The North Carolina
Trust Accounting Guide
Gain a complete understanding of the North Carolina trust rules.
Insight into the rules and best practices to keep you compliant.
The 7 Key Concepts
The North Carolina Trust Handbook lays out 7 key concepts that provide the foundation for managing and tracking your trust account.
Segregation of Client Funds
Do Not Bring Client Ledgers Into the Red
There’s No Such Thing as a Negative Balance
Timing is Everything
Timely Recordkeeping
Final Client Balance Should Always Be Zero
Always Maintain an Audit Trail
3-Way Trust Reconciliations
Every quarter, North Carolina attorneys are required to complete a 3-way reconciliation. This report reconciles your bank balance to your trust ledger to the sum of your client ledgers.
Quarterly Review
In June 2016, a new trust requirement was issued that required a minimum of 3 transactions to be reviewed every quarter. In the Q2 2017 random audit results, 71% of the firms audited failed to meet this requirement.
Quarterly Random
Audit Program
Every quarter, the North Carolina State Bar selects 2 judicial districts to perform random audits of the trust account. Within these 2 judicial districts, roughly 60 trust accounts are selected. Attorneys must prove their compliance with the trust rules when selected for a random audit.
Ready to see how TrustBooks can solve your firm's accounting headaches?
What North Carolina attorneys say
about using TrustBooks:
I no longer dread doing reconciliations
Trustbooks has completely changed my view on trust accounting for my firm. It takes into account all of the trust accounting requirements of the State Bar and helps make sure you comply with them. Trustbooks has simplified the trust accounting for my firm and I no longer dread doing reconciliations or an audit from the State Bar.
Brett Wentz Wentz Law, PLLC
Quickly get up to speed
TrustBooks is an intuitive accounting program that you access online but stands above other accounting programs because it is calibrated to the North Carolina State Bar rules for attorney trust accounts. Folks with no background in accounting can quickly get up to speed on how to use it. Small and solo law practices should absolutely try it out, but it would certainly handle large practices as well.
Raymond Tarlton Tarlton Law, PLLC
Reconciliations are much easier
TrustBooks is an affordable, intuitive trust account management solution. Monthly and quarterly trust account reconciliations are much easier with TrustBooks. We also love that they listen to our suggestions and are constantly improving their program to meet their clients’ needs, including recently adding several report features.
Jenny Bradley Triangle Smart Divorce
Other options were too complex
Making the move to TrustBooks was a great leap forward. The other options were too complex and expensive for our needs. I wanted something that was easy to use and would keep us out of trouble – TrustBooks works!
Joe Knott Knott & Boyle, PLLC
