Admin - Trust Accounts

Overview

Trust Accounts are accounts where we hold money on behalf of our clients. The details of these accounts are managed in Portal on the Trust Accounts page.

We display data for two types of Trust Account in Portal:

• AL Trust Accounts: Where we hold money on Trust for our clients.
• Legal Statutory Trust Accounts: Where the relevant Law Society holds a portion of our Trust Accounting funds as per regulation.

Both types of Trust Account can be viewed from the Trust Account table. Clicking an Account from the Trust Accounting table will take you to that Account's page.

Trust Accounts and Statutory Trust Accounts each have their own set of functions specific to their type.

Permissions

The Trust Accounts page is only accessible to Admin users. It can be accessed from the Administration Menu.

AL Trust Accounts

When you access the page for an AL Trust Account you will have access to the following functions:

• Summary
• Pending Requests
• Transactions
• Bank Transactions
• Reconcile
• Reports/Statements

Summary

The Summary section provides a quick overview of the General Information associated with the account, including:

• Name
• BSB
• Account Number
• Trust Type
• Account Reference (unused)
• Trust Total Funds

These details are not editable.

Pending Requests

Shows a list of requests from Users made from the Trust section of individual Matters. You can view these details in a Table View or List View, using the toggle at the top left of the section.

Table View

Allows you to view the Pending Requests in a condensed view, ordered by the most recent request. Details visible in this view consist of:

• Date
• Description
• Matter Id
• Amount

You can Approve or Reject the Request using the relevant buttons in the right-most column.

List View

Allows you to view the Pending Requests in more detail, also ordered by the most recent request. In addition to the details visible in the Table View, this view shows:

• Request Number
• Transaction Type (Deposit/Withdrawal)
• Matter Name
• Supporting Documentation Links
• Payment Method
• Payment From/To

You can Approve or Reject the Request using the relevant buttons at the top-right of each Request

Transactions

The Transactions section details the list of Transactions made into and out of the Trust Account. All items in this table are Requests that have been Approved.

Details visible in this table include:

• Transaction ID
• Date
• Matter ID
• Matter Name
• Description
• Amount

A Receipt can be downloaded for each Transaction which will show the full details. To do so, click the Receipt button in the right-most column.

Bank Transactions

Contains a list of Bank Transactions related to this account. You can upload new entries using the Upload button in the top-right corner.

Clicking a Transaction will show you the details in a menu. Transactions not yet assigned to a Matter will also have an Unknown Deposit button.

Clicking the Unknown Transaction button will send an email to the legal team, asking if they know which Matter the Transaction relates to.

Reconcile

The Reconcile section shows a list of Trust Transactions and Bank Transactions for reconciliation. Details visible for each transaction in both tables, consist of:

• Date
• Description
• Amount

Bank Transactions also show the Balance at the point of Transaction.

To Reconcile Trust Transactions with Bank Transactions select the Transactions to reconcile from both lists. Selecting a Transaction from either list adds the Transaction to the active reconciliation. This is displayed in the area above both lists, along with the reconciliation amount.

You can reconcile one or multiple Trust Transactions to a single Bank Transaction or a single Trust Transaction to one or multiple Bank Transactions. You cannot add multiple transactions from both lists to the same active reconciliation.

If you select a Transaction in error, you can deselect it from the active reconciliation by clicking on it.

As you add Transactions to the active reconciliation, the reconciliation amount will update to reflect the difference between each side of the reconciliation. Once this amount is 0, the Reconcile button is enabled. Click it to Reconcile the Transactions.

Reports/Statements

The Reports/Statements section is where we view and produce Reports on the Trust Account. There are four types of report we can run:

• Net Balance (Matter)
• Net Balance (Client)
• Reconciliation Report
• Trial Balance

Net Balance (Matter)

This Report shows all the Trust Transactions for a single Matter at a point in time. Search for a Matter by ID in the first input box and select a date in the second input box to use as the report end-point.

