Trust

The Trust module, which is available only on the BILLING-side of Amicus, is where you manage your client trust accounts.

Law firms often receive client funds that are deposited into a general bank account or trust bank accounts before a bill is issued. These "unearned" funds are called retainers, where "unearned" simply means the payment has not yet been applied against a bill. Retainers are normally used against future services for which the client will be billed. The firm might require a retainer before starting work on a client file.

Trust funds are funds held by the firm in one or more separate client bank accounts called trust or escrow accounts. These funds might include retainers.

A firm might commonly use general retainers rather than trust retainers. General Retainers (sometimes called "unearned retainers" or simply "retainers") are funds held in the firm's general operating bank account.

The Trust module provides functions for:

Receiving trust funds from clients—see Receiving Trust.
Issuing trust checks to pay client expenses from trust funds—see Paying Expenses from Trust (Trust Checks).
Transferring trust funds to AR to pay client bills or WIP expenses—see Transferring Trust to AR.
Transferring trust funds between Files within the same trust account—see Transferring Trust between Files.
Trust funds can also be automatically transferred to AR to pay a Bill when the Bill is posted. For details, see Billing a single File.
To refund General Retainer, see Refunding General Retainer.