Trust account handbook - Department of Commerce - wa.gov.au

cross-referenced against the interim receipt in the computer system.
When agents have issued interim receipts, they should review them on a weekly basis to ensure
the formal trust receipt has been issued.
2.4 Trust deposit forms
Agents should make and retain a copy of every completed trust account deposit form.
Trust account deposit forms should show:
• the date of payment to the authorised financial institution;
• the name and number of the agent’s trust account; and
• if the money is paid by cheque, the name of the drawer and the name and branch of the
financial institution against which the cheque was drawn.
Most standard bank deposit books issued by trading banks include this information.
To assist in checking that all money paid into the trust bank account matches a trust account
receipt, it is useful for agencies with more than one branch to note the serial numbers of the
receipts of the money banked on the copy of the bank deposit form. This practice assists in
bookkeeping and will aid the auditor when checking details of receipts against money banked.
For example:
Bank deposit form
East branch office receipts: 1642 – 1649 $6,471.00
West branch office receipts: 1974 – 1976 $267.48
Total deposit $6,738.48
The trust account deposit book should be clearly identified to distinguish it from the agent’s general
account deposit book.
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2.5 Trust account withdrawals
At no time should a trust ledger account have a debit balance.
As a matter of best practice, all withdrawals from a trust account should be made by electronic
transfer or a trust cheque. Where a trust cheque is used, an agent must retain the cheque butts
and ensure such cheque butts contain all relevant information.
To reduce the possibility of theft or fraud, it is recommended that trust account cheques are marked
‘Not Negotiable’ and are not made payable in cash. The agent may ask the bank to mark each
cheque ‘Not Negotiable - Account Payee Only’ or purchase a rubber stamp to mark the cheques.
Stamping all trust account cheques when they are received from the bank will ensure no cheques
are inadvertently issued without this protection. Alternatively, the agent can cross out ‘or bearer’
and write ‘order’ on the cheques to ensure that the amount is only paid to the correct person.
It is also important for the agent to ask the bank to stamp the trust account cheque book with the
name of the account or, alternatively, to write or stamp the name of the account on each cheque.
This will reduce the chance of an inadvertent withdrawal of trust funds from the trust account.
In most circumstances, the person in bona fide control should be a compulsory signatory to the
trust account to ensure that adequate control is exercised over employees of the agency. This
measure will reduce the possibility of inadvertent errors and theft. In some large agencies, it may
not be possible for the person in bona fide control to be a compulsory signatory and in this case,
SETTLEMENT AGENTS’ TRUST ACCOUNT HANDBOOK