We're Ren Studio. We do deadline paperwork for small professional firms, and trust reconciliation is the highest-stakes matching work there is — because it isn't your money. Here's the shape of it, in plain words:
Every dollar in your trust account belongs to a client: a settlement waiting to be split, a retainer not yet earned, closing funds, an estate's money. The Bar's rule says that once a month you must prove, on paper, that three numbers agree: what the bank says you hold, what your books say you hold, and the sum of every individual client's ledger. If those three don't tie out, something is wrong — a deposit posted to the wrong client, a disbursement that never got recorded, a balance that's been sitting so long nobody remembers whose it is. Trust-account problems are among the fastest ways a lawyer gets disciplined, and they almost never start as dishonesty. They start as a reconciliation that didn't get done in a busy month, then two.
Rather do it yourself this month? The full procedure is free here: the monthly three-way reconciliation checklist — the same steps we run, written out. Plenty of firms read it, nod, and then email us anyway. Both reactions are reasonable.
Hand us the trust reconciliation
Use the subject line TRUST + your firm name. Tell us how many trust accounts you keep and roughly how many client ledgers run through them — we'll reply with a short questionnaire and a firm start date.
The three-way match, in plain words
- Number one: the bank. The trust account's bank balance for the month, adjusted for deposits and checks still in transit. This is the ground truth — money that actually exists.
- Number two: your books. The balance in your trust ledger or accounting software after every receipt and disbursement is recorded. This is what you believe you hold.
- Number three: the clients. Every individual client ledger added together — Mrs. Alvarez's settlement, the Johnson retainer, the closing funds — each client's share, totaled. This is who the money belongs to.
All three must agree to the penny. When they don't, the difference is never "just a difference" — it's a specific transaction, posted wrong, posted twice, or not posted at all, and it has a client's name on it. Finding it is patient, exact matching work. That's the work we do.
What lands in your inbox each month
- The completed three-way reconciliation. The written reconciliation the rule requires: the three balances, tied out, dated, and organized with the month's records so the file is ready for the Bar's six-year retention requirement.
- A per-client ledger balance report. Every client with a trust balance, how much, and how long it's been sitting — the list that tells you at a glance whose money you're holding and which balances need attention.
- A short exceptions list in plain English. Anything that doesn't tie out — stated plainly, with the transaction references — plus the quiet red flags: a client ledger that went negative, a balance that hasn't moved in months, a deposit with no ledger to land in. You decide what to do about each one; you see them all.
Sample exceptions list — "Marsh & Delgado, P.A.," one month
A made-up firm and made-up numbers — a real picture of the report every client gets.
| Client ledger | What we found | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Settlement — R. Okafor | Bank shows the settlement deposit on the 14th; no matching entry in the book balance until the 29th. Recorded late — balances now tie. | Bank stmt, deposit 6/14 |
| Retainer — T. Nguyen | Ledger balance is negative $150: a disbursement was recorded against this client that belongs to the Tran estate ledger (similar name). Needs the firm's correction and sign-off. | Check 1042, 6/21 |
| Estate of H. Alvarez | Balance of $2,300 has not moved in 7 months. Flagged as a stale balance for the firm's review — no action taken by us. | Ledger opened 11/2025 |
| Closing funds — Palm Court LLC | Deposit in the bank with no client ledger opened yet. Flagged so a ledger gets created before any disbursement. | Wire, 6/27 |
That's the whole list's style: the client, the problem, and the paper trail. What happens next — corrections, disbursements, calls — stays with the attorney of record. Always.
What skipping it actually risks
- The discipline risk. The trust account is the most heavily watched part of a Florida practice. When the Bar looks, it asks for the reconciliations — monthly, in writing, retained six years. "We were busy" is not a record.
- The compounding error. A $200 posting mistake in March is a footnote. Unfound, it's inside every balance you report for the rest of the year — and it's a client's $200.
- The evenings. This is hours of exact, unbillable concentration work every month, usually done by the one person whose hours are worth the most at the firm. Specialists who do only this charge solos $400–$800 a month. There's a reason the market exists.
How it works
1. You send the statement and the ledger export — that's your whole job
Each month: the trust account's bank statement and an export of your client ledgers from whatever you run — Clio, QuickBooks, a spreadsheet, a dedicated trust ledger. We never ask for your bank login, your software password, or access of any kind: files you send, only. The same no-login discipline as our bookkeeping service.
2. We tie out all three numbers and log every exception
Bank to book first, then the client ledgers against both. Anything that doesn't match goes on the exceptions list with the transaction reference — never silently adjusted, never forced to balance. If a number can't be made to tie from the records you sent, it comes back to you flagged, with exactly what's missing.
3. You review, you sign off, the file is Bar-ready
You get the reconciliation, the per-client balance report, and the exceptions list in the same format every month. The attorney of record reviews and signs off — the account stays yours, in every sense. We prepare the reconciliation the rule requires; we don't become responsible for your trust account, and we never touch the money.
