Trust Accounting Software Solutions

Taking on the responsibilities of a trustee and acting in a fiduciary capacity is an onerous job, While legal requirements will vary, it can be generally said that in order to protect the beneficiaries of a trust, there are very strict legal requirements with which complete compliance is a must. Even the slightest error or laxity can expose the trustee to charges of breach of trust and heavy financial damages. In this scenario, the accounts of the trust must be kept meticulously and in compliance with the relevant laws. The easiest way to see that you do not have sleepless nights worrying about compliance is to get a good trust accounting software package.

You could use manual bookkeeping methods but there are several problems to be faced. The accounting process and the generation of reports will be tedious and time-consuming and the possibility of error constantly looms over your head. Automating the trust accounting would give you complete control over all these processes and provide:

• Capabilities for accounting for transactions check printing, bank reconciliation and customized reporting.
• Easy detection of errors.
• An audit trail for the record which can be checked by accountants or the authorities

Observe a few common sense precautions...

if you are shifting from manual bookkeeping to trust accounting software and you should have no problems with the move.

1. Do not make the mistake of mingling trust bank accounts. Make sure that your bank allows you to and manage your client's money in separate bank accounts and sends you separate statements for each one. These can then be reconciled with your books of accounts.
2. Make sure that all your completed trust accounts are archived properly and not carried forward into the new system.
3. Keep hardcopy records of all relevant information so that data can be easily restored in the event of data corruption or data loss.
4. You have several options in moving data from your old system to your new system. If you are experiencing problems at in using old data, you could consider using the new system from a certain date so that your current operations are taken care of. However if your past data is a complete mess, you can perform a one-time cleanup by re-entering all your data from scratch.

Take your time in selecting your new trust accounting software.

Remember that trust accounting software has special requirements which even the best general accounting packages cannot quite fulfill. In performing your evaluation take the following into account:

• Is there a proper audit trail and other adequate controls to prevent tampering with past data.
• Does the program prevent common trust accounting errors such as duplicate entries or client overdrafts.
• Does the system have the capability to produce the right report at the right frequency?
• Is it flexible enough any special reporting requirements?Is the system easy to use and install? And might existing stuff be trained to use the system with a minimum of expense and disruption ?

If you use commonsense evaluation and judgment, you should end up with trust accounting software that will save you all those sleepless nights.