Your organisation may be required to deposit a set amount from your general Trust account into an authorised deposit-taking institution (ADI) maintained by your local law society. On occasion, you may also request these funds be repaid by your local law society from the ADI.

Both payments made to and funds received from the ADI can be recorded in mattero.

Please note, you must first create a Matter to record the details of your Statutory Deposits in mattero.

Further, it is recommended you create a Contact in mattero for your law society. (View the Create a Contact article for more information.)

Contents

• Creating a Statutory Deposits Matter
• Making a Statutory Deposit Payment
• Statutory Receipts
• Reporting
  
  

Creating a Statutory Deposits Matter

To create a Statutory Deposits Matter:

1. From any page in mattero, select the Create button, then select Matter.

2. In the Create Matter window that opens, enter a Title ("Statutory Deposits" or similar is recommended), and enter a Description as needed.
   
   
3. Set the Practice Area to Administration, then set the Stage to Active. The Open Date defaults to today's date, but can be changed as needed (this will not affect any processes); do not select an Estimated Completion Date.
   
   
4. Select a Client (your local law society is recommended) and Lawyer.
   
   
5. Set the Costing Method to "Time", and do not enter a Fee Estimate.
   
   
6. Select Save.

7. On the sidebar, select System ().
   
   
8. Under Trust Accounting, select Trust and Bank Accounts.

9. In the Trust Accounts tab, select the Actions menu of a Trust Account, then select Edit Details.

10. In the Edit Trust Account window, in the Statutory Matter field, enter the Matter you have created and select Save.

Your Statutory Payments will now be linked to this Matter, and will be recorded in the Matter's Trust tab.

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Making a Statutory Deposit Payment

Once you have linked a Matter to your Trust Account, you can then make payments to your local law society as needed.

Please note, the payment amount may vary between law societies. It is strongly recommended you confirm the amount your organisation must pay with your local law society before proceeding.

To make a Statutory Deposit Payment:

1. From any page in mattero, select the Create button, then select Trust Record.

2. In the Create Trust Record window, select Payment.

3. In the window that opens, select a Trust Account, then enter the Amount to be paid.
   
   Please note, this number must match the Amount in the Matter Allocations section below. If the Amounts differ, a warning message will display, and the Payment will not be able to be completed until this is resolved.
   
   
4. In the Paid To field, enter the name of the law society and select their name from the dropdown list that appears. If you have not yet created a Contact for your law society in mattero, select Create New Contact and enter their details in the window that opens.
   
   (View the Create a Contact article for more information.)
   
   
5. Select a Date of Payment and a Media Type. Please note, depending on which Media Type is selected (Cheque or EFT), the relevant Cheque or EFT fields will appear; fill these out as needed.
   
   
6. In the Matter Allocations section, in the Matter field, select the Statutory Deposits Matter you created earlier, then enter the Amount and Description.
   
   Please note, if there are insufficient funds available in the Matter's Trust, a validation notice will display stating the account will be overdrawn.
   
   However, while Statutory Deposits are recorded as payments, in practice they are funds held by a law society and can be repaid on demand. As such, mattero does not record these amounts as overdrawn, and the payment will still be able to be made.
   
   
7. When all fields are filled correctly, select Save.

The Statutory Payment will be recorded in the Trust section of the selected Matter.

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Statutory Receipts

If you have requested funds from your local law society, and these have been received, the receipt of these funds can be recorded in mattero.

To record a Statutory Receipt:

1. From any page in mattero, select the Create button, then select Trust Record.

2. In the Create Trust Record window, select Receipt.

3. Fill out the fields as needed, ensuring the law society is entered in the Received From field, and the Statutory Matter you created is entered in the Matter field.
   
   When all fields are filled, select Save.

The Statutory Receipt will be recorded in the Trust section of the selected Matter.

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Reporting

Statutory Deposits are recorded in the header of the Trust Trial Balance Report.

Please note, the Total Matter Balance and Statutory Deposit should equal the Trust Cashbook Balance, with a Variance of $0.00.

Further, while Statutory Deposits are recorded as payments, in practice they are funds held by a law society and can be repaid on demand. As such, mattero does not record these amounts as overdrawn, and they will not be included in the Overdrawn Report.

(View the Generate Trust Reports article for more information.)

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Keywords

ADI, Authorised Deposit Taking Institution, Law Society, Mandatory Payment, Trust Accounting