Pricing — flat monthly, published, no quote games
Solo
$449/mo
- One trust account, up to 25 client ledgers
- Monthly three-way reconciliation, in writing
- Per-client ledger balance report
- Plain-English exceptions list
- Records organized for six-year retention
Small firm
$749/mo
- One trust account, up to 75 client ledgers
- Everything in Solo
- Additional trust accounts: +$199/mo each
- Stale-balance and negative-ledger flags, every month
- Priority turnaround in closing-heavy months
Behind? Cleanup first
$899 one-time
- Up to 3 back months of three-way reconciliation before monthly service starts
- Each back month gets its own reconciliation + exceptions list
- Most firms start behind — normal, not a problem, and not something we report to anyone
- Deeper backlog? Quoted in writing before we start
No long contract — month to month, cancel anytime. If your ledgers run past the tier limits in a heavy month, we say so before the work, not on the invoice.
Who this is for
Florida solo practitioners and small firms (roughly 2–10 attorneys) who hold client money: personal injury settlements, family-law retainers, real-estate closings, estate and probate funds. Florida has more than 115,000 licensed lawyers, and the trust-account rule lands on every one of them who holds a client's dollar — but it lands hardest on the solo doing the matching personally at night. If your firm already has a bookkeeper who reconciles the trust account monthly, in writing, and files it away properly, you don't need us — we'll tell you that in the first exchange, for free.
Outside Florida? Every state has its own trust-account rule, with its own wrinkles. The service above is built and priced for Florida's Rule 5-1.2. If you're elsewhere, email us anyway — we'll tell you honestly whether your state's version is the same job or a different one before quoting anything.
What we don't do — read this part twice
We are bookkeepers, not lawyers, and this is not legal advice. We prepare the reconciliation. The attorney of record remains responsible for the trust account — for every deposit, every disbursement, and the sign-off — exactly as the Bar expects. If a question is about whether a disbursement is allowed, whether funds are earned, or what to do about a problem balance, that's a legal judgment, and it stays yours or your counsel's. Our exceptions list hands you the facts; the decisions stay where the license is.
We never touch the money. No bank access, no logins, no disbursements, no signing, no authority over the account in any form. Statements and ledger exports come from you; a reconciled file goes back to you. There is nothing in our hands that could move a client's dollar.
We never promise Bar compliance or an audit outcome. Anyone who guarantees you'll "pass" a trust audit is selling you something. We prepare the monthly reconciliation Rule 5-1.2 requires and organize the records for the six-year retention — compliance itself is the attorney's, and the Bar's judgment is the Bar's.
Your client names stay confidential. Client ledgers carry names, and we treat them that way: files are used only to prepare your reconciliation, never shared with any third party, never used for anything else, and deleted on request. Our books don't need your clients' stories — just their balances.
Questions firms ask
Do you need access to our bank or our practice software?
No — never. You send the bank statement and a ledger export each month (Clio, QuickBooks, Cosmolex, a spreadsheet: if it lists client balances, we can work from it). We work from files you send, not from your logins. That is a deliberate line, not a limitation: a reconciliation service with no ability to move money is the only kind a firm should hire.
Who is responsible if the Bar audits us?
You are — the attorney of record always is, and any service that tells you otherwise is misleading you. What changes with us is the paper: monthly written reconciliations, tied out, with exceptions documented and records organized for the six-year retention the rule requires, instead of a reconstruction done in a panic. We prepare; you remain responsible. That's the honest shape of it.
Our ledgers are a mess. How bad is too bad?
If the bank statements exist and money moved through the trust account, it can be reconciled — that's what the $899 cleanup is for: up to 3 back months rebuilt three-way, each with its own exceptions list, before the monthly rhythm starts. If your records are thinner than that — missing statements, ledgers kept in someone's head — tell us in the first email and we'll quote the reconstruction honestly in writing before starting, or tell you it's a job for your CPA first.
What if there's a real problem in the account — a shortage?
Then the exceptions list says so, plainly, with the transactions involved, and it goes to you and only you. We don't contact the Bar, the bank, or anyone else — ever. What you do next is a legal decision for the attorney of record. Our job ends at handing you exact numbers and an exact paper trail; it's the same job whether the news is boring or serious.
Can you tell us whether a disbursement is proper?
No. Whether funds are earned, whether a fee can be taken, whether a disputed amount must stay put — those are legal judgments about your obligations to your client, and we are not lawyers. We will flag anything that looks mechanically off (a disbursement that would take a ledger negative, a fee taken with no corresponding entry), because that's pattern-matching on the records. The judgment call stays yours.
We have two trust accounts. How does pricing work?
The tiers cover one trust account. A second trust account is +$199/mo, reconciled the same way, in the same monthly package. No per-ledger surprise fees inside your tier — if a growth spurt pushes you past your tier's ledger count for good, we'll say so and quote the move before it happens.
What do you need from us to start?
The short questionnaire we send after your first email: how many trust accounts, which software or ledger system, roughly how many active client ledgers, and how far behind the reconciliation is. From a complete intake, your first reconciliation lands the following statement cycle.
Get the trust account off your evenings
Hand us the trust reconciliation
Email inunghwang@gmail.com — subject TRUST + your firm name. Tell us how many trust accounts you keep and roughly how many client ledgers run through them. You'll get a reply with the short questionnaire and a firm start date — and if your current setup already handles this cleanly, we'll tell you that for free.