We maintain a separate page on accounting for limited liability partnerships (LLPs) as well as a business and industry guide on the legal services sector.
ICAEW guidance and support
Solicitors Community
The community provides practical support to chartered accountants within the sector. It offers news updates and technical guidance, as well as conferences and seminars.
Helpsheets and guides
Solicitors' Accounts Rules
England and Wales
SRA Accounts Rules
Full text of the current rules issued by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) in effect from 25 November 2019. The rules, part of the SRA's Standards and Regulations, set out requirements for client money and client accounts, dealing with other money belonging to clients or third parties, and accountants' reports and storage and retention of accounting records. The blue information icon for each rule provides access to further information including guidance and a glossary of terms.
SRA Guidance: Accounts and Finance
Guidance produced by the SRA in relation to the Account Rules for use by firms and reporting accountants. Areas covered include the accountant's report and the exemption to obtain one, operating a client account, keeping accurate client accounting records, joint accounts and record keeping, planning for and completing an accountant's report, third-party managed accounts, improper use of a client account as a banking facility, taking money for a firm's costs and authorisation for withdrawing residual client balances.
2011
Previous version of the Accounts Rules that were in effect from October 2011 to November 2019. The SRA Handbook was superseded by the SRA Standards and Regulations from 25 November 2019. Previous resources for the 2011 Accounts Rules are still available online.
Northern Ireland
Solicitors Accounts Regulations 2014
Full text of the regulations issued by the Law Society of Northern Ireland in 2014. A guidance note is available.
Solicitors Accounts Regulations 1998
Full text of the regulations as published by the Law Society of Northern Ireland in 1998.
Scotland
Rules and guidance
Online version of the Law Society of Scotland rules, including a section on Accounts, Accounts Certificate, Professional Practice and Guarantee Fund (Rule B6).
Featured resources
Croner-i Audit and Accounting Sector Guides
Croner-i publishes a Solicitors Sector guide that includes information on practice structures, funding options, management information, accounting and reporting requirements and example accounts.
To find out more, please contact the Library enquiry team on +44 (0)20 7920 8620 or at library@icaew.com. Access to this resource is for ICAEW members and students only.
Croner-i Solicitors and Other Client Money Programmes
The Solicitors and Other Client Money Programmes manual, published by Croner-i, provides guidance and work programmes for the audit of client money in a number of sectors including solicitors under the SRA Accounts Rules.To find out more, please contact the Library enquiry team on +44 (0)20 7920 8620 or at library@icaew.com. Access to this resource is for ICAEW members and students only.
Useful links
Leadership and Management Section
The Law Society community for partners, leaders and practice managers in legal businesses. The community runs an annual Financial Benchmarking Survey, recognised as the financial health check for small to medium-sized firms.
eBooks
The Library provides full text access to a selection of key business and reference eBooks from leading publishers. eBooks are available to logged-in ICAEW members, ACA students and other entitled users. If you are unable to access an eBook, please see our Help and support advice or contact library@icaew.com.
Terms of use: You are permitted to access, download, copy, or print out content from eBooks for your own research or study only, subject to the terms of use set by our suppliers and any restrictions imposed by individual publishers. Please see individual supplier pages for full terms of use.
Online articles
Articles and books in the ICAEW Library collection
Further titles
To find out how you can borrow books from the Library please see our guide to borrowing books.
You can obtain copies of articles or extracts of books and reports through our document supply service.
Can't find what you're looking for?
The ICAEW Library can give you the right information from trustworthy, professional sources that aren't freely available online. Contact us for expert help with your enquiries and research.
ICAEW accepts no responsibility for the content on any site to which a hypertext link from this site exists. The links are provided ‘as is’ with no warranty, express or implied, for the information provided within them. Please see the full copyright and disclaimer notice.