First, the idea, because the checklist is just the idea with boxes. A trust account holds other people's money, client by client. Three different records describe that money:
- The bank balance — what the bank says is in the account.
- The book balance — what your own trust ledger (your books) says should be in the account.
- The client total — every individual client's ledger balance, added together.
A three-way reconciliation proves all three are the same number. If they are, every client's money is accounted for. If they aren't, a specific transaction is wrong somewhere, and the reconciliation is how you find it this month instead of during an audit. That's the whole rule in one paragraph. Here's the monthly routine:
Step 1
Get the month's three source documents
You need: (1) the trust account's bank statement for the month, (2) your book balance — the trust ledger or accounting software balance as of the same date, and (3) a balance for every individual client ledger as of that date. Same account, same cutoff date, all three. Most reconciliation pain is really a wrong-date problem, so check the dates before you check a single number.
Step 2
Reconcile the bank to the books
Start with the bank statement balance. Add any deposits recorded in your books but not yet showing at the bank; subtract any checks or disbursements recorded in your books but not yet cleared. That gives the adjusted bank balance. It must equal your book balance exactly. If it doesn't, work the difference transaction by transaction — deposits in transit and outstanding checks explain almost every gap, and anything left over is a recording error to find now, not later.
Step 3
Total the client ledgers
Add up the balance of every individual client ledger — every client whose money you hold, including small and forgotten ones. This total must equal the adjusted bank balance and the book balance from Step 2. Three numbers, one figure. If the client total is off, one client's ledger is wrong even if the bank side ties — which is exactly why the third leg exists: bank-to-book matching alone can't catch money posted to the wrong client.
Step 4
Run the two-minute red-flag scan
While the ledgers are in front of you, check for the four patterns that cause real trouble:
- A negative client ledger. A client can never owe the trust account money — a negative balance means a disbursement came out of someone else's funds.
- A deposit with no ledger. Money in the bank that no client's ledger claims.
- A stale balance. A client's money sitting untouched for months — it usually means a disbursement, a refund, or a piece of paperwork never happened.
- The same amount twice. Duplicate deposits or disbursements are the most common honest error there is.
Flag what you find, in writing, on the reconciliation itself. A flag you wrote down is a working paper; a flag you meant to look into is nothing.
Step 5
Write it up and file it — every month
The reconciliation has to exist in writing: the date, the three balances, the adjustments between them, and who prepared it. Keep it with the month's bank statement and client ledger records. Under Rule 5-1.2, trust account records are retained for six years — build the file so that a stranger could pick it up in year five and follow the month end to end.
The rest of the calendar
Two more dates Florida firms carry
- Monthly: this reconciliation, every month the account holds client funds — not just busy months.
- Annually: the trust accounting certificate, filed during the Bar's annual window, June 1 to August 15.
- Multi-attorney firms: the rule also expects a written trust account plan — if your firm has more than one lawyer and no such plan exists, that's a gap worth closing with your own counsel's input.
When DIY stops making sense
Honestly: if you hold funds for a handful of clients and your ledgers are clean, the checklist above is a focused hour a month and you should just do it. The case for handing it off is arithmetic, not fear. The hour becomes three when there are 40 client ledgers, a second account, and a month of closings — and it's an hour of your time, at a lawyer's rate, spent on work that doesn't bill. It's also the first chore that slips in a bad month, and slipping is where the trouble starts.
Our trust account reconciliation service runs this exact checklist for you, monthly: Solo $449/mo for up to 25 client ledgers, Small Firm $749/mo for up to 75, with a $899 cleanup if you're behind. You send the statement and the ledger export; we send back the written reconciliation, the per-client balance report, and the exceptions list. We never touch the money, never hold a login, and never call it compliance — the attorney of record reviews and signs off. The chore leaves your evenings; the responsibility, as the Bar intends, stays yours.
What this page is — and isn't
This checklist is general information from a bookkeeping service, written in plain English from Rule 5-1.2's requirements as they're published. It is not legal advice, and it doesn't replace the rule itself or The Florida Bar's own guidance — read the rule for your situation, and ask the Bar or your own counsel when a judgment call appears. Nothing here promises that following the checklist makes any account "compliant": compliance is the attorney's responsibility, and the Bar's call. What we can say is that this is the reconciliation the rule describes, done the way careful firms do it.
Hand off the reconciliation
Email inunghwang@gmail.com — subject TRUST + your firm name. Or run this month's checklist yourself and email us when a month gets away from you. Both are fine. One is less likely to happen at midnight.