There are some cases where a lawyer may be inclined to make a deposit, withdrawal, credit or debit to a trust account that is not related to a client or matter:
- Make the required minimum deposit to open the trust account with the bank
- Payment for account maintenance fees
We’ve designed Zola Suite to minimize chances of inadvertent trust transactions. Therefore, as you’ve probably noticed, Zola Suite currently does not allow any transactions with Trust accounts that are not associated to a matter. This includes Deposits, Bank to Bank transfers (unless done as part of applying trust funds) and Journal Entries.
What we recommend doing in this situation is as follows:
- Create a matter with your firm name as the client or use the default "Business Development" matter
- For deposits and credits record a trust payment via new retainer into the trust account and relate it to the matter above. This will increase the trust account balance and ensure the funds don’t become available to any actual clients/matters.
- For withdrawals and debits record a trust check and relate it to the matter above. This will decrease the trust account balance and ensure the funds don’t become available to any actual clients/matters.
Of course, as with anything involving trust accounts, please make sure you are following your jurisdictions ethics guidelines.
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