How we verify our trust accounting
Trust accounting is the part of practice management where a single wrong sign or a stray penny can fail a spot audit. No regulator certifies software, and asking a bookkeeper to stake their licence on a young product isn’t realistic. So we do the next best thing — and arguably a more honest one: we prove our math in code, hold it to an objectively-measured standard, and show you exactly how. Nothing below is a marketing claim you have to take on faith; it’s all checked automatically on every change.
We match the Law Society's own published numbers
The Law Society of Ontario publishes complete worked examples of compliant books and records — “Sample Books and Records” for both lawyers and paralegals. We reproduce those examples to the cent: our engine arrives at the Law Society’s exact figures ($1,715.30 for the lawyer sample, $77.50 for the paralegal sample), reconciled three ways — bank balance, ledger control, and client trust listing all agreeing. If our math ever drifts from the regulator’s, the test suite fails.
One engine, so the numbers can't disagree with themselves
The screen you look at, the Form 9A audit-pack binder you download, and the entries we push to QuickBooks are all computed by a single shared engine — there is no second copy of the math to fall out of step. The one place the convention is necessarily restated (a database view) is checked against the engine on every run, so a silent divergence is impossible.
We measure how good our tests actually are
Passing tests only prove the cases we thought of. So we use mutation testing: an automated tool deliberately introduces hundreds of bugs into the accounting math — flipping a plus to a minus, deleting a guard — and checks that our tests catch each one. Our current score is 97.7%of introduced bugs caught, with the remainder being changes that are provably harmless (they can’t alter any result).
Exhaustively fuzzed, and tested end-to-end
Beyond fixed examples, we run thousands of randomized sequences of real operations — deposits, withdrawals, transfers between clients, voided cheques — and confirm the books stay reconciled after every single step. We also run a complete matter lifecycle through the same atomic, double-checked operations the live app uses, confirming the result reconciles three ways and ties out to QuickBooks.
The honest part
This is code verification, not a regulatory sign-off. It proves the logic is sound and matches the Law Society’s own examples; it does not replace a bookkeeper’s judgment on unusual fact patterns, and it is not a certification by any regulator. You remain responsible for your own trust records and reconciliations, and we recommend independent review by a qualified legal bookkeeper. What this approach does give you is something most software can’t: a transparent, repeatable, to-the-cent demonstration that the engine handling your trust money does the right thing.
Every rule we enforce, traced to its source
The math is only half the story. Each compliance guardrail in Intaklo — the cash-receipt limit, the trust-withdrawal authorization, the limitation-period deadlines — is grounded in a specific statute or Law Society rule. We don’t paraphrase a study note; every item below links straight to the regulator’s own published text so you can check us. Citations are jurisdiction-aware: this list is for Ontario, the jurisdiction we serve today.
Trust accounting
- By-Law 9 — Financial transactions and records — the trust-accounting rulebook
- By-Law 9, s. 18(8) — Monthly three-way trust comparison, prepared for each trust account
- By-Law 9, s. 16 — $7,500 limit on cash received for any one client matter
- By-Law 9, s. 12 — Trust withdrawals must be authorized by a licensee
- By-Law 9 (deposit timing) — Trust funds deposited by the end of the next banking day after receipt
- By-Law 9 (valuable property) — Record of valuable property held in trust for a client
- Unclaimed trust funds — Process for trust money that cannot be paid to its owner
Client identification
- By-Law 7.1 — Client identification, verification, and ongoing monitoring (KYC)
Conflicts & professional conduct
- Rules of Professional Conduct, ch. 3 — Relationship to clients — conflicts, confidentiality, fees
- Rules of Professional Conduct, r. 3.4-9 — Joint retainer — duty to advise of asymmetric-advice consequences
- Rules of Professional Conduct, rr. 3.4-17 to 3.4-23 — Conflicts arising from a transferring lawyer — screening
- Rules of Professional Conduct (undertakings) — A lawyer must honour every undertaking given
- Rules of Professional Conduct, r. 3.6-6.1 — Referral fees — cap and disclosure requirements
Fees & billing
- Contingency fees (LSO guidance) — Contingency fee agreements — what they may and may not contain
- Solicitors Act, s. 28.1 — Statutory framework for contingency fee agreements
- Solicitors Act, s. 33 — Interest chargeable on an unpaid solicitor's bill
- Solicitors Act, s. 2(1) — A bill must be delivered before an action to recover fees
Firm obligations
- Annual Report (March 31) — Lawyer Annual Report filing obligation
- CPD requirement — Continuing Professional Development annual hours + reporting
Limitation periods
- Limitations Act, 2002, ss. 4 & 15 — Basic 2-year and ultimate 15-year limitation periods
- Libel and Slander Act, ss. 5(1), 6 — Notice (6 weeks) and action (3 months) limits for libel in media
- Trustee Act, s. 38(3) — 2-year limit for claims by or against an estate
- Construction Act, ss. 31 & 36 — Preserve a lien (60 days) and perfect a preserved lien (90 days)
- Family Law Act, s. 7(3) — Limitation period for a property-equalization claim
- Municipal Act, 2001, s. 44(10) — 10-day notice for highway / sidewalk personal-injury claims
- Crown Liability and Proceedings Act, 2019, s. 18(1) — 60-day pre-suit notice for a proceeding against the Crown
Links point to lso.ca and ontario.ca (e-Laws). Statutes and rules change; we review citations against the primary sources, but you remain responsible for confirming the current rule for your matter.