Hona will send it, filled in for this payment. Change it when one payment needs a different note. Anyone who can draft a vendor payment can do this.

On the Disbursements page, click New Disbursement and choose the Vendor tab. Or open a vendor that is Ready for payment and click Draft payment.
Select the vendor. If the vendor has an email on file, a Message to vendor section appears below Bank Account and above Notify Approvers?.
Enter the amount. Until you do, the section says "Enter the amount to see the message Hona will send this vendor."
Link the case, if the payment belongs to one. This fills in client and case fields. If your template uses them and no case is linked, you see "Link a case to fill in the client and case."
Read the Reply-to email, Subject, and Message. They are plain text, filled in from your firm's payment email template with this payment's details.
Edit anything you need to. Hona marks the message Edited for this payment, with a Use the firm message button to undo your changes.
Click Draft Payment.

How the message behaves

Until you edit it, it follows the form. Change the amount or the case and the message updates.
Once you edit it, your text is kept and saved with this payment. If you then change the amount or the case, Hona shows "The payment details changed after you edited this message." Check the message still fits, or click Use the firm message to start again from the template.
If you do not edit it, Hona fills in your firm's template when the payment is sent. A template change made before approval applies.
The reply-to here is for this payment only. It changes where replies to this payment's payment email go. The payment-details request always uses its own template's reply-to. If you clear the field or set it back to your firm's address, Hona uses the firm default.
No vendor email, no message. If the vendor has no email on file, the section says "This vendor has no email on file, so Hona won't email them about this payment."
You can only change it while drafting. After you click Draft Payment, the message cannot be edited. To change it, cancel the draft and draft the payment again.

Seeing what was sent

Open the payment. The Email to vendor panel shows who the email was sent to or will be sent to, where replies go, and the subject and message. It also says whether the message is Hona's default or one written for this payment or from your firm's template.

FAQs

Does changing a template change emails we already sent?

No. Emails already sent stay as they were.

Why are the client and case fields blank in the email?

The payment is not linked to a case. Link the case when you draft the payment to fill them in.

Can a vendor see our internal note?

No. The internal note is not a field in these emails, and Confido does not show it on receipts or to payees.

Can I add a note to the payment-details request for one vendor?

Yes. When you email the vendor a link, add your personal note. It appears after the template message, above the Add payment details button.

Who can edit the templates?

Only Disbursement Admins. Anyone who can draft a vendor payment can change the message for that one payment. See Disbursements Permissions: Drafters, Approvers, and Disbursement Admins.

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

Vendor Email Templates