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Attorneys: your trust account is the one account your bar watches — and the one most firms keep the least carefully.

We just published a free handbook: Accounting Books for Attorneys.

Inside: trust accounting in plain language, QuickBooks Online and Xero setup for a law practice, the monthly checklist with the three-way reconciliation, and a section on the trust rules for every state.

Download it free here: https://taxwizardsusa.com/attorney-handbook.html

I'm Marufa Akter, Nationwide Attorney Specialist at TaxWizardUSA. This is the book I wish every firm's bookkeeper had.

#LawFirm #IOLTA #LegalAccounting #Bookkeeping #LawPractice

Three numbers that must agree, every month, in every law firm:

1. The trust bank balance.
2. The trust liability balance in your books.
3. The sum of every individual client ledger.

If they don't match to the penny, something is wrong — money posted to the wrong client, a bank fee taken from trust, a deposit never recorded.

Only 12 jurisdictions expressly require the three-way reconciliation by rule. Every well-run firm does it anyway, because it's the fastest way to catch an error before your bar does.

Our free handbook walks through the procedure step by step: https://taxwizardsusa.com/attorney-handbook.html

#LawFirmManagement #IOLTA #TrustAccounting #LegalAccounting

The most common trust error I see isn't fraud. It's a retainer handled casually:

→ A flat fee deposited straight into the operating account before it's earned.
→ A client invoice paid out of trust with no ledger entry.
→ Firm expenses quietly covered from the trust account "temporarily."

Each one is commingling, and each one is exactly what a bar auditor looks for first.

The rule is simple: unearned money belongs to the client until the moment it's earned — and every movement gets a ledger entry the same day.

More in the free handbook: https://taxwizardsusa.com/attorney-handbook.html

#Attorneys #LawFirm #TrustAccounting #LegalEthics

Attorneys ask me which one their firm should use. Honest answer: either — if it's set up for a law practice.

What matters is the structure underneath:
✔ A separate trust liability account with a sub-ledger per client and matter
✔ Retainers recorded as client money, never as income on receipt
✔ Hard costs tracked client by client, so they're recoverable
✔ The trust bank account never auto-matched by a bank feed

We set up and run law firm books on both platforms: https://taxwizardsusa.com/attorneys.html

Monthly bookkeeping from $275. Cleanup from $495.

#QuickBooksOnline #Xero #LawFirm #Bookkeeping

What does a clean month-end look like at a law firm?

Week by week, transactions posted and coded. At month-end:
• Operating and trust accounts reconciled to the bank
• Every client ledger balanced
• The three-way reconciliation completed and filed
• Negative client balances investigated (there should never be one)
• Retainers earned, billed, and moved — with documentation

Eleven steps. About an hour when the books are kept current — and days of archaeology when they're not.

The full checklist is in our free handbook: https://taxwizardsusa.com/attorney-handbook.html

#LawFirmManagement #Bookkeeping #IOLTA #Attorneys

It depends on your state — and getting it wrong is its own violation.

• 5 years in 27 jurisdictions
• 6 years in 14 — including Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, and North Carolina
• 7 years in 9 — including New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and Ohio

Some states run the clock from the end of the representation; Ohio runs it from termination of the representation *or* disbursement, whichever comes first.

Our handbook has the rule for all 50 states and DC, with citations: https://taxwizardsusa.com/attorney-handbook.html

#LegalCompliance #LawFirm #TrustAccounting #Attorneys

If your firm's books are months behind, you're not alone — and it's fixable.

Our cleanup service rebuilds your records month by month until every account reconciles to the bank and every client ledger balances: operating, trust, and costs.

Cleanup from $495 (based on the greater of $495 or your monthly plan rate × months of catch-up), then monthly bookkeeping from $275 keeps them current.

Start with a call — 30 minutes, no obligation: https://calendly.com/marufa/30min

Program details: https://taxwizardsusa.com/attorneys.html

#LawFirm #Bookkeeping #Attorneys #SmallLawFirm

You shouldn't need a sales call to find out.

Our Instant Quote calculator gives you a real estimate in about a minute — number of attorneys, trust accounts, transaction volume, QuickBooks level, and any cleanup months, all priced from our published structure.

Monthly plans from $275. Trust-account-only from $225.

Try it: https://taxwizardsusa.com/attorney-calculator.html

Then, if the number works, book a call and we'll confirm it against your actual books.

#LawFirm #LegalAccounting #Bookkeeping #LawPracticeManagement

In 48 of 51 jurisdictions, your bank is required to notify the bar if your trust account is overdrawn — or if a check bounces against it.

An overdraft on a trust account doesn't have to mean wrongdoing. It can be a deposit posted to the wrong account or a disbursement released before a check cleared. But the notice goes out either way, and explaining after the fact is a lot harder than reconciling before it.

Monthly three-way reconciliations and same-day ledger entries are how firms stay off that list.

The handbook explains the rest: https://taxwizardsusa.com/attorney-handbook.html

#IOLTA #TrustAccounting #LegalEthics #LawFirm

I'm Marufa Akter, Nationwide Attorney Specialist at TaxWizardUSA.

I work with law firms across the country on the accounting side of practice: cleaning up books that have fallen behind, running monthly bookkeeping on QuickBooks Online or Xero, keeping client trust ledgers reconciled three ways every month, and preparing the firm's federal return (1065 or 1120-S) from the same clean books.

If your firm's books need fixing — or you simply want them off your plate — I'd welcome a conversation.

📞 (202) 946-1707
📅 https://calendly.com/marufa/30min
📘 Free handbook: https://taxwizardsusa.com/attorney-handbook.html

Rafael Rodriguez, Jr., MBA is a tax preparer, not a CPA — the CPA is a higher, state-licensed credential. Services requiring a CPA are performed by our licensed CPA on staff.

#LawFirm #Attorneys #Bookkeeping #LegalAccounting