Residual Balances
Speaker: Darren Whelan
Length: 1 Hour
Published September 24, 2022
Last Updated on May 4, 2023
Who is this training for?
This online workshop is for Solicitors, Lawyers, Accountants, Compliance Officers, COFA’s, Legal Accounts Professionals, Legal Cashiers and anyone that has any involvement in working in legal finance and compliance.
Purpose of this training?
The SRA Accounts Rules require you to return client money promptly to the client, or third party for whom the money is held, as soon as there is no longer a proper reason to hold those funds. Unfortunately, there may be occasions when client funds are still held at the natural end of the matter and where it becomes difficult to clear the balance as you cannot identify or trace the client. Certain action needs to be taken to correctly clear funds, which may include release to someone other than to the client. The approach may depend on whether the client can be traced, the size of the balance held in the client account etc.
This online workshop has been designed to meet the needs of those with an interest in learning how to tackle the age-old problem of residual client ledger balances and provides an overview of the requirements for firms under the SRA Accounts Rules, offering practical guidance for dealing with residual client balances.
- SRA Accounts Rules
- SRA Mandatory Guidance
- Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal Cases
- The COFA’s Obligations
- Existing Residual Balances
- Systems, Controls and Preventative Measures
- SRA Waiver Application
- Client Money Retention Policy
Further Information
SRA Residual Balances £500 or Less
SRA Residual Balances Greater than £500
Accounts & Finance Practice Notes (Subscriber Resource Only)
Compli-Q – Compliance FAQs (Subscriber Resource Only)
Practice notes and training sessions represent the Association of Legal Compliance & Accounts’ view of good practice in a particular area. They are not intended to be the only standard of good practice that firms can follow.
Practice notes and training sessions are not legal advice, and do not necessarily provide a defence to complaints of misconduct or poor service. While we have taken care to ensure that they are accurate, up to date and useful, we will not accept any legal liability in relation to them.
Frequently Asked Questions
It’s really simple:
- Reduced cost
- Can be watched anywhere, anytime on any device – no travel time or cost
- Shorter and more efficient than face-to-face
- Recorded and can be replayed at your leisure
Online – the Cons
On Demand is not for everyone one. People learn differently and watching a pre-recorded training video can feel very lonely and isolated. It requires strong, self-motivation and time management skills. There is no opportunity to ask a question and receive an answer straight away as you would with an online or a face-to-face workshop.
No. In order to watch them, you must watch them whilst logged into the website.
