Types of Trust Accounting Transactions
There are a limited number of trust accounting transactions possible. The Codes listed below will appear in your Trust Register.
The trust register shows all the trust transactions that have occurred and provides a means for easily accessing past transactions, viewing what transactions have taken place during a specified period or to analyse individual matters.
The Trust Transit Registers tracks movements of trust monies that never actually go into the law firm’s trust account, but are dealt with by the law firm. This is just another method for law firms to account for all trust monies that they deal with.
It is important to be aware of what each transaction type means and is used for as they represent the basic building blocks of your trust accounting system.
Each transaction in your Trust Accounting system records the source of the funds (generally a third party to the firm) and allocates it to a file the firm is working on. These are listed in the From and To columns.
| Name | Code | Description | From | To | Created On |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trust Receipt | REC | Money is received in trust from a Client (or other contact on behalf of a Client). This represents money entering your Trust Accounts. This money is recorded directly in the appropriate Trust Bank Account, or in Undeposited Funds (for cash and cheques). | Client 3rd Party | Trust Bank Account OR Undeposited Funds | Trust Receipt Page |
| Bank Deposit | DEP | Cash and cheques received in trust from a Client (or other contact on behalf of a Client) are transferred from Undeposited Funds to the actual Trust Bank Account. This represents someone physically banking monies at the end of the day. You can also use this type of transaction to record and clear credit card activity for each day (to make reconciliation of merchant statements easier). | Undeposited Funds | Trust Bank Account | Bank Deposit Page |
| Trust Cheque | CHQ | Money is used to pay for disbursements / outlays as part of a particular Matter. They are paid to a 3rd party contact. This represents money leaving your Tust Accounts. Transit monies (such as Stamp Duty) are paid using this transaction. Money refunded to Clients at the close of a matter are paid using this transaction. Payments to your own Firm can be made using a Trust Cheque if you are not using the General Accounting module. | Trust Bank Account | 3rd Party | Write Trust Cheque Page |
| Matter Transfer | MTR | Trust funds are transferred from one matter to another. When using this feature it is essential to print the report, have a cheque signatory sign the movement and file with your trust end of month reports for audit. This is because this type of movement requires the same authorisation as writing a cheque from the trust account. | Trust Bank Account | Same Trust Bank Account | Matter Transfer Page |
| Bank Transfer | BTR | Trust funds are transferred from one Trust Bank Account to another. This may be transferring money from a Controlled Trust Account to General Trust. It can also represent deposits or withdrawals from the Firm's Special Deposit Account (if you process them manually). IMPORTANT NOTE : This feature can only be used in certain situations e.g. in Queensland you can only withdraw from a trust account by CHEQUE unless you have express permission from the Qld Law Society to use EFT's on a Trust Bank Account | Trust Bank Account | Different Trust Bank Account | Bank Transfer Page Special Deposit Page |
| Reconciliation Adjustment | ADJ | An adjustment to a Trust Bank Account made as part of a bank statement reconciliation. This can include
| Trust Bank Account | Same Trust Bank Account | Bank Reconciliation Page |
Data Entry of Trust Receipts
Trust receipts are locked from editing once saved into the Wise Owl Legal System. Prior to saving a trust receipt the following message appears:
In the event of an incorrect trust receipt entry, a new transaction must be created and dated with today's date. This then has the effect of reversing the original transaction.