Every time a firm holds money that belongs to a client — a deposit on a house, funds on account, damages waiting to be paid out — it is holding money that is not its own. The SRA Accounts Rules exist to keep that money safe: separate, used only for its proper purpose, and accounted for at every moment. For a solicitor in practice, getting this right is not optional housekeeping; mishandling client money is one of the most serious things you can do, and the consequences run all the way to being struck off.
This lesson builds your understanding step by step:
- Purpose, Scope and the Client Account — why the rules exist, who they bind, and what a client account actually is.
- Client Money and Office Money — telling the two apart and keeping them properly separated.
- Payments, Withdrawals and Returning Surplus — paying money in, taking it out correctly, and returning what is no longer needed.
- Records, Reconciliations and Shortfalls — the records you must keep, the checks you must run, and what to do when money goes missing.
- Reporting and Accountant's Reports — who is responsible, what must be reported, and when a report is required.
- Accountability and Sanctions — how responsibility sits at both firm and individual level, and what happens when the rules are broken.