ApplicationTrustAccounting — System User Manual

Audience: All users
Version: 1.0 — August 2026
Jurisdiction: South Africa

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Getting Started
3. Main Menu Structure
4. Core Workflows
   • Trust and Financial Operations
   • Client and Matter Work
   • Compliance Modules
   • Reports and Audits
5. How the System Is Organised
6. Help and Support
7. Troubleshooting

1. Introduction

ApplicationTrustAccounting is a desktop legal practice management system built around one rule: trust money, business money, and audit history must remain separate and verifiable at all times.

The system combines:

• legal accounting;
• client and matter management;
• debt recovery;
• company secretarial compliance;
• evidence and document handling;
• reporting and audit trails.

All work is linked back to a user, a matter, or a compliance record so the firm can trace what happened and when.

2. Getting Started

1. Launch the application and sign in with your assigned user account.
2. Open the relevant workspace from the main menu.
3. Select a client, matter, debtor account, or compliance entity before posting transactional actions.
4. Use the action buttons in each workspace to create, edit, post, or review records.

If you are unsure where a task belongs, start from the module that owns the record:

• money movements → Financial modules;
• client and matter records → Client / Matter modules;
• debtor collections → Debtor module;
• statutory filings → CIPC module;
• evidence bundles → Evidence module.

3. Main Menu Structure

The application is organised around the main menu bar.

4. Core Workflows

4.1 Trust and Financial Operations

Use the accounting menu for:

• trust deposits and payments;
• invoice posting and settlement;
• manual journals;
• bank reconciliation;
• trust interest and transfer work;
• financial reports.

Every posting is expected to balance and preserve the audit trail.

4.2 Client and Matter Work

Use the client and matter modules to:

• create and maintain clients;
• open matters;
• link documents and evidence;
• record notes and deadlines;
• move between matter workspaces.

4.3 Compliance Modules

Use compliance modules to manage statutory obligations, including:

• CIPC entity records;
• annual returns;
• beneficial ownership filings;
• overdue compliance alerts;
• module-specific reports.

4.4 Reports and Audits

Reports are generated directly from the system data. Use them to:

• confirm balances;
• review trust integrity;
• track debtor exposure;
• monitor compliance deadlines;
• support audit requests.

5. How the System Is Organised

The platform is built in modules so each area stays focused:

• financial services handle money movement and accounting;
• client and matter modules manage case work;
• debtor modules manage recovery workflows;
• compliance modules manage filing obligations;
• reporting modules present summaries and registers.

This modular structure keeps the system maintainable and allows each workspace to provide its own menu items, reports, and help topics.

6. Help and Support

Open help from the Help menu.

Available manuals:

• System User Manual;
• Financial Module User Manual;
• Client & Matter Management User Manual;
• Evidence Dossier User Manual;
• Debtor Module User Manual;
• CIPC Compliance User Manual.

Use the manual for the module you are working in first. The module manuals give workflow-level guidance; this system manual gives the broad overview.

7. Troubleshooting

I cannot find the action I need

Open the menu that owns the record you are working on. For example, debtor actions appear under Debtors, compliance filings under Compliance, and trust accounting work under Accounting.

A transaction will not post

Check that:

• the required record is selected;
• the date falls in an open accounting period;
• the values entered are valid and complete;
• you have permission to perform the action.

I need module-specific help

Use the matching module manual from the Help menu. The module manuals contain the detailed steps for each workspace.