Records

Maintain a complete record of all monies received or escrowed in real estate transactions. This includes:

• Deposit slips showing transaction number, date of deposit, amount and where deposited
• Monthly trust account bank statement, canceled checks and deposit slips
• A check register which shows funds received and dispersed in a chronological sequence. This includes:
  • for funds received: date of deposit, transaction number, amount
  • for disbursement: date, transaction number, payee, amount
  • the current balance
• A ledger for each transaction, including:
  • names of principals
  • property address
  • transaction number
  • amount of each deposit
  • date of each deposit
  • check number
  • date of check
  • payee
  • amount of each disbursement
  • the current balance
• A ledger for broker's funds, if applicable

Reconciliation

1. Balance the Bank Statement
2. Establish trust account liability by adding the balances of all ledgers. The total of all ledgers will be the trust account liability.
3. Compare trust account liability to the reconciled bank balance. If they don't match, find out why.