What amounts to a breach of the SRA Accounts Rules, how firms must put it right, and when it has to be reported — to whom, and how fast.
A breach does not need dishonesty behind it: late payments into client account, mispostings and banking-facility misuse all count, and each triggers obligations that follow a set sequence. This chapter starts with what counts as a breach and who within a firm — managers and the COFA — carries responsibility for compliance. It then works through the structured steps on discovering a breach, including the duty to replace any shortfall on client account promptly and from the firm's own money, and the correct way to fix mispostings. Finally it covers when a breach is serious enough to report to the SRA, why remedying it does not erase the duty, and how the COFA's reporting role sits alongside each solicitor's personal obligation under the Code of Conduct.
