SRA Accounts Rules for Finance Staff - Back to Basics

Introduction

Protecting client money is of paramount importance and it is essential that anyone who works in a law firm, including the COFA, has good knowledge and understanding of the SRA Accounts Rules. The cost of getting it wrong in relation to the SRA Accounts Rules can be devastating!

2019 saw the SRA introduce a new set of SRA Accounts Rules - the first major update for over 20 years. The new rules are simpler with only 13 rules, but they have lengthy guidelines to follow with them and your policies and procedures will have to be up to date and in more detail. They will allow you to make some considerable changes to the way you work.

This in-person one day live interactive course will guide you through the new rules comparing the differences with the old rules along the way.

What You Will Learn

This course will cover the following:

• The new SRA Standards and Regulations 2019
• A history of the SRA Accounts Rules
• What makes accounting in law firms so different
• Double entry bookkeeping principles
• The SRA Accounts Rules 2019 in more detail with comparisons to the changes from the SRA Accounts Rules 2011 including:
• Part 1 General - application section
• Part 2 Client money and client accounts
• Client money
• Client account
• Client money must be kept separate
• Withdrawals from the client account
• Duty to correct breaches upon discovery
• Payment of interest
• Client accounting systems and controls
• Part 3 - Dealing with other money belonging to clients or third parties
• Part 4 - Accountants’ reports and storage and retention of accounting records
• Guidance issued by the SRA including prescribed circumstances (residual balances)
• What the SRA says about client money
• The Transparency Rules - an update
• The Legal Sector Affinity Group (LSAG) guidance for Anti-Money Laundering - key points for the finance team
• Cybercrime and the finance department