Practitioners are reminded that revised Solicitors Accounts Regulations came into effect from 1
st 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.