Client money carries real risk, and the SRA Accounts Rules exist to protect it. As a solicitor, you will not just need to keep the rules — you will need to recognise when something has gone wrong, put it right, and decide whether it must be reported. Getting this right protects clients, your firm, and your own practising certificate; getting it wrong can turn a small slip into a serious regulatory problem.
This lesson walks you through the whole process, from spotting a breach to reporting it.
- What Counts as a Breach — what a breach actually is, and why state of mind doesn't change whether one has occurred.
- Responsibility for Compliance — who is on the hook inside a firm, from the managers down to the COFA.
- Steps on Discovering a Breach — the ordered process to follow the moment something is found.
- Replacing a Shortfall and Correcting Errors — how to make the client account whole and correct mispostings properly.
- Reporting to the SRA — judging when a breach is serious enough to report, and how promptly.
- Reporting Duties of the COFA and Individual Solicitors — the parallel personal duties that sit alongside the firm's.