Legal Bookkeeping

Keeping the accounts for a firm of solicitors or legal professionals is a specialist area and requires an understanding of the legal profession.  The key feature that distinguishes legal practices from other businesses is the retention of client funds.  How the money is treated, and indeed the interest accrued on it, are enshrined in a complex set of rules and guidelines; the Solicitors' Accounts Rules (SAR), and fall within the scope of the Money Laundering Regulations (MLR). 

The Legal Bookkeeping correspondence course

The ICB course is delivered through distance-learning with tutor support.  The objective of the course materials, ongoing assignments, and tutor support is to prepare the student to work competently as a bookkeeper and financial manager for a solicitors practice in England and Wales.

The course will extend existing knowledge of bookkeeping into the legal framework and equip students to produce accounts for a legal practice or 'firm'.  The course includes tuition on the regulatory framework that is applied to legal accounts and it assumes bookkeeping competence to at least the ICB Level III qualification. 

If you are already employed as a legal bookkeeper or financial manager the Certified Legal Bookkeeper course will act as CPD and proof of competence.  If you are new to legal bookkeeping, it will hopefully open up new opportunities for employment or perhaps provide the scope for you to take on new clients.

Course Author and Tutor

The Certified Legal Bookkeeper course has been written by Geoff Smith MICB, a legal bookkeeper for thirty years and a member of the ICB's Advisory Council.  In this comprehensive course Geoff shares his experience of the profession with obvious enthusiasm.  Geoff will act as the lead tutor on the course and will be on hand to guide your study. Upon satisfactory completion of this course you will be awarded the ICB Diploma in Legal Bookkeeping and members of the ICB will be awarded Certified Legal Bookkeeper status.

Course Outline 

The course is split into thirty one sections.  There are five tutor-marked assignments and one final assessment, the Diploma in Legal Bookkeeping.  Students will be given Tutor support for up to 12 months from enrolment on the course.

The title of Certified Legal Bookkeeper will be awarded to ICB members who will be subject to the ICB's Professional Conduct Regulations and Continuous Professional Development requirements.

Introduction
The need for specialist legal bookkeeping training

An overview of the Legal Profession, Legal Accounts and the Legal Office

Professional and Consumer Regulation

Understanding the Legal Accounts Department

The Legal Accounts Process

New matters
Looking after client funds

Looking After Client Funds

What is client money?
Handling client money
Holding funds outside of client account
Recording the receipts
Transfer to and from deposit
Transfers between client ledgers
Accounting for interest
Accounting for commission and other ancillary income
Payments from client account
Reconciling the client bank account
Residual balances
Mistakes and other issues

The Office Account

An overview
Identifying office money

Dealing with Mixed Money

Understanding Disbursements

Invoicing your Clients

Recording the Transactions

Petty Cash

VAT

Credit Notes, Write-offs Bad Debts

The Accounts Report

Receipts from the Legal Services Commission

Accounting Records

Monitoring and Investigation by the SRA

Profit & Loss Account and Balance Sheet

Appendices

Bankers Draft
Disbursement vs Expense
Help with the Trial Balance
Additional VAT Guidance
VAT EC Sales List - Form VAT 101 (i)

Course Enrolment

The course and the final assessment are available on-demand throughout the year.  You can book your place on this course at our online shop.