Going Digital

Trust Accounting legislation states all records must be kept in visible form. Digital storage of documents in the cloud constitutes visibility.

So for those who are looking to go digital with their trust accounting, we have a few points for you.

  1. You still must digitally sign the EOM Reports. These are then saved in your cloud storage.
  2. You do not need to print and physically sign these documents. This defeats the purpose of paperless agencies! We recommend Adobe Sign or any other product which allows digital signing with a time and date stamp.

Which EOM Reports do you need to sign exactly?

The short answer is your monthly reconciliation and each EFT transfer.

You can sign the reconciliation digitally and save it along with a PDF copy of your bank statement for compliance. Just keep a folder on your server or your chosen cloud storage to save each monthly report.

How to save your audit reports in chronological order

As you know, here at EOM Angels, we love technology.

Not only that, we’re all about best practice and compliance.

Agents switching to cloud technology find they are no longer printing their EOM Audit reports. Instead, they are opting to keep them in the cloud and on their server.

We have previously discussed the need to keep a backup copy of these reports in a separate location as a ‘just in case’. As after all, it’s the licensee’s responsibility to keep a copy of these records at all times.

So how do you do it?

It all comes down to having an efficient filing system. (Just as you previously did with your hardcopy reports).

We suggest the following format for saving files so they’re easy to locate.

You never know when you might be called upon to produce them to the auditor or to Fair Trading.

You need 5 folders per month.

  1. End of Month Reports

    Save all EOM reports for the month into the monthly folder including: Cashbooks, Trial Balance, Ledgers etc with date backwards e.g. 20210101_EOM JAN21 Cashbook.

  2. Reconciliations

    PDF copy of the daily reconciliation with each day labelled backwards e.g. 20210101_Reconciliation.

  3. Bank Statements

    PDF copy of the daily bank statements that you’re reconciling to each day with the date backwards e.g. 20210101_Bank Statement.

  4. Disbursements

    Copies of disbursements from the software and the confirmation from your bank labelled as the date the disbursement was done e.g. 20210101_EOM Batch 1.

  5. Miscellaneous

    Any adhoc documents which relate to the trust such as electronic online lodgements and centrepay reports.

Internal folders set up for Cloud storage

Example digital storage setup – monthly folder setup for trust accounting

Keeping these folders in working order and labelling your documents with the date backwards will ensure you can put your fingers on your documents quickly and easily.

Jane Morgan is the Director of End of Month Angels, a consultancy firm specialising in Trust Accounting. Jane knows the legislative requirements of running a successful Real Estate office through her 23 years’ industry experience. Don’t trust just anyone with your trust accounting. Book an appointment with an End of Month Angel today.