Practitioners are reminded that revised Solicitors Accounts Regulations came into effect from 1st July 2023. The Solicitors Accounts Regulations 2014 continue to apply in relation to the filing of the reporting accountants report where the accounting period has commenced before 1 July 2023.
CCAB-I has issued updated guidance for Reporting Accountants which can be found
here.
The new regulations can be accessed
here .
Key changes include the following;
- Reporting accountant’s reports are to be filed within five months of the accounting date.
- Balancing statements are to be prepared at quarterly intervals in respect of client account transactions.
- Reporting accountant to test check postings before and after accounting date.
- A listing of client ledger balances outstanding two years or more is to be prepared at the accounting date and furnished to the Law Society by the Reporting Accountant.
- Reporting accountants may report, directly to the Law Society, an opinion or a suspicion of a deficit, rather than waiting to submit annual report.
Further information can be found on the Law Society’s website
here.