Solicitors' Accounts Rules (SAR)

A significant amendment was made to the SAR on 14 July 2008 when additional requirements were introduced in respect of Residual Client Balances.

The amendments have imposed specific obligations upon solicitors to return surplus client funds promptly to clients where they no longer need to retain the funds and also to inform clients promptly at the end of a matter if funds are still being retained by the solicitor and the reason for so doing. On the plus side, the amended rules do allow solicitors to deal with smaller residual client balances (ie. £50 or less) without recourse to the Solicitors Regulation Authority, although there is still the requirement that these funds must be given to a charity.

As part of our work towards providing an Accountant's Report to the Solicitors Regulation Authority, we examine your practice's accounting records dealing with both client and office money to identify whether there have been any departures from the SAR. We discuss any potential breaches with you before finalisation of our Report and, where possible, adopt a pragmatic approach to our Report. In addition we seek to assist you to limit the occurrence of future departures of the SAR by recommendations for improvements whilst benchmarking any recommendations against the resources available to you.

For the latest information, visit the Solicitors' Regulatory Website, http://www.sra.org.uk, or click http://www.sra.org.uk/documents/rules/Solicitors-Accounts-Rules-July-08.pdf