The contents of the Report will be displayed in the table once both of the input fields have values. The report contains the following details for each relevant Transaction:

• Date
• Transaction ID
• To/From
• Description
• Amount

You can generate and download a copy of the Report you have created by clicking the Download Trust Statement button at the top right of the Reports/Statements section

Net Balance (Client)

This Report shows all the Trust Transactions for all Matters for a single Client at a point in time. Search for a Client by name in the first input box and select a date in the second input box to use as the report end-point.

The contents of the Report will be displayed in the table once both of the input fields have values. The report contains the following details for each relevant Transaction:

• Matter Number
• Matter Name
• Date
• Transaction ID
• To/From
• Description
• Amount

You can generate and download a copy of the Report you have created by clicking the Download Trust Statement button at the top right of the Reports/Statements section.

Reconciliation Report

This Report shows all Receipt and Payment Transactions for the Trust Account over a defined period. You can select a From date in the first input box and a To date in the second input box. Receipts and Payments will be displayed in separate tables, with the following information:

• Transaction Date
• Reference (Transaction ID)
• From/To (for Receipt/for Payment)
• Matter Name
• Purpose
• Amount
• Reconciled At (Date Reconciled)

You can generate and download a copy of the Report you have created by clicking the Download Reconciliation Report button at the top right of the Reports/Statements section.

Trial Balance

This Reports shows all Matters with money held in this Trust Account at a point in time. You can select the date for the report at the top of the page. The details contained in this report are:

• Matter Number
• Client
• Matter Name
• Last Active (Date of most recent Transaction)
• Amount (Balance held for that Matter)

You can generate and download a copy of the Report you have created by clicking the Download Trial Balance button at the top right of the Reports/Statements section.

Legal Statutory Trust Account

Also known as a Combined Trust Account or Statutory Deposit Account.

Summary

The Summary section provides a quick overview of the General Information associated with the account, including:

• Name
• BSB (unused)
• Account Number
• Trust Type
• Account Reference
• Trust Total Funds

These details are not editable.

Statutory Pending Requests

The Statutory Pending Requests section provides an overview of all pending Transactions for the Statutory Deposit Account, in both a Table View and List View.

The Table View displays the following information:

• Transaction Date
• Description
• Amount

The List View displays a more detailed view, with additional information:

• Transaction Id
• Request Type
• Request Status
• Transaction Purpose
• Requestor
• Links to Supporting Documents
• Payment Method
• Paid From/To
• From/To Address

Make a Request for Deposit into the Statutory Deposit Account

By law, at the end of the relevant reporting period a law firm is required to deposit a certain amount of funds from their Trust Account into their Statutory Deposit Account. This deposit must be requested by a staff member and approved by a Principal. To create the request, click the Deposit button in the top-left of the Statutory Pending Requests page. You will be asked to fill out the details of the Deposit.

Click Confirm to send the Deposit Request. This will send an email to the Principal with the details you provided, and will add the Request to the Statutory Pending Requests table.

Once the Principal has reviewed they will be able to Approve or Reject the Deposit Request from the right-most column of the Statutory Pending Requests Table.

Make a Request for Refund from the Statutory Deposit Account

If a law firm is unable to meet urgent Trust Payments, they are allowed to access the Trust Money held in the Statutory Deposit Account. To do so they are required to request a Refund. To create the request, click the Withdrawal button in the top-left of the Statutory Pending Requests page. You will be asked to fill out the details of the Withdrawal.

Click Confirm to send the Refund Request. This will send an email to the Principal with the details you provided, and will add the Request to the Statutory Pending Requests table.

Once the Principal has reviewed they will be able to Approve or Reject the Refund Request from the right-most column of the Statutory Pending Requests Table.

Transactions

The Transactions section shows a full list of approved Requests for the Statutory Deposit Account, including:

• Transaction Id
• Date
• Description
• Amount

You can download a statement for the Statutory Deposit Account by clicking the Statement Button.