§ discipline

Accounting records, reconciliation and reports money

The lawyer must keep accurate, contemporaneous accounting records, perform regular reconciliations, retain records for the prescribed period, and deliver any required accountant's report.

836 cases 68% strike-off avg suspension 23.6 mo avg fine 14,377 302 with dishonesty finding

How the codes express this duty

E&W Solicitors SRA Principles & Code SAR Rule 8.1; SAR Rule 8.3; SAR Rule 12.1 strong 644 cases
8.1 You keep and maintain accurate, contemporaneous, and chronological records to: ... 8.3 You complete at least every five weeks, for all client accounts held or operated by you, a reconciliation ... 12.1 ... you must: (a) obtain an accountant's report for that accounting period within six months of the end of the period; and (b) deliver it to the SRA within six months of the end of the accounting period if the accountant's report is qualified ...

Solicitors Accounts Rules · 2019 · archived copy · official source ↗

E&W Barristers BSB Handbook rC88.1; rC87.2 partial 4 cases
rC88 You must: .1 ensure that adequate records supporting the fees charged or claimed in a case are kept at least until the later of the following: .a your fees have been paid; and .b any determination or assessment of costs in the case has been completed and the time for lodging an appeal ... has expired ...; rC87 ... .2 proper records of your practice are kept.

BSB Handbook · current · archived copy · official source ↗

Cayman Islands Legal Services Code 2026 R.8.4(c) partial
maintain appropriate financial records including good file management/ accounting practices to demonstrate compliance with this R.8

Cayman Islands Legal Services Code of Professional Conduct · 2026 · archived copy

AU Solicitors Solicitors' Conduct Rules no clear equivalent
AU Barristers Uniform Barristers Rules no clear equivalent
IE Solicitors Law Society Guide Ch9 — Accounts regulations: General strong 38 cases
To establish and maintain proper accounting systems and proper internal control systems to ensure compliance with the regulations... To deliver an annual accountant's report, as required by the regulations.

Solicitor's Guide to Professional Conduct (Law Society of Ireland) · 4th ed. (2022) · archived copy · official source ↗

IE Barristers Bar Code of Conduct no clear equivalent
JM Attorneys Canons of Professional Ethics Canon VII; Canon VII(b)(i) strong 105 cases
AN ATTORNEY SHALL MAINTAIN PROPER ACCOUNTS AND OBSERVE PROPER ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES IN THE CONDUCT OF HIS ACCOUNTS ESPECIALLY AS REGARDS ACCOUNTING FOR THE FUNDS OF HIS CLIENTS. ... (b)(i) keep such accounts as shall clearly and accurately distinguish the financial position between himself and his client as and when required ... he shall for these purposes keep the said accounts in conformity with the regulations which may from time to time be prescribed by the General Legal Council.

Legal Profession (Canons of Professional Ethics) Rules · 1978 (principal) · archived copy · official source ↗

JE Lawyers Law Society of Jersey Code R.7.4 c)-d) partial
Members must: ... c) ensure compliance with the Accounts Rules; d) maintain appropriate financial records including good file management/ accounting practices to demonstrate compliance with this R.7.4.

Law Society of Jersey Code of Conduct · 1 January 2017 · archived copy · official source ↗

ON Lawyers LSO Rules of Prof. Conduct r 3.5-5 partial
A lawyer shall maintain such records as necessary to identify a client's property that is in the lawyer's custody. [Detailed accounting records, reconciliations and accountant's reports are governed by the by-laws under the Law Society Act, not spelled out in the RPC.]

Law Society of Ontario — Rules of Professional Conduct · current · archived copy · official source ↗

BC Lawyers BC Code r 3.5-5 partial 21 cases
A lawyer must maintain such records as necessary to identify clients' property that is in the lawyer's custody.

Code of Professional Conduct for British Columbia (BC Code) · 2017 · archived copy · official source ↗

NZ Lawyers Conduct & Client Care Rules no clear equivalent
SCO Solicitors LSS Standards of Conduct no clear equivalent
SG Lawyers Professional Conduct Rules 2015 no clear equivalent
HK Solicitors Solicitors' Guide Principle 2.03 Commentary 3 partial
Every principal is personally responsible for complying with the Solicitors' Accounts Rules (Cap. 159 sub. leg. F) and the Accountant's Report Rules (Cap. 159 sub. leg. A). All the principals will be liable to disciplinary action if there is a failure to comply with these Rules.

Hong Kong Solicitors' Guide to Professional Conduct (Volume 1) · current · archived copy · official source ↗

HK Barristers Bar Code of Conduct para 9.13(a) partial
ensure that adequate records supporting the fees charged or claimed in a case are kept at least until the last of the following: payment of his fees, completion of any taxation or determination or assessment of costs in the case or expiry of the time for lodging an appeal against such assessment or determination of that appeal;

Code of Conduct of the Bar of the Hong Kong SAR · 2018 · archived copy · official source ↗

Cases dealing with this duty

Clear

836 decisions · link basis: found breached = a tribunal finding; rule cited = the mapped provision is cited in the decision; text match = high-precision text pattern

Duty classification does not yet cover every jurisdiction (Ontario, New Zealand and Singapore decisions are indexed but not yet duty-classified), so counts here understate those corpora.