Client and office ledger reports

The Client Ledger and Office Ledger reports list the transactions across your client and office ledgers.

Note

In Australia, the client ledger is called the trust ledger, so the report and its options say Trust where this article says Client.

1. Navigate to Settings > Accounts
2. Under Reports in the side menu, select Client Ledger or Office Ledger
3. Use the following filters to customise the data provided:
   1. Search: Filter by an amount, the transaction details or the matter reference
   2. Type: Choose the type of transaction you wish to report on; All / Client & Office Transfers / Client to Client Transfers / Client to Office Invoice Payments
   3. Reversed: Choose whether to include void transactions
   4. Date Range: Select the timeframe you wish to report on
4. Select Run Report to generate the data

Tip

When you switch from one ledger to the other, the filters go back to their defaults.

The data is displayed in a table, including details on:

1. Date: The date of the transaction
2. Matter: The reference of the matter the transaction is raised against
3. Details: The description given to the transaction
4. The figures associated with the transaction:
   1. VAT (GST in Australia): The amount of tax applied, shown on the Office Ledger only
   2. Debit: The amount debited to the ledger, excluding tax
   3. Credit: The amount credited to the ledger, excluding tax
   4. Gross: The amount including tax. Debits on the Client Ledger and credits on the Office Ledger are shown in brackets
5. Xero: A link to the associated transaction on Xero

Totals are displayed at the bottom of the table.

Use the arrows in the top right corner if the entries fall across multiple pages.

Select CSV to download the data in a .csv file. The file adds Team and Fee Earner columns.

Running balance on the Client Ledger

The Client Ledger can show the ledger’s balance after every transaction. Use it for reference and to help diagnose a difference.

Note

We recommend you reconcile your client account in Xero. The running balance helps you find where a difference comes from, but it isn’t a reconciliation.

1. Leave Search empty and Type set to All
2. Tick Include running balance

   Note

   The box is unticked each time you open the report.

3. The report runs again, with:
   1. An Opening balance at row first, showing what the ledger held before your start date
   2. A Balance column after Gross, with negative balances in brackets
   3. The Closing balance at the foot of the Balance column

Void transactions show no balance and don’t change it. If the date range has no transactions, only the opening balance row is shown.

Caution

If you type a search or choose a Type other than All, the box is disabled and the balance is hidden. Sorting by any column other than Date, oldest first, does the same until you sort by Date, oldest first, again.

Finding a difference with your bank statement

If your client account in Xero doesn’t agree with the bank, compare the Balance column with your bank statement day by day. The first day the two differ is where a missing or wrong transaction sits.

Some differences are not errors:

• Bank charges, interest and anything else the bank posts that isn’t recorded on a matter
• A transaction entered later with an earlier date, which changes every balance after it
• A transfer between two matters’ client accounts, which is a debit on one and a credit on the other, so the bank never sees the balance between them
• A transaction voided after you last checked, which is taken out of every balance from its own date, so re-running an earlier period can give a different figure
• A matter deleted after you last checked, whose transactions are left out of every balance

Tip

The Debit and Credit totals are plain sums, so with Reversed set to Include they count void transactions. The opening balance plus the Gross total equals the closing balance.

To check the closing balance against the Matter balances report, set Date Range to end today and run Matter Balances for today with every matter state ticked, all Teams and Fee Earners, and Balances set to All. Its Client total matches the closing balance, unless a client transaction is dated after today.

The running balance is not included in the CSV download.