Concept
Uncleared money
Money in from a cheque is held on the matter at once but may not be paid out until the cheque clears, so one client's money never pays out on another's.
Held, uncleared, earmarked and free
A cheque banked into the client account adds to the matter's ledger that day, but the bank has not yet collected it. Until it does, paying that money out would pay one client's money on another's credit. Every client ledger therefore reads four figures side by side:
- Held: everything the ledger holds.
- Uncleared: the part that came from cheques still to clear.
- Earmarked: the part set aside for a stated purpose. See Earmarking client money.
- Free: what may be paid out or earmarked today, which is the cleared money less what is earmarked.
A matter's Client account, Ledger tab shows the four under Balance. When a cheque is still to clear, a Waiting to clear list sits beneath them: the receipt, the cheque and its bank, the day it clears and the amount. The funds held register under Client account carries Uncleared and Available columns for every client at once, and the matter dashboard carries the same figures.
When a cheque clears
Cash, bank transfers, mobile money and card payments clear at once. A cheque clears on the earlier of:
- Mark cleared on the receipt, the day the bank confirms the funds;
- its clearing day, the day it was banked plus the firm's clearing days, counted in working days (weekends, public holidays and firm closures do not count).
The clearing days are set under Settings, Accounting, Ledger settings: five working days until the firm sets its own, from its bank's clearing cycle and the Bank of Ghana cheque clearing rules. A change applies to cheques banked afterwards; a cheque already banked keeps its day.
The register
Finance, Client account, Uncleared money lists every cheque still to clear across the firm, soonest first, with its matter, client and receipt. Search by matter, narrow by currency or by the days it clears between, and read the total not yet cleared above the list.
Asking for more than is free
A refund, a transfer to office, a transfer between matters or a disbursement from client money asked for beyond the figure that is free is refused with the cheques it waits on and the day each clears. Wait for them, or ask to draw on the uncleared money: see Drawing on uncleared money.
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- The client account and its ledgersWhat the firm holds for each matter in each currency, the statement a client reads, the funds held with the control figures, dormant money, quarantine and refused overdraws.
- Drawing on uncleared moneyWhen a payment cannot wait for a cheque to clear, the requester gives the reason and a partner who may override approves it; every such payment is kept on the overrides register.
- Returned chequesWhat happens to a matter's client money when a cheque the bank has not paid comes back, and why a ledger can be quarantined.
- Receipts and applying money to billsRecord money received into the office or client account, apply it to bills with any tax the client withheld, bank and return cheques, issue the receipt and keep withholding certificates.
- Earmarking client moneySet client money aside on a matter for a stated purpose, such as stamp duty, use it in the payment it is for, or release it with the reason.