The mechanics of double entry bookkeeping in a solicitor's practice — how every movement of client and business money is recorded, balanced and kept apart.
Behind every rule on client money sits a ledger entry, and getting the entries wrong is how breaches begin. This chapter starts with the foundations of double entry — the dual records a firm must keep and what debits and credits mean on each — before turning to the structure of the client ledger and why a debit balance on the client side signals trouble. It then works through the core transactions: receiving and paying out client money, raising bills with VAT and disbursements, and the entries needed to transfer billed sums into the business account. Finally, it covers the safe handling of mixed payments, the regular reconciliation that proves the records agree, and what a firm must do when a shortfall or unauthorised transfer arises.
