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For non-subscribers and all other plan subscribers, access can be purchased separately.
#1. When dealing with residual balances that are £500 or less that are to be paid to a charity, your firm posts a journal from the business side of the client’s ledger and credits a nominal ledger in the name of the charity. You then transfer the residual balance from the client account to the business account.
Once a month, the payment to the charity is made from the charity nominal ledger. Is this permissible under the SRA Accounts Rules?
#2. I no longer need to consider time frames when transferring costs (fees and disbursements) to the business account?
#3. Your firm acted for a client in the sale of commercial premises. The transaction has been completed and the firm are in the process of accounting to the client for the net proceeds of sale. Independently of this retainer, the client’s son has instructed another solicitor in your firm to act for him in buying a flat.
The father has asked your firm to retain enough money to cover his son’s legal fees and to send the balance to him. Your firm is concerned that by transferring the money to the son you may be in breach of rule 3.3.
Is this providing banking facilities?
#4. You have paid a disbursement from the business account and now have sufficient money held in the client account towards it.
Are you required to send the client a bill or other written notification of costs prior to transferring the money from the client account to the business account?
#5. Your firm prepare a lot of wills and fixed fee interviews as one-off transactions for clients. However, instead of opening an individual client ledger for each client, you have a general ledger on which you record the details of each client and the costs received.
Is this a breach of the SRA Accounts Rules?
#6. You instruct a third party contractor to represent your client at a police station who has been arrested. The third party issues you with an invoice addressed to your firm with no VAT as they are not VAT registered. You pass this cost on to your client.
How should you show it and treat it on your bill/invoice?
#7. If you receive notification of an SRA Forensic Investigation, does the SRA provide a reason?
#8. When dealing with residual balances, instead of recording the payment to the charity from the client’s ledger, your firm moves the residual balance to a ledger in the name of the charity. The payment is then recorded and made from that ledger every six months.
Is this a breach of the SRA Accounts Rules?
#9. Your firm is acting for a client in respect of a purchase of a residential property. The lawyer applies for an OS1 search direct from the Land Registry. The search result reveals that there has been alterations made to the register since the date the Official Copies were produced by way of a restriction. The lawyer advises the client on the results of the search.
When billed to the client, you would treat the cost as:
#10. Money received from the Legal Aid Agency on account of disbursements that are not yet incurred or paid is?
Managing an SRA Forensic Investigation
Length: 3 Hours
Published March 7, 2025 | Last Updated on March 7, 2025
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?
If you have received notice of an SRA Forensic Investigation, this is not a random exercise; the regulator has received information suggesting a serious or systemic issue at the firm.
This online workshop examines the factors that lead to the authorisation of a visit by the SRA, what to expect both before, during and after the investigation including guidance on how to manage and survive one.
Introduction
- Monitoring and enforcement by the SRA – An overview
- The role of the firm’s COLP & COFA
Accountants Report
- The consequences of a qualified Accountant’s Report
- Minimising the chances of a visit by Forensic Investigations
SRA Accounts Rules
- Common compliance issues and pitfalls
Forensic Investigations
- What leads to a Forensic Investigation visit?
- Pre-inspection considerations
- What to expect during an investigation visit
- Post inspection process
Possible Disciplinary Outcomes
- Internal SRA sanctions
- Referral to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal
Questions and Answers
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
All ALCA online training is delivered live, interactive and is recorded. We bridge the gap between ‘face-to-face’ and online training by applying a blended approach. Questions can be posed to trainers throughout the workshops with quizzes/polls being used to engage with attendees.
Workshops can be continuously replayed for 60 days after broadcast.
Benefits?
- Reduced cost
- Can be taken anywhere on any device – no travel time or cost
- Shorter and more efficient than face-to-face
- Live and interactive
- Recorded and can be replayed at your leisure
Depending on your subscription and the length of the workshop, the pricing is as follows:
Our online workshops are delivered via Zoom. You can access the session via your computer, tablet or mobile device.
Details on how to join the online session will be provided the day before the training goes live.
We recommend you run a system test and check your internet speed by clicking <a href=”https://zoom.us/test” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>HERE</a>.
If your firm prevents you from using Zoom, please <a href=”mailto:hello@alca.org.uk”>contact us</a>.
There is no requirement to attend live but we advise that you do where you can as this will be the best experience for you. Don’t forget, you can pose questions live to the trainer and join in with the interaction when you attend live. Also, be mindful that you have access to the recording for 30 days, after which, it will no longer be available.
Not at all. We prefer it if candidates do as it makes the training more engaging but it is not mandatory to turn your camera or microphone on during the training session.
If you don’t have a microphone, you can still pose questions using the chat facility.
