Your receipt and disbursement journal for each trust account must chronologically show all deposits and withdrawals. There must be subaccount ledgers for each client (“client ledgers”) for whom the attorney holds funds. There should also be a subaccount ledger for nominal funds of the attorney held in the trust account to accommodate bank fees and charges. Copies of all written retainer and compensation agreements should be in the file, as well as copies of accountings to clients under rule 45.7 and copies of all bills rendered to clients.
You need to retain check registers, bank statements, canceled checks, voided checks, and duplicate deposit slips. Monthly trial balances of all subaccount ledgers must be made as well as a monthly reconciliation of checkbook balance, sub-account ledger trial balance total, and adjusted bank statement balance (known as a 3-way trust account reconciliation). Keep all receipts for all cash fee payments, preferably countersigned by the client. Include a memo or other document describing each electronic transfer transaction. Retain copies of those parts of client files reasonably related to trust account transactions. Lastly, make and retain a property record for all property other than cash (e.g. coin collection, firearms, jewelry).