Accounts procedures

Accounts procedures

This subtopic sets out the requirements of the SRA Accounts Rules in force from 25 November 2019, regarding client accounting procedures and records. It also reflects supporting guidance issued by the SRA: Helping you keep accurate client accounting records.

The Accounts Rules form part of the SRA Standards and Regulations. They focus on the key principles of:

•
keeping client money separate from the firm’s money
•
returning client money promptly at the end of a matter
•
only using client money for its intended purpose
•
proportionate requirements for firms to obtain accountants’ reports

The Accounts Rules are concise, but are supported by extensive SRA guidance. The Rules are written in clear language that is easy to understand but contain subjective terms such as ‘promptly’, ‘fair’ and ‘appropriate’. The SRA acknowledges that this requires an exercise of judgment.

See also Precedents: Accounts manual for staff—law firms 2019 and Accounts manual for accounts or finance team—law firms 2019.

Office money and office account

The concept of office money and office account does not particularly feature in the Accounts Rules 2019. This is because the SRA is only

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