Time, Billing and Accounting FAQ
Table of Contents
- Time & Billing
- Accounts Payable
- General Ledger
- Trust Accounting
- Payroll
- Bank Reconciliation Troubleshooting
Trust Accounting
- How can I ensure my trust
accounts are balanced each month?
- Is there any way to
simplify Real Estate Closing transactions in relation to the trust account?
- What is a Trust Adjustment?
- How do I automatically
transfer money from trust to pay for fees and advanced costs?
- If I tell AbacusLaw to transfer funds from
trust during billing, is there anything else I need to do?
- When is the posting date used in
trust deposits?
- What is the "print"
button for on the Trust Check Request screen?
- If I transfer an item from one trust ledger
to another, how does that effect the general ledger?
- Can I write a trust check before I enter the
trust deposit?
- How many trust bank accounts can I set
up?
- Can I batch my trust check printing?
- When is it OK to delete entries from
a client's trust ledger?
- How do I handle wire transfers in and out?
How can I ensure my trust accounts are balanced each month?
Each month at reconciliation time you should print 1) a Trust Summary Report for only the specific trust account you are reconciling, 2) a Trust Checkbook Register printout, and 3) a Trust Liability subsidiary ledger printout. If the ending balance on these reports match and your bank reconciliation is in balance then you are in balance. If you have more than one trust account then the total of the trust checking accounts should match the balance in the trust liability account. If your Trust Summary report and your Checkbook Register do not match, you need to compare line-by-line each entry on the checkbook register to each entry on the Trust Detail Report. Abacus will not allow you to finish your Trust Bank Reconciliation without having both the Trust Activities in balance with the Checkbook Register.
Top^
Is there any way to simplify Real Estate Closing transactions in relation
to the trust account?
Yes! AbacusLaw integrates with a number of real estate closing packages.
If you have one of these packages you can purchase the integration module and
then MOST of the work is done for you! When integrating with a real estate
closing package AbacusLaw imports all deposit and disbursement data. All you
have to do is print your trust deposit posting file and if all is well post
everything on it. Then you can cut the checks that are waiting in the trust
check request area. The timesaving is substantial and accuracy is not a problem
either. If you do a lot of real estate closing, then this is a must have. Contact
Abacus to find out if your real estate closing package integrates with AbacusLaw.
Top^
What is a Trust Adjustment?
A Trust Adjustment gives the user t he ability to affect a matter's trust account while doing a general ledger transaction. For example, if you receive a wire transfer into your trust account on behalf of a client, you could do a Trust Adjustment debiting the client's trust activity as well as updating the General Ledger. It could also be used to place an entry on a Matter Trust Activity without affecting the General Ledger , such as replacing an entry deleted from someone's trust activity by mistake. To do this, simply do not debit or credit any accounts on the Debit or Credit tabs and only fill out the first and last tabs on the input screen. Anytime you are affecting the trust account with a journal entry , you should be doing a Trust Adjustment, this keeps the Matter Trust Activity in balance with the General Ledger.
Top^
How do I automatically transfer money from trust to pay for fees and advanced
costs?
First you must assign the matter in question a billing format code that has the trust transfers option turned on . Then w hen the actual bill is printed, AbacusLaw will apply the appropriate amount of money to the bill and put that line item in the financial recap so the client can see that trust money is being used to pay for some or all of the fees and costs (depending on the balance in that matter's trust account). The system will automatically insert a trust check request so you can print a trust check for this money right away (if this option is turned on in the Abacus Accounting Company Preference/Configuration tab ). The next step is to print the check and then go into the Billing menu and apply a client payment just as if you had received that check in the mail from the client. It is always preferred to use trust money when possible to cover fees and costs because you get to deposit that money into your operating account as soon as the bills have been printed and posted. No waiting on clients!
Top^
If I tell AbacusLaw to transfer funds from trust during billing, is there anything
else I need to do?
Yes there is! You need to cut the trust checks and then go to Payments Received under the Billing menu and post the client trust payments. For a more detailed description see the question above.
Top^
What is the posting date in Trust Deposits?
The posting date should always be the actual date when the Trust Deposits went into the bank account. It is the date used to update the general ledger and the daily-posted cash receipts tables. It is the date that will appear next to the deposits on the Bank Reconciliation Report.
Top^
What is the "print" button for on the Trust Check Request screen?
It allows you to print a report of all the trust checks waiting to be printed. You can narrow the report down by client, matter for vendor. Remember, you cannot print Trust Checks here. You must use the second step, Print Trust Checks.
Top^
If I transfer an item from one trust ledger to another, how does that effect
the general ledger?
It does not; therefore you should never transfer money from one ledger to another
unless both of the matters money is held in the same account!
Top^
Can I write a trust check before I enter the trust deposit?
This is not suggested! If, however you need to do this on occasion, go into Company Preferences/Configuration tab and turn on the check box that allows overdraft on trust accounts. AbacusLaw allows you to do this, but remember this is AGAINST bar regulations!
Top^
How many trust bank accounts can I set up?
With the Abacus Gold Package, as many as you want! No kidding. But remember that all trust checking accounts added together must equal the balance in the trust liability account, which there is always only one of.
Top^
Can I batch my trust check printing?
Sure! Enter as many trust check requests as you want. When you are ready to
print your checks, simply highlight each check you want printed and off you
go. You can even narrow down your selection by entering a client/matter number
as well as a vendor number. There is no limit to the number of checks you can
produce in one run!
Top^
When is it OK to delete entries from a Matter Trust Activity ?
It is ONLY OK when you are cleaning up a mess you made previously. For example, let's say you deposited a check into a client's trust account and found it to be in error. Next, you deposited a negative deposit to reverse the initial deposit. Finally, you then went in and entered the deposit correctly. You can go in and delete the 2 entries made in error. Be very careful doing this! When an entry is deleted from a Matter Trust Activity, the checkbook is NOT affected. In other words, deleting an entry in the Matter Trust Activity does NOT delete it from the Checkbook. Also, modifying an amount of an entry on the Matter Trust Activity does NOT modify that entry in the Checkbook. You should enter a "negative" trust deposit to reverse the erroneous first entry. Then it is OK to delete both the first incorrect entry and the negative entry made to remove the amount from the Checkbook. Finally, be sure to reenter the deposit correctly.
How do I handle wire transfers in and out?
There is a very easy way to handle this! For transfer in do a simple trust deposit. For transfer out, do a negative deposit into trust. In another words to do a negative trust deposit , put a minus (-) sign in front of the dollar amount and post the entry. That's it!
Top^
Have
Abacus call me 
