Trust accounting standards

Athenty’s trust-accounting features (the trust ledger, the monthly trust comparison, the trust transfer requisition, the annual trust audit report) are built to the trust-accounting standards every Canadian law society requires. These standards are highly consistent across the country, so the app applies one coherent model and cites the governing rule for each jurisdiction here rather than naming any screen after a single province’s form.

Not legal advice — verify against your regulator

This page is a reference. Trust accounting is governed by your law society’s rules, and the details (deadlines, retention periods, reporting thresholds) vary by jurisdiction. Confirm the requirements that apply to your firm against your regulator’s current rules. Athenty applies the Ontario LSO By-Law 9 model as its primary standard because the other provinces’ rules are substantially similar — but the equivalents are listed below so you can check yours.

The standards Athenty applies

Standard	What it means	Where it shows up in Athenty
Pooled / general trust account	Client money received in trust goes into a designated trust account, separate from operating funds.	Trust accounts setup; the trust ledger.
Monthly trust comparison (reconciliation)	Each month, the trust bank balance is compared to the total held for clients; they must agree.	Monthly trust comparison report; reconciliations.
No client overdraft	A client’s trust ledger may never go negative — you can’t disburse more than that client holds.	Enforced on every trust posting (hard block).
Record retention	Trust records are kept for a set number of years.	Trust ledger retention policy (Settings ▸ Trust accounting).
Annual trust report	A periodic firm-level trust report / filing for the regulator.	The Trust Accounting Audit Report.
Shortfall reporting	A trust shortage must be made good and, in most jurisdictions, reported.	Surfaced when the monthly comparison doesn’t balance.

Thresholds and triggers vary

Some regulators set minimum or maximum thresholds or triggers for things like when a trust shortfall must be reported (e.g. a dollar amount, or “if not corrected within N days”) — and some do not. Athenty surfaces the shortfall; you should verify the specific reporting trigger your law society imposes.

Governing rules by jurisdiction

The standard above, with the governing law-society rule + period for every province and territory. Ontario LSO By-Law 9 is the primary model; the rest are the equivalents. Attorney-review-pending — verify against the current rules.

Jurisdiction	Pooled trust acct	Monthly reconciliation (deadline)	No client overdraft	Retention	Annual report	Shortfall reporting
Ontario (primary)	LSO By-Law 9 s.7	s.18 ¶8 / s.22(2) — 25 days	s.9(3)	s.23 — 6 yr / 10 yr core records	By-Law 8 Annual Report (Mar 31)	report; no $ threshold (annual filing + spot audit)
British Columbia	LSBC Rules 3-58/3-60	r.3-73 — 30 days	r.3-63	r.3-75 — 10 yr	r.3-79 Trust Report (within 3 mo)	r.3-74 — > $2,500 or fraud
Alberta	LSA r.119.19	r.119.37 — end of next month	r.119.19	r.119.35 — 10 yr	r.119.38 Self-Report (Mar 31)	r.119.39 — > $2,500 or 7 days
Saskatchewan	LSS r.1506	r.1524 — 30 days	r.1512	r.1529 — 6 yr / 10 yr	Form TA-3 (within 3 mo)	r.1525 — > $1,000 / 3 days
Manitoba	LSM r.5-44(1)(a)	r.5-43(3) — end of next month	r.5-44(1)(f)/(g)	r.5-54 — 10 yr	Annual Member Report	duty to not overdraw (no $ trigger)
Nova Scotia	NSBS Regs Part 10	Reg 10.4 — ~30 days	Reg 10.6.1	7 yr	Trust Account Report (Reg 4.11.2)	Reg 10.6.3 — > $2,500 or 7 days
New Brunswick	Uniform Trust Account Rules r.1	r.2(2)(a) — 30 days	r.4(2)	r.2(2)(b) — 7 yr	Member’s Annual Report (Form 1)	r.5 — immediate
NL · PEI	Uniform Trust Account Rules (Atlantic)	monthly	yes	~7 yr	annual member/trust report	report
Yukon · NWT · Nunavut	territorial law-society trust rules	monthly	yes	per territorial rule	annual report	report
Quebec (distinct)	Barreau / Chambre des notaires accounting regulation	monthly	yes	per Barreau rule	accountant’s report	report

Quebec and the territories

Quebec is a civil-law regime — lawyers are governed by the Barreau du Québec (notaries by the Chambre des notaires) under their own accounting regulations, with different forms and the Code of Civil Procedure. The territories (YT, NT, NU) each have their own law-society trust rules. The concepts (monthly reconciliation, retention, an annual report) map across, but the citations and forms differ — verify against the relevant regulator.

Sources & authorities

Each jurisdiction above links to its regulator. The primary texts behind the table — linked to the official source. They remain attorney-review-pending until a lawyer signs them off.

• Ontario — LSO By-Law 9 (Financial Transactions and Records) · LSO By-Law 8 (Reporting and Filing Requirements)
• British Columbia — Law Society of BC Rules, Part 3 (trust accounting)
• Alberta — Rules of the Law Society of Alberta, Part 5 (trust)
• Saskatchewan — Law Society of Saskatchewan Rules, Part 15
• Manitoba — Law Society of Manitoba Rules, Part 5
• Nova Scotia — NS Barristers’ Society Regulations, Part 10
• New Brunswick — Law Society of New Brunswick, Uniform Trust Account Rules
• Newfoundland and Labrador — Law Society of NL · PEI — Law Society of PEI
• Territories — Law Society of Yukon · Law Society of the Northwest Territories · Law Society of Nunavut
• Quebec — Barreau du Québec · Chambre des notaires du Québec
• National model — Federation of Law Societies of Canada (Model Rules)

Why the screens use general names

You’ll notice the trust screens use general names — “Trust Accounting Audit Report,” “Monthly Trust Comparison,” “Electronic Trust Transfer Requisition” — rather than a specific province’s form number. That’s deliberate: Athenty serves firms across Canada, and the underlying standard is the same everywhere. The specific governing rule for your jurisdiction is cited here, so a screen never has to imply the app is for one province only.