You may need a rethink if the sole reason for operating a client account is because you receive monies from clients towards unbilled fees or unpaid disbursements. Solicitors Regulation Authority doesn’t require you to hold this money in the client account if your firm has incurred the disbursements and you are liable to pay them. It would be best to inform your clients how and where this money will be held, which can be covered in your client care letter. We recommend that clients open a separate reserve account for this, which is not a client account, reducing the administrative burden and costs that come with a client account. This means you are not required to reconcile client accounts once every five weeks or worry about signing off the bank reconciliations at month end or worrying about client balances going overdrawn.

This stance from SRA helps law firms spend less on administrative workload and more on providing quality service to their clients. Contact us today at 020 3598 4327 or email us at ‘[email protected]’ for a smooth transition away from a client account so you can spend more time serving your clients. We ensure you take all the steps required by SRA to get this right!

Muhammad Zameer
(FCCA, Legal Accounts Expert)
My Legal Cashier Ltd