Depositing Client Money into the Client Trust Account
You should always be aware of the reporting requirements within your state and adhere to the regulations given. While you will have all of the required transactions and accounting information stored within the legal company file in QuickBooks, it is important to remember that you must also keep paper copies of ALL records related to your client trust account, including bank-created records. Be sure to keep paper copies of all of this information!
The first transaction that we will cover is making a deposit of client funds into the client’s trust account. You should review the lesson on “Making Deposits” in Chapter 10 of the Introductory QuickBooks manual if you need to review the process.
Start by selecting “Banking| Make Deposits” from the Menu Bar within QuickBooks. Within the “Make Deposits” window, you will select the “Client Trust Checking” from the “Deposit To” field at the top of the window. Then select the date of the deposit from the “Date” calendar selector. In the “Memo” field, you should enter the client’s name, the matter or case, and any other relevant identifying information.
Then select the name of the client and matter from the drop-down that appears when you click into the first empty row underneath the “Received From” column. Then select the “Client Trust Liabilities” account from the adjacent “From Account” column’s drop-down menu. You can then re-enter the memo information in the “Memo” column. You then enter the payment method into the “Pmt. Meth.” column and enter the check number into the “Chk. No.” field, if required. You can then use the “Class” drop-down to classify the partner who manages the trust account and handles the client from the “Class” drop-down. You then enter the amount of the deposit into the “Amount” field. Once you have finished recording the necessary information, click the “Save & Close” button to record the client’s deposit.
