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Trust Payments

To create a new payment, navigate to the Payments list screen and click on the Create button.

The Payment page will open with the payment header fields to complete.

The Payment Header fields for a Trust payment are described below.

  • Number

    The payment number is a system allocated number that runs sequentially for each bank account. For new payments the number is set to —New— until the payment is approved, whereupon it inherits the sequential system allocated number for the bank account to which it has been assigned.

  • Category

    Select Trust from the Category field dropdown list. Once the Category has been selected the Bank field will appear under the Category field. The bank account list for the bank account field is dependent on which payment category is selected.

  • Date

    The Date field will default to today. Either manually change the date or select the date from the date picker denoted by the calendar icon.

  • Fiscal Period

    The Fiscal Period will default to the period within which the Date falls. The Fiscal Period can be changed to another period if required.

  • Value

    Enter the total amount of the payment into the Value field.

  • Bank

    Select the Bank account from the list presented. The list presented will only show Trust and Trust investment type bank accounts as the payment Category is Trust.

  • Reference

    Enter a Reference for the payment, usually a bank statement number followed by the entry number on the bank statement, or a month or date, followed by a number of the payment or bank entry for that month or date.

  • Unallocated

    This is a system calculated value field indicating the value remaining to be allocated. The Unallocated value on a Trust type payment must be equal to zero in order for the payment to be approved.

  • Description

    Enter a Description for the payment that will be meaningful when looking at the transaction at a later date, for example “Refund balance in trust to client – [Client Name]”.

Once all the fields are filled in, click on the Save button, or use the shortcut key Ctrl-Enter to save the payment.

Once saved, the Payment Allocation section will open below the Payment Header section so that the payment can be allocated.

Edit Header

To edit the Header fields, click on the field and change the entered data. The field name(s) of the field(s) edited turn yellow, indicating that the field has been edited.

Click the Gear icon at the top right of the payment and then click on the Save menu item or use the shortcut key Ctrl-Enter to save the amendments. The field names will revert to black indicating that the changes have been saved.

Note that the Category field cannot be changed in this way and is therefore not available to edit in the Header section.

To change the Category field, click on the Gear icon at the top right of the payment and then click on the Change Payment Category menu item. A pop-up screen will appear to select the different payment category.

Changing the payment category deletes any allocations already made since these allocations will be different for a different category of payment.

Depending on which Category is selected as the new Category, the bank account may need to be edited because of the new payment category selected. Once the fields in the pop-up screen have been completed, click on Save at the bottom of the pop-up screen to save the category change and return to the payment, or Cancel to cancel the change and return to the payment.

Allocate

To allocate the trust payment, complete the fields in the Allocation section which are explained below.

  • Matter

    Click in the field to open the dropdown list or start typing the matter name or number to search for the matter. Double click on the matter line to select it or use the up and down arrow keys to move to the matter and then press enter.

    As soon as a matter is selected, another Allocation section will open below the current allocation in anticipation that there may be multiple allocations for the payment. Should the payment not have multiple allocations, the empty allocation can be ignored and will be removed when the payment is approved.

  • Description

    The Description field in the Allocations section will default to what was typed in the Description field in the Payment Header section but can be edited if required.

  • Value

    The value of the allocation will default to the payment amount. The value can be edited to a smaller amount if the payment must be allocated to more than one matter.

  • Trust Balance

    This field is not editable and returns the available balance in trust for the Matter selected held in the trust bank account selected in the Header.

  • Reserve Trust

    This field is not editable and returns the amount in trust for the Matter selected and held in the trust bank account selected in the Header that is reserved.

  • From Reserve

    By default, the toggle “From Reserve” is off. Click on the toggle switch to turn on paying from reserved trust.

  • Reserve Reason

    Select the reason for paying the money out of reserve from the dropdown list by clicking on the list, scrolling to the reason required and double clicking on the reason. The reason can also be searched by typing in a string of characters contained in the reason, then use the up and down arrows to select the reason and press enter to select.

Note that the field name(s) for the field(s) that have been changed turn yellow. This is to indicate that the payment needs to be saved to save the changes made to the fields.

Click on the Gear icon at the top right of the payment and then click on the Save menu item or use the shortcut key Ctrl-Enter to save the allocation.

If an error has been made on an allocation or additional allocations need to be removed, click on the X at the top right of the allocation to delete an allocation.

If there are no further allocations to be made, the payment can be approved as explained in the Approve, Delete or Un-approve section below.

Edit Allocation

The fields in the Allocation section(s) are open for editing. The field header(s) of the field(s) that have been edited will change to yellow to indicate that the changes need to be saved.

Click the Gear icon on the right of the Payment Header section and then click on Save or use the shortcut key Ctrl-Enter to save the amendments. Once saved, the field names will revert to black indicating that the changes have been saved.

Approve, Delete or Un-approve

Click on the Gear icon on the right of the Payment Header section to open the options to approve or delete the payment transaction.

The Delete option will delete the payment.

The Approve option will approve the payment and remove any un-used Allocation section.

The Approve menu option saves and approves the payment in one step. The shortcut key Ctrl-Shift-Enter can also be used in place of clicking on the Gear icon and selecting the Approve menu option and will save and approve the payment.

Once a payment has been Approved it is allocated the next sequential payment number for the bank account selected and the payment will have a green tick indicating that it is in an approved state.

Should there be a requirement to amend an approved payment, click on the Un-approve button at the top right of an approved payment.

On invoking the Approve function a number of business rules are run on the payment. If the payment fails a business rule the payment will not be approved and an error message with the reason for the failure is displayed.

To return to the main menu, click on the Drive Practice logo or click on the blue hyperlink Payments in the breadcrumb to return to the Payments list.

When a payment is deleted, the system automatically returns to the Payments list screen.