Trust Accounting & Three-Way Reconciliation for Law Firms
Monthly trust accounting you don’t have to manage.
Outsourced IOLTA bookkeeping and trust accounting for law firms that need monthly three-way reconciliation handled by a team that understands legal accounting.
Accounting Atelier works in QuickBooks Online alongside Clio, MyCase, and CosmoLex to compare the trust bank balance, trust liabilities, and individual client or matter ledgers - and investigate discrepancies when the records do not agree.
Partnering with:
25+ Years of Accounting and Financial Management Experience · Former Financial Controller · Attorney at Work Contributor · Featured or Quoted in Forbes · Serving Law Firms Nationwide
A BANK RECONCILIATION IS NOT A THREE-WAY RECONCILIATION.Your trust bank account can reconcile while QuickBooks and your individual client or matter ledgers still do not agree.
What does ongoing law firm trust accounting include?
Trust accounting may be part of a broader bookkeeping engagement or a dedicated trust-accounting scope. Our recurring work focuses on keeping the trust bank account, accounting records, and individual client or matter balances in agreement from month to month.
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Reconciling the IOLTA or other trust bank account to the bank statement, including outstanding checks, deposits in transit, and other reconciling items.
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Comparing the adjusted trust bank balance, the related trust liability balances in QuickBooks Online, and the total of the individual client or matter ledgers.
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Reviewing individual trust balances in the firm’s legal software and identifying balances or transactions that do not agree with the accounting records.
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Comparing client-level trust liability balances in QuickBooks Online with the corresponding client or matter balances maintained in the legal software when applicable.
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Reviewing transfers of earned funds from trust to operating and confirming that the related activity is reflected consistently across the bank, QuickBooks, and legal software.
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Working across systems such as Clio, MyCase, and CosmoLex so trust activity can be traced between the legal records, bank activity, and accounting records.
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Maintaining supporting reconciliation records and identifying differences that require correction, additional information, or follow-up by the firm.
Three-way reconciliation depends on three records staying in agreement.
THREE-WAY RECONCILIATION
Three records. One monthly reconciliation.
A three-way reconciliation compares the adjusted trust bank balance, the related trust liability balances in QuickBooks Online, and the total of the individual client or matter ledgers. When those records do not agree, we investigate the difference rather than treating a reconciled bank account as the end of the process.
System Integration
Your legal software and QuickBooks hold different parts of the trust record.
Clio, MyCase, CosmoLex, and other legal platforms may hold trust transactions, client balances, and matter-level records. QuickBooks Online holds the related accounting records and trust liabilities. We work across both so the activity can be compared and discrepancies can be traced to the system where they originate.
ONGOING VS. CLEANUP
Monthly trust accounting is different from historical trust cleanup.
Ongoing trust accounting is for firms whose records are current enough to maintain through a recurring monthly reconciliation process. If historical transactions are missing, client balances cannot be substantiated, old checks remain unresolved, or the bank, QuickBooks, and legal software no longer agree, a separate trust-account cleanup or reconstruction may be needed first.
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Law Firm Bookkeeping
Ongoing outsourced bookkeeping for law firms, including reconciliations, month-end close, financial reporting, legal-software coordination, and trust accounting when included in the engagement.
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Law Firm Bookkeeping Cleanup & Catch-Up
For books that are behind, incomplete, or no longer reliable enough to begin ongoing monthly service.
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Trust Account Cleanup & Reconstruction
For historical trust discrepancies, unidentified balances, old checks, missing client records, or accounts that no longer reconcile.
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Law Firm Accounting Setup & Integration
For QuickBooks Online setup, software migrations, and accounting workflows involving Clio, MyCase, or other legal platforms.
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Law Firm Billing & Accounts Receivable
For firms that want billing, trust replenishment, and receivables follow-up handled through a defined process.
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Who is Accounting Atelier a good fit for?
Accounting Atelier works with law firms that hold client funds and want the recurring trust-accounting process handled by a team that understands legal bookkeeping, practice-management software, and three-way reconciliation.
ONGOING TRUST ACCOUNTINGYour firm maintains an IOLTA or other client trust account and needs the recurring accounting and reconciliation work handled each month.
THREE-WAY RECONCILIATIONYou need more than a bank reconciliation. The trust bank balance, QuickBooks trust liabilities, and individual client or matter ledgers need to be compared each month.
SYSTEM COORDINATIONYour firm uses QuickBooks Online alongside Clio, MyCase, CosmoLex, or another legal platform, and you need someone who understands how the trust records relate across those systems.
SPECIALIZED SUPPORTYou want trust accounting handled as part of a broader law firm bookkeeping engagement or through a dedicated ongoing trust-accounting scope.
Related resources
Our processHow to get started
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We review your trust bank account, QuickBooks Online, legal software, and recent reconciliation records to confirm the current starting point.
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If the trust records do not currently reconcile or historical cleanup is needed, we identify that before beginning the recurring monthly work.
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Once the starting point is established, we take over the ongoing trust accounting and three-way reconciliation included in your engagement, with a clear point of contact when questions or discrepancies come up.
READY TO STOP MANAGING THE TRUST ACCOUNTING?Tell us about your trust accounts, the systems you use, and what is not working today.
We’ll determine whether ongoing trust accounting and three-way reconciliation are the right starting point or whether cleanup, reconstruction, or system corrections need to happen first.
FAQ
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Yes. When three-way reconciliation is included in the engagement, Accounting Atelier compares the adjusted trust bank balance, the related trust liability balances in QuickBooks Online, and the total of the individual client or matter ledgers each month.
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Depending on the engagement, ongoing trust accounting can include trust bank reconciliation, three-way reconciliation, review of client or matter balances, comparison of QuickBooks trust liabilities, review of trust-to-operating transfers, tracking of outstanding items, and follow-up on discrepancies.
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A bank reconciliation compares the bank statement with the trust account records. A three-way reconciliation also compares the adjusted trust bank balance with the related accounting records and the individual client or matter ledger balances.
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Yes. Accounting Atelier works in QuickBooks Online alongside legal systems including Clio, MyCase, and CosmoLex. We use the information across those systems to compare trust activity, client or matter balances, and the related accounting records.
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Yes. Accounting Atelier can provide a dedicated ongoing trust-accounting scope when your existing trust records are in suitable condition for recurring reconciliation.
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If the issue relates to current activity, we identify the discrepancy and what needs correction or additional information. If the problem involves historical transactions, missing client records, unidentified balances, old outstanding items, or longer-term discrepancies, a separate Trust Account Cleanup & Reconstruction project may be needed first.
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Yes. Trust accounting and three-way reconciliation may be included as part of a broader Accounting Atelier law firm bookkeeping engagement when your firm maintains client trust accounts.
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Ongoing trust accounting is appropriate when the records are current enough to maintain through a recurring monthly reconciliation process. If historical activity is missing, client balances cannot be substantiated, or the bank, QuickBooks, and legal software do not agree because of older issues, cleanup or reconstruction may need to happen first.