Lynda ArtesaniLegal Accountant and Data Migration Specialist at The Proper Trust

Ensuring Trust and Accountability with Client Funds #legalaccounting #lawfirms #trustaccounting

17 Feb 2026 · 0 min

Watch on YouTube

0:25

In this instructional segment, the speaker outlines a disciplined approach to handling client trust or retainer funds in a law firm. The key rule is that no portion of the trust money may be accessed until predefined service benchmarks are met. To further protect both the firm and the client, the firm prepares a bill that reflects the amount earned up to the benchmark, clearly showing the trust activity (e.g., "we have just earned $5,000 of your $15,000 retainer"). This bill is sent to the client, and only the earned portion is then transferred from the trust account into the transaction, ensuring transparency and compliance with trust accounting standards.

You cannot touch any amount of that trust money until you reach certain benchmarks. And then to protect yourself even further, you prepare a bill up to that amount of the benchmark. You show the trust activity on that bill so far, and you send it to the client. You say, we have just earned $5,000 of your $15,000 retainer. Boom. We're going to go ahead and take that and move into the next piece of this transaction.