1Set up the trust account first

Click Trust Account in the sidebar. A firm with nothing set up yet sees Set up your trust account first. across the top of the page.

Click Add trust account. Type the Account name, the BSB and the Account number, then click Save.

Name the account the way the rules require: your practice name followed by the words law practice trust account, for example Acme Legal Law Practice Trust Account.

2Open the Trust Account page

Click Trust Account in the sidebar.

If your firm has more than one trust account, click the account's name at the top to switch. The Protected, Available and Total figures and the ledger below are for that account only.

The ledger lists every receipt, payment and transfer with its number, matter, debit or credit, and the running balance.

To add another trust account, click the + beside the account names. Each account keeps its own ledger, trial balance and bank reconciliation, and money held in one is never available to a payment drawn on another.

3Deposit money

Click Deposit Funds.

Fill in Date received, Account, Type, Received from and Reason. Date received is the day the money came in, which can be earlier than the day you enter it.

Under Allocated matters, pick the matter and type the amount. Click Add matter to split one deposit across several matters.

Attach the bank's deposit slip under Deposit slip if you have it.

Click Process / Open Receipt. The receipt opens as a PDF.

4Pay money out

Click Trust Payment.

Fill in Date processed, Matter, Account and Paid to. Type the Amount. Available after payment shows what the matter will have left.

Pick the Type and, for a transfer, the Transfer type, Account name, BSB and Account number.

Type the Reason. Click Process.

5Move money between matters

Click Transfer Funds.

Pick From matter and To matter. Type the Amount and the Date.

Pick the partner under Authorised by. Click Transfer.

6Hold money back

Click Protect Funds.

Pick the Matter, type the Amount and the Reason, and set the Date. Click Protect Funds.

The hold is not a ledger entry. It lowers Available at the top of the page by that amount and adds a row under the Protected Funds tab. The matter's balance does not change.

7Pay by cheque

Click Print Cheques.

Pick the Matter, type Pay to, the Amount and the Memo. Click Generate cheque.

The cheque opens as a PDF titled Trust cheque, numbered for you, and the payment is entered on the ledger as a cheque withdrawal.

8Read one matter's ledger

Open the matter. Click the Trust Account tab.

The badge at the top right shows Trust Account Balance for this matter. The table lists each entry with In, Out and Balance.

If your firm has more than one trust account, a Trust account row of buttons appears above the table. The table, the totals and the balance all show the account you pick. An account you have since closed still appears here, marked Closed, whenever this matter has entries in it.

Click Deposit Trust or Trust Payment to record an entry from here.

Click Print ledger to open the matter's ledger statement as a PDF.

9Close a trust account

Square the account off first: every matter has to be at zero, and any protected funds released. The button will not proceed until it is.

On the Trust Account page, pick the account, then click the bin icon beside the account names. Only an admin sees it.

Click Every field, as CSV and Closing statement, as PDF, and file both wherever the practice keeps its trust records. The CSV holds every field of every entry on the account, including who entered each one; the PDF is the printable statement, ending with each matter's balance at closing.

Type the account name, then click Close account.

10Reconcile with the bank statement

Click Bank Reconciliation, then New Reconciliation.

Set Period start and Period end, and type the Bank statement balance from the statement.

Under Receipts & Payments, tick each entry that appears on the bank statement. Anything left unticked counts as an unbanked receipt or an unpresented cheque. Adjustments lists journal transfers.

The Summary sets the Cash Book Balance for the period against the Reconciliation Balance built from the bank figure. When they meet it reads Balanced. Otherwise it says by how much they miss.

Check Prepared by and click Reconcile. The reconciliation is saved, the ticked entries are marked as reconciled, and the PDF opens. Save Draft keeps it to finish later.

11Print the reports

On the Trust Account page, click the Reports tab.

Scroll to the report you need: receipts cash book, payments cash book, journal transfers, trial balance, overdrawn ledgers, dormant balances, matters holding trust money, or the file maintenance journal.

Set the period on the report you want, then click Print. It opens as a PDF.

Trust File Maintenance Journal lists every change made to a client's name or address, or a matter's reference or description, with the old and new value and who made it. You do not record anything here yourself: it fills in as those details are edited anywhere in the app.

12Keep a monthly copy

At the top of the Reports tab, find Monthly records.

Pick the month and click Download. You get one PDF holding that month's receipts cash book, payments cash book, journal transfers and file maintenance journal.

Save it wherever your firm keeps its records.